China had roared into an early lead thanks to goals from Shao Jiayi and Mao Jianqing but were pegged back by a Ferydoon Zandi thunderbolt and Javad Nekounam's header on 73 minutes.

The result leaves China needing at least a draw against Uzbekistan in their final Group C match to guarantee them a place in the quarter-finals.

"I do not think that it will be a problem for us. Our players are without doubt the best China has to offer," Zhu said.

"They are also very well conditioned and I can say that they will definitely not have any psychological problems."

Having seen his players withdraw into their shells under intense second half Iranian pressure, a tactic that led to them defending deeper and deeper as the game went on, Zhu was adamant that he did not regret limiting his attacking options by taking off strikers Han Peng and the goal scoring Mao.

"I do not regret substituting my attacking players because they were tired. No player or coach will say that we will play only defensively and not attack. It is a 90 minute game of football and anything is possible.

"The reason why we were forced back was because the Iran team gave us more pressure after the break. We have got a squad of players, it is about teamwork and we will always use substitutes whenever necessary."

Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei, who was forced to watch from the stands as he serves the one-match ban he received for throwing a water bottle at an official during Iran's opener against Uzbekistan, was delighted as his side moved to within touching distance of the next round with only group whipping boys Malaysia left to play.

"First of all I have to say that I appreciate the players who played so well and I am pleased that we were able to change a 2-0 scoreline into one that reads 2-2," he said.

"We achieved the two targets we had set for this game. The first was to get some points from the match and the second was to leave China and Uzbekistan facing a tough match between themselves in order to qualify.

"We have definitely achieved those targets and we now have an easy match against Malaysia,"

Trailing 2-1 at the break, Iran's introduction of substitutes Eman Mobali and Javad Kazemian at half-time clearly had a positive impact on the three-time Asian Cup winners as they searched for an equaliser, a point Ghalenoei was quick to concede.

He added: "I think Mobali played very well when he came on. Thanks to introducing our substitutes at half-time we could change our formation from 4-4-2 to a more attacking 4-3-3. As a result of this we scored our equaliser."