TEHRAN - Iran national football team head coach Dragan Skocic is under pressure from the critics and football fans after losing to Algeria in a friendly.

This week, the Croat was criticized in the media due to 2-1 loss to Algeria Sunday night in Doha. The disappointing performance by Skocic's men have risen the concerns over the future of the National Team.

The Croatian tactician feels it is unfair to judge him on a pre-World Cup friendly, given what he and his side have done well during the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

“We all are under pressure for a defeat in a warm-up match and its’ unfair, while we had an easy qualification for the World Cup,” said Skocic upon arrival in Tehran on Monday.

Recently, there has been talking in the Iranian media about changing the national team's head coach as some football fans have questioned the Croatian's tactical acumen.

The names of Carlos Queiroz, the former head coach of the Iranian national team, and Javad Nekounam, the current coach of Foolad and the former captain of the national team, have been suggested as options to replace Skocic.

When Skocic took over from Belgian Marc Wilmots in February 2019, Iran were on the brink of an early exit at the preliminary round of the Asian qualifiers, but Skocic was able to sort things out and steered Iran to an easy qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

However, some football pundits and fans have often criticized him for his decisions and his ability to lead the Asian powerhouses in the showdown in Qatar.

Skocic believes that the friendly match is an opportunity to test the players and coaching staff must review the tactics. He is right, and his words are pretty logical.

The current Iranian football situation is against him, and the Iranian football federation does not support him properly.

If you look at the steps he's made over the last couple of years in the national team, it seems a couple of bad results in warm-ups is not something we can judge him on.