Having been in the coaching business for over a quarter of a century Carlos Queiroz knows that you need depth to win any major tournament.
So despite Iran having only played one international in the past six months, Queiroz used his side's final AFC Asian Cup warmup match to give many of his up-and-coming stars a chance to shine on the international stage.
The Team Melli boss chose to leave established stars Javad Nekounam, Ashkan Dejagah, Reza Ghoochannejhad and Alireza Haghighi on the bench while the likes of Alireza Beiranvand, Soroush Rafiei and Ramin Rezaeian were given a chance to impress.
"It was a good opportunity to give some experience to our young players, our young players they need to play," the 61-year-old Portuguese said.
"They start the game a little bit nervous because it was the first time they play a national game.
"That's why we have these warm up games for the young players to learn.
"They start to become more calm and they start to control and take good opportunities to score.
"So I was very pleased especially for the young players without experience to play this game."
With Queiroz blooding a new era of stars he is hoping that Iran can return to their once dominant stature in the region.
"The young players showed a lot of enthusiasm and great attitude.
"I think the majority of these players are the future of the Iranian national team for the next four or five, six years for the national team. This is my belief."
Heading into the tournament as the top ranked team in Asia, Queiroz is confident his team will stand up to the test.
"I trust my players and I trust my team spirit that we have built up over the past three years.
"With the passion and attitude of the players we must always believe we can do better.
"At least this is what we believe - we must win the next match. We just fight game after game."
Iran kick-off their AFC Asian Cup campaign on January 11 against Bahrain on Melbourne.