Jafari: Bam Khatoon a worthy representative for Iran

TEHRAN – Marziyeh Jafari, head coach of Bam Khatoon, expressed pride in her players, insisting her side are a worthy representative of the country in the tournament.

Jafari spoke about her team's performance in the group stage of the AFC Women's Champions League, revealing the squad were severely hampered by injuries to three key players.

"Negin (Zandi) was unavailable, Mona (Hamoudi) was injured, and Fatemeh (Geraei) suffered a setback in the 20th minute of our opening match and unfortunately couldn't feature for the rest of the competition," she explained.

Jafari described the group as a "group of death. "CSKA Dushanbe not only had Tajikistan's full internationals but had also brought in four quality foreign signings from Africa. We didn't know much about them, but despite those circumstances, our players produced a good performance and thankfully we won the match.”

On the clash with Al Nassr, the coach was full of respect for the opposition. "Al Nassr are a very powerful side with quality players from various countries — French, Portuguese, Bahraini and Japanese. It's clear they've invested heavily in their squad."

"We knew it would be a tough game, and perhaps our players were somewhat overawed by the name of Al Nassr. We could have used our chances better. In the 85th minute the referee awarded Al Nassr a penalty which unfortunately was converted, but our players kept fighting and equalized in the 95th minute to keep our hopes alive,” she added.

She also pointed to Khatoon's long layoff from competitive action. "Our league ended in February, and about seven months have passed since then. It was natural that being away from match conditions would make things difficult for us. In contrast, teams like Al Nassr and Al Ittihad were competing in West Asian tournaments last month and had played good friendlies. They were also in a very strong position regarding the number of internationals and quality foreign players."

Despite the odds, Jafari stood firmly behind her squad: "Despite all these conditions, the players worked incredibly hard and got good results. As head coach, I'm proud of my players, and I believe Khatoon are worthy representatives of our beloved country in this tournament."

She stressed the importance of planning and clear goals. "I've always emphasized that we need to plan and have targets, and follow a clear path to achieve them. You can't just go game by game always chasing a result. I hope that in the final match, which we play on Sunday, we deliver a good performance and finish our campaign in the best possible way with a favorable result."