No boots, no problem as Iran stay united

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz believes his players have been brought closer together by Nike’s decision to cut their supply of World Cup kit to the team but the acid test will come against Morocco today.

Nike announced they have been forbidden from providing football boots to Iran’s squad during the tournament, on account of sanctions imposed against the country by the United States.

The late decision has disrupted Iran’s preparations, with some players reportedly having to buy their own footwear from Russian shops or even ask club teammates for help.

“We are not ever using apologies or justifications, we are using the difficulties as a source of inspiration for our motivations to be strengthened during the games,” said Queiroz.

For now, Iran remain the rank outsiders in the group but Queiroz is happy to play the role of underdogs.

“We admit that the favourites are Morocco, Spain and Portugal due to history, World Cup preparation, maturity and players in the best teams in Europe,” he added.

“We concede that favouritism, but we don’t tolerate that we are not capable to win. Nobody can undermine our expectations and hopes. We are here to compete with the favourites and we hope the gods of football speak higher and they make decisions.”

It remains to be seen whether Queiroz’s defiant verdict bears fruit, given any loser of Friday’s crunch fixture in St Petersburg would be left needing to beat either Spain or Portugal to reach the last 16.

“We have the potential to surprise Morocco,” Queiroz said. “We know their team very well but I suspect they know very little about us.”