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Sports 10/07/2007 Ghalenoei - Iran ready for Asian Cup charge
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei believes that his side have acclimatised well to the humid conditions of South East Asia and are ready to begin their quest to regain the AFC Asian Cup for the first time since 1976.

Iran arrived in Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday, a full week before their opening Group C match against Uzbekistan at Bukit Jalil National Stadium, to get used to the humid conditions of the Malaysian capital.

"We knew that we had to adapt the team to the climate here so we arrived early and set up a programme that would have the players ready for the first game," said the Iran coach at a pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

"We know about Malaysia’s high humidity so we needed to work on physical fitness training first to get our players used to the conditions, before working on our technical game.

"We are ready now for the Asian Cup but It is important that we respect all of the other teams. None of them can be underestimated."

With fellow favourites Japan and Australia failing to register wins in their opening matches in the tournament, Iran are certainly not about to take their own opponents lightly.

"The results that have happened in the Asian Cup in the last few days shows that the standard of teams in Asia is getting closer and that all of the team here will face tough games.

"The matches here in Kuala Lumpur will be hard for us because the teams in this group are strong. We have to word hard and think out the strategies for all of our games.

"This is especially true of Uzbekistan who are tough opponents and have their own hopes of doing well in this competition."

While Ghalanoei does not want to compromise on Iran’s attacking style on Wednesday, he feels that his side will have to be flexible and willing to adapt to circumstances during the match.

"It’s not right for me to talk about our system of play for tomorrow but everyone knows that our team like to play with an attacking style," he said.

"This is what we are known for and it is a style that suits us because we have good movement and talented players.

"But the way in which we play depends on the match situation. We have to be flexible with our system and be able to change it if we need to."

Noted for his fiery temperament when he coached Iran Pro League giants Esteghlal, Ghalanoei has pledged to keep his cool during the tournament.

"There are all types of situations and conditions that occur in matches. I’ve been in football for 25 years now but the situation has been different in every match that I’ve been involved with.

"Different things will happen during our matches here that will cause me to react in a different way but I will try to control myself during these games," he concluded.

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