Team Melli arrived in Doha on Monday evening for the start of the 10 days Training camp in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup 2019.
Soon after arriving in Doha, Team Melli held its first training session in Doha’s Aspire Camp. The training on Monday evening started by light work and warming up with the ball, doing tensile strides, and after a mini game, the squad continued on the ground with mini goals duels. The session eventually ended with stretching. One of the interesting points in the training today was the lack of adequate security for the tactical exercises of the team, so that the children practiced with the players at the training site!
Meanwhile, various sports teams, as well as different groups of people at the training site, were able to watch the training exercises, which surprised the players and members of the team’s coaching staff.
Queiroz talked about the injury list of players and his hope of preparing them for the Asian tournament: “In the first stage of the camp, which will be in Doha Qatar, from December 17 to December 25, we will have 21 players in the camp. The official date of the final list of the national team is December 26th. We will announce December 25th the final list. We currently have 21 players in the camp, and 9 players are on the list of players in Europe. Thirty-five players are competing to the best of their ability to make the final list of Team Melli. I believe these players have the chance to be present at the final squad. I hope that with the work that my staff will do in the next few days and with the grace of God, we will have the best performance in the Asian Cup.”
Interestingly, Queiroz refuses to talk about challenging for the Asian Cup title.
Before the squad left Tehran’s Imam Khomeini’s airport, Carlos Queiroz went on another rant and criticism. This time he accused even the Minister of Sport for not paying due respect to the team!!
Many critics feel that Queiroz has a pre-package of justifications and excuses in case of failure. Apparently, NOT respecting the team is another major factor for possible failure.