Tasnim – Iran U-17 football coach Abbas Chamanian says that they have a common goal in the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 and are working as a team to reach that target.
The prestigious competition will kick off on Friday in Goa, India.
Iran has fond memories of Goa and is hopeful that this can help them sustain a strong challenge against the world's best U-17 teams.
The Iranian team became runner-up at the AFC U-16 Championship last year, where it lost on penalties to Iraq.
Drawn in Group C, Iran has Guinea, Germany and Costa Rica for company but Chamanian believes in his team's chances.
"It's awesome to return to the same city where we spent 22 days. We played six difficult and memorable matches at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Fatorda) but now the situation at the World Cup will be different. We are trying to make the players realize that we will face stronger teams and the conditions will be different too. We feel that returning to Goa is a good omen for us," the Iran head coach said in recent interviews.
While Chamanian is quietly confident Iran can impress, his immediate target is for the team to emulate the 2009 squad who made the quarter-final.
"The group looks tough as there isn't much that separates teams in age group tournaments but having seen videos of recent matches involving Germany and Guinea, I feel that all the teams are equally strong."
"However, we have a common goal and are working as a team to reach that target," said Chamanian.