🇳🇦NamibiaSouthern Africa
Veteran striker Sardar Azmoun omitted from Iran's World Cup squad
via The Namibian1 min read
Sardar Azmoun, Iran's third-highest scorer in national team history, has been excluded from the World Cup squad. Azmoun faced criticism in March for posting a photo with the premier of the United Arab Emirates, a US ally, which some Iranian state media called a "betrayal." The 31-year-old forward, who previously played for Bayer Leverkusen and AS Roma, had also drawn criticism in 2022 for supporting protesters during demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini. Iran is scheduled to play its first match on June 15 against New Zealand in Los Angeles, but the national team players have not yet received visas to travel to the United States. Their training camp, initially planned for Tucson, Arizona, has been relocated to Tijuana, Mexico. The squad includes goalkeepers Alireza Beiranvand, Payam Niazmand, Hossein Hosseini; defenders Ehsan Hajsafi, Milad Mohammadi, Ali Nemati, Shojae Khalilzadeh, Hossein Kanaanizadegan, Danial Eiri, Ramin Rezaeian, Saleh Hardani; midfielders Saman Ghoddos, Saeid Ezatolahi, Mohammad Ghorbani, Rouzbeh Cheshmi, Amirmohammad Razzaghinia, Mohammad Mohebi, Mehdi Torabi, Mehdi Ghayedi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Aria Yousefi; and forwards Mehdi Taremi, Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh, Ali Alipour, Shahriyar Moghanlou, Dennis Eckert.
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by The Namibian.
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