AFC Women's Asian Cup
Despite collecting maximum points from their opening two matches, Nascimento was left frustrated by his team’s execution in the final third.
“I am happy with the result as we got the second win, but I am not satisfied with the performance of the team,” Nascimento said. “We wasted so many chances, and our performance was not at the top level like we did against Lebanon in the first match.
“We will be better in the next match against Bhutan, as we will try to work on our mistakes and the negatives that appeared in this match, to avoid them against Bhutan.”
While Jordan focused on fine-tuning their game, Islamic Republic of Iran produced a statement win, cruising 7-1 past Bhutan for their second victory.
Fatemeh Shaban starred with a brace, with head coach Marziyeh Jafari crediting her team’s preparation as a key factor behind the resounding win.
“We knew what we were up against. We faced them at club level when Bam Khatoon played RTC College during the AFC Women's Champions League 2024/25 Preliminary Round. Both teams are familiar with each other, and I’ve also studied the Bhutan national team in detail,” Jafari said. “Of course, like any team, we looked to exploit Bhutan’s weaknesses, but they are a strong team with a very bright future.
“I’m proud of how we played today. We stayed organised, showed good spirit and followed the game plan. I believe we performed better than in the first match, and I hope we can keep improving step by step to reach our goal.”
For Bhutan it was a disappointing outing after two successive wins with head coach Kim Tae-in conceding to Iran’s quality.
“Although we came prepared for this match, the result was not what we expected,” said Kim. “We knew Iran were fast and strong but they were faster and stronger than expected.”
With the three teams locked on six points, the race for a spot at Australia 2026 is set to go down to the wire with two rounds left to play.
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