'Sleeping Beauty' Salmany misses morning practice

"He hadn't slept for the previous three nights, so he took two sleeping tablets and missed training because we couldn't wake him up. He sleeps and now I can't," laughed German coach Hans-Dieter Schmidt.

"When he woke up, I told him: 'Good Morning, Sir'. Then I told him not to take sleeping tablets again. It's crazy. I would rather he went for a walk or something. I've never heard of this happening before, it was a big surprise," Schmidt added after leading Pirouzi's reserves through a relatively light session that involved some high intensity one-touch drills and a variety of shooting routines.

Salmany was understandably embarrassed.

"Of course he was angry with me. It's the first time I've used sleeping tablets and it will be the last," explained a sheepish but surprisingly alert Salmany.

However, Schmidt says the player's 'Sleeping Beauty' act will not mean he's excluded from Pirouzi's remaining matches against Pakhtakor on Tuesday and Nisa on Thursday.

"He's an important player for us," the coach added. "He's young but very fast and a good scorer."

Meanwhile, Iran international Mehrdad Minavand has been placed in isolation suffering from influenza, adding to his misery after being declared ineligible for AFC Champions League action in Tashkent.

Minavand, whose name was struck off the Tehran club's 20-man squad at the last minute because they were unable to provide an International Transfer Certificate proving he had joined Pirouzi prior to the competition's February 9 deadline, was moved into a single room at the insistence of German coach Hans-Dieter Schmidt.