Tasnim - Iranian national football team defender Steven Mehrdad Beitashour said that it was tough to being omitted from Team Melli for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

The Whitecaps right-back delayed start to pre-season is due to a mix-up with the Iranian soccer federation.

Iran’s staff had asked the Caps for Beitashour’s release ahead of January’s Asian Cup in Australia. But when the roster came out, he wasn’t on it.

“Obviously it was tough — I got called in (by Iran) and then I don’t know what happened,” Beitashour told theprovince.com.

“I was in incredible shape getting ready for Asian Cup and I didn’t want to lose it,” he added.