FIFA U-17 World Cup: Iran could carry the torch for Asia

The Times of India – MARGAO, They’ve been the talking point everywhere. Not just in Goa, where they have been based for the group matches of the Fifa U-17 World Cup, but elsewhere too, Iran’s red-hot form in pre-season friendlies has not gone unnoticed.

Iran coach Abbas Chamanyan has been telling his boys at the start of every training session that such ‘friendly’ results don’t matter.

These are not ‘friendly’ results you can ignore, though. Iran trained at the Marbella Football Center in Spain before coming to Goa and scored convincing victories against France (4-0) and Mexico (3-0). These are no ordinary teams; both are participating in this edition of the U-17 World Cup, although Chamanyan is at pains to explain that what matters are those 90 minutes against Guinea in their opener on Saturday.

“We are now ready for the World Cup. Friendly results don’t matter. They don’t give you points. We have to work hard from the first match and aim, first, for a semifinal place,” said Chamanyan.

Iran have never progressed beyond the Round of 16. If they do not better that in India, it will be a disaster. They are, by a distance, the best side from Asia and only lost the final of the AFC U-16 Championship on penalties against Iraq. Nobody had any doubt they were the better side.

“We’ve trained hard for the last three years. A semifinal place remains our first goal,” said captain Mohammad Sharifi.

During the qualifiers in Goa last year, Sharifi emerged as one of the star and is now being touted as the next big thing in Iran. He has already made his first senior appearance for Esteghlal Khuzestan in an Iranian League match – before the Asian qualifiers in Goa – and then bettered that by becoming the youngest Iranian footballer to participate in an AFC Champions League match.

“The most important and difficult game is always the opener. Guinea is a high-quality team from Africa. They will surely cause us problems,” said the coach.

Like Chamanyan said, Iran’s first round opponents are no pushovers. Any qualifier from Africa needs to be taken seriously in age-group competitions and Guinea deserve respect. After all, they’ve qualified at the expense of former champions Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco and Cameroon.

“Our first game against Iran is important. We need to win it to raise our confidence and help us make it to the knockout round which is our top priority,” said coach Souleymane Camara.

Djibril Fandje Toure is Guinea’s leading goal-getter with six goals and a golden boot at the African qualifiers. The youngest side in this competition needs to be taken seriously.