Iran coach Carlos Queiroz. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem
AL AIN, United Arab Emirates: Carlos Queiroz stood down after nearly eight years as Iran coach on Monday following his team's 3-0 loss to Japan in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup.
The former Real Madrid coach had been hoping to deliver Iran's first continental title since 1976 in the United Arab Emirates but Japan scored three second half goals to send them crashing out of the tournament.
"I think the simplest thing to do is to copy the old song: 'and now, the end is here'," the 65-year-old Portuguese said, misquoting the song Frank Sinatra made famous.
"I'm happy and proud to say I did it my way."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
