Iran aims to advance to knockout stage at 2018 FIFA World Cup: Coach
Tehran, June 17 (IANS) Iran’s national football team head coach, Carlos Queiroz, said they are determined to reach the 2018 FIFA World Cup knockout stage.
“My goal and dream are to get to the knockout stage at the 2018 World Cup. I am fighting against this satisfaction disease. We should not be satisfied with the first round. We need to be ambitious. We need to think big,” Queiroz was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency as reported by Xinhua news agency.
“In order to progress, we need better infrastructure and financial support for camps and friendly games. If we don’t do that, the result will be stagnation. This is not the expectation for Iran fans and not what they deserve,” he said.
“This is due to our players being brilliant. I have never seen in my life players who made such sacrifices,” he stated.
Last Monday, Iran became the second team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup after beating Uzbekistan 2-0 in Tehran.
It will be Iran’s fifth appearance at football’s premier tournament.
Brazil was the first team to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Russia.