Iran names 14-man squad for Futsal Asian Cup
Head coach Vahid Shamsaei named Iran’s 14-man squad for the upcoming AFC Futsal Asian Cup – starting Wednesday in Bangkok, Thailand.
Prolific pivot Hossein Tayyebi will be the country’s key absentee in Bangkok due to an injury, though his Mallorca Palma teammates Mohsen Oladqobad and Salar Aqapour were given the go-ahead by the Spanish Primera Division club to take part at the tournament, which is not part of the FIFA international calendar.
Three-time Asian Futsal Player of the Year Aliasghar Hassanzadeh has again received a callout and will be back in the event after being snubbed by Shamsaei for the previous edition in 2022.
Hassanzadeh, Oladqobad and Aqapour will be joined by goalkeeping duo Baqer Mohammadi and Saeid Mo’meni as well as Ali Khalilvand, Alireza Rafieipour, Mohammad-Hossein Derakhshani, Mohammadreza Sangsefidi, Saeid Ahmad-Abbasi, Mahdi Karimi, Ali Akrami, Masoud Yousef, and Behrouz Azimi in representing the most decorated Asian side in Bangkok.
Having won the competition on eight occasions as a player, Shamsaei led his team to the final showpiece in Kuwait two years ago, but had to settle for a runner-up finish in his maiden tournament on Iran’s bench after a shock 3-2 defeat against Japan.
Chasing a record-extending 13th trophy in the continent’s flagship international futsal event, Iran will begin its campaign with a game against Afghanistan in Group D on Thursday.
Shamsaei’s men will take on Bahrain two days later before playing Kuwait on the final day of the group phase next Monday.
The top two of the four groups will progress to the last-eight round with the four semifinalists qualifying for the FIFA Futsal World Cup, starting mid-September in Uzbekistan.
Ranked sixth in the latest Futsal World Ranking, Iran will step into the Asian Cup on the back of a friendly tournament in Vietnam, where the Asian powerhouse fell to a 5-4 loss to Morocco but came out on top against the New Zealand (5-1), and Vietnam (3-1) to finish second to the African side.