Tehran Times - Carlos Queiroz's side, who are preparing for the 2022 World Cup, hope to reach the maximum coordination with their last preparatory match against Tunisia. They hope to go to the filed against England in their first match in the World Cup with good preparation.
Team Melli defeated Nicaragua 1-0 in a friendly match in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on Thursday.
Queiroz fielded a stand-in squad against Nicaragua with the likes of Mehdi Taremi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Sardar Azmoun and Saman Ghoddos absent. So, the Portuguese coach tried to test other players in his squad to have a better perception of the ones who deserve to be in the World Cup finals.
* Shocking Injury
The bitter and unfortunate incident of the game against Nicaragua was the severe injury of Omid Ebrahimi which caused the midfielder to miss the World Cup.
The hard-working defensive midfielder suffered a groin injury only two minutes after entering the field in the match against Nicaragua and left the field on a stretcher.
The incident reminded Ebrahimi of a similar scene in the 2018 World Cup where he also left the game against Morocco due to an injury.
Mehdi Torabi found the back of the net in the 15th minute in the match against Nicaragua which was held behind closed doors. Omid Noorafkan slipped a pass to Torabi from the left.
Iran edged Uruguay 1-0 and drew 1-1 with Senegal in late September in a training camp in Austria. Taremi and Azmoun received their passes from the left flank. It seems that the Portuguese head coach has a special plan for attacking from the left wing. Queiroz’s plans have been quite successful so far.
The Persian Leopards will also play Tunisia in a friendly match in Doha, Qatar. Team Melli have been drawn in Group B of the 2022 FIFA World Cup along with England, the U.S. and Wales. Iran will start the campaign with a match against England on Nov. 21.