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AFC - ASIAN Cup Finalists in China 2004 Kuwait and Iran are scheduled to lock horns in a tantalising friendly game due for kick-off tonight (December 2).
After suffering a humiliating hammering at the hands of Euro 2004 hosts Portugal, Kuwait will be looking to put their best foot forward against Iran, three-time Asian Cup champions and inarguably, one of the leading sides of Asia despite missing out on a World Cup Finals berth last year.
The Portugal debacle aside, Kuwait were seemingly back on the up after they had cruised through Asian Cup Group A qualification but with the 8-0 defeat against Portugal, many local Kuwaiti newspapers warned the result could possibly point the team towards another downhill spiral.
After all, Kuwait had failed to even qualify for the latter stages of the Asian World Cup qualifying last year, a disappointment the team is still trying to make up to its demanding fans.
A good performance in the Gulf Cup in late December will most definitely, put more faith back into the Kuwaiti fan base but as Adel Okla, Jarah Atiqi, Yagoub Taher, Yousuf Youha and Faraj Laheeb are all still attached with Al Kuwait club due to Arabian Champions League commitments and with stars Abdallah Wabran and Jamal Mubarak missing due to personal reasons, the onus is now on Iran to take charge in Kuwait City.
Kuwait will head towards Cyprus right after the game and will set up camp there as part of their preparations for their Gulf Cup campaign.
During their time in Cyprus, Kuwait will play four friendly games starting with Slovakia on December 11, Latvia on December 20 and then two matches against Lebanon on December 16 and 18.
On the other camp, Iran have made a strong impact in the Asian Cup qualifiers after scoring three consecutive wins to make a powerful comeback from a poor start. The Iranians are currently sharing first place in the group with Jordan on 12 points, Iran due to play their last qualifying game against DPR Korea.
Croatian coach Branko Ivankovic has proved to be a real gem in the crown, turning the Iranian side to a winning outfit since he took over from Iranian coach Homayoon Shahrokhi. Ivankovic won his first senior title with Iran when the Asians defeated New Zealand in the AFC/OFC Challenge Cup in Tehran last September.
On the back of that victory, Ivankovic continued his successful leadership when his side booked a berth at the next Asian Cup finals in China. Ivankovic will however, miss the services of AFC player of the year nominee Mehdi Mahdevikia, Yahya Golmohammadi through injury and Husein Kabi who is poised to join English Premier league side Wolverhampton.
Kuwait Squad:
Khaled Fadli, Nawaf Khaldi, Shihab Kankouni, Musaed Nada, Ali Shimali, Mohammad Fahad, , Nheir Shimeri , Bader Mutawa, Ali Namash, Saleh Breiki, Fawaz Bekhit, Shehab Kankouni, Hamad Tayar, Mohammed Hadhoud, Khalaf Salamah, Soud Awad, Musaed Abdullah, Khaled Abdulkuddous, Bashar Abdallah, Ali Abdelrida, Khaled Shimeri, Samer Marta, Jamal Mubarak, Abdullah Wabran, Rashed Abdulrazaq, Abdullah Nahar, Walid Ali, Jasem Huweidi.
Iran Squad:
Ibrahim Mirzapour, Rahman Ahmadi, Sohrab Bakhtiyarizadeh, Mohammad Nosrati, Jalal Mofrad, Ibrahim Taghipour, Mehdi Rahmati, Arash Borhani, Amir Vaziri, Moharram Navidkiya, Mehdi Amirabadi, Mehdi Vaezi, Javad Kazemian, Javad Nikonam, Pirouz Ghorbani, Eman Mobali, Hamed Kavianpour, Mehrzad Madanchi, Alireza Nikbakht-Vahedi, Ali Samereh, Ali Daei, Ali Karimi.
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