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Jesus Casas has downplayed talk of Iraq being favourites to win the Asian Cup despite their impressive start at the tournament.
Iraq, along with defending champions Qatar and Iran, ended the group stage with maximum points. Casas’s team achieved a significant upset by defeating Japan, the top-ranked team in Asia, marking a notable moment in the tournament.
However, Casas says his side cannot get carried away ahead of their game against Jordan in the last 16 on Monday.
He said, as reported by Reuters: “We aren’t favourites. I repeat, we’re very happy with our tournament until now. The Iraqi people are very proud of the players and their performances,
“But tomorrow we have a very hard match against a very good team. In one match, all is possible — one red card, one penalty, one mistake or nerves. So we aren’t favourites for sure.
“We can win all matches but we need to give 200 per cent. If we have a perfect match it’s possible to win but if you make one mistake (in the knockout stage) you say ‘Bye, bye’. All is possible in football but it’s very hard.”
