Three months before the AFC Asian Cup 2019 kick off; Iran’s national football team has backed the manager Carlos Queiroz and called for more friendly games and facilities.
On the sidelines of Team Melli training session on Friday, Ashkan Dejagah, second captain of the team, praised the team performance at the camp but stressed the need for playing more friendlies to get better prepared for the Asian tournament.
“We have only one friendly match on schedule,” said the captain referring to the upcoming match with Uzbekistan on September 11. “Other Asian countries will play more games” with friendly countries.
He added that the situation was quite similar before the World Cup in Russia. Forward Mehdi Taremi reaffirmed Dejagah’s stance. Previously Queiroz named lack of friendly matches as the main barrier denying Iran progress from the group stage in the World Cup.
Iran keeper Amir Abedazadeh, son of legendary goalkeeper Ahmad-Reza Abedzadeh, talked about the need for more facilities at the camp and clarification over the manager’s contract.
Although Queiroz has released the list of Iran provisional squad and is currently training with the players in Tehran, the federation has not yet officially extended the Portuguese manager’s contract.
On the latest ranking list released by FIFA, Iran regained the top spot in Asia after the Russia World Cup. Australia took the rank from Iran days before the world event.
Speaking with one voice, players and the manager of Team Melli are calling for meaningful support from the federation and increase in the number of friendly games.
All eyes are now on the Football Federation to plan more warm-up matches as the team and fans seek the fourth Asian title after 43 years. Iran is the only country which has won three consecutive titles in the history of the AFC Asian Cup in 1968, 1972 and 1976.
