Iranian football federation plans test game against Spain

TEHERAN - The Iranian Football Federation (FFI) plans to arrange a test game for Iran’s national team against Spain, the news network Khabar reported yesterday.

Khabar quoted FFI officials as saying that Spain would be the most suitable option because the Spanish team’s style was similar to Portugal, one of Iran’s opponents in the World Cup.

FFI deputy Nasser Noamouz had told the news agency Mehr Saturday that Spain would top the list of the teams against which Iran would prefer to play.

Political conspiracies

Noamouz also spoke of political “conspiracies” to isolate the Iranian national football team before the World Cup in Germany where Iran has been drawn in Group D and will play against Angola, Mexico and Portugal.

Iran has so far failed to find a country ready to play against the national team in test games before the World Cup, reportedly owing to anti-Semitic remarks by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the country’s defiance over its controversial nuclear programmes. So far Romania and Ukraine cancelled their test games despite initial agreements to play against Iran in Teheran’s Azadi stadium.