The Road to Rio… Iran Set Sights on Making History

UPDATED… Syria beat China 3-1 in first group match of the day

PersianFootball.com (Doha) – Coming off a brilliant 2-0 victory against Syria at the AFC U-23 Championships in Doha, Team Melli Omid will be at a historical crossroads in their match against Qatar on Friday. A victory will guarantee Iran will finish on top of the group and foray into the knockout rounds of the “U-23 Asian Cup” for the first time.

But most importantly, it would also mark Team Melli Omid’s best ever performance in the Olympic qualifiers. The Iranians have registered a total of 5 victories in entire qualifying campaigns before – in 1992 and 2004 – but never within 6 matches.

Although this is expected to be a very tough test for Team Melli Omid, with Qatar boasting the highest number of Europe-based players in the tournament and enjoying home field advantage, Khakpour & Co. are flying high after a major endorsement from one of football’s greatest legends.

Bora Milutinović, five time World Cup coach and the only man in the history of the game to take 4 different teams to the knock-out rounds of the World Cup, paid a surprise visit to the team hotel this morning to call Iran one of the contenders and praise its high quality and highly technical players.

Calling Khakpour an “absolute gentlemen” and referring to his pre-tournament assertion that Iran have set their sights on lifting the trophy, Bora added that success can only be achieved by those who are ambitious and aim high.

Bora continued that tomorrow’s match will be very sensitive and although both teams are off to a great start in the tournament and there are several good quality players in Qatar, Iran is an all-around quality side that does not need to rely on individual players.

Notwithstanding the Bora boost, Khakpour insists that he has done his homework in analysing Qatar and that his team has never been more united and determined to put on a good performance, with messages of support even pouring in from other U-23 players who could not accompany the team.

Still, Qatar may prove to be a handful for Team Melli Omid with the ex-coach of Barcelona FC youth team, Felix Sanchez having instilled a die-hard attitude in the team and using a multi-prong approach to offense with bursts of speed on both wings. And the home fans are sure to create a deafening atmosphere in the Jassim Bin Hamad stadium.

With the kick-off scheduled for 19:30 local time [17:30 CET, 11:30 EST], the outcome of the hotly contested match is likely to be decided by cooler temperatures and cooler heads on the Iranian side and the fans are not going to want to miss the opportunity to potentially see history in the making.

Expected Formation: 4-3-2-1 starting – 4-1-4-1 mid-match

Possible Starting Lineup: Mohammadreza Akhbari (G), Ali Abdollahzadeh (D), Roozbeh Cheshmi (D), Mohammad Daneshgar (D), Vahid Heidarieh (D), Reza Aliari (DM), Ali Karimi (DM), Milad Mohammadi (DM), Alireza Naghizadeh (AM), Mehdi Torabi (AM), Amir Arsalan Motahari (F)