Team Melli to face Persian Gulf rivals at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup

Persianfootball.com – SYDNEY, Australia’s iconic Opera House was the venue for the Final Draw of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup as Team Melli’s group rivals were revealed.

The event was hosted by Australian Sports Presenter Stephanie Brantz and former Socceroos and Red Devils Goalkeeper Mark Bosnich, whom many Iranians remember well from 29 November 1997, Iran’s passage to 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Ali Kafashian and Carlos Queiroz both were present as guests, however sat far apart, with Kafashian in the same row as other Football Federations chiefs while Queiroz sat next to Ange Postecoglu, Head Coach of the Socceroos.

The Final Draw started with a speech from Frank Lowy, then followed by historical overview of the past winners from 1956 to 2011. Strangely there was no mention of Israel winning the 1964 Asia Cup.
Glimpses of the five host cities Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle were also shown to the audience.

Winning captains of 2004 and 2007 AFC Cup, Takashi Fukunishi from Japan and Younis Mahmoud from Iraq, assisted AFC General Secretary, Dato Alex Soosay in drawing the pots.

Carlos Queiroz was all smiles when Team Melli got grouped with fellow Persian Gulf neighbours UAE, Qatar and Bahrain. Postecoglu on the other hand looked nervous, Jorvan Viera seemed neutral, while Le Guen looked unhappy, as host nation Australia was placed in Group of Death along with Korea Republic, Oman and Kuwait.

2015 AFC Asian Cup will kick off with Socceroos to take on Kuwait on January 9 in Melbourne.

Team Melli’s three Group C matches will be on 11 January (in Melbourne), 15 January (in Sydney) and 19 January (in Brisbane), against Bahrain, Qatar and UAE respectively. If successful at the group stage, then will have to face teams from Group D at the knockout stage.

The tournament’s four groups are as follow.

Group A – Australia, Korea Republic, Oman, Kuwait

Group B – Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, China PR, Korea DPR

Group C – Iran, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain

Group D – Japan, Jordan, Iraq, Winner of 2014 AFC Challenge Cup