TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iran midfielder Ashkan Dejagah believes that his team can spring a few surprises at the Brazil World Cup.



�Iran has been grouped with Nigeria, Argentina and Bosnia and Herzegovina in Group F of the World Cup.


Iran will play Nigeria on June 16 in its opener.

Carlos Queiroz�s men will face Argentina and Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 21 and June 25, respectively.

�We�re not going there expecting to win the tournament but we think we can cause a few surprises,� Dejagah told Fulham�s official website.

�It�s the fourth time the country has reached the World Cup but they�ve only ever won one game and have never got out of the Group Stages, so it would be great if we could get into the knock-out rounds. I think we have a chance,� he added.

�We can go there and play in a relaxed way because there�s no pressure on us. It�s a difficult group - we face Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Nigeria so it won�t be easy - but in football you never know,� Fulham midfilder said.

�It�s the biggest thing to happen for Iran for many years. Hopefully we can do the country proud. We have some good players. There�s Reza Ghoochannejhad, a striker who plays at Charlton Athletic, Alireza Jahanbakhsh plays for NEC Nijmegen in the Netherlands and goalkeeper Daniel Davari is at Eintracht Braunschweig in Germany,� he said.

�It doesn�t get much better for a footballer,� said Dejagah, who hit five goals for Fulham in the league last term. �It�s a dream for every young player. It�s the first World Cup I�ve played in so I�m a little bit nervous but also very excited."

�The first tournament I really remember was World Cup �94 when Roberto Baggio missed in the penalty shoot-out as Brazil beat Italy. I�ve since watched a DVD of Italia �90 when West Germany beat England on penalties. West Germany went on to lift the trophy. I was only four at the time but my neighbor in Germany knew I liked football so gave me a DVD of the tournament and I watched it a lot of times,� Dejagah concluded.

By Tasnim News Agency

 

The Iran Project is not responsible for the content of quoted articles.