Paulo Bento: Iran among Strongest Asian Teams

The UAE currently sits second in Group C of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, with four points, but a defeat at Education City Stadium and other results going against it could see Bento's men exit the competition in the group stage for the first time since 2011.

After a convincing 3-1 win over Hong Kong in the opening fixture, the UAE was held to a 1-1 draw against Palestine in a game it finished with 10 men after defender Khalifa Al Hammadi was sent-off in the 37th minute.

Bento also received a red card just before the final whistle, meaning he will be suspended for the Iran clash.

“Preparation for this match is going as normal. We are trying to recover as much as possible. The last game was difficult for us especially after minute 37 when we started playing with one player less. That was an important factor for sure,” the Portuguese said.

“We prepared our strategy for the next game against one of the strongest teams in Asia and the strongest in our group. It is a team that is composed of very good, experienced players, some of them play in high level competitions. They play together for a long time and they don’t change their way of playing too much.

“It is a team that is easy to see its strengths, but not easy for the opponent to counter them, so we need to make a very good game in many aspects. We should be clever in the way we play against Iran and compete very well and be humble to accept that in some moments we will not dominate the game, so we have to control it in a different way, and reach the best possible result in a different way,” Bento said.