TEHRAN - Iran football team coach Dragan Skocic says that they are not going to play defensive football against South Korea in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

The 'Persian Leopards' are scheduled to play Taeguk Warriors  at Soul World Cup Stadium on Thursday.

Both teams have already secured their passage to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 having wrapped up the first two places with minimal fuss, while the pair remain unbeaten after eight games.

"To finish as group winners is important for us but we will not play defensive football Tomorrow," Skocic said in the pre-match news conference.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mehdi Taremi and Saman Ghoddos all ruled out of Skocic’s squad through COVID-19, but the Croat says they are ready to beat South Korea.

"Our players are suffering jet lag and we missed three important players due to Covid-19 but this is not the first time we experience the situation," he added.

"We are very aware of their strength and we are aware of the challenge that awaits. We respect the Korean team but Iran are a strong team too," Skocic concluded.