Fulham midfielder Ashkan Dejagah has been included in Iran's preliminary 28-man World Cup squad.Dejagah played 21 league games for the Cottagers this season, scoring five goals in a difficult campaign as they were relegated.
Iran boss Carlos Queiroz has handed the 27-year-old a timely boost by giving him a chance to go to Brazil.
Ex-Manchester United assistant boss Queiroz will trim his final squad to 23 players by Fifa's 2 June deadline.
The former Real Madrid coach has excluded 35-year-old forward Ali Karimi, who won 127 caps, and included Rubin Kazan's 19-year-old uncapped prodigy Sardar Azmoun.
Charlton midfielder Reza Ghoochannejhad is also in the squad.
Iran will holdtraining campsin Tehran and Austria ahead of the World Cup finals, where they will play Argentina, Bosnia and Nigeria in Group F.
Goalkeepers:Daniel Davari (Eintracht Braunschweig), Alireza Haghighi (Sporting Covilha, on loan from Rubin Kazan), Rahman Ahmadi (Sepahan), Sousha Makani (Foolad Khuzestan).
Defenders:Khosro Heidari (Esteghlal), Hossein Mahini (Persepolis), Steven Beitashour (Vancouver Whitecaps), Pejman Montazeri (Umm Salal), Jalal Hosseini (Persepolis), Amir Sadeghi (Esteghlal), Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh (Zob Ahan), Ahmad Alenemeh (Naft), Hashem Beikzadeh (Esteghlal), Ehsan Hajsafi (Sepahan), Mehrdad Pooladi (Persepolis).
Midfielders:Javad Nekounam (Al Kuwait), Andranik Teymourian (Esteghlal), Reza Haghighi (Persepolis), Ghasem Hadadifar (Zob Ahan), Bakhtiyar Rahmani (Foolad), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (NEC Nijmegen), Ashkan Dejagah (Fulham).
Forwards:Masoud Shojaei (Las Palmas), Mohammad Reza Khalatbari (Persepolis), Mehdi Sharifi (Sepahan), Reza Ghoochannejhad (Charlton), Karim Ansarifard (Persepolis, on loan at Tractor Sazi), Sardar Azmoun (Rubin Kazan).
By BBC
The Iran Project is not responsible for the content of quoted articles.
