Team Melli under no pressure: Ivankovic

AFC - Iran coach Branko Ivankovic denied on Wednesday that Team Melli is under any sort of pressure for their next game against Portugal.

Iran lost their opening Group D encounter to Mexico 3-1, leading to intense criticism in the Iranian media about Ivankovic’s tactics and his inflexibility regarding the line-up.

“My players are under no stress,” said the Croatian coach. “We are continuing our training as usual and we will give our best.”

Ivankovic said the defeat was purely due to personal mistakes. “Mexico are the Group D leaders and they are fourth in the FIFA rankings, the only team to beat Brazil in the last two years. When I reviewed the second half video-tape (of the match) with my players we found out that the two goals were because of personal mistakes, lack of concentration and physical strength.”

The 53-year-old coach strongly defended his player selection policy. “I don’t agree with you about Ali Daei and Yahya Golmohammadi. We also have to see the condition of our opponents. Mirzapour (Ebrahim) is at his best goalkeeping age.”

Iran play Portugal on June 17 in Frankfurt.