“It’s important to get three points against Turkmenistan.” – Carlos Queiroz

Tasnim – DASHOGUZ, Iran coach Carlos Queiroz said that it will be important to defeat Turkmenistan in the 2018 World Cup qualifier opener.

Iran is scheduled to meet Turkmenistan in Group D in Dashoguz on Tuesday.

Team Melli has been drawn with Turkmenistan, India, Guam and Oman.

“We will hopefully get the three points, which is (very) important for us,” Queiroz said in the pre-match news conference.

“We respect all the Asian teams. When you start a tournament such as World Cup qualifiers, to get three points is (more) important than everything,” the Portuguese coach added.

Turkmenistan’s national football team coach Amangylyc Kocumow insists underdog Turkmenistan has no fear in taking on Iran in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

“Playing with Iran as a team who has participated in the 2014 World Cup is a good experience for our players,” Kocumow said in the pre-match news conference.

“We played South Korea eight years ago and playing with Iran will be our second great match during the years.”

173rd-ranked Turkmenistan has never qualified for the World cup finals. The team will face the first-ranked Asian team in Dashoguz on Tuesday.

“It doesn’t matter if we lose. We are going to learn from the match against a great team such as Iran,” Kocumow said, adding that his team is not scared of playing Iran.