I am optimistic on qualification to the 2022 WC: Dragan Skocic

Tehran Times – TEHRAN, Iran national football team head coach Dragan Skocic is satisfied with the friendly matches against Uzbekistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As part of Team Melli’s preparations, Iran are set to meet Syria in a friendly match in Tehran on March 30th.

The match will be held as part of preparation for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers at the Azadi Stadium.

Speaking with the press, Skocic shared some comments on how the pandemic has affected preparations, and the upcoming qualifiers.

“COVID-19 has spread widely around the world over the past year. The virus caused a lot of problems for the National Team. The pandemic caused destruction and our training camps were postponed,” Skocic said in an interview with Iran’s state-run TV.  

“It caused us to find new solutions to prevent further damages to our programs. It was also an opportunity to analyze our players. We traveled to Belgium, Croatia, and Russia to closely monitor our players,” he added.

“We had intended to also play Mali in Turkey but the match was canceled due to the coronavirus. Keeping in mind the circumstances and what we have managed so far, I am satisfied with the results of our two previous friendlies against Uzbekistan and Bosnia. Those matches allowed us to test different tactics. This showed that our players performed well in the new systems,” the Croat added.

Dragan Skocic’s team will hold a training camp in late March in Tehran.

“We will play Syria in a friendly match and I hope I can implement my ideas in the upcoming training camp. I am optimistic about qualifying for the 2022 World Cup with the players and the solutions that we have,” Skocic concluded.

According to AFC’s decision, the Qualifiers have been postponed to June.

Iran are scheduled to play Hong Kong and Cambodia on June 3 and 7.

The matches against Bahrain and Iraq will be held on June 11 and 15.

Due to the coronavirus concerns, the remaining matches will be held at the centralized venue and Iran submitted its request to host the four remaining qualifiers.

Dragan Skocic’s currently team sit third in Group C behind Iraq and Bahrain.