Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei has named a strong squad that will take on Kenya’s Harambee Stars in a March 28 international friendly match at the Azad Stadium in Tehran.The Iranians will first play Russia on March 23 before taking on Harambee Stars five days later.Ghelenoei has named 11 players who played for Iran at the 2022 Qatar World Cup where they were eliminated in the group stages.Iran was in the same group with United States of America (USA), Wales and Portugual.Alireza Beiranvand who was first choice goalkeeper in Qatar makes the cut. He turns out for Iranian side Persepolis. Hossein Hosseini and Payam Niazmand both who were also in Qatar are also in the team to face Kenya. They also play in Iran for Sephan and Esteghlal respectively.##NAJAVA_MECA_7108508##Another home player, midfielder Rouzbeh Cheshmi who turns out for Esteghlal and scored when Iran beat Wales 2-0 in the 2022 World Cup also makes the squad to play Kenya.Veteran defender Ehsan Hajisafi who plays for AEK Athens has also been recalled. He is one the most experienced players in the team having played more than 100 times for Iran.Other players who represented Iran in Qatar and have been recalled for the match against Kenya include: Shaoja Khalilzadah (Al-Ahli), Sadegh Moharrami (Dynamo Zagreb), Ahmad Nourollahi (Shabab Al Ahli), Porto striker Mehdi Taremi and Bayer Leverkusen striker Sardar Azmoun. Siraj ready to grab national team selection opportunity with both handsIn total, the Iran coach has named 34 players to go to camp in preparations for the two international friendlies.Iran is ranked 24th in the world a whopping 77 places above Kenya according to the latest FIFA rankings.The two teams have previously played each other twice in friendly matches with Iran winning the first one 3-0 and the second one 1-0. Both fixtures were in Tehran in 1997 and 2009 respectively.
