Iran's Rezaeian laments missed chances after dramatic draw

Iran defender Ramin Rezaeian expressed frustration after his team's dramatic match ended without the result they had hoped for, saying the side deserved more from its performance and apologising to supporters at home.

"I'm tired, really," Rezaeian said after the game. "We have to start, but I don't know what's going wrong with our football because I can't see any luck for my team. We deserve to win the game."

The defender said the players felt they had done enough to secure victory but had again fallen short in decisive moments.

"At the end, we just apologise to my people in Iran because they deserve more happiness; they deserve more things," he said. "I don't know, we did our best, but the rest is from God. I hope God gives us a little bit of luck."

Rezaeian described an emotional ending to the match, pointing to a series of late chances and near misses.

"We got so emotional during the game, especially the last 10 minutes," he said. "I told you, we deserve [it]; we won the game."

He also referred to the reaction of the opposing side in the closing stages.

"Did you see the happiness from the players from the [opposing team] in the last 10 minutes and [at] the offside?" he said. "Like the last two matches, they are so happy because of [their] luck, but I think we deserve to win the game."

Asked whether travel demands and other challenges facing the team had affected performances, Rezaeian declined to elaborate.

"I don't like to complain," he said. "I don't like that because God sees everything. I think everyone knows what happened these last six months, but I don't want to talk about that."

He instead emphasised the team's effort and said players were focused on supporters in Iran.

"My people in Iran, they deserve more than everything; they deserve more happiness," he said. "Now we did our best just for our people."

Asked about the match being designated as an LGBTQ Pride match, Rezaeian said: "Oh, I don't have any idea about that. I hope everything [goes well] for Iran."

Rezaeian also reflected on previous tournaments, saying Iran had experienced similar disappointments in past World Cups.

"It means everything," he said when asked what advancing would mean. "Last World Cup, it was unlucky. The last two World Cups—you remember against Portugal in Russia, the last moment with the score. The last World Cup in the US, against the US... even [then] we deserved to win the game, or at least to see [the next round]."

He added that the team would now wait to see how results elsewhere affected its position.

"We played so good, and at the end, what we wanted did not happen," he said. "But we have to wait for the results of the other teams and see what's going on."