Speaking at the post-match news conference after a 1-0 victory over Kenya, he added, “Ali Karimi is a nice guy and deserves to return to the national team. He made some mistakes, but has found out that he has to change his stance.”
Iran’s iconic midfielder, who quit the team over a dispute with Iranian football officials, has not played for the national team since May 2008, but has recently given the green light to return to help the team qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
Daei stated, “I will not summon any new player for the Saudi Arabia match in the 2010 World Cup qualification. Karimi will likely be included in the team in the future but at the moment he has no place in our team.”
He said they could beat Kenya with more than one goal if Iran’s strikers took advantage of their chances, adding, “I think we did well in the match but we could have won with three goals. Our strikers squandered too many chances in the friendly match.”
Iran is scheduled to play Saudi Arabia on March 28th at the Azadi Stadium.
Iran is third in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers in Group Two with six points, behind South and North Korea with eight and seven points respectively.