The end of Rafat, the former striker of Persepolis team, in an interview with a reporter Borna News Agency Sports Group Regarding Persepolis’ runner-up position in the Asian Champions League, he stated: Persepolis lost the final to Ulsan in an unequal dispute. Persepolis did not play in the final for 15 days and did not have the experience of playing in the stadium where the final took place, but Ulsan had already played in this stadium and was familiar with its conditions. The absence of players such as Shoja Khalilzadeh, Vahid Amiri, Ehsan Pahlavan and Issa Al-Kathir also made it impossible for Persepolis to play its usual game, otherwise if these people were present on the field, Persepolis would have played much more offensively. These negative events affected the course of Persepolis’ game, while Ulsan was also a fast and strong team, and foreign players came to his aid in this game.
He continued: In the scene of the second goal of the Brazilian striker Olsan, this team had an extraordinary placement behind Shiri and the defenders of Persepolis ignored him. The same professional player was able to get the job done for Ulsan, and one of the important differences between Persepolis and Ulsan was the same foreign and professional players who helped the Korean team win. We have to accept that the Asian Championship requires facilities and money. When Persepolis managed to reach the final without money and facilities, then if we combine the same zeal and tactics with facilities, we can become champions, but we really do not see the color of the Asian championship without the facilities of Iranian football.
Raft added: This runner-up is also very valuable and it was a great job that Golmohammadi and his students did. I congratulate Yahya and the Persepolis players because we have a good team and we should appreciate it. I also have a message for afc and I say we will come back and this time we will come back with more power and become the champion of Asia. 3