Delayed Iranians face up to rival Danes earlier than expected

Delayed Iranians face up to rival Danes earlier than expected

TIM MAITLAND
SouthChinaMorningPost - Carlsberg Cup opponents Iran and Denmark will be eyeball-to-eyeball 48 hours earlier than intended after bad weather delayed the Iranians' departure from Teheran. The two teams will now be arriving on the same flight to Hong Kong from Bangkok. The Danes should be refreshed after beating Thailand 1-0 through a Thomas Schultz goal on Tuesday night, but their opponents in Saturday's opening game have had an arduous journey.

At one point, amid great confusion, it seemed that the Iranians would not be able to get to Hong Kong until the day before the game. While the Hong Kong Football Association said the Iran team would not arrive until tomorrow, at the same time in Teheran, Dr Hassan Ghaffari, the deputy general secretary of the Iranian Football Federation, insisted the players had left the Iranian capital without major problems.

"They left Iran on time on Tuesday night. Well, the flight was maybe 20 minutes late departing,' said Ghaffari. "If there's a delay it must be between Dubai and Bangkok. We can't confirm anything because we are not in contact with anyone from the delegation."

The staff at the Iranian Consulate General in Dubai were also unaware of any delays involving the national team, but Derek Currie, the tournament consultant for the Carlsberg Cup, was able to confirm with the team's airline that they had not been able to leave Teheran on time.

"I've been dealing with the duty manager at Emirates Airlines who told us the flight didn't leave Teheran on time because of the bad weather - I think it was snowing," said Currie.

"They took a later flight and missed their connection, so instead they spent the night at a hotel in Dubai. They were to leave Dubai late last night and are due to arrive in Bangkok [this morning]. They'll then share the same flight to Hong Kong with the Danish team."