Doha, November 25 (QNA) – Wales coach Robert Page acknowledged the right of the Iranian national team to win, with a 2-0 result, in the match played today, stressing that the victory was fair to the Iranian team, pointing out that the Welsh players did not provide the level expected of them.
In the post match conference, Page said “I’ve said to them before every game: ‘Go and show the world what you show us every day,’ and that is not a true reflection of that team.
“They got their true rewards today, they deserved that defeat. We fell well below the standards that got us to the World Cup, if we’d met those standards we’d have been alright. And if you do that in top competitions, you get punished.” he added.
Page refused to use Wayne Hennessey’s red card – only the third for a goalkeeper in World Cup finals history – as an excuse for the defeat, and said Carlos Queiroz’s team were well worth their win. (QNA)