Tehran.

Carlos Queiroz , Team Melli’s coach said that his duty is to open his eyes and ears to monitor everything around Team Melli while differentiate between illogical view points and the reasonable advice that can benefit the team. He continued his statement about Team Melli by asking the media to allow him to do his job and qualify for the finals of the World Cup and then he will expose those people who work behind the scene for Qatar !

Queiroz was speaking to the press during the first Training session of Team Melli which is preparing for the WAFF tournament in Kuwait. The players carried out their first training in the Futsal Arena of Team Melli camp. The coach emphasized the point that this tournament is a very good opportunity for him to assess the potential of many players who have not featured in Team Melli and give the others who played limited time a chance to show their full potential.

Asked why he did not select the U23 team for this tournament , Queiroz said that “the regulation of this tournament prohibits the participating countries from taking a weakened or second rate teams, however , the team we are taking to Kuwait is a mixture of youth and experienced players”. Quieroz said that he personally wants to lead this team as he is looking for players that can fill some roles and play in the first team. A few of the players in the squad have already featured for Team Melli , and this will be an ideal opportunity for them to support their claim for a much more important roles in the near future. “It is up to these players to proves themselves , and if they do  then they will have a good chance to feature in the rest of the World Cup Qualification games” Queiroz added. He mentioned Yaghoub Karimi and Mehrdad Ouladi as examples of such players with potential.

Queiroz spoke about the absentees and stated that Jalal Rafkhaei is doubtful as he is not fully fit for the tournament, hence the introduction of Mehrdad Ouladi, his Malavan teammate. He also added that Perspolis defender, Hossein Mahini has requested a leave of absence from him which was approved and hence he will not accompany the team to Kuwait. Arash Afshin is in the process of negotiating a contract with a European team and consequently he asked Queiroz to be excused from WAFF in order for him to focus on the negotiation and high possibility of a transfer which might occur in the January transfer window. Querioz said that he always supports players who can succeed in signing for European clubs. He said “if we have 5 , 6  or even 10 players playing the European leagues , it will benefit Team Melli as the exposure there and the style of play will enhance their abilities and skills.” He said that he wishes the players well and hope they succeed ion signing contracts with European teams.

 Queiroz commented on the critics voicing concern about Team Melli performance and weak results by saying that “there are always those people who like to show off during the matches of the national team. Similar things occur on regular basis in Portugal and France.” “In reality , very few listen to them but they still continue and criticize regardless (…), saying that, I do like to differentiate between the illogical unfounded criticism and those critics who might have a valid point or two up their sleeve.” The Under-fire Portuguese coach added.

Queiroz was asked by a reporter about the rumors of his cooperation with Qatar Team, in which the coach responded “Yes…I also heard such talks. Does that mean that someone from Korea is also working for the Qatari’s or maybe Lebanon and Uzbekistan have similar people? Please allow us to focus on our objective and finish our mission, only then I will tell you who, in fact, is cooperating with the Qataris”

Team Melli will be participating the WAFF tournament and is grouped with Saudi Arabia , Bahrain and Yemen.

Team Melli squad is as follows.

Goalkeepers: Alireza Haghighi (Rubin Kazan, RUS), Sousha Makani (Naft Tehran), Hamed Lak (Saba Qom)

Defenders: Vahid Esmael-Beighi (Mes Kerman ),  Milad Fakhreddini (Tractor Sazi Tabriz), Pejman Montazeri (Esteghlal Tehran), Shoja Khalilzadeh (Mes Kerman), Mohammad-Reza Khanzadeh (Persepolis Tehran), Mehrdad Pouladi (Persepolis Tehran), Ehsan Hajsafi (Tractor Sazi Tabriz)

Midfielders: Omid Nazari (Ängelholms FF, SWE), Omid Ebrahimi (Sepahan Esfahan), Ghasem Dehnavi (Tractor Sazi Tabriz), Milad Nouri (Saba Qom), Mohsen Mosalman (Zob Ahan Esfahan)

Strikers: Payam Sadeghian (Zob Ahan Esfahan), Mehrdad Ouladi (Malavan Anzali), Ahmad Hassanzadeh (Mes Kerman), Yaghoub Karimi (Naft Tehran)