Team Melli’s Captain Andranik Teymourian is the latest player to drop out of the team as he left the camp to fly to Doha where he is supposed to get his Visa to Guam from the American embassy.
INJURY LIST
Earlier on , Pejman Montazeri , pulled out of the squad due to an injury sustained in training. In total, 5 key players will be missing from the match in Azadi as Queiroz has to reshuffle the whole defense with the absence of Hosseini, Montazeri and Ghafouri.
NEWS CONFERENCE
Both the coaches conducted their Pre-match conference today in Tehran, The Turkman coach Amangylych Koçumov emphasized that his team is here to win a match that ios crucial for them. “:Iran is a strong team and top team of Asia, there is no denying that fact. However, we are not here just to show up for the match but get all the 3 points. We have played each other before and both teams are familiar with each other. ”
On the status of his team readiness, Koçumov confirmed that he has no injury worries and he is in Tehran with the full squad. Turkmenistan landed in Tehran yesterday via Istanbul more than doubling the actual distance between Tehran and Ashgabat!
Meanwhile, Carlos Queiroz brought all the four goalkeeper to his press conference!, one of the first questions was what is the message in this unusual gesture, to which Queiroz responded that this is the future of Team Melli! Most reporters have connected this show of force as a defiance message from the Portuguese coach against all the experts who demanded that he calls the most prepared and best goalkeeper in Iran, Mehdi Rahmati. Queiroz has not hid his contempt for Rahmati and took a swipe at him only a few days ago after the brilliant display by Esteghlal Keeper in the derby. Today Queiroz said that he cannot say everything and if he does open his mouth , he will be sacked.
Queiroz is never far from controversies , fiery attitude and the will to confront everyone not to his liking.
FREE ADMISSION
The attendances for Team Melli matches have been steadily in decline with no real studies conducted to find where improvements can be made. FFIRI urged Team Melli fans to flock to the Azadi stadium to support their team by allowing free admission to the stadium. However, the timing of the match , is far too early for many as it will be either during some working hours or not allowing many fans enough time to get to the stadium from work/ home to. The free entrance might encourage fans to make an effort. Less than 20,000 fans turned up to watch Team Melli’s only home game in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers against Guam on 3rd September. The friendly international against Japan, a top team in Asia with many household international players, did even worst with less than 15,000 turning up.
A solid performance and result by Team Melli , will certainly help to attract more fans.