LONDON: Pim Verbeek revealed he is optimistic about the future of Oman football despite the side’s exit from the Asian Cup at the hands of Iran. The Gulf Cup champions impressed in the group stage by making it through to the knockout stages — largely thanks to a 3-1 win over Turkmenistan that allowed them to sneak into the second round as one of the best-placed third-place teams. But a 2-0 defeat to a very impressive Iran side ended any hopes Oman had of a fairytale run to the later stages in the UAE. Verbeek, however, admitted they had been beaten by the better side and that despite the defeat the future remains bright for Oman. “We knew that Iran were the number one side in Asia and that they were stronger than us, so we did everything that was possible to get a result,” the Dutch coach said. “We gave at least one unlucky goal away and I am not talking about the penalty which we missed early on. “In the second half, we tried everything to score a goal and come back from 2-0 down, but Iran kept us under control. We are disappointed of course that we lost, but Iran were the better team. “We had a fantastic tournament and we should not be ashamed that we lost to a team such as Iran. The team has a future as, even though we are a small country, we have talent.”