Syrian Coach Expects Solid Performance against Iran

FNA - Syria's national coach Fajr Ibrahim believes it will be an uphill task to clinch a win against Iran at Tehran but expects a decent display from his charges.

History has never been kind to Syria when it comes to facing Iran in international fixtures. The Syrians have never beaten the three-time Asian Cup winners in a competitive game since 1973.

The two sides last met 18 months ago, ironically in Tehran, where Syria drew 1-1 with Iran's national team. Syria enjoyed an easy route to the third round of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

They beat Afghanistan 5-1 in the opening round and showcased their prowess against Indonesia, winning 4-1 in Jakarta and 7-0 in Damascus.

Although buoyed by their decent displays recently, Ibrahim believes his team will find qualification difficult, with the likes of Iran, Kuwait and UAE all matched evenly in an all West Asian group.

"The travelling will not be too bad because all the teams in our group are from west Asia but the level of all of the sides is quite equal and all four could qualify for the final round," Goal quoted him as saying.

"We have prepared ourselves well for the matches and I am optimistic that we can get some good results and the players can put in some good performances so that we can achieve our dream of progressing to the next round."