Azmoun: It’s my dream to play for Iran at World Cup

Tehran Times – ROSTOV, Iranian youngster Sardar Azmoun, who plays for FC Rostov, had a dream of playing at the World Cup when he was a child. He is now very close to his dream and believes that he will give his best for the Iran national team to reach the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“The first world cup I remember watching on television was the 2006 tournament in Germany. I was at my cousin’s house in Iran, I was very young ten or eleven years old we were watching Iran’s last group game against Angola which finished 1-1. When Iran scored I celebrated widely and I remembered thinking I wanted to follow in their footsteps. I wanted to play in a FIFA World Cup one day and score goals for my country,” Sardar Azmoun told FIFA.com.

“As a child I used to look up players like Ali Daei and Zalatan Ibrahimovic, watching and studying them thought me a lot as a player. Ali Daei was a gentleman and he still holds the record for the most goals in international football. Ibrahimovic is also a great player and as a fellow forward he is probably the player I most want to play like,” The 21-year old striker added.

“In 2014 my dream of playing in a world cup nearly came true. I was in the provisional squad but I was dropped before the tournament. It wasn’t a great feeling and maybe sad, I guess it wasn’t meant to be. The coach knew what he wanted in his team and he recognized I wasn’t quite ready that I still need to work on my game. To be honest that just made me hungrier to play at a World Cup; I believed in myself, I knew that I can play better and then I could develop more as a player,” he added.

“To play for Iran is important to me; after I missed out in 2014 I started to think about what I need to do to be selected in 2018. Even I’m part of the national team now I know it’s not certain to be picked. I haven’t reached my full potential but I as long as I continue to work hard I think I can establish myself,” he added.

“Like every player who plays for the national team I want to help the team qualify and do well. I want to play at the World Cup here in Russia and I’ll give my all to be there,” Azmoun added.