The anticipated meeting between Ali Kaffashian and Carlos Queiroz on Saturday in which the former has announced that it will be about the future of the latter in Team Melli was completed uneventful.

 The details of the meeting remains a secret with neither of the parties willing to disclose what has been discussed and what agreement , if any , was made following what sounded like and emergency discussion perhaps initiated by Queiroz , in the aftermath of the Minister of Youth and Sports scathing verbal attack of Kaffashian and Queiroz.

Speaking to the reporters on Saturday, Quieroz limited his statements to Team Melli’s immediate training schedule and plans and the announcement of the Uzbekistan friendly match.  The Portuguese coach refused to comment on the questions about his views on Goudarzi’s statements condemning him and his employer, The FFIRI. “I have nothing to say on that subject. You can direct your questions to the President of the federation”  Queiroz’s responded against the persistent questioning on the subject.

Training program

Carlos Queiroz, however, went on in fine details on the Team Melli training schedules and plans.

“We will be starting the training schedule as soon as the league is over. Teams involved in the Hazfi Cup finals or Asian Competitions will be allowed to keep their players and join us at a later stage”

“We will set up two mini camps in Tehran and another one in Istanbul as part of the program to meet Turkmenistan. The squad will include the best players include young players who had made their presence felt in the league. We will also have a few surprises for you as far as new players’ selections.”

 A reporter asked him , what surprises does he have up his sleeve if he is not even watching the Football league to check the suitability of players ? Carlos Queiroz  said “I have a capable team of technical assistance who continually monitor the league and report to me. I trust their work. I also have a good analyst .”

Nekounam’s role. 

 Queiroz also reiterated his desire to include Javad Nekounam as a member of the coaching staff while insisting that Markar Aghajanian will remain as is and the ex Team Melli Captain will not be replacing the long serving Aghajanian in the coaching team.  The Portuguese coach did not specify in which capacity Nekounam will join his team. The recently retired Captain is actively playing professional football with Osasuna and is under contract with the Spanish Segunda Division side. 

A previous attempt to include a marquee name in Team Melli coaching staff , ended in bitter failure.  Ali Karimi , was included in the coaching team , without a specific role and with no coaching experience . After a few months, Karimi jumped ship and refused to fly to Australia with the Asian Cup 2015 squad without providing any reasons or submitting his resignation. He left Team Melli unceremoniously leaving Queiroz quite upset and disappointed. 

Queiroz also mentioned a proposal for a friendly international against Japan in October 2015 but the match date is not finalized yet.