Harsh Criticism from Nekounam Over Tractor's Travel Conditions: We Need AFC Intervention

Tractor's head coach, in an interview with Qatari media, complained about the travel conditions of the team's members on their trip to Oman.

The head coach of the Tractor football team, in a conversation with the Qatari media, complained about the travel conditions of the team members to Oman.

According to Mehr reporter, after the goalless draw of the Tractor football team against Al Shamal of Qatar, in a conversation with Elkas Network, he criticized the conditions of the trip and the holding of the match and said that despite the good performance of his players, he is not satisfied with the result.

Nekonam stated: As you know, how were our conditions before the game. This situation is not fair. We are playing away from home and the weather conditions are also against us. These conditions are in favor of the Qatari team; Because they only travel for an hour and they train in the same weather conditions, but we traveled from Tabriz to here for more than 15 hours and we had played a tough game in Iran four days before.

He added: "Nevertheless, as you saw, we played very well and had many opportunities to score, but we could not use them." We are not satisfied with the result, but I have to thank my players. They put all their strength on the field, fought for every ball and performed well. I am happy with their performance, but the result was not what we expected.

The head coach of Tractor said about the opponent's performance and their tactical plan: We expected such a way of playing, because we had seen their previous match against the Saudi team. Shamal has good players and has a strong bench. However, this match should have ended in our favor in the first half; Because we missed many opportunities.

Praising the performance of Shamal's goalkeeper, Nekonam stated: The opponent's goalkeeper was excellent in this match and I think he took two points from us. He made three saves and I can't understand how he managed to save some shots from a meter or two. He did a great job and that's what we came up against. In the end, we only got one point and we are not happy with this result, although I am satisfied with the dedication and effort of my players.

Referring to the difficulty of his team's trips to participate in the Asian tournament, he said: "If we are to travel from Tabriz to the UAE for the next game and the same situation repeats itself, the two-hour journey from our country to the UAE may take us about a day." This is not fair. We need better conditions and there should be more coordination between the clubs, the federation and the Asian Football Confederation so that both teams compete in a fairer situation.

In the end, the head coach of Tractor emphasized that despite the dissatisfaction with the result, his team should prepare for the next match and the current conditions of the trip and the holding of the tournament need to be addressed by the AFC.