German legionnaires join Iran's World Cup squad

DPA - The four Iranian players playing in the German Bundesliga arrived in Tehran Saturday and will join Iran's World Cup squad after the obligatory medical test.

Mehdi Mahdavikia (Hamburg), Ali Karimi (Bayern Munich), Vahid Hashemian (Hanover) and Fereydoun Zandi (Kaiserslautern) went to the Iran Shahr hospital in Tehran on Saturday morning to pass the fitness test before joining the team.

With all 23 players available, the Croatian coach of the Iranian team, Branco Ivankovic, can now start the final training phase for the World Cup.

The team will leave for Zagreb next week to play against Croatia on May 28. Three days later Iran will be host to Bosnia-Herzegovina in Tehran's Azadi stadium.

There is still concern over the fitness of Hashemian and Karimi, but both players were optimistic that they could play the first game against Mexico on June 11 in Nuremberg.

Meanwhile ISNA reported that Sunday's national cup final game between Persepolis Tehran and Sepahan Isfahan was cancelled because the national players of both teams are not allowed to play due to FIFA rules.

The national cup winner will play in the Asian Cup Winners competition which is equal to the UEFA cup in Europe and therefore quite important, especially financially, for both teams.

Persepolis coach Ari Haan, whose team only reached a disappointing 9th place in the league this season, has pinned all his hopes on the national cup title.

But without his key players Javad Kazemian and Mehrzad Madanchi, who are both in the national team squad, the Dutch trainer would risk even losing the national cup title and the financial resources which he desperately needs for buying new players for the next season.

The Iranian Football Federation and the country's sports organization decided to cancel Sunday's final and set a new date which ISNA believes would be after the World Cup.