Karimi joins Iran national team

[Afshin]

PTV - Persepolis striker Ali Karimi will join Iran’s national football team for next week’s 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against North Korea.

Iran’s coach Ali Daei has called up 38 players for the October 15 match against North Korea. Karimi and Frankfurt’s Mehdi Mahdavikia are the newcomers to the squad.

The 29-year-old Karimi, who has been capped 109 times for Iran, was suspended from the national team in May after criticizing the Iranian Football Federation (IFF).

Karimi scored a hat-trick for Persepolis against Abumoslem on Wednesday but could not save the Tehran popular side from a 4-3 defeat in the 10th week of Iran’s Premier League. He also scored the equalizer against Esteqlal in Tehran’s derby last Friday.

Bochum’s Vahid Hashemian has been left out of the national team for the next week’s match due to injury.

The Iranian squad drew 1-1 with Saudi Arabia in its first World Cup qualifier last month.

Iran is drawn in Group B of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers along with Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the UAE and North Korea.

[BrankoWasTheBEST]

They say God works in mysterious ways and the rumour is that Karimi has refused to join TM and has officially retired.

I did NOT want him back after all the crap we had to endure from this lazy selfish fool. We have Shojaee and Nekounam, players with gheyrat and hunger who are also doing well in their clubs in Europe, so Karimi not coming to TM is no loss whatsoever 

This fool had his chance in WC2006 and BLEW it big time. Everyone deserves a second chance. Well, he got it in Asia 2007 and BLEW it even bigger time. This time there was no Deco or Ronaldo or any other world class player. He played against the likes of Super Powerhouses of Malaysia and Korean under 23 team and he FAILED miserably .

Karimi's absense from TM is TM's gain, not loss.   

The boy was in PP and they almost lost to SS in the derby. OK so he got the goal but why did PP almost lose? And another OK, he got a hattrick against AbuMoslem but what was the result?  It seems with him in PP lineup the team is going backwards. So now the destruction of PP has started; I wonder  The fool gets the goals but the team loses. Hmmmm, there is something to ponder about there   

Goodbye and good riddance (if the news is true).