Iran ready for battle of Beirut

AFC - THE Iranian national team have arrived in Lebanon in full confidence that they will leave the capital of Beirut with three points.

Iran national coach Branko Ivankovic told Iranian press early in the week that key defender Rahman Rezaei, a former player with Perugia, will be available for the crucial Group D Asian Cup qualifying clash.

"We will enjoy the services of the Iranian defender Rahman Rezaei who plays for Messina in Italy," said the Croatian coach. "Also Hossein Kaabi and Yahya Golmohammadi who could not play with us due to their second yellow cards before the match against Korea will once again be available in Lebanon.

"Mehdi Amirabadi will hopefully fully recover to play in Beirut, but Edmund Bezik would not be available for at least two weeks",

Iran and Jordan are currently sharing top spot in the enticing group with nine points each from four games played, a victory against Lebanon will likely to diminish any sort of Lebanese chances of making it to the Finals in China next year.

"I am very familar with Lebanon from our last two encounters in Busan when I was at the helm of Iranian team and also have watched their recent two matches and have carefully analysed their game and ways to defeat them. I hope this is enough for us to get the three important points from this match.

"We are going to Beirut with strong hopes of our three points against North Korea. The AFC has not yet announced us about their final decision but we are going to Beiru in order to prepare for the Asian cup in China"

Iran squad

Mirzapour, Rahmati, Golmohammadi, Bakhtiarizadeh, Kamelifard, Taghipour, Nosrati, Rezaei, Amirabadi, Nekounam, Kavianpour, Navidkia, Mobali, Madanchi, Vahedi, Vaziri, Daei, Karimi, Samereh, Kaabi, Mahdavikia