TEHRAN – Iran national football team striker Reza Ghoochannejhad says that they learn from defeat against Tunisia and get stronger and improve.

Team Melli suffered a 1-0 loss to Tunisia at the Stade Olimpique de Rades on Friday.

Milad Mohammadi scored an own goal in the 71st minute.

“Iran played a warm-up match against Tunisia and will meet Algeria on Tuesday. I think the friendly matches will be good tests for us in preparation for the 2018 World Cup,” Ghoochannejhad said in an interview with Iran Football Federation’s website.

“Tunisia are a strong team, who have similarities with Morocco. I think we must learn lessons from the defeat against them. These kinds of the matches will enable us to see the areas of strength and weak points,” Ghoochannejhad added.

“Iran have qualified for the World Cup for the second time in a row and we are going to book a place in the knockout stage, that’s why we will travel to Russia.

“Iranian players must focus on their abilities in the competition and pave the way for advancing to the next stage. We are going to make the Iranians happy in the World Cup,” the Heerenveen concluded.

(Reporting by Masoud Hossein)