In a detailed interview today, Carlos Queiroz, outlined the conditions of Team Melli and raised various issues relating to the squad; the UAE’s problems of hosting AFC Asian Cup 2019 , the team’s Kit , Iran’s logistical problems of arranging friendly games and his verbal agreement. With Mehdi Taj
One of the main areas of Queiroz discussion was the selection of players for the AFC Asian Cup 2019. The Portuguese head coach used various descriptive sentences and has advanced criteria for inviting players for Asia’s premiere tournament. In reality, Queiroz has conveyed an irrefutable message to highlight the fact that the presence of players in the FIFA World Cup last summer is not a guarantee that the player will be picked for the squad of Team Melli for the AFC Asian Cup.
“It’s different from the World Cup,” he explains, “For sure, the style of the 23 final players who will be selected for the Asian Cup is different from those who were selected for the World Cup in Russia.” “In another part he explicitly states:” Certainly, the type of my choices will be different from the Russian World Cup. »
In another discussion about what criteria is used for selection of Team Melli players for Asian Cup, Queiroz pointed out that experience of the player has a high priority in the selection criteria. Despite the emphasis on how the style of the players in the World Cup and the Asian Cup is different, he described the “experience” as “something that cannot be ignored in his belief.” The national team’s head coach says experienced players will play a crucial role against Japan, South Korea and the other Asian powerhouses.
Playing in the domestic Iranian League or the Leagues of the other countries is one of the issues Queiroz claimed that he does not care about when inviting players to the National Team. Although the head coach of Team Melli habitually criticizes the quality of the Iranian domestic league and countries like Qatar, he says: “My theory as a coach is to look at everyone with one eye. But I always choose the best, and it does not matter to me where the player plays. I try to give my players some strategies to make them progress. »
Another criterion in which Queiroz emphasized in his interview is the commitment and loyalty of the players. Perhaps this is one of the few times a national team manager clearly states that he needs the commitment and loyalty of his players and somehow extends his hands toward them. This statement of Queiroz generates an interesting debate specifically due to the Post World Cup event when Sardar Azmoun, the team’s striker declared that he would not play again for Iran. However Queiroz brushed aside Azmoun’s retirement and kept insisting on his return to the squad, even naming the Rubin Kazan forward for the squad that played Uzbekistan last month. Azmoun, though, never showed up to prove that his decision was serious and for real.
Perhaps one of the points that Queiroz wanted to put across is how much he is counting on Sardar Azmoun in his plan to conquer Asia and lift the Cup for the first time after 47 years With the absence of his key striker, Queiroz is handicapped.