Iran prepare for Tuesday Iceland friendly

Team Melli’s third workout, in advance of Iceland friendly tomorrow (Tuesday), took place with 25 players. Three players, namely Iman Mobali, Amir Mohebi, and Khosrow Heydari, did not participate due to various injuries. Mifielder Iman Mobali suffered a minor back injury and may not play against Iceland.

Ok, here is the funny; apparently a few players complained to reporters about the heavy workouts in the camp. Mind you these are most likely the same players who do not last past 65th minutes and we have seen them walk around completely spent in the last ten minutes of the game during every Team Melli match. Anyone who has watched a few IPL matches will tell you that the pace of the game in the Iranian domestic league is much slower even when compared to most European second divisions. Now as we all know, Iceland is a very physical team, and most of their players play in European leagues. So keep your eyes on our midfielders after minute 70 and you are very likely to spot a few of the complainers!

For their part, Coach Afshin Ghotbi and his Dutch Assistant Piet Buter dismissed the notion that the workouts were too difficult and pointed out that a good portion of the 70 minutes was spent on tactical work.

When asked if he was concerned about losing the friendly to Iceland and getting heat and criticism from the usual corners (e.g. the cynical Iranian media, and his regular critics who wish to see him fail), Ghotbi played it down and reminded the reporters that friendly matches were meant to prepare teams for their competitive matches.

Between us, win or lose bank on the in rushing flood of criticism after the match!