May 5 (Reuters) - Iran have suffered a significant on-field blow ahead of their World Cup campaign after winger Ali Gholizadeh suffered a season-ending knee injury while playing for his club Lech Poznan in Poland.
Gholizadeh, who would have started on the right flank for Iran at the World Cup, was taken off the field against Motor Lublin last Saturday and tests later confirmed he had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
"Gholizadeh will face surgery in the coming days, followed by
several months of rehabilitation," the club said in a statement.
While there is still a shadow of doubt over Iran's participation in the World Cup because of the war with the United States and Israel, their home-based players have continued their tournament preparations in Tehran.
Iranian top flight football was suspended after the U.S. and Israeli air strikes started in late February so the players have been limited to drills and the occasional intra-squad match at a training camp.
In a sign of the importance of football in the country, squad members have also been a regular presence at pro-government night demonstrations in the city's Valiasr Square.
Midfielder Mohammad Mehdi Mohebi attended last Wednesday night and told reporters that if he scored at the World Cup he would dedicate his goal to the "martyrs" of the March missile strike on a girls' school at Minab which killed 156 civilians including scores of children.
After the bad news about Gholizadeh, fans of Team Melli will be hoping that reports in the Iranian media of mediation talks between Iran striker Sardar Azmoun and the authorities bear fruit.
Azmoun, who has scored 57 goals in 91 internationals since making his debut as a teenager in 2014, was left out of the squad for friendlies against Costa Rica and Nigeria in March.
Reports in the local media said the 31-year-old had been expelled for "disloyalty" after posting a picture on social media of his meeting with Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who rules Dubai.
Azmoun plays his club football for Shabab Al-Ahli in the Emirate, which has been the target of Iranian missile and drone attacks during the conflict with the U.S. and Israel.
President Gianni Infantino last week told FIFA's Congress that Iran would be at the World Cup and play their three group fixtures, as scheduled, in the U.S.
Team Melli are set to kick off their campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15 before taking on Belgium at the same stadium on June 21 and rounding out their Group G fixtures against Egypt in Seattle five days later.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
