On Track Portugal Meet Embattled Iran

Iran's World Cup chances took another blow this week when it emerged that captain and veteran top goal getter Ali Daei will miss the match against Portugal on Saturday with a back problem.

"He suffered a hit in the back during yesterday's game and probably won't be fit to play against Portugal," Iran's coach Branko Ivankovic said Monday after his team's 3-1 defeat to Mexico.

Daei, who once played for Bayern Munich and holds the world record for international goals, with 109 --more than both Pele and Ferenc Puskas -- is just the latest in Iran's contingent of Bundesliga players to be hit by injury.

Mehdi Mahdavikia and Vahid Hashemian were both recovering from knocks as they labored against Mexico on Sunday while Bayern Munich's Ali Karimi had to be sent off after struggling for 55 minutes against Mexico. Ferydoon Zandi did not even make the bench.

"We had some problems in the last two or three months. Karimi was playing his second game in three months, Hashemian was out injured for two months and Mahdavikia couldn't practice for the last 10 days," Ivankovic said.

"A terrible mistake"

A sports professor who recently coached Hanover in Germany's second division and led the Iranian under-23 team to victory at the Asian Games four years ago, Ivankovic has come under fire for Iran's performance against Mexico, which has diminished Iranian fans' hopes of repeating the country's one World Cup success to date -- a 2-1 win over the United States in 1998.

Ivankovic was livid after defender Rahman Rezaei, whose leaping header had set up Iran's equalizer on Sunday, allowed himself to be robbed on the edge of the penalty box for Mexico to go up 2-1.

Iran are now third in Group D and have little chance of making the knock-out stages with games to come against Portugal and Angola.

"We had a chance to do something today, we played very well especially in the first half and maybe we could have scored more than one goal," Ivankovic said after the defeat to Mexico. "We lost a goal through a terrible mistake in the defensive line, and of course after that it was much harder."

"A difficult game"

Portugal, however, is taking Iran very seriously despite their 1-0 win over their first Group D opponents Angola.

"It will be a difficult game. We saw the first half against Mexico and we saw Iran playing very well," Portugal midfielder Costinha said this week. "They lost the first game so in this game they will play even harder because if they lose, it will be difficult for them to qualify," Costinha said, adding that the Mexicans would be particularly watchful about strong midfield attacks from Iran.

But Portugal suffered a mild shock this week when star winger Christiano Ronaldo, who plays for Manchester United, left a practice session early, after complaining about his right hamstring. Portuguese soccer officials insisted that Ronaldo was merely tired.

But the Portuguese can still count on a star line-up with Deco -- counted among the world's best midfielders and nicknamed "the magic one" for his deadly free kicks and long passes -- and captain Luis Figo, the two most experienced members of the team.

Figo, who turns 34 in November, proved his worth when he orchestrated the 1-0 win over Angola by breaking through the defense to set up Pauleta's goal.

Portugal has its sights trained high for the World Cup. Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who won the last World Cup with Brazil, said ahead of the tournament he had no doubts that the trophy is within Portugal's reach.