FRANCE 98 – MatchQuotes
Match Number 43 GER – IRN Quotes Jalal TALEBI :
“This World Cup was a wonderful experience. I’m very happy with the way my team played throughout its matches. This will be useful for the future of football in our country. The GERMAN team were much stronger and more experienced than we were, but we were expecting that.
I particularly want to thank FIFA and the CFO for organising this World Cup.”
Berti VOGTS:
“We are first in the group, which was our objective. I knew that the Iranians were good. I had said that they were strong but no-one wanted to believe it. My team didn’t play well in the first half, and so I had to talk to them at half-time and things went better after that.
Our next opponent is MEXICO (Group E)–we know them and they’re a good team. We’re happy to be coming back to play in MONTPELLIER.”
Karim BAGHERI (6):
“
We had two great chances in the first-half, but unfortunately we weren’t able to make anything of them. The German players’ experience overwhelmed us in this match. They didn’t have a lot of chances, but they made the most of them. We’re leaving this World Cup very pleased with our performance. It was a good experience for all of us. GERMANY is by far the strongest team we’ve played against. I congratulate them on their victory and wish them the best of luck for the rest of the competition.
I’m leaving Bielefeld (German second division) next season for a more upmarket club in the Bundesliga.”
Mehdi MAHDAVIKIA (2):
“I had the best chance of the match, at the end of the first fifteen minutes. I was alone in front of the goalkeeper, but unfortunately couldn’t get past the last hurdle. The goal I scored against the UNITED STATES was very important. That goal liberated us, but above all, it means that several European clubs are now interested in us, which is our greatest victory. The most important lesson of this World Cup is that we have shown that the Middle Eastern game has now almost caught up with the European one. We will be stronger in four years.”
Ali DAEI (10):
“I’m very satisfied with our excellent run in the World Cup. Our target has been reached: we played well and we had some really good matches. We’ve made a lot of progress, but it still takes a lot of hard work to get past the first round.”
Mohammad KHAKPOUR (4):
“The fact that we held the former World Champions at bay for the first half will remain one of the great moments in our football history. BIERHOFF’s (20) impressive headers gave me a lot of trouble.”
Jürgen KLINSMANN, captain (18):
“
It makes no difference whether we play against HOLLAND (Group E) or MEXICO (Group E) in the last sixteen. From now on every team has an equal chance to win. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded playing against the Dutch because we’ve always beaten them.”
Oliver BIERHOFF (20):
“We played a lot of high balls, but it didn’t work for us in the first half. IRAN gained confidence and had some dangerous scoring opportunities.
Our team is playing better and better. We’ve shown that we’re unified and play well together. We’re pleased that we won’t be playing against HOLLAND, as we’re top of Group F. The Mexicans are supposed to be a good team, but we must be able to beat any team if we want to be World Champions.”
Andreas KOPKE (1):
“It was a tough match. Our goal, not to play against HOLLAND, has been accomplished and that’s good for us. I’m satisfied that I didn’t let in any goals. No team is easy to play against at this point in the competition. We have a difficult game coming up against MEXICO.
The Mexicans made up a two-goal deficit during their first round match against HOLLAND. They’re a good team and we’ll have to watch out for them.”
Lothar MATTHAUS (8):
“We deserved this victory. We played well, even though we didn’t score in the first half. We’re glad we’re not playing against HOLLAND–we wanted to avoid them at all costs.
We have to watch out for MEXICO, but I think we can beat them.”
