World-Iranians hope for shock win against Mexico

Reuters - Iran's coach Branko Ivankovic admitted his team were going into their World Cup opener with Mexico as underdogs on Sunday, but his sense they could notch up a shock win was echoed on the streets of Tehran.

An Iranian win promises to spark very rare public partying with Tehranis vowing to pour into the streets just as they did when their team qualified for the tournament in Germany.

"We reckon on winning the game but it is going to be tough," Ivankovic told Iranian state television.

"We believe we will get the chance to pull something off although Portugal and Mexico are highly favoured to qualify from the group. We will fight until the very last moment," he added in Croatian through a Persian translator.

Kick-off at Nuremberg's Frankenstadion is at 1600 GMT. Iran's Group D also includes Angola.

Majid Nazari, 44, having a sandwich in central Tehran, also believed Iran could cause an upset: "This will be the same as the Iran-America match in which the players tried their best to win."

Iran's only win at the World Cup finals was a 2-1 victory over the United States in 1998. In their previous appearances at the finals in 1978 and 1998, Iran went out in the first round.

Thirteen-year-old Mohsen also predicted at 2-1 win for Iran on Sunday with Hamburg SV's Mehdi Mahdavikia and Bayern Munich's Ali Karimi finding the net.

Most of those Reuters spoke to said they would turn out in the streets if Iran won.

"If we win, I'll definitely come into streets to celebrate the big victory," said Kindergarten teacher Sanaz Sani, 23.

However, most also admitted Mexico presented a big challenge.

"Iran will lose by one goal," said sandwich shop owner Abbas Lotfi, 27.