One the eve of Team Melli friendly match against South Korea, Queiroz gave a brief statement to the press and answered some questions.

One of the important statements of the Portuguese coach , which is also a surprise is that he will have nothing to do with the Omid Team which will soon be under the responsibility of the Croat coach Zlatko Kranjcar. This is quite contradictory to what Kaffashian said after the embarrassing defeats in the Asian Games which resulted in Iran’s elimination at the group stages. Kaffashian said , from now on, the Team Melli coach will take much active role in Omid team.

 According to Mehr News Agency, Carlos Queiroz said that everything is fine with the team and they are ready to play for South Korea. “To play against some strong opposition is a scarce opportunity for us . I hope we play well, not only as a preparation match but to give our young players the opportunity to play.” Queiroz said.

 Asked whether he will have a surprise and include the young players in the line up, Queiroz said “will have to play the young players at some stage. We do not have many friendly games lined up and this one is the only one so far so we might as well use them. After the World Cup ,  we needed to embark in building a new young team (…)  Because there are not many opportunities for friendly matches , their playing chances will be at the earliest opportunity .” referring to the young players.

 National coach said: I’m sure players like him Pouraliganji,  Ehsan Haj Safi, Sardar Azmoun , Jahanbakhsh will form the backbone of the future team.

 On the question of the plan for re-building , Queiroz said that “we  will continue re-building the team and start depending on the youngsters , however Team Melli does not need a revolution now, we will re-build at our own pace ”

About whether the process will follow the national team after the Asian Cup seriously or not, he said,  “The team does not require a revolution. You need to keep the core team and they take that work forward. Players who are older should be good models for young people.”

Iran plays South Korea in Azadi on Tuesday.