‘Pressure will be on the Lions’

IRAN striker Mehdi Taremi reckons his nation’s fans can put the pressure on England in their World Cup opener.

Carlos Queiroz’s side open their campaign against Gareth Southgate’s men on Monday afternoon.

And Porto forward Taremi (above) recalled how Iranian fans outnumbered Spanish and Portuguese counterparts in their World Cup ties in Russia four years ago.

“In Russia, we were playing against Spain and Portugal and both times Iranian fans outnumbered the opposition,” said Taremi.

“Qatar is close to home – they can definitely help a lot.

“We will give our all to win these three games, but we’ll also need things to go our way. That said, football is unpredictable.”

Although there are no diplomatic relations between Iran and Qatar, Iranian fans have been granted special permission to travel to Doha.

“It’s definitely special when your country qualifies and we get to fly our country’s flag,” said Taremi. “We gave everything to make sure we qualified.”

Although England are favourites to qualify as Group B winners, Taremi said: “For us, qualifying for the knockout phase would be huge. We’ll give everything we have to achieve that.

“There are a few problems facing us, but there are always positives and negatives.

“I have a good feeling about this tournament as I’ve witnessed the team effort – so who knows?

“Qualifying for the knockout stages for the first time ever would mean a lot for our fans.”

With 28 goals from 60 caps, there is huge expectation on Taremi to provide the spark to inspire Iran, but the 30-year-old is unfazed by the pressure.

“A player can make a difference to a team, but it’s unrealistic to say one player can do it all on his own,” he added.