Iran defeated Uzbekistan in its last friendly match at home as we get closer to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Roozbeh Cheshmi scored his first goal as a member of Team Melli in the first half when he headed home an Ehsan Hajsafi corner kick.
It turned out to be the only goal of the game as Iran won 1-0.
Cheshmi is a center back/defensive midfielder who plays for Esteghlal and he was used as a defensive midfielder by manager Carlos Queiroz.
But the main headline of the day was seeing goalkeeper Amir Abedzadeh make his long awaited debut in goal for Iran.
Back in 2011, Amir was playing for the LA Blues of the United Soccer League and at that time I was doing volunteer work for the LA Blues.
And I must say, I wasn’t too optimistic that we would see Amir following in the footsteps of his father, Ahmadreza Abedzadeh.
But we saw Amir in goal for Iran and he has never given up on his dream. He kept plugging away and recently he became the starting keeper for Maritimo of the Portuguese Premeira Liga.
Congratulations to Amir Abedzadeh for his perseverance and hard work!
A good amount of Team Melli fans weren’t too thrilled with the result against the Uzbeks and that is mostly because this squad was considered to be a U23 side.
Anyway, I am not reading too much into it because Carlos Queiroz has his ways of doing things and experimenting with different lineups.
We are getting closer and closer to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Are you ready or what?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efnh0U7oLw8&t=5s