Madagascar one of the weaker African teams was the first opponent of Team Melli under the leadership of the Portuguese coach Carlo Queiroz.
A small contingent of fans made their way to the Azadi stadium to witness what difference has Queiroz made to the team which has just finished an intensive camp in Austria in which three matched were played against club sides.
The first half was marred by a very mediocre performance. The team playing a 4-3-3 formation, with Karimi in a deep role , restricting his play-making ability.
In the forward line , Queiroz played with a new combination of Ansarifard-Oladi. Although this pair showed a bit of potential , it was not productive enough to score.
on the 18th minute and from a long throw in , which is becoming a trade mark of Hajisafy , he managed too find Jalal Hosseini's head perfectly. The tall defender headed home with ease to score Iran's only goal
overall, an unsatisfactory first half except for the lone gosl.
Second half continued at the same pace of the first with Queiroz doing quite a bit of changed as customary in such friendlies, however none of those changes yielded any result. The match ended 1-0 for Iran but many fans left the stadium despondent.
Jalal Hosseini Goal |