Iran line up Ukraine friendly

AFC - Iran will play their first World Cup warm-up match on March 1 against fellow finalists Ukraine, the Iranian football federation announced on Tuesday.

"According to FIFA's timetable set for the qualifying teams, we can play four official friendly games," federation chairman Mohammad Dadkan said.

"Two other matches will be played during our training camp in Austria.

"And the last friendly game will be played before taking up residence in (Friedrichshafen) Germany," Dadkan was quoted as saying in the press.

Iran meet Mexico, debutants Angola and Portugal in group D of the World Cup finals which run from June 9 to July 9 in Germany.

Coach Branko Ivankovic said after the draw that his team, the three-time Asian champions who previously appeared in the 1978 and 1998 World Cup finals, would be up against it to make it through the group stages this time around.

"Our problem will be in adapting to the different styles - European, African and Latin American. I hope our players will learn how to respond to the different problems," said the Croatian.

"The favorite is clearly Portugal, they will be in the semi-finals," he added.

"Mexico are a good side, I was very impressed by them at the Confederations Cup. Angola is a new team to me. They have a lot of enthusiasm and a game which is difficult to understand," Ivankovic said.

Iran will depend heavily on the experience gained by its Bundesliga players, notably Ali Karimi of Bayern Munich, Mehdi Mahdavikia of Hamburg, and Vahid Hashemian of Hanover to push for a spot in the second round.