TEHRAN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iran national soccer team winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh said that he is hopeful they would make history in the two remaining matches to the title of the AFC Asian Cup, according to Tasnim news agency on Saturday.

Iran will take on Japan in its first semi-final appearance since 2004 as they continue the quest to secure the first AFC Asian Cup title since the last of the country's three consecutive crowns was won back in 1976.

"It's a great feeling for us," said Jahanbakhsh, who missed his team's first two games due to injury. "It's a dream for us to make it as far as possible in the Asian Cup."

"We know we have got a very good team and we've got the support of all the Iranian people back home and all Iranians around the world who give us more strength to have a good performance," he added.

"We always know that the expectation is always high for us because we have good quality players and a mix of experienced and young players and that gives us an even better team," Jahanbakhsh said.

"As our coach always says, we do everything as a team. We don't have stars. These are the reasons we have a better team and hopefully we can go further. Japan is a very good side, we have to get ready for the next game but hopefully we can make history," the Brighton & Hove Albion winger noted. Enditem