Team Melli roster reduced to 27 players

PFDC – TEHRAN, Iran boss Carlos Queiroz reduced his initial 37-men squad to 27 players on Wednesday.

Eleven players were cut off the preliminary whereas 20-year-old leftwinger Yaghoub Karimi of Naft Tehran was added.

Iran will hold a training camp in Dubai with 24 players, including a friendly match against Jordan (February 23). Only the three European based players – Javad Nekounam, Alireza Haghighi and Ashkan Dejagah – will be missing in the UAE, while the Persian Gulf legionnaires are expected to be available.

The European trio will then join the rest of the team in Tehran before the squad will be reduced to 23 men for the World Cup qualifier against Qatar in Tehran on February 29.

Below comes the squad.

Goalkeepers:
Mehdi Rahmati – Esteghlal Tehran
Alireza Haghighi – Rubin Kazan, RUS
Sosha Makani – Naft Tehran
Mohsen Forouzan – Tractor Sazi Tabriz
Mohammad-Bagher Sadeghi

Defenders:
Hadi Aghily – Al Arabi, QAT
Jalal Hosseini – Sepahan Esfahan
Pejman Montazeri – Esteghlal Tehran
Shoja Khalilzadeh – Mes Kerman
Khosro Heydari – Esteghlal Tehran
Hossein Mahini – Zob Ahan Esfahan
Ehsan Hajisafi – Tractor Sazi Tabriz
Amir-Hossein Feshangchi – Persepolis Tehran

Midfielders:
Javad Nekounam – CA Osasuna, ESP
Ali Karimi – Persepolis Tehran
Pejman Nouri – Emirates FC, UAE
Maziar Zare – Persepolis Tehran
Ghasem Hadadifar – Tractor Sazi Tabriz
Mohammad Nouri – Persepolis Tehran
Reza Haghighi – Fajr Sepasi Shiraz

Strikers:
Ashkan Dejagah – Vfl Wolfsburg, GER
Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari – Al Wasl, UAE
Gholamreza Rezaei – Persepolis Tehran
Yaghoub Karimi – Naft Tehran
Mohammad Ghazi – Zob Ahan Esfahan
Karim Ansarifard – Saipa Karaj
Reza Norouzi – Foolad Khuzestan