"South Korea is a good team but I think we are much better than them and can defeat them with our foreign-based players in front of our fans," Daei said in an interview with ISNA on Thursday.
"The Iranian media has exaggerated South Korea," he went on to say. "I have seen their friendly matches against Syria and Bahrain. They are not as big as what we have been led to believe."
"In my opinion, South Korea doesn't play as fast as Thailand," he explained. "Anyway, it makes no difference. We need the whole three points of the game to top the group."
South Korea's 30-member squad arrived in Tehran Thursday night after a week-long training camp in the UAE and playing two friendly matches against Syria (1-1) and Bahrain (2-2) in Dubai.
South Korea's foreign-based players are scheduled to join Huh Jung-moo's squad in Tehran on Monday.
According to South Korean coach Huh Jung-moo, the Koreans are anxious to put an end to an all-time winless streak against Iran at Tehran's Azadi Stadium.
Iran will play its fourth match in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers against South Korea on February 11.
Powerhouse Iran is competing against Saudi Arabia, North Korea, the UAE and South Korea in Group B of the event.
South Korea tops the chart, with seven points, while Iran is in second place, with five. North Korea and Saudi Arabia come third and fourth, both with four points. The UAE is now ranked at the bottom with one point.