The former head coach of Team Melli, Dragan Skočić who managed to lead Iran in the qualifying rounds under challenging conditions, to the World Cup to see his hard work being robbed by Carlos Queiroz, criticized the Line up of the team in FIFA World Cup.

After the loss to America, in an interview, Skočić again reviewed the events that happened to him in Iran and his dismissal from the team’s bench and said:

‘As it is, I can say that I have already passed a little. It happened in September.  The tension was high. They kept changing the head of the federation. Finally, a boss was appointed in the federation who also previously was the chief before I came and he practically destroyed my contract and financial commitment. Iran was on the verge of elimination from an early stage of qualification, and for this reason, we were not allowed to lose points in the rest of the qualifiers. We got the best result in the history of Asia in the qualifiers, but it wasn’t enough for me to take the team to the World Cup.

Skočić admitted that he had a difficult time watching Iran. He said: “I am also of flesh and blood, it is hard for me to watch it (Iran games) because I should have been there, but I am strong enough. to bounce again. ” The former head coach of Team Melli then criticized the formations that Carlos Queiroz used in the matches during the three games in the World Cup and stated: “I watched the games. There were many changes, and many different factors involved. In the first game -against England- Iran was extremely cautious. If I were to written 10 different formations for this match, I would not have guessed this formation. I was there for three years and worked closely work the players. Those who played in the World Cup 2022 were not the ones that played in the World Cup qualifiers at all. In the second match – against Wales – he brought Iran closer to the team that was playing in my last term.

only four players did not get any minutes in the three games played as Queiroz used 21 players against England, Wales, and the USA. Amongst the players that were unused Amir Abedzadeh, Vahid Amiri, and Shoja’a  Khalilzadeh were three of the key players for Dragan Skočić team in the preliminary rounds of the qualifiers and played a significant role in Iran’s qualification to the finals. Of course, players such as Sadegh Moharrami, Saman Ghoddos, and Mohammad Hossein Kananizadegan did not get much playing time either. Queiroz mainly used a formation that he had confidence in during his eight-year tenure with Team Melli. Hossein Kananizadegan and Khalilzadeh formed a solid partnership in the central defense of Iran when Skočić was at the helm.