"In all, I’m happy with the performance and even though we haven’t gone through, we’ve waved goodbye with our heads held high," said the Iranian who has taken charge following the resignation of Farhad Kazemi.

Runners-up to Urawa Reds two seasons ago, Sepahan failed to make it past the group stage this time but goals from Hosein Papi, Hadi Asghari and Hamid Azizzadeh ensured that they finished their campaign with a victory at Foolad Shahr Stadium.

"Before today’s match I told the players to try and maintain their dignity and they played well and we won," continued Taheri.

"In this match, I used Farhad Kazemi’s strategies but he didn’t have anything to do with the selection of the team.

"I put Hosein Papi and Hadi Asghari in the first team because they’ve played so well in recent weeks and they were able to score."

The game was a largely meaningless affair as the Saudi side had already claimed top spot in Group D while Sepahan had already been eliminated at the group stage for the second successive year.

"We weren’t prepared for success in the ACL because the team wasn’t strong enough," said Taheri reflecting on their campaign.

"There was a big gap (in quality) between the important players and the replacements.

Ettifaq coach, Ioan Andone rested a number of key players including Ghanaian striker Prince Tagoe and despite the defeat was left to look forward to a home tie in the last 16.

"We made five changes today and we couldn’t focus on the match but I don’t want to use this as an excuse. I accept that we played poorly and unprofessionally,” said the Romanian.

"We were lucky not to lose by more goals.

"Even so, I hope that in the next round, when we’re hosts, we’ll play better and try to reach the quarter-finals."