{"id":37458,"date":"2019-09-07T12:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-09-07T19:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/?p=37458"},"modified":"2019-09-07T12:00:52","modified_gmt":"2019-09-07T19:00:52","slug":"wcq-iran-look-for-strong-start-marc-wilmots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2019\/09\/07\/wcq-iran-look-for-strong-start-marc-wilmots\/","title":{"rendered":"WCQ – Iran look for strong start: Marc Wilmots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tehran Times – TEHRAN, Iran national football team are hoping to open their account with a victory in Group C against Hong Kong at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup China 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc Wilmots\u2019s team will meet the East Asian side at the 40,000-seat Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team Melli, who have been drawn alongside Iraq, Bahrain, Cambodia and Hong Kong, are favorites to go to the third round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong got off to a shaky start in their Asian World Cup qualifier, drawing 1-1 against a mainly under-23 Cambodia side in Phnom Penh on Thursday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong coach Mixu Paatelainen says he is not happy with the result but they want to turn that around against Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not surprised they\u2019re the highest ranked Asian team in the FIFA rankings, but it\u2019s a different kind of challenge. I\u2019m a very positive person and I also want to turn that around,\u201d the Finn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran iconic attacking midfielder Saman Ghoddos, who currently plays in French club Amiens, is a big absent in this match after he was suspended for four months by FIFA for failing to honor an agreement to join Huesca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Striker Mehdi Taremi will also miss the match due to foot injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team Melli\u2019s Belgian coach, who replaced Carlos Queiroz, started his reign in Iran with a 5-0 win over Syria in a friendly match and drew 1-1 with South Korea in Seoul in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilmots has shown that he is interested in attacking football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are going to have a strong start in the competition. We will dictate our style of play. Team Melli will play an attacking football against their opponents,\u201d Wilmots said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eight group winners and four best runners-up will advance to the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Finals and the final round of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the third round, the 12 teams will be divided into two groups of six to play home and away round-robin matches. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the World Cup, and the third-placed teams will advance to the fourth round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next best 24 teams from the second round of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining 12 slots in the 24-team AFC Asian Cup China 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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