Ivankovic: We Must Defeat Qatar's National Football Team in Tehran

Ivankovic: We Must Defeat Qatar's National Football Team in Tehran - 2004-02-16. The head coach of the Iranian national football team stated: To advance to the next stages of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, we must defeat the Qatari football team in Tehran. According to the IRNA news agency, 'Branko Ivankovic', who spoke with a reporter from this agency before the afternoon training session of the Iranian national football team at the national teams' camp, reminded that with our complete knowledge of the Qatari team, achieving this goal is not out of reach. He emphasized that to have a successful presence in these competitions, we must take the first step firmly, and for this reason, in the first match, we will make the Qatari team a victim of our goal. The Croatian head coach of the Iranian national football team pointed out the significant growth of Asian football, stating that in the later stages of the World Cup qualifiers, we will face stronger teams, and therefore we should not exaggerate the upcoming match against Qatar or be afraid of this team. He expressed regret over the absence of spectators during the match between the Iranian and Qatari national football teams, which will be held at 19:00 on Wednesday this week at Azadi Stadium, saying: I regret the absence of Iranian spectators in 'Azadi', but since we are hosting this match, we will make every effort to impose a heavy defeat on Qatar. Ivankovic commented on the absence of Rahman Rezai and Fereydoun Zandi, players from the second division teams 'Messina' in Italy and 'Lübeck' in Germany, in today's national team training, stating: According to the information received, all administrative steps for Zandi's departure had been completed, and he was supposed to be present in today's training, but I am unaware of why he was not present in the camp this afternoon. He mentioned that Zandi would definitely be present in the national team's training tomorrow and that he would contact him tonight. Regarding Rahman Rezai, Ivankovic confirmed that with the arrangements made, this player would be available for the afternoon training tomorrow. The Croatian head coach of the Iranian national football team discussed the status of his team, stating: Unfortunately, due to not having all the national players available, we conducted the training in three phases, with a number of key players absent in each phase. However, despite this, all our efforts have been focused on coordinating the players, and I do not think we will face any specific problems against Qatar. He also mentioned the injuries of Hamid Kavehianpour and Jalal Kameli Mofrad, noting that Kavehianpour's absence in the match against Qatar is confirmed, but Kameli Mofrad's presence depends on the continuation of his training in the next two sessions. Ivankovic added: Kameli Mofrad trained with us yesterday and today, and if his physical condition improves quickly, we will definitely use this player in the national team's first match against Qatar. The Iranian national football team is grouped with Qatar, Jordan, and Laos in the World Cup qualifying stage.