PFDC - FRANKFURT, Injury woes, out-of-shape keyplayers, controversy around skipper Ali Daei and of course the bitter loss to Mexico in the World Cup opener overshadowed Iran's preperations for the second World Cup match against European vice-champions Portugal.

Iran will need at least a draw to remain in the race for advancing to the second stage, however, only a win against the European powerhouse would put Iran in a good position to advance from group D.

Although none of the 23 Iranian players is expected to be unavailable for the decisive clash, a couple of influential players are far from being in top shape after picking up injuries shortly ahead of the World Cup.

While Mehdi Mahdavikia and Vahid Hashemian just lack form after missing out several training sessions ahead of the first match, Fereydoon Zandi just recently recovered and is doubtful to have the legs for 90 minutes.

Iran's probably most important figure, Ali Karimi, still suffers from pain in his leg and like against Mexico might not be able to play up to his full potential nor remain on the pitch for the entire game.

National team analyst Human Afazeli furthermore had also mentioned lacking fitness of other Team Melli players in an exclusive interview with Persianfootball.com, which had been the reason why Iran was not able to keep the pace up against Mexico in second half. Unfortunately of course there can little be done about that in six days training between the encounters, which suggests Iran might face another very difficult second half in a match that kicks off at 15:00 local time and therefore doesn't promise lower temperatures.

Midweek it seemed almost certain that skipper Ali Daei, who had shown a very poor performance in the first game and also suffers from back problems, would not start this time, however, Branko Ivankovic told Iranian state television on Friday that the same eleven men who started against Mexico will be in the starting lineup again - apart from Daei. Ivankovic has not yet decided on his eleventh starter.

Shouldn't he again field Daei, it's likely that Madanchi, who also had to quit training two days ago due to an injury, will fill the leftwing position behind the sole striker Hashemian in a 4-2-3-1. Alternatively, Zandi could replace Karimi as central offensive man in the same system, while the Bayern Munich man would come over the left side.

Meanwhile Portugal boss Scolari, who will rely on his preferred 4-2-3-1, might have to do without injured Christiano Ronaldo, while Barcelona playmaker Deco will return to the starting lineup after sitting out the first match.

Iran - Portugal

2006 World Cup Group D match, Frankfurt, 15:00

Possible lineups:

Iran: Mirzapour - Kaebi, Golmohammadi, Rezaei, Nosrati - Nekounam, Teymourian - Mahdavikia, Karimi, Daei/Madanchi/Zandi -  Hashemian

Portugal: Ricardo - Miguel, Ricardo Carvalho, Fernando Meira, Nuno Valente - Tiago, Petit - Figo, Deco, Ronaldo/Simao - Pauleta