According to the reporter of Tasnim news agency EsfahanIn a press conference before the Sepahan Isfahan football team’s match against Pikan in the 29th week of the Premier League, Jose Morais said: “We are at the end of the league and we have the last home game behind us.” Tomorrow we have our most important game. Pikan is a very good team and as we saw, it had one of its best performances against Persepolis. Expectations are high from us and we have to fight for victory.
He added: Lately, our games were not easy because we played against teams that are fighting for survival, and it was natural that we would have problems. We played against a team that was the captain of Persepolis in the past, and now we are playing against a team that used to be the assistant coach of Persepolis and was close to him. Tomorrow’s game is competitive. We are not lucky to get a penalty and I think tomorrow’s game will not be easy!
The head coach of the Sepahan Isfahan football team said in response to the Tasnim reporter’s question whether his statements were somehow a source of suspicion for him: “Don’t misunderstand me.” Imagine being a coach in the Italian league. I was Mourinho’s assistant and he is my good friend, maybe I will face a team whose result is important for AS Roma. I try to help my team first and then I try to help my friend.
Regarding the performance of Sepahan’s foreign players, Morais noted that only Nilson performed better: “If we don’t make mistakes, it won’t be very natural.” If we want to compare foreign players with other teams, I must say that our players were playing in Iran for the first year. A foreign player needs time to dedicate himself when he is in a new country. Sometimes we look for quality. In the market, we looked for a quality that we did not have in our team. Persepolis has a player who plays more or less, but has a central defender who has been in the Iranian league for 6 seasons. He has been given time and devoted himself. They have an Asian player that I like, but he is on the bench most of the time. When you talk about Nilsson now, you didn’t talk about him in the first three months because he was given time.
He continued: I am a foreign coach, I am currently in Iran and maybe later I will be in Saudi Arabia. If I had more information about Iranians before, maybe I would have gone to Iranian players. I am experiencing my first year in Iran and maybe I will make mistakes in the future. It is important to learn and not make mistakes one after another. The best players in the world dedicate themselves after 6 months. There were good players in the teams of Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, who were not great in their first season. For example, Mohamed Salah did not perform well when he came to Chelsea, but look who he is now. De Bruyne also had the same conditions. So here we go back to the discussion of time. For an Iranian example, I refer to Yasin Salmani. He is an extremely quality player, but for whatever reason, he hasn’t had enough time to show his performance. He has tried to present something of himself in a short time. We should have given this player enough time, but unfortunately he didn’t.
Referring to the importance of the presence of Sepahan fans in the meeting with Pikan, Morais reminded: In the previous game, I saw fans who traveled a long way to support me in Masjid Suleiman. They touched my heart. With the presence of fans, we can change the world. We are going because of them. I thank them once again and we want to win the final match at the home stadium. I must also mention the presence of women. Whenever we go to the stadium, we feel their warm presence in the hotel. We are human and we must be one. I hope we will see the presence of female fans in the stadium in the future.
The head coach of Sepahan Isfahan football team said that Pikan played his previous home game in Azadi Stadium against Persepolis: Pikan is a respectable team. The performance of this team inside and outside the house is not impressive. If Pikan was supposed to be stronger at home, it would not have moved its game away against Persepolis, so Pikan would not have moved either indoors or outdoors.