Sydney (dpa) - Carlos Queiroz's future as Iran coach is uncertain after the side were eliminated by Iraq in the Asian Cup quarter-finals in Australia on Friday."
Sometimes you come to moments in football where you don't know if it makes sense to keep going in this job," Queiroz said after a frustrating 7-6 defeat on penalties following a 3-3 draw.
Iran were winning 1-0 in Canberra when referee Australian Ben Williams controversially gave Merhdad Pooladi a second yellow card for a relatively minor clash with Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hassan.And Queiroz, who had already been fined by the Asian Football Confederation for commenting on referees at the tournament, struggled to hold his tongue after the defeat.Following the World Cup in 2014, Queiroz said he would leave his position of coach but later came to agreement with the Iranian Football Association to continue."I am very proud of the way they played the game and the way they fought," Queiroz said of his players losing to Iraq.
"We go home now and it hurts a lot because the players worked hard and committed themselves, they deserve something more and they deserve respect from the fans."They have all my love and all my support because of the way they fought for the whole 120 minutes and penalties, and I feel very, very proud to be coach of this team and these players."