Sputnik - Iran captain Masoud Shojaei said on Sunday that his side was "going strong" ahead of their encounter with Portugal.




Iran, who suffered a 1-0 loss at�the hands of�Spain on�Wednesday, will face reigning European champions Portugal in�their next World Cup encounter in�Saransk on�Monday. The game will kick off�at 21:00 Moscow time (18:00 GMT). Both teams have a chance to�qualify for�the round�of 16, with�Portugal topping Group B with�four points, and Iran trailing them by�one point.
"I don't agree that we've made any serious mistakes in�the last game [against Spain]� We just took the risk, we tried to�play more aggressively, tried to�score, but�didn't manage to. But we learn from�these mistakes and use this experience in�the future. We have many young guys [in the team]� In 2014, we got tired at�the World Cup, and now we have a different situation. We're going strong to�achieve result," Shojaei told journalists.





The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off�on June 14 and will continue until�July 15, with�the matches being played in�11 cities across�Russia.