Iran is in Group B of the 2018 Russia World Cup along Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
Team Melli earned a late 1-0 win against Morocco on their first game and now stand at the top of their group.
The report notes that Carlos Queiroz has guided three national teams to four World Cups but the game against Spain on Wednesday could prove to be his finest hour and a half, not just on the global stage but in a long and distinguished coaching career. If all goes well in Kazan vs. Spain, and then against Portugal in Saransk, the 65-year-old will have secured his reputation as one of the world's top coaches.
Asia's best team have Asia's best coach and together they have grown to become one that can go into the big games against big teams with confidence. For Queiroz this is the natural progression of his time in Tehran and many an argument with the Iranian Football Federation (IFF), club coaches, American sporting apparel giants and anyone who gets in the way of where the Portuguese tactician wants to take Iran.
Queiroz is a coach who does not always forgive and never forgets. A fiery character, he has resigned from the Iran job on numerous occasions before returning days or weeks later. He said before this tournament that he would leave at its end in response to the six-month contract that would take him to the 2019 Asian Cup in January. He wanted a four-year deal. Iran Football Federation (IFF) officials find him hard to work with but tolerate it for the obvious reason of results.
If Queiroz can get something in the next games against teams he knows well and would love to beat and takes Iran to the next stage, it would be a fantastic achievement. It would confirm that he is one of the best around and would surely give him the pick of jobs when he departs. Yet, no matter who comes calling, there seems to be something about Iran for Queiroz. The relationship is not always smooth but it gets results. And their World Cup is only just beginning.
MAH/PR