In its final training preparation, Team Melli will be flying tomorrow Sunday, 26th May to Dubai , UAE to set up camp just prior to the match against Qatar in Doha to be held on the 4th of July in Al Sadd stadium.
Carlos Queiroz , last assignment before this camp was attending the friendly international match between Qatar and Latvia (FIFA Rank 110) in Doha, in which the host displayed some impressive football defeating the European rival 3-1. The win was a morale booster for the Qatari team and in sharp contrast to the shaky result of Team Melli which lost to the reserve team of Oman 3-1 in Muscat.
The Portuguese coach of Team Melli admitted to the media in Doha, that his team’s task is going to be quite difficult in front of a much improved Qatar. He said that the new coach Fahad Thani has introduced some new faces that did not play against Iran in the first match. “I think the coach has managed to integrate these new players quite well in the team. The overall standard of Qatar has improved, and with the advantage of home ground and the fans, we have a tough task in this match.” Queiroz added.
The Portuguese coach continued stressing that he knows the potential of Qatar in spite of the changes in the lineup during the recent period, where Coach Fahd used many young faces. In response to a question whether he achieved his objective by watching Qatar match, Queiroz responded “I am fully aware that coach Fahad has deliberately fielded a different lineup to conceal the features of the starting lineup of the team facing us. Under such circumstances, especially with new players in the team, it pays to use them in friendly matches, which certainly is normal because of the sensitivity of the position of the national team with a dream to reach the 2014 Brazil World Cup. ”
The Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, then went on to praise the role played by Qatar football Association which provided all the support from facilities to resources to serve Qatar football. Such support provides comfort to the technical staff and led by Qatari coach National Fahad Al-Thani and augurs well for his work to prepare the team to contest the qualifying Asian qualifying for the 2014 World Cup .“
Asked whether the Iranian national team was affected by the loss to Oman prior to facing Qatar, the coach replied: “I think that the loss will not affect the morale of the Iranian national team, particularly as the team that played in Muscat was our second team not the full team.” Explaining further, Queiroz said “The game was part of the preparation for the upcoming confrontation against Qatar next month.”
On the non-use of legionnaire players in the match against Oman, the coach said: “The lack of time was not in our favor, especially as there was a game in the AFC Champions League involving Esteghlal and also some mandatory rest period for the European based players, which meant that we were unable to use a large percentage of our full team. However, the team played well despite the loss against Oman.”
Portuguese coach praised his team’s performance despite the loss, particularly as it was a good opportunity to observe the standard of the players before the Qatar match (…) He pointed out that the performance will improve after the arrival of the core of the team, as well as the inclusion of professionals in Europe to strengthen the ranks of the Iranian national team.
Queiroz confirmed that it would sitting in the stands rather than the bench during the Qatar match as he is serving a two match ban by FIFA .
On Saturday’s final training session , a group of ex-players and dignitaries showed up in Team Melli camp to wish the team well , encourage them and boost the morale. One of those who visited the camp was the recently
retired Ali Karimi who was greeted and hugged by Carlos Queiroz. Other personalities that visited the camp included Mayeli-Kohan , Majeed Jalali , Hameed Estili , Framarz Zelli , Majeed Namjo-Motlagh , Afshin Peyrovani and Karim Bagheri.
In an interesting move, all the players wore a t-shirt in support of the injured Ashkan Dejagah who will be operated upon soon and will be sorely missed until the end
of the World Cup qualifications round. The players took a photo-shoot with “We are with you” slogan T-shirt before continuing training.
