The current Team Melli camp has been joined by additional two previously unannounced coaches from Brazil. Mohammad Nabi , the manager of Team Melli said these two coaches are recruited form Corinthians club of Brazil and will be replacing the departed Tony Simoez who reigned his post a couple of months back. The two unnamed coaches are added to the coaching staff team compromising of the recently recruited Majid Saleh , Oceano , Aghajanian, and Gasper.

On the other hand , the mystery of the team that was supposed to be facing Team Melli in a friendly match was finally unveiled hours before the kickoff. South Africa’s Moroka Swallows club will be the first opponent of Team Melli on Tuesday morning.

Team Melli officials refused to name the opponent teams until the last moments preferring secrecy to keep Team Melli rivals in Group F of the FIFA World cup in suspense and reducing the possibility of them observing Team Melli in action (…)

Today’s match will be the first test of the conditioning of the Iranian players. Much of the work carried out in South Africa was focused on the physical side to prepare Team Melli against the teams with better physical conditions and endurance. Mohammad Nabi re-emphasized the previous statements by Queiroz that this camp was set up for the domestic league players of Team Melli addressing their shortcomings in running , physical aspects and building body strength. Players in European leagues, do not need such training according to Queiroz.

The names of the other two or possibly three opponents of Team Melli in friendly matches remains a mystery.

Other major development of the cam p came from Queiroz who has decided to cut short the camp duration by 5 days. Team Melli coach was not very pleased by the start where he had to travel to Johannesburg with only 11 players out of 28 he selected for the camp.

The reason for cutting short the camp duration was offered by Mohammad Nabi . He said” Iranian players are very emotional lot and the long time away from their families is disturbing them ! In order to take some deserved rest and be with their families, we have decided to cut short the camp by a few days”

Mohammad Nabi also emphasized that the players who did not join Team Melli on the flight to Johannesburg are mot to be blamed and held accountable for their absence. They were under instruction from their clubs and hence are not culpable. He stressed that there is a big difference between an act such as Hadi Aghili when he left the camp or Mojtaba Jabbari who decided he will retire, both unilateral and personal decisions and the players of Team Melli held back by their clubs.