'Nobody wants to play against us'

In a report by news agency 'Mehr News', Quieroz said during his stay in Turkey: ''The critics talk a lot, but they must also know that nobody wants to play against us. Iran has problems.''

Queiroz referred veiledly to the political issues that are affecting Iran, after US President Donald Trump confirmed the withdrawal of their nuclear agreement with Iran and the sought to apply sanctions.

Greece, for example, cancelled the friendly that they had planned to play against Iran this Saturday. Their cancellation also prompted Kosovo to follow suit. From here to the World Cup, Iran will play only one international friendly against Lithuania on 8th June.

In comments made last December, Queiroz said: ''They will not silence me and I want to express my opinion of what Iran needs. It needs special preparation for the World Cup. I do not care about the threats and they do it so that I shut up, but the players and the fans deserve better support.''

Iran are in Group B for the World Cup group stages, and they face tough competition from Spain, Portugal and Morocco.