TEHRAN – Iran football coach Amir Ghalenoei announced his 24-man team for two friendly matches against Bulgaria and Angola.

Team Melli will face Bulgaria on Sept. 7 at the Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv.

Iran will also meet Angola five days later in Tehran.

The friendly matches have been arranged as part of preparation for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, where the Persians have been drawn in Group C along with the UAE, Hong Kong and Palestine.  

Iran squad:

Goalkeepers:
Alireza Beiranvand (Persepolis), Payam Niazmand (Sepahan), Mohammadreza Akhbari (Gol Gohar)

Defenders:
Milad Mohammadi (AEK Athens), Ehsan Hajisafi (AEK Athens), Ramin Rezaeian (Sepahan), Sadegh Moharrami (Dinamo Zagreb), Morteza Pouraliganji (Persepolis), Mohammad Daneshgar (Sepahan), Rouzbeh Cheshmi (Esteghlal), Hossein Moradmand (Esteghlal)

Midfielders:
Ali Karimi (Kayserispor), Milad Sarlak (Persepolis), Saeid Ezatolahi (Vejle Boldklub), Ali Alizadeh (Gol Gohar), Saman Ghoddos (Brentford), Ahmad Nourollahi (Al Wahda), Vahid Amiri (Persepolis), Mohammad Mohebbi (Rostov), Mehdi Torabi (Persepolis), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Feyenoord)

Forwards:
Shahriar Moghanlou (Sepahan), Mehdi Taremi (Porto), Reza Asadi (Sepahan)