Mehdi Ghaedi Says Iran Ready for AFC U-23 Championship

With Korea Republic and China PR also looming in one of the tournament’s most imposing groups, the Hamid Estili-led side has little margin for error, but Ghaedi is confident Iran will produce from day one.

“The first game is always really difficult, it’s true,” said the 21-year-old, who has lit up the first half of the season for Tehran giant FC Esteghlal.

“We know Uzbekistan very well, and we know that it is a really good team. We played with them many times in other age groups and at the Under-23 level, we are sure it is one of the best teams in Asia. We want to start the championship very strongly, because we are Iran and we believe in ourselves. You will see our best performance from the first match,” Ghaedi told the-afc.com.

While denting Uzbekistan’s title defense is Iran’s immediate goal, the big picture of its Thailand 2020 campaign is focused on ending its much-discussed absence from the Olympic Games.

Iran has always been one of Asia’s footballing heavyweight, but it was 44 long years ago that a squad featuring Ali Parvin and Nasser Hejazi reached the last eight in Montreal, with generations of outstanding players trying, and failing to return to the Olympic stage since.

“The first goal we had from day one was to qualify for the Olympics, and that is our first target in this tournament. We know its 44 years since we last qualified for the Olympic Games in football, but it’s a new chance (to do so) and we are a new team. We’ll do our best” Ghaedi concluded.