Monday’s 2-1 win against Qatar’s Al Duhail SC – which took the Islamic Republic of Iran side to 14 points – was achieved the hard way as a second half revival saw Shojae Khalilzadeh equalising with Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh then netting a stoppage time winner.
“I am very happy with today’s game, we played a great game,” said Skocic. “We gave the penalty away too easily in the first half but otherwise we produced a good half.
“We had more scoring opportunities. We were able to press the opponents well and closed them with discipline. I like this way of playing and today we played a little more with our minds and thoughts.
“We have a long season ahead of us. Our achievement has been satisfying, but we are looking to the future. There is no one in the locker room who is satisfied with advancing from the first stage, but what has been done is respectable.”
Djamel Belmadi was disappointed after lapses in concentration cost his side valuable points, with the Al Duhail head coach saying lack of control shown in the centre of the pitch meant they couldn’t capitalise on Benjamin Bourigeaud’s opener.
“We were close to securing a draw, with only two minutes remaining,” said Belmadi. “At least if we couldn’t win, we should have earned a point, but in the end, we lost, which we didn’t deserve to.
