He was instrumental in persuading several foreign-based players to play for the national team, including Ashkan Dejagah ( Fulham) a striker born in Iran but who had moved to Germany when he was young, and Reza Ghoochannejhad (Charlton), who grew up in the Netherlands and became the golden boy of Iranian football when he scored the crucial goal against South Korea last June that secured Iran a place in the finals. One of his central missions was to identify key players of Iranian descent who were playing at a high level abroad and who could boost the team's chances through heightened tempo, fitness and skill levels required by European leagues. Queiroz's three years at the helm began in April 2011. He has good relations with the Iranian Football Federation (FFI), but they've had to fight for every inch,' said Mick McDermott, Iran's former fitness coach who worked with Queiroz from April 2012 to July 2013 and is now fitness coach at UAE side Al Nasr FC. 'Carlos fought uphill battles like you wouldn't believe. Team complaints over the low quality of their training kit-as per AFP-and confrontations over the release of players for international duty-as per the Telegraph-have spilled into the public domain, with officials repeatedly trying to play down the issues.Īccording to the Iranian press, Queiroz, the former assistant coach of Manchester United and head coach of Real Madrid and South African and Portuguese national teams, has pushed hard to get what he needs for the national team. Iran's preparations have been hampered by numerous tensions in the run-up to the finals.

'It's going to be very difficult to make it to the next round.' 'The expectations on the team to do well are very high, but those expectations are unrealistic,' said Majeed Panahi, one of the founders of Team Melli, an English-language sports news website aimed at keeping the Iranian diaspora around the world up to date on Iranian football. In contrast, Iran's squad members mostly play in its domestic leagues where the game is less intense. Iran was drawn against Argentina, Nigeria and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Group F, teams which boast numerous stars who play in the best leagues in the world. On paper, the team's prospects look daunting.

Political strife