Wednesday 25 June 2014 21:09, UK
Iran boss Carlos Queiroz insists he has no regrets over his side's World Cup campaign after they suffered a 3-1 defeat to Bosnia in their final game.
Iran knew their chances of progression from Group F were slim ahead of the game, as they needed to beat Bosnia and hope that Nigeria lost to Argentina.
Goals from Edin Dzeko, Miralem Pjanic and Avdija Vrsajevic put Queiroz's men to the sword, while Charlton's Reza Ghoochannejhad pulled one back as Iran netted their first goal of the tournament.
After defiant displays against Nigeria and Argentina in their previous two outings, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid coach believes Iran can hold their heads high, but says they were simply outclassed by Safet Susic's side.
"I have to congratulate Bosnia and Herzegovina, they deserved to win and, without disrespect to Argentina or Nigeria, I believe that they should have qualified from this group," he said.
"They have great players who play for great clubs - and I do believe that they are the best team of the group.
"We pushed ourselves to the limit, mentally and physically and I'm very proud of them. We were exhausted after the Argentina game but we fought for 90 minutes.
"Despite all our difficulties, we kept pushing and created some good chances but Bosnia and Herzegovina were better today.
"They were on another level and we are not at that level due the facilities in Iran. We finish our job here with no regrets, no excuses."
