Iran national team manager Marc Wilmots warns his players that he will drop them if they lose their places at their clubs.
Iran will take on Cambodia on Thursday in their second match in 2022 world cup qualification campaign and high profile players like Brighton Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Eupen midfielder Saeed Ezatolahi have not been invited for this match.
Wilmots has admitted one of his most important criteria for inviting players is playing regularly in their own clubs.
“Inviting to the national team is a process that always is possible. Jahanbakhsh had played 90 minutes against Hong Kong but got injures after returning to Brighton.
We have been in contact with Brighton medical staff. Jahanbakhsh has not attend in trainings for 10 days and was not fit because he didn’t played for Brighton for a while.” He told to reporters.
“I don’t speak about quality. I talk about rhythm of playing. This happened for Ezatolahi and [Allahyar] Sayad manesh too. If a player can’t play for his club, he can’t play for Team Melli. Another objective for changing the squad is that any player doesn’t think his place in the team is cemented.”