Asian giants Iran will play five-time World Cup winners Brazil on October 7 in the United Arab Emirates, the ISNA news agency reported on Monday.
“Iran will play a friendly game against Brazil, featuring all its stars, in Abu Dhabi on October 7,” the chairman of the Iranian Football Federation (IFF), Ali Kafashian, was quoted as saying.
Kafashian said that the agreement to hold the match in the UAE, home to around 400,000 Iranians, was clinched on Sunday.
He gave no details of the contract, but another IFF official said all costs were being met by the sponsor of the Brazilian team.
“The Brazilian team’s sponsor is paying all the expenses for our team. If we wanted to play against Brazil in Tehran it would have cost us around three million dollars,” Abbas Torabian was quoted by the news agency as saying.
Kafashian said that the Team Melli’s squad will be determined after they finish their matches in the West Asia Football Federation cup now being played in Jordan, and in which Iran are seeking their fifth title.
Kafashian added that Iran’s US-trained coach Afshin Ghotbi had given the thumbs up for the match.
Ghotbi is hoping to pilot his side to their first Asian Cup title in 35 years next year, when the tournament will be held in Qatar between January 7-29.
Iran are grouped with current Asian Cup champions Iraq, North Korea and the UAE in the 2011 finals.
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