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Reuters - Iran's coach Branko
Ivankovic admitted his team were going into their World Cup opener with
Mexico as underdogs on Sunday, but his sense they could notch up a shock
win was echoed on the streets of Tehran.
An Iranian win promises to spark very rare public partying with Tehranis
vowing to pour into the streets just as they did when their team
qualified for the tournament in Germany.
"We reckon on winning the game but it is going to be tough," Ivankovic
told Iranian state television.
"We believe we will get the chance to pull something off although
Portugal and Mexico are highly favoured to qualify from the group. We
will fight until the very last moment," he added in Croatian through a
Persian translator.
Kick-off at Nuremberg's Frankenstadion is at 1600 GMT. Iran's Group D
also includes Angola.
Majid Nazari, 44, having a sandwich in central Tehran, also believed
Iran could cause an upset: "This will be the same as the Iran-America
match in which the players tried their best to win."
Iran's only win at the World Cup finals was a 2-1 victory over the
United States in 1998. In their previous appearances at the finals in
1978 and 1998, Iran went out in the first round.
Thirteen-year-old Mohsen also predicted at 2-1 win for Iran on Sunday
with Hamburg SV's Mehdi Mahdavikia and Bayern Munich's Ali Karimi
finding the net.
Most of those Reuters spoke to said they would turn out in the streets
if Iran won.
"If we win, I'll definitely come into streets to celebrate the big
victory," said Kindergarten teacher Sanaz Sani, 23.
However, most also admitted Mexico presented a big challenge.
"Iran will lose by one goal," said sandwich shop owner Abbas Lotfi, 27.
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