Skocic urges Iran to maintain drive as decider against Iraq looms

AFC – RIFFA, Islamic Republic of Iran head coach Dragan Skocic is expecting his side to continue their winning form when they play Iraq in their final Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Group C tie against Iraq on Tuesday.

Team Melli made it three wins in as many matches in Riffa with a 10-0 defeat of Cambodia on Friday to set up a cracker finale against Iraq.

With Iraq – on 17 points – two ahead of Iran, victory is the only option for Skocic’s side in their bid to qualify for their third consecutive FIFA World Cup Finals.

Skocic was proud of Iran’s emphatic win, but the Croatian urged his squad to not rest on their laurels, saying: “Firstly, I want to congratulate my team for playing a very good game.

“Our team was better than Cambodia and we ended the match as we expected. I enjoy the team’s performance in such games.”

“We decided to change the composition of the team to some extent to distribute the pressure of this game on the players,” Skocic added.

“The game against Cambodia is over, and we will only think of the match against Iraq from now on. The tournament is not yet finished for us. We respect Iraq, and I hope my team play as they have played against Hong Kong, Bahrain and Cambodia in our previous matches.”