Tag: Uzbekistan

Team Melli on track for the Uzbekistan match

Team Melli is on course in preparation for the crucial match against Uzbekistan on Monday.

FIFA announced the name of the referees for the match. Ahmad Abu Baker Said Al Kaf from Oman will be assisted by Hamed Suleiman and Abu Baker Saleem. The fourth referee is Omar Mubarak all from the Sultanate of Oman.

The Omani referee was the fourth official in 4 matches in the recent FIFA World Cup U-20 championship 2017 in South Korea. He was not assigned any matches to referee. His last international match was in Sydney on 27th March 2017 refereeing the match between Australia and UAE which the host won 2-0.

Meanwhile, the FFIRI has encouraged the fans not to go to Azadi Stadium in matchday unless they carry a ticket on hand. The ticket sales for the match against Uzbekistan is all on-line through a dedicated website. No tickets will be sold on the match day from kiosks.

FIFA was given assurance by the FFIRI and the security authorities that strict measures and tight security will be implemented on match day following the terrorist attacks Parliament and the Ayatollah Khomeini mausoleum a few days back.

Carlos Queiroz is relying on his team’s solid defence with a perfect defensive record of not conceding a goal since the opening match, while he will be deploying  a powerful offensive line up front to unsettle the Uzbek defenses. Azmoun has been in top form , while both Ansarifard and Ghoochannejad had their best ever forms playing in Europe. domestically , Mehdi Taremi has been the best Iranian forward and the league’s top scorer.

To supplement the forwards, Jahanbakhsh and Vahid Amiri will be feeding the attackers with their runs and crosses on the flanks , leaving Dejagah and Ezzatollahie to cover the middle of the field.

There are no injuries worries to report in the squad , however , Ashkan Dejagah is short of match practise and made a short appearance for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga following a long injury. Ramin Rezaeian is without a club after he was sacked from Persepolis , nevertheless the defender form was quite good against Montenegro in the recent 2-1 win.

 

Iran U-19 qualifies for the FIFA U-20 World Cup

Isa Town: Reza Jafari’s brace booked Islamic Republic of Iran a place in the semi-finals of the AFC U-19 Championship Bahrain 2016 on Monday evening as Amir Peiravani’s side handed Uzbekistan a 2-0 defeat to also qualify for the finals of next year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea Republic.

A goal in each half from Jafari sets up a meeting with Saudi Arabia in the last four, and also sees the Iranians qualify for the finals of the global youth tournament for the first time since 2001.

Jafari’s two well-taken goals were backed up by a resolute defensive performance by Iran, who largely limited Uzbekistan to a series of attempts from outside the area that caused goalkeeper Shahab Adeli few problems.

After making a raft of changes for his side’s final group match against China, Uzbekistan coach Jasur Abduraimov reverted to his preferred starting line-up as the Central Asian side set their sights on qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup for the third tournament in a row.

It was the Iranians, though, who made the strongest start and, by the 13th minute, Peiravani’s team had taken the lead. Abolfazl Razzaghpour’s free kick into the box was miss-controlled by Reza Shekari before the ball fell at the feet of Jafari and he thumped his shot beyond Umidjon Khamroev.

Uzbekistan pushed for the equaliser throughout the remainder of the half, but the Iranian defence restricted their opponents to attempts from long range.

Jasurbek Yakhshiboev slalomed his way into the area, only to see his shot blocked, before a series of attempts by Sharof Mukhitdinov from distance. The first from 30 yards was just over the bar while a free kick from similar distance was collected by Adeli at the second attempt. Meanwhile, Khojiakbar Alijonov’s shot hit the side netting 11 minutes before the break.

Less than two minutes after the restart, Iran doubled their lead, this time capitalising on some slack play in midfield by the Uzbeks. Shekari picked up possession just inside his own half and played a quick ball forward into the path of Jafari, who outsprinted Islom Kobilov before slotting the ball past Khamroev.

Another Mukhitdinov attempt flew over before Shekari squandered the chance to put the outcome beyond doubt when he dragged his attempt at goal well wide of the target, while with 18 minutes remaining Husniddin Gofurov missed the opportunity to pull Uzbekistan back into the game when he headed over the bar from less than six yards out.

The Uzbeks continued to press – and Shahab was forced to make a spectacular one-handed save from Yakhshiboev in the dying seconds – but Iran’s disciplined backline gave little away as Peiravani’s team closed out the game to seal an historic result.

Photo: Lagardère Sports

UZBEKISTAN 0-1 IR IRAN

Tashkent
/ Oct 06 2016 /

Tashkent: A Jalal Hosseini header ended Uzbekistan’s 100% record in third round qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup as Islamic Republic of Iran defeated the Central Asians 1-0 in Tashkent on Thursday.

Uzbekistan came into the tie on the back of 1-0 wins over Syria and Qatar, but Hosseini’s goal on 27 minutes proved the difference maker as Carlos Queiroz’s team picked up their seventh point in three games to remain unbeaten so far.

Samvel Babayan’s side tried to respond in the second half but having lost playmaker Server Djeparov to injury just before the break, the White Wolves failed to breakdown a stout Iranian defence and suffered their first defeat of the qualifying campaign.

“I think we deserved this victory,” said Queiroz. “Uzbekistan also played well, but they controlled the ball in their area. We tried to go on the counterattack when we took ball.

“We didn’t give many chances to Uzbekistan. They didn’t show their usual performance, and that was to our advantage. We blocked them every time they had dangerous shots and I congratulate my team on this positive result.

“I think the battle for the World Cup will continue. We took three points today, but we need more victories and points. It is just one more step towards our target. If any team makes any mistake in Tashkent they will lose.”

Uzbekistan went into the game without captain Odil Akhmedov due to his inability to recover from injury, while Queiroz made a raft of changes to his midfield and attack with an eye on the crunch match with Korea Republic on Tuesday.

One of those changes, Reza Goochannejhad, could have opened the scoring inside 10 minutes but he sliced his volley high and wide after he was picked out inside the area by full-back Ramin Rezaeian’s fine cross.

Iran did go in front before the half hour mark, though, as centre-back Hosseini connected with a smart header from Masoud Shojaei’s inswinging free-kick from the right that left goalkeeper Aleksandr Lobanov helpless.

The hosts suffered a further blow five minutes before half-time as two-time AFC Player of the Year and captain on the night Djeparov was withdrawn from the field in a great deal of discomfort to be replaced by Alexander Geynrikh.

Uzbekistan begun the second period strongly and pushed forward in search of the leveller but struggled to penetrate the Iran backline.

Inside the final 20 minutes, substitute Jaloliddin Masharipov was brought down on the edge of the area in a hugely promising position but Geynrikh’s free-kick summed up Uzbekistan’s night as it hit the wall and rebounded away harmlessly.

And Iran could have ended the match even more comfortably as Sardor Azmoun, a second half replacement for Ghoochannejhad, played in Vahid Amiri but Lobanov was quick off his line to deny the midfielder, but Queiroz’s team still managed to see out the remaining minutes unscathed.

“Unfortunately we lost the game,” said Babayan. “The players tried to battle until the end of the match, but we couldn’t create chances without Akhmedov. We created some moments, but the team didn’t realise them. Now we have the next game and we need to pay attention to it.

“We lost the fight in the first 30 minutes tonight. Besides that, we couldn’t create any chances through the middle and those were the main reasons for our defeat tonight. We can’t play well in midfield without Akhmedov. Our defenders played well, but we lost many battles in the centre.”

Photos: Lagardère Sports.

Sardar Azmoun injury concern.

Team Melli center forward Sardar Azmoun was injured and taken to hospital by an ambulance during Friday’s match between FC Rostov vs. Krylya Sovetov Samara in the Russian Premier League.

Sardar was substituted in for Dimitry Poloz in the 64th minutes. Rostov won 2-1 to climb the table to 4th place with 10 points from 6 matches.

Early report indicates a suspected injury to the arm, however no confirmation was given on his status. FC Rostov will be meeting Bayern Munich in their first ever appearance in the UEFA Champions League group stages.

Team Melli’s next game will be away to Uzbekistan on the 6th October in Matchday 3 of the FIFA WC Russia 2018 third round qualifiers. Iran is in the second place behind leaders Uzbekistan with 4 points. The Uzbek has two victories against Syria and Qatar.

FIFA Ranking: Iran maintains its top Asia Ranking

Team Melli maintained the same ranking both in the World and in Asia in the latest FIFA Ranking for July 2016.

Iran Climbed remained 39th in the world , while staying as Number 1 in Asia.

in the monthly published ranking , Iran which had no matches last month accumulated a total of  674 down from the previous month of 688.  However , that was still  comfortably higher than the second place and  its closest rival South Korea  with 592 points while  Uzbekistan (569) narrowly overleaps Japan (564)  in third place.

In addition to South Korea and Uzbekistan Iran’s opponents in the World Cup qualifiers group are ranked as Follows: Qatar (79) followed by  China (81)  and Syria (104).

FIFA ranking

July 2016

Asia World Rank Team Total Points Previous Points +/-
 [1] 39 IRNIran 674 688 0
 [2] 48 KORKorea Republic 592 591 2
[3] 56 UZB  Uzbekistan 569 544 10
 [4] 57 JPNJapan 564 581 -4
 [5] 59 AUSAustralia 555 663 0
 [6] 65 KSASaudi Arabia 540 545 0
 [7] 74 UAEUnited Arab Emirates 484 517 -4
 [8] 78 JORJordan 438 434 2
 [9] 79
 QAT  Qatar 425 407 5
 [10] 81 CHN  China PR 422 423 0

Iran drawn against Korea Rep. again.

Iran was drawn with Korea Rep. , Uzbekistan , Qatar , China and Syria in Group A of the FIFA World Cup 2018 Final qualification rounds.

The draw was conducted by AFC General Secretary Dato Windsor John, with a helping hand from former Korea Republic star Park Ji-sung. Numerous personalities were in attendance, headed by the coaches of the teams that will contest the third round.

The latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking was used to split the 12-country field into six pots. These were then drawn into two groups of six teams, who will do battle for direct qualification to Russia 2018 between 1 September 2016 and 5 September 2017.

Both group winners and runners-up will go straight through to the 2018 World Cup. Meanwhile, the two teams that finish third will meet in a two-legged showdown on 5 and 10 October 2017. Whoever triumphs in this double-header will look to secure their spot at the finals in an intercontinental play-off – also to be played over two legs – against the fourth-placed country from CONCACAF qualifying.

Australia , the AFC Asian Cup title holders is grouped with Japan , Saudi Arabia, UAE , Thailand, and Iraq in group B.

The two teams Iran and Korea Rep. will renew their rivalry once again in the qualification for the World Cup. In the last encounter , the relationship between the coaches were making the headlines and as there was not love lost between Carlo Queiroz and the South Korean Choi KANG-HEE . The South Korean for all his rhetorics ended up in the losing side and eventually resigned his job, South Korea survived by the skin of their teeth after Uzbekistan failed to score one more goal to put them ahead on goal difference in the other group matches.

The draw avoided a potential problem for FIFA and AFC after the Saudi’s claimed they will refuse to play in Iran.

Iran, Japan, Korea Rep.,  Australia and Qatar are the top seeds for qualification. The first round will commence on 1st September 2016.

 

MATCHES SCHEDULE

Matchday One
September 01, 2016 Thursday Iran vs. Qatar – H

Matchday Two
September 06, 2016 Tuesday China vs. Iran – A

Matchday Three
October 06, 2016 Thursday Uzbekistan vs. Iran – A

Matchday Four
October 11, 2016 Tuesday Iran vs.  South Korea – H

Matchday Five
November 15, 2016 Tuesday  Syria  vs. Iran – A

Matchday Six
March 23, 2017 Thursday Qatar vs. Iran – A

Matchday Seven
March 28, 2017 Tuesday Iran vs  China – H

Matchday Eight
June 13, 2017 Tuesday Iran vs. Uzbekistan – H

Matchday Nine
August 31, 2017 Thursday South Korea vs. Iran – A

Matchday Ten
September 5th, 2017 Iran vs. Syria – H

AFC FUTSAL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL PREVIEW

 UZBEKISTAN PREVIEW

/ Feb 20 2016 /

Tashkent: Coach Jose Maria Pazos insists Uzbekistan must “produce the perfect game” in Sunday’s final against Iran at Uzbekistan Stadium to claim a first-ever AFC Futsal Championship title.

Uzbekistan secured a nail-biting penalty shootout victory over Thailand in Friday’s semi-final following a thrilling 2-2 draw as Pazos’ side maintained their record of having never failed to qualify for the final as hosts.

But if Uzbekistan are to avoid a fourth final defeat, they must overcome Iran, whose formidable form has seen the 10-time winners score an incredible 46 goals in five games including a 13-1 semi-final victory over Vietnam on Friday.

“The key point is to keep them quiet for the first five or 10 minutes; nobody has managed to do that yet and they have won every match easily,” said Pazos, whose side lost 8-3 to Iran in the 2010 final.

“If we can keep them quiet or even score an early goal, who knows, maybe they will begin to get doubts in their minds that they have not experienced so far.

“But we have not started games well yet, so we need to improve that way. For us to win, we must produce the perfect game and we also need them to not be at their best.

“Nobody has been able to come close to stopping them yet. Vietnam tried to press them but it was impossible, other teams have tried to sit deep and defend and have been punished. They will punish us if we have any lack of focus which is why we need 40 minutes of total concentration.”

Hosts Uzbekistan began the tournament with a 5-2 win over Saudi Arabia before going on to top Group A with maximum points after claiming wins over Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon.

And after seeing off Iraq 3-0 in the quarter-finals, Pazos’ team came through the tense semi-final with Thailand to raise hopes of a first continental crown following final defeats in 2001, 2006 and 2010.

“We must try to play in a similar way to the Thailand game, where we defended and attacked well. We also need to cut out our mistakes,” added Pazos.

“But I have told my players they must enjoy this occasion because playing in front of the home fans will be special. It will probably be the last time they play the tournament in their own country with such a great atmosphere, so they must make the most of it.

“Iran will not be affected by our support because they are used to playing in front of big crowds so, I repeat, the key for us to complete mission impossible is to keep them quiet at the beginning. If we can do that, maybe we will find their weak points.”

 IRAN PREVIEW

Iran vs. Vietnam: Semi Final AFC Futsal Championship 2016 , Tashkent , Uzbekistan.

Tashkent: Coach Mohammad Nazemosharie has warned “anything can happen” ahead of Sunday’s AFC Futsal Championship final against hosts Uzbekistan as Iran chance an 11th continental title at Uzbekistan Stadium.

Iran have progressed to the final with a perfect record and underlined their title credentials with a 13-1 semi-final success over Vietnam on Friday.

Nazemosharie’s side, who have scored 46 goals and conceded just three in five games, also beat Uzbekistan 8-3 in the 2010 final in Tashkent which was the last time Iran won the AFC Futsal Championship title.

“We’ve prepared for six months for this one moment and we came to Uzbekistan only for one match, for this match, and to become champions,” said Nazemosharie.

“Sure, on paper we are the strongest team but the interesting and wonderful thing about futsal is that anything can happen in any match.

“If people say we are going to win for sure, for 99%, then I say we must focus on getting better and stopping the other 1%.

“No team that thinks they are champions can become champions; we have to come fully prepared, with good tactics, a good approach, mentality and strategy.”

Uzbekistan have also progressed to the final without losing a game, but the hosts did need penalties to edge out Thailand in their semi-final on Friday following a 2-2 draw after extra-time.

 “We have to accept that we are playing in Uzbekistan’s home and that they have a huge advantage with the crowd on their side,” added Nazemosharie.

“Every match you see, and I’m sure it will be the same on Sunday, their fans arrive hours before kick-off and they sing and play music and we know just how difficult it will be.”

Iran, though, following the 2010 final success, have won 22 of the 24 meetings with Uzbekistan.

“We are constantly thinking how to improve, so that’s why we practised the power-play, just to be ready,” said Nazemosharie.

“It’s also why we’ll practice penalties because you never know what can happen in this beautiful game of futsal.”

Photo: AFC

HEAD TO HEAD RECORDS

Iran vs Uzbekistan
Competition: – All Competitions
National Teams: – A Team (Men)
Period: – All
HOME AWAY NEUTRAL TOTAL
P W D L GM GF P W D L GM GF P W D L GM GF P W D L GM GF
10 9 1 0 62 13 10 9 0 1 40 15 4 4 0 0 26 6 24 22 1 1 128 34

 

Team 1 vs Team 2 Result Penalty
08/05/2014 – Ho Chi Minh City (VIE)
– AFC Asian Futsal Championship – Vietnam 2014 (FT)
Iran vs Uzbekistan 10 – 0 –
20/04/2014 – Tashkent (UZB)
– Friendly Match
Uzbekistan vs Iran 2 – 6 –
19/04/2014 – Tashkent (UZB)
– Friendly Match
Uzbekistan vs Iran 1 – 6 –
09/06/2013 – Tehran (IRI)
– Friendly Match
Iran vs Uzbekistan 9 – 3 –
08/06/2013 – Tehran (IRI)
– Friendly Match
Iran vs Uzbekistan 6 – 1 –
29/05/2012 – Dubai (UAE)
– AFC Asian Futsal Championship – UAE 2012
Iran vs Uzbekistan 6 – 3 –
17/04/2012 – Bandar-Abbas (IRI)
– Friendly Match
Iran vs Uzbekistan 4 – 1 –
15/04/2012 – Bandar-Abbas (IRI)
– Friendly Match
Iran vs Uzbekistan 2 – 2 –
12/10/2010 – Tashkent (UZB)
– Friendly Match
Uzbekistan vs Iran 4 – 0 –
30/05/2010 – Tashkent (UZB)
– AFC Asian Futsal Championship – Uzbekistan 2010 (FT)
Uzbekistan vs Iran 3 – 8 –
08/04/2010 – Udon Thani (THA)
– Udon Thani – Thailand 5’s 2010
Iran vs Uzbekistan 2 – 1 –
06/10/2009 – Tashkent (UZB)
– Tashkent 2009
Uzbekistan vs Iran 1 – 3 –
24/04/2008 – Tashkent (UZB)
– Friendly Match
Uzbekistan vs Iran 0 – 3 –
22/04/2008 – Tashkent (UZB)
– Friendly Match
Uzbekistan vs Iran 0 – 1 –
21/10/2007 – Joinville (BRA)
– Grand Prix 2007
Uzbekistan vs Iran 0 – 2 –
18/05/2007 – RootDamages FasT here (JPN)
– Osaka – Japan 2007
Uzbekistan vs Iran 3 – 7 –
27/01/2007 – RootDamages FasT here (IRI)
– 1st B Five Cup 2007
Iran vs Uzbekistan 7 – 0 –
02/06/2005 – Ho Chi Minh City (VIE)
– Ho Chi Min City – Vietnam 2005
Uzbekistan vs Iran 1 – 4 –
21/04/2004 – Macau (MCO)
– Macau – Macau 2004
Uzbekistan vs Iran 1 – 8 –
03/08/2003 – Tehran (IRI)
– Tehran – Iran 2003
Iran vs Uzbekistan 7 – 2 –
03/06/2003 – Kuala Lumpur (MLY)
– KL 5’s – Kuala Lumpur 2003
Iran vs Uzbekistan 7 – 1 –
22/10/2002 – Djakarta (INS)
– Djakarta – Indonesia 2002
Iran vs Uzbekistan 5 – 0 –
20/07/2001 – Tehran (IRI)
– AFC Asian Futsal Ch. – Iran 2001 (3rd)
Iran vs Uzbekistan 9 – 0 –
08/05/2000 – Bangkok (THA)
– AFC Asian Futsal Ch. – Thailand 2000 (2nd)
Uzbekistan vs Iran 4 – 6 –

Iran Futsal to the final after a bone crushing defeat of Vietnam.

Futsal Team Melli reached the final of the AFC Futsal Championship 2016 with a commanding win against surprise semi-finalist Vietnam. Iran’s 13-1 win was one of the biggest semi final margins in the history of the competition. The first half ended 7-1 for Team Melli.

Vietnam paid the price of naivety of their coach. Their quarter-final win against defending champion Japan, led to unrealistic , though legitimate belief in the team that they can conquer Iran.

However, It was clear from the first few minutes of the match that Vietnam cannot match Team Melli for skills and technique.

In the pre-match press conference , the ambitious Spanish coach Bruno Formoso said his team was looking beyond Iran and into the final. However, he failed to analyse the opposition properly and his plans went tragically wrong as his team was 3-0 down in less than 9 minutes in the 1st half. The major mistake was playing offensively against Iran and trying to match them for ball possession and attack.

Mahdi Javid opened the scoring for Iran before Farhad Tavakoli scored two quick goals to put Team Melli comfortably 3-0 ahead.

After the 3rd goal, Vietnam coach asked for a time out where he decided to play with all players in the filed ( 5 -0)  to score at least one goal against the mighty Iranians. Again , Vietnam players simply could not match the Iranians.

Despite the fact that Iran’s coach was revolving and playing all his squad, Nazim AlSharia  mainly used the reserve restig the likes of Taheri, Tayebi, Hassanzadeh and Keshavarz.

Vietnam brave resistance fell apart in the second half as Ahmadi , Hossein Tayebi , Mahdi Javid and Tavakoli  (scoring  his 4 goals) , Keshavarz  added another 6 goals in the second half for Team Melli.  Vietnam could not add to that solitary goal scored in the first half.

Iran’s injured Captain Mohammed Keshavarz , returned to the team and played the last 10 minutes helping himself to two goals in the process.

Iran will be meeting Uzbekistan in the Finals for a repeat of the for 2010 championship edition when the mighty Iranians defeated the host 8-3 in front of the passionate Uzbek fans.

Easy win for Iran Futsal team against Jordan.

Tashkent: Futsal Team Melli started the campaign to regain its lost Asian title with an easy 6-0 win against Jordan in Tashkent this evening.

AliAsghar HassanZadeh (2) , Mahdi Javid (2) , Hossein Tayyebi , and Ghodrat Bahdori scored Iran’s goals against Jordan in the match that was played in the University Arena in the Uzbek Capital city. The first half ended 2-0 , goals scored by Hassanzadeh and Tayyebi.

It was plain sailing for Iran , although the bus parking technique that the Jordanian coach deployed to minimize the damage, gave Iran a few challenges in scoring. It did not yield much result for Jordan, though. Team Melli was comfortably controlling the majority of the possession and on the rare occasions they lost the ball, the Jordanians failed to capitalize. Jordan players hardly had more than a few seconds of ball possession each time creating no threat whatsoever for Sepehr Mohammadi in Iran’s goal.

Khalid , the Jordanian keeper was the hero of the first half for Jordan with his countless saves from all angles.

In the second half, it was much the same as the first with Jordan content on defending and Iran playing a slow passing game resembling a practise session. All players were used in the match by Iran Coach Nazim Ul Shariea.

When Iran increased the pace, the Jordanians did not have the solution and their defenses simply fell apart and in the process receiving 4 further goals in the second half.  Despite the 6-0 drubbing , Khalid was again the savior for Jordan as he single handedly managed to keep the score relatively respectable for Jordan . It could have easily been double figures score line.

Iran will play China , who were beaten 6-1 by Iraq in the earlier match , before finishing with what would be top of the table match against Iraq on Sunday.

Teams
P
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
PTS
IRAN 1 1 0 0 6 0 6 3
IRAQ 1 1 0 0 6 1 5 3
CHINA P.R. 1 0 0 1 1 6 -5 0
JORDAN 1 0 0 1 0 6 -6 0
 
Group B Results
IRAQ  6 – 1 PR CHINA
IRAN 6 – 0  JORDAN

Iran Futsal looking for lost glory.

Tashkent: Coach Mohammad Nazemosharie is adamant Iran have their sights set on winning an 11th AFC Futsal Championship in Uzbekistan this month ahead of their Group B opener against Jordan on Wednesday.

Iran are comfortably the most successful side in the history of the AFC Futsal Championship having won 10 of the first 11 editions, although they were forced to settle for a runners-up finish in Vietnam in the 2014 tournament after a penalty shootout defeat to Japan.

But ahead of the meeting with Jordan at Universal Stadium, Nazemosharie is confident his side will return to winning ways.

“Futsal is very strong in Iran and we’ve come here to put on a good show,” said Nazemosharie.

“We respect all the teams in our group but we are aiming to be champions and we are a very powerful side.”

Jordan coach Salah Abu Jafer, though, is looking for a strong start for the debutants with an eye on the second round and will look to the likes of key player Samer Samih, who plays professionally in Qatar.

“It’s Jordan’s first time to reach the finals and the whole country is proud of this achievement,” said Abu Jafer.

“We’ve prepared well with several camps and our training has been good so we come in high spirits and with the aim of qualifying to the second stage.”

Also at Universal Stadium on Wednesday, Iraq will take on China with coach Haitham Abbas’ squad based on powerhouse club side, Naft Al Wasat.

No fewer than 12 of Iraq’s final 14 man selection are from the Najaf-based outfit who reached the semi-finals of last year’s AFC Futsal Club Championship.

“We don’t have any professional players in our squad unlike Iran but what we do have is a strong unity borne from the Naft Al Wasat side which is like a defacto national team,” said Abbas.

“Originally, I was looking at other players and we tried many different combinations but I kept coming back to the fact that this club had the best players – I’ve even called two goalkeepers from the same team.”

Opponents China also featured in the 2014 edition in Vietnam, although they failed to reach the knockout stage after losing to Iran, Australia and Indonesia but coach Shan Zhiping is hopeful of an improved performance.

“We’re very happy to be here in Uzbekistan and we’ve had a good preparation with the team being in camp since January 18,” said Shan.

“We enter with the same hopes and expectations as every other nation and that’s firstly to reach the knockout stage and ultimately to claim one of the five spots for this year’s World Cup.”

Photo: AFC