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The latest lists of players who have been invited by Branko to the national team training camp have been announced and there is certainly new hope on the horizon!

Our national team is about to participate in a training camp to be held both in Iran and Switzerland, and for now however, Branko has decided to leave our legionnaires out of the team until both Bundesliga and Serie A finish their seasons in few days!

There are some new faces and some regular participants in his list and here is the quick review of the invitees.

The first player who caught my attention was Sohrab Bakhtiyarizadeh. The 34 year old Saba battery veteran, who has been a solid defender deep inside the Saba FC this past season, could undeniably be beneficial to our lineup. Using his imposing experience equally on national and international level, Sohrab can offer immense amount of security to our somewhat vulnerable defensive line at these very trying times.

One more defender who was called upon is Hadi Shakouri the Pas FC defender. Hadi is a physical and smart player who was also invited to the national team last year when we played against England’s QPR (Queen’s Park Rangers), in a friendly.

To try a new defender on a position that we lack strength (left back) Branko has invited another Pas defender, Meisam Maniei. This is a great opportunity for Meisam to demonstrate his ability and hopefully be an immediate alternative on the left side. Meisam is a young and confident player who helped Pas FC to not only capture the 2nd place in IPL this season, also have the 4^th best finish defensively with only 29 goals conceded.

Another multitalented invitee and definitely one of my favorites is Alireza Nikbakht Vahedi. Nikbakht is getting back to his previous and superior shape by the minute and having his speed and flexibility on the left side can be a great weapon both for Branko and our national team. A fit Nikbakht who can play a variety of positions from left defender to Midfielder and ultimately left winger, can greatly increase the odds of winning for our side. In my humble opinion, Nikbakht can do wonders side by side of Rahman Rezaei on the left side. He can also play the same role as Mehdi does on right side, and that is to use his speed and technique to move up and down the field feeding the forwards.

Also as everyone participated, the Golden Boot winner and Esteghlal’s prolific striker Reza Enayati was invited to try his luck one more time in the national team. Enayati has certainly earned his spot in the team by his constant and superior performances in IPL.

As much as our national team needs the guidance and the services of our super forward Ali Daei in Germany, Branko needs to understand his strengths and shortcomings as well. By all accounts Daei is not 90 minutes forward he once used to be and addition of IPL’s best striker to the front line can be considered a blessing for a team with too many super strikers in enemy’s territory!

In midfield however, the competition is getting tougher by the minute. Addition of Mehrzad Madanchi, who scored a hat trick against Aboo Moslem in Hazfi cup today, can steer up the rivalry in a lineup that is saturated with talents!

With Ando Teymourian, and Mojtaba Jabari, Javad Kazemian and even Nikbakht Vahedi fighting for a spot in this team, the 21 year old Shiraz born Madanchi certainly has his work cut out for him!

And that even leaves a couple of my favorite players on a waiting list!

Iman Mobali and Mehdi Amirabadi!

The 24 year old Ahvaz born super talent midfielder who has been absent from the team melli lineup for over a year now, did not earn an automatic spot. Mobali, who is playing for UAE club Alshabab, has been a focus of many team melli fans for the past year or so and Branko seems to intentionally ignore the requests of fans and experts alike to invite him back to the lineup.

One can certainly not forget his intentional foul on Ali Daei over a year ago and his immediate departure to Alshabab of UAE shortly after what happened, left many wondering abut the circumstances that surrounded him and his career after that infamous incident.

Many speculated that mentioned incident is the solitary reason for Branko not to invite Mobali to this lineup, an allegation that Branko has denied several times. But Mobali fans remain skeptical and maintain that despite Branko’s steady refusal to invite Mobali, he will eventually earn a spot that he deserves!

In reality, Branko is the coach and he must be respected, however, he is not above the wishes of Iranian people and we certainly urge him to invite Iman back instantaneously. Playing in the world cup is surely an enormous experience for Mobali and this would be a great occurrence not only for him, also for the future of a team that needs experienced, young talents to lead the way after the world cup ends in Germany!

As football fans, journalists and ordinary citizens, we have done the same for Azizi and Daei in the past. The time has come for us to stand up again and change the course and destiny of our team.

Mr. Branko, you have our full support now and we are grateful for some grand additions to our national team. But this list is not complete until you invite the last man standing!

Please invite Mobali!