Iran ready to hold friendly football game with Japan team

Iran’s Sports and Youth Minister Masoud Soltanifar said on Saturday that Iran is ready to hold a friendly football match with Japan’s national team, AVA Diplomatic reports.

Soltanifar made the remarks during a meeting with the manager of Japan’s Kashima Antlers club and Japanese ambassador to Iran Mitsugu Saito ahead of the second leg of the Asian Champions League final game in Tehran between Kashima Antlers and Iran’s Persepolis.  In order to get prepared for a mighty presence at 2020 Olympic Games, Iran has plans to make use of the experiences of Japan, Soltanifar said.  He voiced Iran’s readiness to hold joint camps with Japanese teams, particularly in the area of women sports.  Speaking with the manager of Kashima Antlers club, the Iranian minister said that some 3 million people had applied for the ticket of Today’s ACL final game in Tehran.  The game will be held at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium at 18:30 local time (15:30 GMT).  Kashima Antlers managed to defeat Persepolis 2-0 in the first leg of the final game in Japan last week.