Iran's football team optimistic on World Cup chances: German weekly

IRNA - Iran's national football squad is optimistic on its chances to qualify for the second round of the 2006 World Cup, according to an in-depth analysis released on Monday by Germany's bi-weekly kicker sports magazine.

The report pointed out although Iran had a tough time to find strong teams to prepare for the World Cup, the mood within the team is "optimistic" only 100 days before the start of the global football event.

The paper also added the Iranian players were "ignoring all discussions about banning Iran from the World Cup".

The magazine stressed the Iranian team did not feel unsettled in any way by all the talk about a possible World Cup ban.

Iran will open its 2006 World Cup campaign against Mexico in Nuremberg on June 11, then head to Frankfurt for an encounter with Portugal on June 17 and finally meet Angola in Leipzig on June 21.

This is Iran's third attendance at a World Cup after 1978 and 1998.