World Cup 2014 - Group F: Preview & Analysis

Zazah is probably right that Tevez is not going to be part of Argentina's squad for Wc2014, although I am not sure it is as certain as Zahzah presents the case. There are others who probably can explain the situation more authoritatively than I could, but Tevez has been left out of Argentina's squad by their coach and many think its because of his poor relationship with Messi.

With regard to Argentina, I see the game as either a spectacular upset where Iran gets a 1:1 like draw (our favorite score whenever we have faced a side called "Argentina", i.e., in a friendly in 1978 before Wc78 and in the U17 World Cup). Alternatively, and much more realistically and a lot more likely, we will lose by at least 2 and probably more goals. The players who concern me aren't those who will be necessarily just scoring. Instead, I would be worried about Messi and Di Mario demoralizing our players by their skills and the effect that would have beyond just the threat they and others pose in terms of putting ball in the back of the net. If those 2 in particular are clicking, it would be a bad for Iran. That just seems inevitable, which means I am hoping they just have a bad day!

 

<long-winded posts>

- That's why law isn't my thing.

Foolad has played some very high quality football this year. I do think they were the deserving team.

<Btw, if you don't mind me asking, is your dad of Arab decent? >

- Don't mind asking at all. And nope he is not.

Ahwaz is the number 1 polluted city in the world.

 

'
Thanks. So in short, Iran-Bosnia is a coin flip while Nigeria is the favorite.

 

Argentina vs Nigeria is always a tight game.
Usa '94 : Argentina 2-1 Nigeria
Atalanta '96 : Argentina 2-3 Nigeria
King Fahd 95 : Argentina 0-0 Nigeria
World cup 2002 : Argentina 1-0 Nigeria
U-17 2009 : Argentina 1-2 Nigeria
World cup 2010 : Argentina 1-0 Nigeria
Friendly fixture : Argentina 1- 4 Nigeria
Friendly fixture : Argentina 3-1 Nigeria
I dont understand d reason iran and bosina fear argentina by given them an automatic 3 point.. Bosina coach already gave argentina 3 point y nigeria coach is very optimistic, anyway, Nigeria is nt figthing 4 2nd position, Nigeria is fighting 4 d 1st position. I dont understand d magic iran will use against NIGERIA. A country dat cant beat a lowly rated africa side( guinea). On d other-hand, bosnia find it difficult 2 win an out-of-form egypt dat was walloped 6-1 by ghana during wc qualifying playoff. This same ghana was thrashed by 2 countries Nigeria by-pass 2 win afcon trophy. Nigeria compromised a 2-2 draw with italy, who is currently among top 10 team in d world.. I'm a proud Nigerian.

 

^ Are you sure you're not a Nigerian prince?

 

I dont think the iranians and bosnians are scared of argentina but they are just being realistic. Out of all the teams going to wc argentina has the strongest strike force
Messi, aguero, hinguain,tevez top 3 scorers in spain italy and england aguero could had been competing with suarez if not for injury. De maria, lavechi, pastore another top players again in the same team on form chai this argentina has 7 forward world class players. Even brazil would shake the good thing its that their midfield and defense are slightly weak

 

You don show for here too abi?

If Argentina is so badass with their Messi and Aguero and all that, how come the CONMEBOL has eroded them all this time, how come Uruguay with just Suarez and Forlan as the stand-out strikers won it?

Names don't mean a thing, team work is more of it, you can have all the big stars and the team won't win shit...ask Man Shitty in the EPL. Names have never won anything anyways cuz big stars come with big egos. Argentina is going to go into the World Cup thinking none of the other teams is shit and if your team goes in there thinking of the Argies as the big boss, then you will most likely LOSE. It's all about the state of mind, or how did SA win France in 2010? How did SA win Spain in November? How did Romania hold Messi and co to a goalless draw in March? I mean, Romania is wayyy below every team in Group F as far as class and skill goes, so what makes you guys think Argentina can walk over anyone or even finish top? They may not even go past group stage after all the hype.

In the words of the Nigerian coach, Stephen 'The Big Boss' Keshi: "We don't fear Argentina, we respect them"....on the field of play, it's 11 vs. 11 and anything can happen.

 

damn, out of the past couple of years, this is the only season that barcelona is already out of every competition. this means messi will get to rest or take it easy and save his energy for the world cup. he will also be highly motivated as this will be his best chance to win the world cup.

 

The fact that Argentina ran away with qualification is as impressive to me as a Copa title. Granted a Copa Title is a more analagous system but Argentina went through 16 qualifiers with only 2 total losses, and only 1 against their four fellow qualifiers (not including host Brazil), while Uruguay lost 5 games in total. Argentina finished +20 in GD, while Uruguay finished +0.

That's a rather large sample size and Argentina looks much better when you look at it from that perspective.

 

Generally speaking, unless you have a team that is winning everything and never losing, basically dominating the game in a given period, at this level there are no guarantees of what will happen. But Argentina's talent and record is too obvious to quibble with. They aren't assured of anything and, of course, at the end of the day they will need to earn their points like anyone else. And equally obviously, at least to me, is that there is always a chance they will fail to get full points in some of their matches. That chance exists even against Iran or Bosnia and certainly Nigeria. But while my "superstitious" instincts make me give us some chance against Argentina for reasons I have alluded to in some of my posts, the logical part of me knows that Iran will likely lose by 2+ goals to Argentina. In fact, I have predicted we lose 3:0. I think Bosnia will lose by 2 goals and Nigeria by 1. In other words, I expect Argentina to finish the group with maximum points.

The real battle in this group will be between Nigeria, Bosnia and Iran. Except for Iranian fans, most everyone else seems to think that either Nigeria or Bosnia will join Argentina in the next round. My own view is that unless some team really does much worse or much better than it has been doing in the recent past, there is much less to separate any of these 3 teams as people here suggest. In that dynamic, psychological issues, luck and some other intangibles are often more important than the actual quality of the respective teams at issue.

With all due respect, the ideal schedule for Iran would see us face Bosnia first, then Nigeria and face Argentina last. If that was our schedule, I would give Iran better odds to advance than I do now. No matter what is said or what people think, Bosnia is merely a good team with some good talented players. But that is par for course at this level in the World Cup and what is more significant to me is that our team will know that it can't hide behind excuses if we lose to Bosnia. They will give their 110% to make sure they beat Bosnia. In the schedule I mention, once they had defeated Bosnia, they would then know that they will be able to advance doing well against Nigeria. In that dynamic, our chances would improve significantly.

In the schedule we have, our team faces Nigeria first and will view the match as a "do-or-die" game. Just like the opener against Mexico in 2006. Except in 2006, we started with the attitude we could beat Mexico and took the game to them in the first half being the much more assertive and threatening side. Then we went to the locker room and with the coach deciding and letting the players know that Ali Karimi (just recovering from injury) is to be taken out shortly after the break, and with the rift between Karimi and Daei blowing up in the locker room again the team came into the 2nd half with the attitude that we should preserve the 1:1 draw. We then proceeded to gift Mexico their 2nd goal and lose the script thereafter and lost the match 3:1. Our World Cup was basically over.

Against Nigeria, however, Iran is under no illusion that we are "better" or that we have such a good team that we need to show it to the world, if only injuries don't get in our way. We know we have a solid but very workman like team. Nothing to really show off. It will all be about results in this World Cup, particularly with a coach like Queiroz who neither rates Iran that highly nor is prone to be a risk taker tactically. Hence, we will almost certainly open the game cautiously, neither over defensively nor going full throttle on attack. In this dynamic, looking at everything in combination, the result will be decided by the bounce of the ball. If we are lucky, we might even win. If we are unlucky, we will definitely lose. If luck isn't the deciding factor in any way, it will be either a draw or a narrow loss for Iran. If its a narrow loss, the World Cup for Iran will turn into getting a result against Bosnia. This wasn't the case in 2006. In 2006, we were too disappointed and too hurt to care all that much about beating Angola even though we actually managed to outplay them and were more assertive than Angola in that game. But that is just because Angola really wasn't any good.

 

"Just like the opener against Mexico in 2006. Except in 2006, we started with the attitude we could beat Mexico and took the game to them in the first half being the much more assertive and threatening side. Then we went to the locker room and with the coach deciding and letting the players know that Ali Karimi (just recovering from injury) is to be taken out shortly after the break, and with the rift between Karimi and Daei blowing up in the locker room again the team came into the 2nd half with the attitude that we should preserve the 1:1 draw. We then proceeded to gift Mexico their 2nd goal and lose the script thereafter and lost the match 3:1. Our World Cup was basically over."

You got me curious IM, so I re-watched that match. I don't think your version gives Mexico enough credit. The match was basically 50-50 in the first half, with both sides showing a lot of energy. The second half also started out roughly 50-50, although Mexico was providing a little bit more. Then Mexico lost Borghetti, their go-to guy, and their attack floundered for a while. But it was a hot day, and after about 65 minutes Iran surprisingly seemed to wilt in the heat. Mexico started to have their way, and most of the play was in the Iran end. After several buildups there were was a poor clearance by the keeper, a mistake by a defender (Rezai?) and boom, Mexico had a goal. Then they got a third a few minutes later from a brilliant cross and header.

It is true that Iran never really showed much fight in the second half, even in the last 20 minutes when two goals down, but I don't think it was tactics that was Iran's main problem. Mexico was just better, and apparently more fit, and their victory was well-deserved.

 

I don't think your description of what happened in the match is different than how I would describe the game, although I do believe Iran started the game more assertive than Mexico even if the 1st half was overall 50/50. I also don't dispute that Iran wasn't as fit as Mexico and may have wilted under the heat a bit, but it was more than that. We took out Ali Karimi, who despite being injured, kept Rafael Marquez honest and in the back focused on marking Karimi. After Karimi was taken out, Marquez got a free hand to venture up front and that changed the dynamics quite a bit. Ordinarily, Ali Karimi (who was our star player before Wc06) is not a player Iran would ever take out. But Karimi was coming from injury and not fully fit. Nonetheless, there were many who felt the aging (and frankly by that time largely useless and entirely harmless )Ali Daei should have come out instead. Sadly, though, Daei played 90 minutes and the rift between Daei and Karimi blew wide open and, in fact, still exists and remains.

 

might i say you rather have much time on your hands lol.

 

Why, because I watched a World Cup match for 90 minutes? I'd rather watch that than some mindless thing on TV.

Anyway, I'm a lawyer with three young kids. I don't have nearly the free time I wish I had.

 

being a lawyer in denmark is different then i guess. here lawyers work 50-80 hours a week. but i know in countries like denmark people work much less.

 

I live in California. I work over 50 hours per week, and that is plenty. Working 60-70 hours a week was okay when I was single without kids, but not any more. You only get one chance to watch your kids grow up.

 

Big Soccer moderators. Ya gotta love 'em.

In case you didn't notice, this thread has over 1700 posts, and the World Cup is still almost two months away. I think that everything that could possibly be said about who will advance in Group F has already been said, and probably repeated, several times.

 

Sorry. My sense is that Big Soccer moderators, more so than any site I'm familiar with, jump the gun on shutting down conversations when they veer even slightly off topic. You're right, it wasn't my choice that the conversation stray into personal stuff, but OTOH, I prefer that conversations on Big Soccer be allowed to deviate from the specified topic heading on occasion, as long as people stay civil with each other.

 

technically it is not off topic because this member, hayaka, claimed that he has enough time to watch a repeat of a match from 2 world cups ago, between teams that he does not even have interest in. i could not help but make that remark (that he has too much time on his hands). i was hoping it would end there, but he took it upon himself to bring his personal life into this, which, ironically, casts more suspicion on his claims because i just dont see how a lawyer who is raising 3 kids has the time to watch a repeat match from 2 world cups ago regarding teams that he does not even have an interest in. it is a rather dubious claim. if he is lying, then that means his opinions regarding on-topic, group f issues should be taken with a grain of salt. however, i am not necessarily saying that this is the case, so i will give him the benefit of the doubt. case closed.

 

As a fellow lawyer with a family and a small kid waiting for another to join, who also used to practice in California to boot, I decided that if you could take the time to watch Iran-Mexico from Wc06, so could I.

In any case, I wanted to refresh my memory, even though unlike my old Wc98 tapes, I generally don't bother with the Wc06 matches since I don't have fond memories of that tournament. My own view, based on what I saw, are as follows:

1- Iran was slightly better than Mexico in the 1st half, but to call it 50/50 wasn't that off either. Mexico were getting a lot of free kicks and had space to counter, although they weren't creating much. Both sides scored goals that I would say were similar in nature from set pieces, but Iran had better chances early in the game.

2- Mexico was better than Iran from the start of the 2nd half, particularly whenever Rafael Marquez moved to midfield as opposed to sticking to defense. Nonetheless, the 2nd half didn't have the energy of the 1st half by any means and was often boring and quite truncated in many ways. Neither side were really creating any chances with less than 20 minutes left in the match.

3- Tactically, Mexico appeared unhappy with the 1st half, reflected in the fact that it made 2 half-time substitutions. Borgetti then limped around and forced Mexico to make its 3rd sub. Iran, on the other hand, took Ali Karimi out around the 65th minute mark when the score was still 1:1 and without Karimi (even if he wasn't fully fit) helping and orchestrating the distribution from midfield or trying to dribble into Mexico's box, we didn't have much say at all.

4- The game looked destined to finish in a 1:1 draw, when Iran's keeper kicked the ball in a dangerous position and then our defender Rezaie also made a mistake putting Mexico in position to score. And Mexico made no mistake finishing its chance. One of the very few chances from the run of play they had all game until then. A few minutes afterwards, while Iran was trying to push up, Mexico scored from a nice cross and header and took the game beyond Iran's reach with not much time left.

5- Iran did try to get back into the game by taking out a central defender, Nosrati, and bringing a forward Borhani, but we really weren't able to do much. By this time, Mexico was in control and they finished the last 10 minutes never looking like they would give up their lead and looking even more likely to extend it.

As recently as a few weeks ago, Ali Karimi responded to Daei's assertion that he wasn't getting service from players who "looked him the eye" in World Cup 2006 but refused to pass to him. Taking out Ali Karimi, despite the fact that he wasn't fully fit and was returning from injury, doomed us in that match. The reason our coach, who basically acted as though he took his orders from Daei, took out Karimi and insisted on making sure Daei plays 90 minutes every game, is a mystery to me. But the whole thing blew wide open in the middle of the World Cup and divided our team in 2 opposing camps. Ali Karimi was similarly subbed out early in the 2nd half against Portugal (Iran lost 2:0 to Portugal, with Portugal scoring twice in the 2nd half but their 1st goal was scored when Karimi was in the game was just when he was being subbed). Karimi was then benched against Angola for insubordination and when Angola scored against Iran (almost completely against the run of play I must add), and our coach wanted to bring in Karimi to salvage to World Cup, Karimi refused to dress up and go into the game! We nonetheless equalized, but when the World Cup was over, there were 2 groups for fans to side with. In one group, you had Ali Karimi (tacitly supported by Mahdavikia as well as some of the younger players) and the other group was led by Daei, supported by our then coach Branko Ivancovic and implicitly by the head of the Iranian football federation, Dadkan. While most fans supported Karimi and few supported Daei, many of them also liked our coach and since Dadkan was from the reformist era in Iranian politics, supported him over the alternatives that might have been installed. Hence, Karimi who was the most popular player in our football, suffered a lot in his popularity in the aftermath of the football with some of our fans (I supported him however). The authorities, however, quickly fired Branko and the head of our federation, while Daei became persona non grata for a while.
The firing of the head of the IFF, I should add, then led to FIFA suspending our football federation due to political interference! We had to hold new elections under new bylaws for the federation before the suspension was lifted.

 

I am sorry, but his comments clearly showed he did watch the game. And I actually found it refreshing and flattering that he did so. No matter how you slice it, even if you slice it the way Hyaka chose to saying it was 50/50 until the last 20 minutes and Mexico won because they were better and more fit, watching the game is better than just going by the 3:1 scoreline!

I used to practice law in California and unless Hyaka is in the middle of a trial or is a young associate being forced to wrack of billable hours, I don't see what is incredible with him being able to watch a football match from Wc06? Not all lawyers fit the image you have from them. Quite a few have more time on their hands and less interest in spending that time in the acrimony that often comes with practicing law than spending it on almost anything else!

 

i never said he did not watch the game... in fact i know he watched the game... which is why i found it hard to believe his claim that he is a lawyer with 3 kids. you were a lawyer who practiced in california but then you packed your bags and went to tehran? i cant say i ever heard of such a scenario either, considering that your law degree is worthless in Iran.

 

You are hilarious. Calling everyone liars, LOL

PM me (haka_haka88@hotmail.com) and I'll give you the details on my work and maybe send you some photos of my kids, although you have to do the same.