Carlos Queiroz views Qatar, UAE as group favorites

Tasnim – TEHRAN,  Iranian national football team coach Carlos Queiroz said Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) football teams have more chance of being in the quarter-final of the AFC Asian Cup.

“I think Qatar and the UAE are more well-prepared than us and they will more likely advance to the quarter-final,” Queiroz told Iran Football Federation’s website.

“We have missed some players due to national services including Mehrdad Pooladi and Hossei Mahini. Team Melli will also be without Pejman Montazeri, Bakhtiar Rahmani and maybe Khosro Heydari in the Asian Cup due to injury,” the Portuguese said.

Asked him about South African training camp, Queiroz said, “We had a training camp in South Africa to get used to the weather conditions in Australia and I think it was useful for us. We defeated Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates and also beat Platinum Stars in a practice match.”

“However” former Real Madrid coach said “if the things worked out that way we wanted, we could play South Africa, Botswana and Kenya in our training camp. Under these conditions, we need to pray for having a good performance in the AFC Asian Cup.”

The Asian Cup will kick off in Australia on January 9, with Iran playing Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE in Group C.

Iran will travel to Sydney on December 29 and train at Cromer Park on the northern beaches until January 7, when it heads to Melbourne for its opening match against Bahrain on January 11.