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#Asian Cup Qatar 2023 The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Mehdi Taremi has spent much of his career being compared to the legendary Ali Daei, but the Iran striker is hoping he can go one step further than his mentor and break his nation's AFC Asian Cup drought.
Iranian fans need no reminder of how long it has been since the country last claimed the AFC Asian Cup; since 1976 numerous teams have tried – and failed – to take the title to Tehran for a fourth time.
Team Melli have turned up in Qatar for the current edition of the continental championship with designs on claiming the trophy, another talented team ready to turn 48 years of heartache into euphoria and delight.
The man spearheading the latest challenge is Mehdi Taremi, a player who needs little introduction due to his remarkable exploits for both club and country. A prolific scorer for Porto and Iran, Taremi is hoping to achieve what so many before him have failed to do.
“Iran has one of the biggest chances to become the champions of Asia, but not everything in the tournament will go according to the plans we have,” he told the-AFC.
“During the tournament we have seen some exciting things happen which have made the tournament more interesting.
“We started well in the tournament; in the first match against Palestine we scored four goals. In the second match against Hong Kong we didn't show the quality that we have but we got the result that we wanted.”
“And in the third match against UAE we were perfect, we started the match very well. We could have scored five goals, but three of them were ruled out by VAR.
“In general we had a very good performance in the group stage and we should continue this good performance into the knockout stage too.”
Next up for Team Melli are Syria in the Round of 16 on Wednesday while a clash with Japan awaits in the quarter-finals should both nations progress.
It makes for a difficult road to the title for the Iranians, but Taremi insists four seasons playing in Portugal's Primeira Liga and the UEFA Champions League for Porto have helped prepare the 31-year-old for moments such as these.
“If we feel the pressure then, for sure, it's going to affect the results that we're going to have in this tournament, so one of the plans we're following here is to think about the matches one by one,” says Taremi.
“Every match is like a final for us and by thinking like this it's going to take the pressure off our shoulders and it will help us a lot.
“When you are playing in clubs teams and you're playing in the UEFA Champions League your performance is going to improve. You're going to gain more confidence and when you come to Asia – with respect to Asia – it's a little bit different class, a different level."
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