Iraq Brazilian coach Jorvan Vieira has praised his player's determination to overcome difficult circumstances and clinch the AFC Asian Cup for the first time ever. Vieira, whose two-month contract with the newly crowned champions has now expired, led the war-torn nation to Asian glory after beating Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final on Sunday. "The Iraq players are fantastic people and you have to understand the difficulties," said the Brazilian coach in the post-match conference. "They have had this situation for the past years and they have fantastic power inside themselves, they are hard workers with extra power to do whatever we want. "I learned a lot from these people, it was a good learning process for me and something I will keep forever in my life." A 71st minute header from skipper Younes Mahmoud proved enough to conclude the victory for the Iraqis, and the match winner also paid tribute to his manager.
Goal hero Mahmoud holds the trophy "Thanks God we have had the pleasure of working with Vieira, it was a great experience," said Mahmoud. Al-Garrafa striker admitted that Vieira led Iraq against all the odds, including the Iraqi players themselves, who hardly fancied winning the title. "We were all joking about how the coach only had less than two months and asking how he could achieve such a victory because he knows nothing about the players," he said. "But I would like to say thank you to Mr. Vieira, although if he stays is up to the Iraq Football Association." Vieira was short listed by Korea Republic to replace Dutch manager Pim Verbeek, who resigned after the Asian competition.
