Iranian Speaker Lauds Team Melli’s Qualifying for 2018 FIFA World Cup


Iranian Speaker Lauds Team Melli’s Qualifying for 2018 FIFA World Cup

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani offered his congratulations to the country’s people and sports community over the national football team’s (also known as Team Melli) victory in the World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan and advancing to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

In a congratulatory message on Tuesday, Larijani hailed Team Melli’s advancing to the World Cup for the second time in a row as “glorious” and said it made the Iranian people happy.

“The powerful and early advance of the national football team is a sign of the high strength of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s dear youths…,” he said.

Team Melli defeated Uzbekistan 2-0 in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on Monday night.

Sardar Azmoun, who was chosen as the Man of the Match, opened the scoring for Carlos Queiroz’s team in the 23rd minute. The Rostov striker has scored 19 goals in 26 matches for Team Melli.

Iran could have scored the second goal in the 48th minute but Masoud Shojaei missed a penalty kick.

Mehdi Taremi finished off Uzbekistan in the 88th minute, finding the back of the net from inside the area.

Iran cemented its position at the top of Group A with 20 points.

South Korea is second with 13 points with one game in hands.

Russia will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup next summer.

Most Visited in Sports
Top Sports stories
Top Stories