Daei Leaves out Karimi for World Cup Qualifier

TEHRAN - Iran's midfield superstar Ali Karimi has been left out of the squad for next month's World Cup qualification game against Saudi Arabia. Karimi has not played since May after he had termed the current squad the weakest in his 10-year presence in the national team. Iranian head coach Ali Daei, who is said not to have a good relation with the former Bayern Munich midfielder, had at that time given an alleged injury as reason for Karimi's omission. But football insiders said that his exclusion was due to the critical remarks. Daei has again called up German Bundesliga players Mehdi Mahdavikia (Frankfurt) and Vahid Hashemian (Bochum) for the September 6 match, the first qualification game in Asia group 2 where Iran will also meet the United Arab Emirates and the two Koreas.