After so much commotion when his name was announced by Queiroz, and then the news that Daniel Davari will not turn up for Team Melli, finally, the German born Iranian is here in Tehran in the training camp of Team Melli.

The Eintracht Braunschweig goalkeeper has made it this time to the delight of Queiroz, teammates and Davari’s excited father. The landing of the 25 years old in Azadi training camp was smooth and  he train with lots of enthusiasm and energy. Davari mixed well with all the new faces he has seen for the first time and seems to be in the right frame of mind for a debut. Whether he can dislodge Rahman Ahmadi is another question, however. Queiroz might try him out if results were favorable to Team Melli in the upcoming matches. In the long run, Daniel Davari seems to be the ideal candidate. At only 25 he has plenty of time to mature and get his position amongst the posts for Team Melli Iran.

Expressing his delight in joining Team Melli , Davari said that he has been thinking about this for a long time. Now that he is here, he wants to impress and make a difference. After a series of bad results , Eintracht Braunschweig won its first match in the Bundesliga which delighted Davari. “It is a good omen that we beat Wolfsburg before I came here to Iran. It was our first win the top flight and I am very satisfied by that.” Davari commented.

About his club , Davari said that the coach is using a rotating system for goalkeepers.  “It is a policy that I have to settle with. I find it quite demanding and it certainly increases competition for places”. Apart from his own club, Davari has no affection for any other German clubs but he admits that he is an  avid Arsenal fan.

Although Davari was selected during the Qualifying rounds of the FIFA world Cup for to join the squad, he did not turn up because of club commitments. In this point he said “It was a very critical period for us at  Braunschweig. Promotion to the Bundesliga was at stake. I would have loved to be part of the squad that won the qualification to the Worlds Cup, but unfortunately I couldn’t oblige and had to stay with my club until we won the promotion. I realize that I have a tough competition with Rahman Ahmadi here. He is a senior goalkeeper and was instrumental in Iran gaining the qualification. That is one tough task to replace him. I have lots of respect for Ahmadi, however I am used to competition for places and will try to gain respect of the teammates and gain the confidence of the coach in order to achieve some playing time.”

With Davari’s father accompanying him to Tehran, Davari Senior was quite disappointed that he could not see the practice session when his son was training with Team Melli in Azadi sports complex. The training ground was cordoned off by security with no journalist or other fans allowed. The security informed the press core that they were under strict instructions from Team Melli coaching staff not to allow anyone in. Apparently somewhere along the line, Queiroz has heard that a Thais spy is mingling amongst the Iranians and sending information to Bangkok to expose Team Melli tactics.

Training in secret , is becoming a habitual coaches practice. Under the disguise of secrecy and keeping plans under wrap, coaches prevent journalist and fans from watching from the stands. The as if new plans and tactics are introduced everyday.

The superfluous act, has hardly proven anything of real worth except to enrage the journalist and photographers who try to do their jobs covering Team Melli.