The head coach of Iran's national youth football team has announced the names on the roster for the squad at the 2016 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship, which is scheduled to be staged later this month in Bahrain.
On Tuesday, Amir Hossein Peyrovani unveiled the names of the selected footballers for Team Melli Javanan’s fixtures at the upcoming event.
Mohammad Amin Bahrami and Nima Mirzazad were picked as goalkeepers.
Amir Hossein Amir Taheri, Ali Shojaei, Aref Aghasi, Aref Gholami and Abolfazl Razzaghpour will join the Iranian outfit as defenders.
Nima Mokhtari, Reza Shekari, Mohammad Gholamreza, Omid Noorafkan, and Shahin Abbasian will be playing as midfielders.
Moreover, Mehdi Mehdikhani and Reza Karamolachaab have been selected to play as forwards during Team Melli Javanan’s forthcoming matches. Karamolachaab will wear the captain’s armband.
Ali Taheran, Shahab Adeli, Reza Ja’fari, Mohammad Soltanimehr, Sina Khadempour, Nima Taheri, Mohammad Aghajanpour, Mojtaba Najjarian and Hossein Saki are the other players in the Iran youth team.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is drawn in the Group C of the group stage of the 2016 AFC U-19 Championship, and is pitted against defending champion Qatar, Asian powerhouse Japan, and Yemen.
The hosts are drawn in Group A, and have joined 2012 champion South Korea as well as Saudi Arabia.
Group B constitutes of 2014 runner-up North Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Vietnam. Australia, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan form Group D.
The 2016 AFC U-19 Championship, which will be the 39th edition of the tournament, is slated to be held between October 13 and 30 in Bahrain. The championship acts as the AFC qualifier for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea, with the top four teams qualifying.
Since South Korea has already qualified automatically as the AFC U-19 Championship host, the fifth-placed team will also qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup if the South Korean team finishes in the top four.