Carlos Queiroz has deployed some interesting tactics for the first friendly match of Team Melli in South Africa.
In the match that was played in the base camp of team Melli in Johannesburg, and in a pitch which did not resemble a football pitch, Queiroz decided that the opponents coach would referee the match while his assistance including Majid Saleh will be assistant referees!
Furthermore , Queiroz decided to play with 10 men only from minute 80 of the match, presumably to test how his players will perform under pressure of one players short. The South African team failed to score against Team Melli in the last 10 minutes , however it is not clear if the Africans have fielded a full strength team for this practice match.
In a post match statement , Queiroz said that his objective from this training camp practice matches is to improve the physical conditioning of the players “The result of the matches do not bother me one bit. I am more concerned on the physical side of my players and how to improve it in this short time that is available to me. We need to be tough both physically and mentally, improve our running and endurance.” said the Portuguese coach.
“I am determined to take the team to Brazil and perform to our best ability provided we have unequivocal and full support form everyone (…)”
Meanwhile , Esteghlal player who joined the camp late , have been given a stern physical training to bring them back in shape. Some of the players were running with performance measuring devices for recording their vital sign.
Team Melli real test of this camp will be on the 2nd of May when they face the full national team of Mozambique.