AVA - National Football Team Head Coach: We had a good performance against Iran

Vincenzo Alberto Anes, head coach of the country's national football team, considered his players' performance acceptable after the first match in the CAF tournament against the Islamic Republic of Iran and said that the Afghan team had put on a good performance despite the absence of several key players.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Sports Service: He stated in a press conference after the match: "Iran is one of the best teams in Asia and has great players like Mehdi Taremi in the squad. Competing with such a team was a valuable experience for our players."

Alberto added: "Four of our players could not participate in this tournament due to opposition from their clubs, but despite this, we were one goal ahead of Iran until the 26th minute. We must take into account the reality of the Afghan team."

The national team head coach emphasized that his team must always be ready for big competitions and try to give the best performance.

Meanwhile, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) website wrote in this regard: The defending champion Iran national football team started its competition in the group stage of the 2025 CAF Confederation Cup with a 3-1 victory over Afghanistan.

The national football team took the lead in the 21st minute with a goal from Omid Mousavi, but Majid Aliari of Iran soon equalized the game with a header and then set up Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh's goal with his assist, so that Iran took the lead before the end of the first half.

Aliari scored his second goal and Iran's third goal in the 64th minute, as the national team earned three points with a powerful performance.

The national football team of the country performed promisingly under new coach Vincenzo Anse, but the experience and high accuracy of the Iranian players in scoring were the reason for the national team's superiority.

In the other match in this group, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu played a key role in India's 2-1 victory over Tajikistan by saving a penalty.

India opened the scoring early in the fifth minute, with Anwar Ali heading in a free kick to give Khalid Jamil's men the lead. Eight minutes later, Sandesh Jhingan scored India's second goal on a rebound from Tajikistan goalkeeper Mohriddin Hasanov.

Tajikistan reduced the deficit in the 23rd minute through Shahram Samiyev, who coolly slotted the ball past Sandhu, leaving the Indian defenders stunned.

Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu was used repeatedly in the second half, and in the 72nd minute, he saved a penalty from Rustam Sevirov, who had guessed the direction of the shot, to keep his team ahead.

India will face Iran on Monday, while Tajikistan will face Afghanistan.