Iranian Coach Outlines World Cup Preparations

GOAL - In a press interview conducted on Tuesday afternoon in the national team’s training camp, Coach Branko Ivankovic spoke about his preparation plans leading to the World Cup in Germany and responded to questions regarding his most recent team selection and the addition of Hooman Afazeli to his staff.

Talking about his timetable for finalizing the national team’s selection, he said that the process will start today and will continue until early May at which point he will announce his final list. The team will start their pre-World Cup camp 25 days prior to the start of the tournament and will plan for at least one preparation game against a top ranked team in the world.

Discussing his choices for friendly games, he reminded the press of Iran Football Federation’s financial limitations, and said that he will have to work in conjunction with the federation to make sure that the best choices are made. Using the recent friendly against Libya as an example, he said that although Libya is not an African football power, the game helped him, the coaching staff, and the players, to get familiar with African style of play.

Responding to questions regarding his choices for the upcoming friendly against South Korea, Ivankovic said that he made his selections based on players’ recent form and their teams’ performance and standing in their respective leagues. Ali Daei and Mehdi Mahdavikia were not called due to their recent injuries. Regarding IPL’s leading scorer Reza Enayati, the coach added that at this juncture he has chosen to go with Arash Borhani (Pas), Vahid Hashemian (Hannover 96), and Syavash Akbarpour (Esteghlal), however, Enayati continues to remain an option for the future.

Finally, discussing the recent addition of Hooman Afazeli to his staff, he added that he was very familiar with Afazeli’s credentials based on their collaborations in a number of occasions during the last four years. His addition, Ivankovic added, will certainly strengthen the national teams coaching staff. When asked about Afshin Ghotbi’s recent appointment to Dick Advocaat’s staff, Ivankovic said that he is not familiar with Mr. Ghotbi’s or his work; however, he wished him success in his new position.