TEHRAN – Iran national football team coach Carlos Queiroz has asked the Iran football federation President Mehdi Taj to protect Team Melli from crocodiles!

Iran will leave Qatar for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup on Wednesday after completing two-week training camp in Doha.  

“We want to participate in the Asian Cup with high concentration and I want Mr. Taj to protect us from the people who want to distract us from whatever our primary goal is. Iran football officials should have learned from the past and they must protect us from the people who want to distract our concentration. It’s not the right time. We must be protected from crocodiles,” the Portuguese said in a news conference.

Iran have not won the AFC Asian Cup for 43 years and Queiroz says they will have a difficult task to end the title drought.

“We are concentrating on our first match against Yemen. The first game is always the most difficult game in these kind of competitions. It’s a game we need to win. It’s a crucial game. Needless to say Iran have not won the title for more than 40 years. The country’s clubs also had their problems,” Queiroz added.

“When I took charge of Team Melli seven years ago, the most of Iranian people were afraid of Bahrain football team. And I have to emphasize once again Japan, South Korea and Australia are the favorites to book a place in semifinals and we will also do our best,” he stated.  

Reporting by Masoud Hossein