TEHRAN (Iran News) The victory – the third of the campaign for Iran side – saw it moves up to 11 points in the West Zone with Skocic hailing the resilience shown by unbeaten Tractor under difficult conditions at Markaziy Stadium.

“I think we had control in the first half,” said Skocic. “Both sides could have scored. Chances were created, it was an interesting match.

“But in the second half, our game was a little different, the advantage went more to the opponent. If we had scored the second goal, we would have been more calm,” he added. “Dragan Skocic ”

“But in the end, victory with a narrow margin is also pleasing.” Regi Lushkja’s 17th minute strike separated the two sides, leaving Nasaf licking its wounds after a fifth straight defeat.

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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.

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FIFA and AFC have postponed upcoming Asian qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in mid-March due to coronavirus concerns.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused sports events to be suspended or postponed in Asia and Europe, including both domestic and international events.

The Team Melli’s training camp was due to be held starting from March 18 in Tehran but Skocic left Tehran after the cancellation of the camp.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – The former Sanat Naft coach, Dragan Skocic of Croatia, has been named the new head coach for Iran national football team.

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The Iranian club has failed to reach an agreement with Italian coach Andrea Stramaccioni and now is going to sign the Croatian coach, Dragan Skocic.

Skocic has 18-month remaining on his current contract and it’s pretty unlikely that Sanat Naft will let him go.

Esteghlal has also negotiated with an Italian coach.

The Blues sit fifth in the Iran Professional League (IPL) table with 29 points, five points adrift of leader Persepolis.

Esteghlal football club officially announced that it has parted ways with Andrea Stramaccioni.

The Italian coach left Esteghlal on December 8 after the Iranian team failed to transfer his salary due to the USA sanctions.

While the Italian coach received part of his unpaid salary after the representative of an Iranian bank gave him a check at Iran’s Embassy in Rome, he refused to return to Iran to lead Esteghlal.

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