Team Melli started a preparation camp in Doha from December 17. The team has so far played one friendly game against Palestine which ended with a 1-1 draw.
After some nine days of training and also considering the latest status of injured players, Queiroz announced the final 23-man squad for the major Asian event. Here is the squad:
Goalkeepers:
Alireza Beiranvand (Persepolis), Amir Abedzadeh (Maritimo), Payam Niazmand (Sepahan)
Defenders:
Ramin Rezaeian (Al-Shahania SC), Milad Mohammadi (Akhmat Grozny), Vouria Ghafouri (Esteghlal), Mohammadhossein Kananizadegan (Machine Sazi), Majid Hosseini (Trabzonspor), Ehsan Haji Safi (Tractor Sazi), Pejman Montazeri (Esteghlal), Morteza Pouraliganji (KAS Eupen)
Midfielders:
Omid Ebrahimi (Qatar’s Al Ahli), Ashkan Dejagah (Tractor Sazi), Rouzbeh Cheshmi (Esteghlal), Masoud Shojaei (Tractor Sazi), Ahmad Nourollahi (Persepolis), Vahid Amiri (Trabzonspor)
Strikers:
Mehdi Taremi (Al Gharafa), Sardar Azmoun (Rubin Kazan), Mehdi Torabi (Persepolis), Saman Ghoddos (Amiens), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Brighton), Karim Ansarifard (Nottingham Forest)
Accordingly, Hossein Hosseini (Esteghlal), Ali Karimi (Esteghlal), Sadegh Moharrami (Dinamo Zagreb), Mohammadreza Khanzadeh (Qatar’s Al Ahli), Ali Alipour (Persepolis), Kaveh Rezaei (Club Brugge), Saeid Ezatolahi (Reading), and Ali Gholizadeh (Charleroi) were eliminated from Team Melli’s list; the latter two are suffering from injuries.
The team is slated to play another friendly match with Qatar on December 31 before departing for Abu Dhabi.
The event will kick off on January 5 with the match between the host, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. Iran will meet Yemen on January 7 and Vietnam on January 12 before playing with Iraq on December 16. Queiroz’s men eye to claim the title for Iran after some 42 years.
MAH/4495532
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