TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran national football team coach Dragan Skocic is optimistic about booking a place at the 2022 World Cup.
Iran has suffered two defeats – against Iraq and Bahrain – in its opening four games in the AFC’s second qualifying round for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Given the quality of its squad, the team’s performance was not considered good enough. So how does the new incumbent plan to get the team back on track?
“Being in charge of Iran is a great honor. My commitment towards the 80 million Iranians who support their national team is huge. I’m ready for this project in Iran and am looking forward to it with immense determination,” Dragan Skocic told FIFA.com.
A look at Skocic’s resume reveals that this is his first time in charge of a national team, the 51-year-old having spent all of his coaching career at clubs in Croatia and the Persian Gulf, such as Al Araby in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia’s Al Nasr.
“In contrast to a club, working with a national team allows you to choose from a large pool of players to instill your philosophy, although the downside is that you always have limited time to implement your ideas,” he said.
“We’ll shortly be carrying out a detailed analysis of our team and those of our opponents as well. We’ll also be looking into new players who might join the squad. I have a clear idea of what’s required to improve our performances,” he added.
“Our current position is bad, but we’re not yet despairing. Three of our remaining four games will be at home, where we’ll have massive support from our fans. I also believe we have a quality group of players, which is why I’m optimistic.”
Iran has reached the World Cup on five occasions. After back-to-back appearances in 2014 and 2018, the aim now is to secure a third consecutive participation for the first time.
“We’ve promised the people of Iran that we’ll go back to the World Cup, and we’ll do our utmost to fulfil that promise,” Skocic concluded.
- source : Tasnim, Irannews
