Team Melli list for Hong Kong match is announced.

Marc Wilmots announced the squad list of Team Melli for the match against Hong Kong which will be Iran’s opening match for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

In the new Mark Wilmotz roster, Esteghlal , Persepolis and Tractorsazi have the lion share of the players. Sepahan Esfahan and Padidah Shahr Khodro who are currently leading the Persian Gulf Football League table, have no representation in Team Melli.

Estghala has 4 players (Hossein Hosseini, Siavash Yazdani, Ali Karimi and Vouria Ghafouri ), Persepolis has 6 (Alireza Biranvand, Vahid Amiri, Hossein Kanani Zadegan, Mehdi Torabi, Mohammad Naderi and Ahmad Nourollahi ) while Tractorsazi of Tabriz has 3 players (Rashid Mazaheri, Ehsan Haj Safi and Masoud Shojaei)

There are prominent absentees in the list and the most surprising is the Captain Ashkan Dejagah. Tractor midfielder, who has been ever-present in Team Melli in the last 9 years, is nowhere to be seen in the list despite his brilliant performance in the first two weeks of the Premier League. Dejagah was instrumental in his team defeat of the defending champions Persepolis a few days ago.

On the other hand, the Team Melli selectors have invited Persepolis defender Kanani -Zadegan , who has not played a single minute in the league this season!

Siavash Yazdani and Mohammad Naderi are the two rookies

Another major absentee is former Esteghlal defender Rouzbeh Cheshmi. The reason given for his exclusion is due to uncertainty about his future club after his contract expired with Esteghlal.

There is also no place in the squad for Saeed Ezzatollahi, who recently moved from Russian club to Belgian team Eupen. His status and lack of match fitness were deemed unacceptable for the upcoming match against  Hong Kong.

The Iranian national football team will face Hong Kong at 9:37 pm on Tuesday, September 19, in the qualifying round of the World Cup and the Asian Nations Cup.

THE SQUAD

# Player Club Country
GOALKEEPERS
1 BIRANVAND, Alireza Persepolis
2 MAZAHERI, Mohammad Rashid Tractorsazi
3 HOSSEINI, Hossein Esteghlal
DEFENDERS
4 GHAFOORI, Vourya Esteghlal
5 HOSSEINI, Majeed Trabzonspor
6 KANANI-ZADEGAN, Hossein Persepolis
7 MOHAMMADI, Milad Ghent Image result for belgium flag
8 NADERI, Mohammad Persepolis
9 POURALIGANJI, Morteza Al Arabi
10 REZAEIAN, Ramin Al Shahaniya
11 YAZDANI, Siavush Esteghlal
MIDFIELD
12 AMIRI, Vahid Persepolis
13 EBRAHIMI, Omid Al Ahli
14 HAJSAFY, Ehsan Tractorsazi
15 KARIMI, Ali Esteghlal
16 NOORALLAHIE, Ahmad Persepolis
17 SHOJAEI, Masoud Tractorsazi
18 TORABI, Mehdi Persepolis
FORWARDS
19 ANSARIFARD, Karim Al Saliyah
20 AZMOUN, Sardar Zenit St. Petersburg
21 JAHANBAKHSH, AliReza Brighton & Hove Albion
22 SAYYAD-MANESH Allahyar Fenerbahçe
23 TAREMI, Mehdi Rio Ave