Queiroz calls up 25 players for Italy camp

Tehran Times – TEHRAN, Iran national football team head coach Carlos Queiroz has invited 25 players for a preparatory camp in Italy ahead of 2018 World Cup qualifications matches.

The team will fly to Italy on Saturday to hold a 12-day camp in Coverciano.

Coverciano, also known as Casa Italia, located in the quartier of Florence with the same name, is the central training ground and technical headquarters of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

The Coverciano is the primary training ground for all Italy national football teams from the U-15 age group and above (including women’s), as well as the Italian Armed Forces’ representative football team. Occasionally it has hosted foreign teams visiting Italy.

Carlos Queiroz men will take on newly promoted Serie B side SPAL on August 19 while they will face Serie B youth XI team four days later.

The Persians will play Qatar in the first game of 2018 World Cup qualification third round on September 1 while they have to face China five days later in Shenyang, more than 6,000 kilometer away.

Iran has been drawn in Group A of the World Cup qualification along with Uzbekistan, China, Qatar and Syria.

The winner and runner-up of each group (four teams in total) will qualify for the Russia 2018, while the third-placed teams of each group will advance to the Asian play-off.

The winner of the Asian play-off will face the side that finishes fourth in the fifth round of the CONCACAF qualifiers in a two-leg inter-confederation playoff.

Goalkeeper: Alireza Beyranvand, Mohammadreza Akhbari, Rashid Mazaheri.

Defenders: Seyyed Jalal Hosseini, Pejman Montazeri, Morteza Pourali Ganji, Mohammad Tayyebi, Ehsan Hajsafi, Ramin Rezaeian, Pourya Ghafouri, Saeid Aghaei, and Mohammad Ansari.

Midfielders: Andranik Teymourian, Kamal Kamyabinia, Darioush Shojaeian, Omid Ebrahimi, and Ezzatollah Pourghaz.

Forwards: Ashkan Dejagah, Rahim Zahivi, Mehdi Torabi, Vahid Amiri, Mehdi Taromi, Ehsan Pahlavan, Soroush Rafiei, and Morteza Tabrizi.