After Iran beat South Korea, Queiroz praises players

Iranian national soccer team coach Carlos Queiroz has praised his players' performance after 1-0 win over South Korea in an international friendly match.

Iran defeated South Korea in Tehran's Azadi Stadium for the third time in a row Tuesday, having defeated them in its previous two matches in Tehran and Ulsan respectively in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, reports Xinhua.

"It was a valuable victory for us against South Korea. I have to praise my players because of their performance. I have to praise South Korean team as well since they could also be the winner at end of the match," Queiroz said after the match.

"We could give our young players a chance to play against South Korea and I am satisfied with the way they played. We can learn from teams, including South Korea, since they have good training grounds and their players are playing in the European football teams," the former Real Madrid coach said.

In preparation for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, Iran will also play South Africa in another friendly in Johannesburg Dec 19.

The 2015 AFC Asian Cup will open in January in Australia. Iran is in Group C along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Bahrain while South Korea have been pitted in Group A along with Australia, Oman and Kuwait.