“Esteghlal's experience was decisive”: Mohammad Shamsi on week three

According to Zarrebin Varzesh, Golnoor Isfahan lost week three of the Premier League 61-71 to Esteghlal Tehran. Mohammad Shamsi, a Golnoor player, spoke afterwards about why the game ended that way, starting with congratulations for the opponent.

“We saw a beautiful, exciting game. I congratulate Esteghlal's players on this win, and I thank our own players, who put in all their energy, but we could not reach the result we wanted.”

Offensive rebounds and turnovers

Shamsi named two things as the main reason for the result: the offensive rebounds Golnoor gave up to Esteghlal, and his team's high number of turnovers.

“According to the game statistics, we gave Esteghlal a lot of offensive rebounds, and on the other side our turnovers were also high, which is one of the main reasons the game ended the way it did.”

A young squad, an experienced opponent

He described the Golnoor squad as young and said the team showed it could compete with Esteghlal and even win the game; what decided it was the opponent's experience.

“Our team is a young group, and with the players and the staff we have, we are very hopeful about this team's future. In this game we also showed that we could compete with Esteghlal and even beat them, but the experience of the opposing players and the presence of seasoned names in Esteghlal's line-up made the difference.”

A team assembled late

Shamsi also said the squad was put together later than usual, because he and a few others were involved with the youth national team.

“Golnoor was assembled later than usual, because I and some other members of the group were involved with the youth national team. Even so, I and the rest of the team are hopeful about Golnoor's future.”

Source: Zarrebin Varzesh, 14 Aban 1405