Ghotbi announces roster, Karimi recalled

TEHRAN - Iran coach Afshin Ghotbi has recalled ace midfielder Ali Karimi and several other big names in the 41-member roster for their FIFA World Cup qualifier against DPR Korea on June 6.

The Perepolis star, who was voted as the best player in the Iran Pro League in an Iranian television poll recently, retired from Team Melli in October 2008 and announced his readiness to play for the country in February this year but was not picked by the then coach Ali Daei.

Apart from the 2004 AFC Player of the Year, the 45-year-old Iranian-American coach has also recalled Ferydoon Zandi (Alki Larnaca, Cyprus), Andranik Teymourian (Barnsley, England) and Javad Kazemian (Ajman, UAE).

Iran are fourth in Group B of the qualifiers with six points from five games. Korea Republic top the pool with 11 points from five games, followed by their northern neighbours on 10 points from six games with Saudi Arabia in third, also on 10 points from six games.

THE SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Seyed Mehdi Rahmati, Vahid Talebloo, Mohammad Mohammadi

Defenders: Seyed Jalal Hosseini, Hossein Kaebi, Hadi Aghili, Mohsen Bengar, Hassan Ashjari, Mohammad Nosrati, Sattar Zare, Rahman Rezaei, Pirouz Ghorbani, Khosro Heydari, Pejman Montazeri, Ahmad Alenemeh, Farshid Talebi

Midfielders: Ferydoon Zandi, Andranik Teymourian, Hossein Kazemi, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Farzad Ashoubi, Javad Nekounam, Masoud Shojaei, Karim Bagheri, Ali Karimi, Mehrzad Madanchi, Maziar Zare, Ehsan Hajsafi, Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari, Meysam Baoo, Iman Mobali, Pejman Nouri, Alireza Mohammad, Mohammad Salsali

Strikers: Arash Borhani, Vahid Hashemian, Mohsen Khalili, Gholamreza Rezaei, Javad Kazemian, Ali Samereh, Siavash Akbarpour

AFC