Tag: Sardar Azmoun

Mehdi Taremi, from hero to villain!

From the moment it was announced that Adel Ferdosipour had interviewed Mehdi Tarimi and that this discussion was going to be broadcast in cyberspace, it was clear that some of his statements would become controversial, divisive, and might very well create friction in the team and fans for a long time. As much as Taremi’s value as a striker is undeniable, his controversial talking is harmful to himself! In this case, the predictions came true and some of the topics raised by Taremi became the center of attention, criticism, and various conflicting opinions. He has already managed to create divisiveness & sedition.

This player, who had taken a stand against Dragan Skočić, becoming the spokesman for some other players as well, questioned Skocic’s competence in a conversation with Ferdosipour. Taremi criticized the exclusion of and then the U-turn of Esteghlal players from the Team Melli camp and then claimed that in the past year, far too many players have been selected for Team Melli !, which is not a good thing to say. These statements had wide repercussions amongst the stakeholders in Iranian football, which were mostly negative.

Who are you, What position are you in?

Some of Tarami’s statements might be merited but some are not. But here, the criticism of the speaker is more important than the content of the speech. Basically, no player in the world’s professional football should give himself the right to openly and candidly take a position against the Coaching staff and particularly the Leader, the head coach.

If this issue becomes a normal procedure, no stone will be left unturned. It is really rare and rare that even the greatest players in the world of football have taken such positions against their coaches. You don’t see this behavior from Messi and Ronaldo either. Didn’t Paris Saint-Germain have a few failures? Have you ever heard Kylian Mbappe criticize his coach as the best player on this team?

The crossroads of Skocic.

Even if Tarami’s efforts to dismiss Skočić were successful, the story would not be over, because in this case, the next coach to take over, would have to be approved by him in order to survive. is that the correct thing for a football team? Skocic’s difficult dilemma is now on how to deal with the issue of Mehdi Taremi, and to a lesser extent Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Ehsan Hajsafi.  Dragan Skočić has now faced a big predicament. That he does not invite these players and significantly reduces the Team’s foundation in the World Cup, or that he pleads ignorance to the fact that there are players who don’t respect him and might spread the bad word in the camp.  in which case his authority will be questioned even more. All this could not exist if Tarami maintained his sense of responsibility and did not utter those unnecessary words.

Mehdi Taremi has proved through the few years that he has a behavior problem. His action on the field doesn’t reflect his age. His famous dismissal in the Champions League was when he kicked the ball away a few minutes after he was awarded a yellow card. This typified his immaturity and lack of emotional control. Despite his popularity amongst the Porto fans, Taremi is probably the most hated player in the Portuguese league. He is famous for his diving and deception of referees and is the subject of many reporters’ criticism for lack of sportsmanship.

Is Taremi an Asset or Liability?

Right now, looking at the picture, it looks like Mehdi Taremi is a risk and a dangerous element in the Team Melli camp. Thinking that he will change his attitude and mentality in a few days or months is simply impossible. He has a lot of grudge against Skočić starting from day one.  His exclusion from the team is not going to be disastrous for Iran with the presence of Sardar Azmoun to spearhead the offensive line. The problem is the exclusion of Jahanbakhsh.

In any case, Skočić must choose between discipline, values, and respect or act as if nothing has happened and call Taremi back in the hope of better things.

How is more valuable for team Melli?

A comparison table on the performance of Azmoun and Daei for reference

Sardar Azmoun Mehdi Taremi
Age 27 30
Club Bayer Leverkusen FC Porto
No of seasons in Europe 15 6
Foreign leagues Russia & Germany Qatar & Portugal
Games played 217 243
Goals scored 86 125
Yellow card 38 32
Red Cards 2 4
League title 3 1
TEAM MELLI
Matches 63 58
Seasons 9 8
goals scored 40 29
Yellow card 10 8
Red Cards 0 0

Sardar Azmoun: “Dismissal of Skocic was an act of cowardice”

Team Melli’s central forward and its top active scorer did not munch his word in support of Head Coach Dragan Skocic.

“The dismissal of Skocic was an act of cowardice by the so-called technical committee (laughing).  What can I say? This action (the removal of Skocic by the technical committee) was the bottom of cowardice. There was one camp left until the start of the World Cup and these things are happening. Why do we keep on lying?  When Queiroz eventually left the country, there was only one person who went to the airport to bid farewell to him; He was also his driver. If we want to fire him, let’s do it right. Don’t be ungrateful.”

“Skocic was the man who took the national team’s hand in Bahrain and led the team to the World Cup. Ok, even if he is a bad person as some claim; at least show some grace and gratitude toward the man. Let’s say that his tactics were below zero, how is that possible while he lead us to qualification to the World Cup without any problems? what kind of logic these people are using?. We have to treat people who come from outside the country well. Even if Guardiola takes over now, we can’t do anything either, there was only one camp left until the World Cup.

Whether it is Skocic or Queiroz at the helm, it does not make a difference to me, I am here to stay with Team Melli, I am me. We have eight days of camp next. Do you think Guardiola can overturn the team’s tactics in these eight days? This was cowardice. I look at it from the point of view of humanity; This was cowardice.

 

Don’t be like many snake players!

Azmoun also criticized many players who were lobbying. Don’t be like many snake players! We were born as men and we must die as men. I hope the young players have a clean heart; If your heart is pure, you will reach everywhere. Don’t be like many snake players and don’t go underwater. Your heart must be pure, otherwise, you will not get anywhere. I spoke with Mehdi (Taremi) last night. We are always in touch. I said that I don’t like people who change their words at a whim, whether it’s my family or strangers. That’s why it’s better to avoid them; Why take the risk?

90% of Iranian players are full of bragging

Even if my head is put down, I will still speak out. I have to keep my word and be honest. 90% of Iranian player only claims. do not doubt that. Some did nothing yet claim a place in Team Melli as their right !!. We have this player who was not been invited by two national team coaches. How long has he been playing? Now he thinks that he is technically the best player in his post; No, my dear, you must be honest with yourself first and know that you are “locked” out because you are not what you claim. During Queiroz’s time, when I had a row before the World Cup in Brazil, I was honest with myself and said that I had no right to go to the World Cup because I played badly. I said this also crying. Don’t pretend by showing your body on Instagram, I’m not saying like me, but be honest with yourself and don’t pretend to be a game and post on Instagram and show your body. These do not help. If you are a man, show yourself and help the national team for the World Cup. Personally, I will do whatever it takes to fight for my country’s national team in the World Cup, no matter who the coach is.

Two players, claiming they are talking on behalf of the rest,  did not want Skocic!

The final part of the Azmoun talk was about allegations that one or two unnamed Team Melli players have spoken on behalf of the rest to officials regarding Skocic.  “I doubt that those two players talked about such a thing. But it is better to ask them directly so that there is no misunderstanding. I talked to one of those two people who doesn’t lie, He said that I didn’t talk about changing the coach at all. But there were other players who have spoken on our behalf, which is wrong and distasteful. One of our players said that the players don’t want this head coach, but we will speak our mind to him and solve this issue.”

Meanwhile, the executives of the Football Federation, in particular, the acting head Mirshad Majedi have yet to officially announce the sacking of Skocic. Majedi, who two weeks ago was talking about the extension of the contract of Skocic to beyond the AFC Asian Cup 2023 has remained tight-lipped and in negotiation with the Minister of Sports.

 

Team Melli instability continues to raise concerns.

The countdown to the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has reached 134. While all the teams in the most important football tournament in the world have prepared their plans with the necessary support, resources, and detailed requirement in order to get the best performance tout of their teams, the case in Iran is quite different.

Team Melli is facing many challenges and struggling despite the fact that they qualified early and with many matches to spare. The crisis began after the dismissal of the Head of the federation, it is now embroiled in rumors of the impending dismissal of Dragan Skocic from his post as head coach of the national team.

“Behind the scenes, the intervention of people outside the football federation to bring about change has put undue pressure on the federation. Controversially several players of Team Melli are playing significant roles to push for change. Mirshad Majedi, the acting head of the Football Federation, entered the fray after seeing the two parties that had arisen among Team Melli players in stories supporting or criticizing Dragan Skocic, to end the matter for good by contacting them directly.
Majedi conveyed his displeasure about the behavior of the players to the senior members of the Iranian national team. He, who was surprised by the arrival of several new players in the recent camp of the team, postponed dealing with them to another time to show that he has decided to talk to the main players of the squad and calm the created atmosphere.

Among the strong supporters of Skocic, Azamoun and Taremi have been the most vocal. In an act of sedation, some new players, led by provocateurs are supporting the other side. The partisan is also clearly felt in the media which are taking sides, instead of encouraging stability and accepting the Croat.

The efforts of Majedi to change the atmosphere team’s dressing room have been counteracted by secret meetings in the corridors of the Ministry of Sports. Majedi, who no longer categorically dismisses Dragan Skocic’s departure, is now struggling with all kinds of demands to replace the Croatian head coach. The catalyst of these demands comes from the Ministry which has a long history of interference behind the scenes and applying all sorts of pressures to the extent of threats to get to their demands. In public, however, The Ministry always manitains the official policy of non-interference in FFIRI affairs and respect for the federation as an independent entity.

Some patrons of Carlos Queiroz have secretly held meetings with the officials of the Ministry of Sports during Majedi’s tenure as acting head and demanded the return of the Portuguese. Meetings that were supported and perhaps attended by several representatives of the Islamic Council (the Parliament) who demanded the explicit intervention of Hamid Sajjadi, the Minister of Sports in the affairs of the FFIRI. However, Sajjadi, aware of FIFA’s sensitivity to the subject and Iran being very close to being sanctioned because of several issues, including females attendance in stadiums, has announced that he will not get directly involved in the story, but an old Queiroz advocate who is closely related to Sajjadi has given strong indications of the return of the Portuguese man creating an atmosphere of insecurity and agitation.

 Will Skocic achieve his dream of sitting on the bench of the national team in the World Cup? Will Queiroz becomes the head coach of Team Melli due to external pressures? Will an Iranian option leads the national team? You have to wait a few more days to get answers to these questions

Squad announced for June training camp

Dragan Skocic invited 25 players to the upcoming training camp starting next Monday.

Team Melli will start the training in Tehran and then move over to Istanbul before flying to Canada in preparation for the friendly international with the host country in Vancouver.  A second match was planned but never materialized.

With the injured players such as Ghoddos, Khalilzadeh, Amiri, and Pouraliganji not available for selection, Skocic added the name of two former members of Team Melli to the list, Omid Ebrahim and Ali Alipour. Notable absentees due to loss of form mean the exclusion of Mehdi Ghaedi and Kaveh Rezaei from the list.

 

Team Melli Captain Karim Ansarifard and the current AEK Athens player is the major absentee from this camp and will not accompany the national team for a long time. While the current situation requires players to secure their place in the World Cup final list by performing well with their clubs and attending training regularly, Karim was severely injured in a freak accident in the national team’s previous camp on Nowruz 1401, during a birthday party when a cake was pounded on his face, Due to that eyes injury, he also missed the game against Lebanon. As a result, he was away from training for a while and on his return, he had to conduct his training with goggles. Since his injury, Ansarifard has not played in any of his team’s matches and usually plays for a few minutes, and has now lost his place in Team Melli

Skocic has replaced  Ansarifard with Ali Alipour so that the forward who plays in the Portuguese league with Gil Vicente can finally recover after a three-year absence from the national team and may be able to improve the national team’s offensive line.

 

No. Pos. Player Date of birth  Age Caps Goals Club
GK Alireza Beiranvand 12-Sep-1992   29 50 0
 Royal Antwerp
GK Hossein Hosseini 30- May-1992   29 4 0
 Esteghlal
GK Amir Abedzadeh 26 -Apr-1993   29 9 0
 Ponferradina
DF Sadegh Moharrami 24 -Mar-1996   26 18 0
 Dinamo Zagreb
DF Aref Gholami 23-Apr-1997   25 1 0
 Esteghlal
DF Milad Mohammadi 29-Sep-1993   28 45 1
 AEK Athens
DF Hossein Kanaanizadegan 23-Mar-1994   28 32 2
 Al-Ahli
DF Saleh Hardani 14-Sep-1998   23 2 0
 Esteghlal
DF Majid Hosseini 20-Jun-1996   25 16 0
 Kayserispor
DF Omid Noorafkan 09-Apr-1997   25 12 0
 Sepahan
DF Aref Aghasi 02-Jan-1997   25 0 0
 Foolad
MF Ehsan Hajsafi (Captain) 25-Feb-1990   32 118 7
 AEK Athens
MF Saeid Ezatolahi 01-Oct-1996   25 44 1
 Vejle
MF Alireza Jahanbakhsh 11-Aug-1993   28 61 12
 Feyenoord
MF Ahmad Nourollahi 02-Jan-1993   29 23 3
 Shabab Al-Ahli
MF Milad Sarlak 26-Mar-1995   27 8 0
 Persepolis
MF Omid Ebrahimi 15-Sep-1987   34 52 0
 Al-Wakrah
MF Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh 30-Oct-2000   21 2 0
 Esteghlal
MF Mehdi Torabi 10-Sep-1994   27 34 6
 Persepolis
MF Ali Gholizadeh 10 -Mar-1996   26 23 6
 Charleroi
MF Mehdi Mehdipour 18-Feb-1994   28 2 0
 Esteghlal
FW Mehdi Taremi 18-Jul-1992   29 57 27
 Porto
FW Sardar Azmoun 01-Jan-1995   27 62 40
 Bayer Leverkusen
FW Ali Alipour 11-Nov-1995   26 3 0
 Gil Vicente
FW Allahyar Sayyadmanesh 29-Jun-2001   20 6 1
 Hull City

Iran Criticized for Slow Preparations for Qatar

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — While Japan and South Korea will start fine-tuning for the World Cup with high-profile warm-ups against Brazil next month, there are concerns in Iran that Asia’s top-ranked team has been slow off the mark with its preparations.

Iran is in Group B with England and the United States at the World Cup, which kicks off Nov. 21 in Qatar. But while there have been reports of a June friendly with New Zealand and talk of a potential match with Canada, so far Iran hasn’t confirmed its warm-up commitments.

“There appears to be no concrete plan,” Afshin Ghotbi, head coach of Iran’s national team from 2009-11, told The Associated Press. “Time is of the essence and preparation is vital to the success of Iran.

“Most teams have already arranged matches and many good opponents are not available anymore. Iran needs to urgently set up appropriate fixtures in the build-up to the World Cup.”

There has been criticism within Iran about the lack of movement so far, with a Tehran Times editorial last month headlined: “Iran wastes golden chance as always.” The editorial hoped for greater urgency when the soccer federation meets to choose a new president on May 10.

Interim president Mirshad Majedi has said no games will be announced until details are finalized.

As the country is under international sanctions, attracting teams to Tehran or traveling overseas can be more complex for Iran than its Asian rivals.

Ghotbi wants to see Iranian players such as Medhi Taremi at FC Porto and Sardar Azmoun, with Bayer Leverkusen of Germany, given every chance possible to succeed in Qatar.

Iran, No. 21 in the FIFA rankings and currently coached by Dragan Skocic, has qualified for five previous World Cups but has never progressed past the first round.

“I faced many of these challenges during my tenure, as did those who came before and after me,” Ghotbi said. “It is frustrating as Iran has a golden generation of players and if they have the best support and preparation then they can reach their true potential on the world stage.”

Carlos Queiroz, Ghotbi’s successor as head coach, complained about the quality of opposition that Iran faced leading up to the 2018 World Cup when it prepared with games against Turkey, Lithuania, Sierra Leone, Algeria, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan.

“If you copy the preparations of the last four World Cups, you don’t go anywhere. It’s a simple conclusion,” Queiroz said in 2017. At the same time, seven Iranian players took to social media to ask that the country to emulate South Korea when it came to preparations.

This time around, South Korea, drawn in Group H along with Portugal, Uruguay, and Ghana, will take on Brazil in Seoul on June 2 and then meet Chile four days later and Paraguay on June 10.

Japan will start preparations for Group E — containing Germany, Spain, and either Costa Rica or New Zealand — by taking on Brazil and Paraguay in the first week of June.

Saudi Arabia has also qualified from Asia and Qatar gets an automatic spot in the tournament as host. Australia and the United Arab Emirates will meet in an Asian playoff for the right to take on the fifth-place team from South America for another place in Qatar.

Team Melli ends the qualification rounds with a win against Lebanon.

Mashad: Iran completed their AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar™ schedule in style, eliminating Lebanon from playoff contention with a 2-0 victory at the Imam Reza Stadium on Tuesday.
Goals from Sardar Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh continued Team Melli’s superb form on home soil and ensured they will go into Friday’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ draw full of confidence after an outstanding campaign.

Lebanon came into the Matchday 10 clash with the door to June’s AFC qualification playoff ever so slightly ajar, but a sixth Group A defeat meant Mashhad marked the end of the road for Ivan Hašek’s side.

While the Cedars came into the tie without the likes of Soony Saad and Hassan Maatouk, Iran welcomed back Jahanbakhsh, who missed Thursday’s 2-0 defeat to Korea Republic, and it was the Feyenoord star who forced a solid save from Mostafa Matar with the game’s first real chance, a well struck 20-yard effort in the 19th minute.
Dragan Skočić’s men monopolised early possession, while Lebanon looked to minimise clear cut chances for their opponents, but the visiting side’s resistance was broken by a goal of beautiful simplicity, with Hossein Kanani dissecting the defence to find Azmoun’s perfectly timed run, with the Bayer Leverkusen forward easing the ball home from 12 yards in the 35th minute.
Iran looked to be cruising at that stage, but the hosts were almost punished for some untidy moments in possession prior to the interval, with Hussein Zein sending a rare Lebanese effort on goal narrowly over Alireza Beiranvand’s crossbar in the final minute of the first half.
The hosts continued to live dangerously after the break, with Hilal El Helwe sending Beiranvand sprawling with a volleyed effort that went only inches wide in the 48th minute, but Lebanon’s slim hopes were finally dashed when the Iranian captain put the result beyond doubt with just under 20 minutes remaining.
Again, it was a Kanani pass that unlocked the Lebanese defence, with his lofted ball catching out a much higher defensive line before Jahanbakhsh (pictured below, centre) beat Matar with a cultured side-footed effort which sent the bouncing ball floating into the net from 15 yards.
In Dubai, the UAE team fought gallantly to defeat South Korea 1-0 to seal its position in the AFC playoff and also

confirm Iran as the group winners.

With their third successive FIFA World Cup appearance long secured, Iran’s latest win means they overtake  Korea Republic in group A.

AFC ASIAN QUALIFIERS

Group A

Final Standing

P W D L F A GD PTS
1
IRAN
10 8 1 1 15 4 11 25
2
KOREA REPUBLIC
10 7 2 1 13 3 10 23
3
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
10 3 3 4 7 7 0 12
4
IRAQ
10 1 6 3 6 12 -6 9
5
SYRIA
10 1 3 6 9 16 -7 6
6
LEBANON
10 1 3 6 5 13 -8 6

What are the options of Skocic against South Korea?

Any coach who loses nearly half of his starting players needs to be worried, Skocic is not an exception despite his assertion in the pre-match press conference that Iran will stick to the same game plan and will not resort to a defensive game.

Sadegh Moharrami, Saeid Ezatollahi, Alireza Jahanbaksh, Saman Ghoddod, and Mehdi Taremi, are the five players who started the last match against the UAE but will be missing from the game against South Korea.

Perhaps the two most significant and important players would be Taremi, whose goals have been pushing Iran up in the table and winning the games for Team Melli, and then Jahanbakhsh, an inspiration and a key player whose much-improved game has meant a powerful Iranian side that has not been defeated in the competition. It is not that the rest of the absentees are less important, but the reality is that Jahanbakhsh’s and Taremi’s absence has the biggest impact.

Despite that, Iran’s bench is far from poor and has many players that can fill the gap. Skocic will have to wight his options carefully and play a balanced game against the Koreans. He is right in saying that Iran will not go into a defensive mode, as this will just give the Koreans an advantage, so what are his options?

Expected Line-Up

In the goal, there is very little doubt that Amir Abedzadeh will continue being the number one ahead of Beiranvand.

Amir Abedzadeh

In defense, the absence of Moharrami can be easily covered with several options. Milad Mohammadi and Majid Hosseini are both available and capable despite the fact that it will not be their ideal posts. Mohammadi is a left-back while Hosseini normally plays in the center. A switch of posts is quite possible, however, since the team needs pace against the nifty Koreans, Mohammadi seems better suited for this match.

Shojaa KHALILZADEH
Hossein KANANI-ZADEGAN
Milad Mohammadi
Omid NOORAFKAN

Middle of the field, where Team Melli has had good control in the qualifiers, is the most affected with the loss of two key players. For the holding defensive Midfield, Milad Sarlak, is a player with industry and stamina seems to be a good option for a starting place along with Ehsan Hajsafy.  This selection will give Skocic another option as Hajsafy can also operate as the pseudo-right back and switch play at that post. For the offensive side, Nourollahi and Gholizadeh are the most suitable combination. With the scheming of Nourollahi, and the close tight control of Gholizadeh, the forward line will be fed properly in the offensive moves. Vahid Amiri can be employed slightly further up the line or operate as a winger in a 4-4-2 system. Skocic will most probably start him in the midfield role before seeing how the game is progressing.

Milad Sarlak
Ehsan HAJSAFY
Ali GHOLIZADEH
Ahmad Nourollahi
Vahid AMIRI

Upfront, there is little doubt that Sardar Azmoun will take his rightful place as the sole forward, Despite a drop in form after recovering from injury and covid, Azamoun remains the best options upfront in the absence of the talismanic Taremi.

Sardar Azmoun

Much will depend on the progress of the match but our prediction is that Skocic will start with 4-5-1 system that will switch to 4-4-2 in the offensive part.  Other players for consideration are Mehdi Torabi, Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, Karim Ansarifard.

 

 

 

 

Seoane: Azmoun still “missing a lot”

By Rune Gjerulff

Sardar Azmoun is still far from his top level, according to Leverkusen coach Gerardo Seoane.

Bayer Leverkusen coach Gerardo Seoane has emphasized that there is a lot more to come from Sardar Azmoun.

The forward, who arrived injured from Zenit St. Petersburg in January, made his first start for Leverkusen in Sunday’s 0-2 win over Wolfsburg.

Assessing Azmoun’s performance after the game, Seoane told reporters:

“You saw two or three situations, where he was lacking a bit of the final explosiveness to assert himself. We all know it’s difficult to judge what percentage level he’s at. But there is still a lot missing.”

Azmoun will now be able to gain some match practice during the international break, having been called up for Iran’s games against South Korea and Lebanon.

“We are happy for him that he now has two games with the national team. That will do him good,” added Seoane.

Saman Ghoddos out of the squad.

Team Melli midfielder Saman Ghoddos has been diagnosed positive in the latest PCR and hence lost the chance to travel to the Korean capital for the match against the host nation and the following match against Lebanon in Mashad.

In a communique with the FFIRI Brentford, the premiere league club from London has confirmed that Ghoddos will not be available for selection for the upcoming international matches.

Hamid Estili, who has recently been appointed as the new Manager of the Iranian national team, confirmed the news: “Unfortunately, we will not have Ghoddos in these two matches, but we hope that other legionnaires will be able to join the squad and play for Team Melli without any problem”. Saman Ghoddos was a starter and played both the last two matches against UAE and Iraq. His absence gives coach Dragan Skocic some difficulty. Skocic has announced that the result of the game against South Korea is very important to the team.

Team Melli arrived early morning Sunday in Korea and after the PCR test, were immediately sent to quarantine. Many Legionnaire players are yet to join including Azmoun who played for Leverkusen today in a 2-0 away win versus Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. Taremi is also expected to leave for Korea after the match against Boavista. Milad Mohammadi, Ehsan Hajsafi, and Karim Ansari also played for AEK Athens in a 1-0 loss to PAOK in the Greek league.

Team Melli Squad list announced.

Team Melli will play complete its FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 schedule by playing a double-header against South Korea and Lebanon on March 24th and 29th respectively. With a day before flying to Seoul on a chartered plane. the squad for the two matches was announced. Iran has qualified for the finals in Qatar and will be battling the Koreans for a top-of-the-table finish and more importantly a significant addition of points in FIFA ranking. The draw in June will seed countries for the Finals based on total points in FIFA Ranking.

Dragan Skočić has announced the list of players invited to the national team camp. The Croat coach is desperate to keep his immaculate, near-perfect record with Team Melli after over two years from his appointment replacing the perpetual failure Marc Wilmots.

The names of the invited players:

    • Goalkeepers:
  1. Alireza Biranvand
  2. Amir Abedzadeh
  3. Hossein Hosseini
    • Defenders:
  4. Sadegh Moharremi
  5. Hossein Kananizadegan
  6. Shoja’a Khalilzadeh
  7. Majid Hosseini
  8. Omid Nourafkan
  9. Milad Mohammadi
  10. Daniel Ismaelifar
  11. Farshad Faraji
  12. Aref Gholami
    • Midfielders:
  13. Saeed Ezatollahi
  14. Kamal Kamiyabinia
  15. Mehdi Mehdipour
  16. Amirhossein Hassanzadeh
  17. Milad Sarlak
  18. Ehsan Haj Safi
  19. Vahid Amiri
  20. Mehdi Torabi
  21. Ahmad Noorollahi
  22. Saman Ghoddos
  23. Ali Gholizadeh
    • Forwards:
  24. Mehdi Taremi
  25. Alireza Jahanbakhsh
  26. Sardar Azmoun
  27. Karim Ansarifard
  28. Allahyar Sayadmanesh

Two players Saeed Ezatollahi and Sadegh Moharremi are suspended for the Korea Rep match with an accumulation of two cards, while Hossein Kananizadegan is surprisingly included in the list despite being sanctioned by the disciplinary committee!!