TEHRAN – Iran national football team head coach Dragan Skocic is satisfied with the friendly matches against Uzbekistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Iran will also meet Syria in a friendly match in Tehran on March 30.

The match will be held as part of preparation for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers at the Azadi Stadium.

“COVID-19 has spread widely around the world over the past year. The virus caused a lot of problems for the National Team. The pandemic caused destruction and our training camps were postponed,” Skocic said in an interview with Iran’s state-run TV.  

“It caused we find new solutions to prevent further damages to our programs. It was an opportunity to analyze our players. We traveled to Belgium, Croatia and Russia to closely monitor our players,” he added.

“We intended to play Mali in Turkey but the match was canceled due to coronavirus. But I am satisfied with two friendlies against Uzbekistan and Bosnia since we tested different tactics and our players performed well in the new systems,” the Croat added.

Dragan Skocic’s team will hold a training camp in late March in Tehran.

“We will play Syria in a friendly match and I hope I can implement my ideas in the training camp. I am optimistic about qualifying for the 2022 World Cup with the players and the solutions we have,” Skocic concluded.

According to AFC’s decision, the Qualifiers have been postponed to June.

Iran are scheduled to play Hong Kong and Cambodia on June 3 and 7.

The matches against Bahrain and Iraq will be held on June 11 and 15.

Due to the coronavirus concerns, the remaining matches will be held at the centralized venue and Iran submitted its request to host the four remaining qualifiers.

Dragan Skocic’s team sit third in Group C behind Iraq and Bahrain.