World Cup 2014 - Group F: Preview & Analysis

Discussion in 'Group F: Argentina, Bosnia, Iran, Nigeria' started by jimmi_moh, Dec 9, 2013.

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  1. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    One reason its difficult for me to post Iran's lineup is because our lineup is very much unsettled in some areas. For instance, it is not at all clear who will be our left and right fullbacks? Especially our left fullback. In fact, a player that I actually like due to his tremendous work rate and who often starts for us these days as our left fullback, Hashem Beikzadeh, recently became the but of a lot of jokes when one of our famous commentators tried to imagine him marking Messi! That was a very unfair comparison, as few players in the world can compare to Messi, but it caught on and became a joke of sorts in Iran. A silly thing like that, unfortunately, will have some consequences as it might ruin the confidence of Beikzadeh and also make it less likely for Queiroz to start him in the World Cup.

    Anyway, I would say the starting 11 for Iran would be something like the following under Queiroz, although I would certainly prefer Khalabari over Shojaie.

    ====================1- Davari (GK)=============================
    --2- Heidari (RB)----3- Montazeri (CB)----4- Hosseini (CB)---5- HajSafie (LB)--
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    -----------------7- Teymourian (DM)------6- Nekounam (DM)-----------------
    --8- Dejageh (R-AM)----------------9- Jabbari (AM)-------10-Shojaie (L-AM)---
    ---------------------------------11- Ghoochnanejad----------------------------------

    1- Daniel Davari, Eintracht Braunschweig, 1.Bundesliga (Germany) (GK)
    2- Khosrow Heidari, Esteghlal Tehran (Iran), (RB)
    3- Pejman Montazeri, Esteghlal Tehran (Iran), (CD)
    4- S. Jalal Hosseini, Perspolis Tehran (Iran), (CD)
    5- Ehsan Haj Safie, Sepahan Isfahan (Iran), (LB)
    6- Javad Nekounam, Esteghlal Tehran (Iran), (DM)
    7- Andranik Teymourian, Esteghlal Tehran (Iran), (DM)
    8- Askhkan Dejageh, Fulham (EPL), (R-AM)
    9- Mojtaba Jabbari, Al Ahli All Stars (Qatar) (AM)
    10- Masoud Shojaie, UD Las Palmas, (La Liga 2), (L-AM)
    11- Reza Ghoochannejad, Standard Liege (Belgium), Forward

    Main Alternatives and Subs:

    Mohammadreza Khalatbari, Perspolis Tehran (Iran), in place of either Jababri or Shojaie
    Steven Beitashour (San Jose Earthquakes, MLS) as RB in place of Khosrow Heidari
    Karim Ansarifard for either Dejageh or Ghoochannejad as a sub
    Hashem Bekizadeh (Esteghlal Iranian Pro League) for Haj Safaie
    Alireza Jahanbakhsh, NEC (Holland), as Attacking Mid or Forward
     
  2. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    #77 Iranian Monitor, Dec 11, 2013
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2013
    Ansarifard definitely hasn't proven what he needs to prove, not for our national team, and won't prove much at the club level if he remains in Iran either. I agree. But as you mentioned, he has had offers and has been one of the top young prospects. The reason his "club loyalty" is rated so high is because he didn't take those offers, but while he didn't do all that well with Perspolis last season (no one did), he is doing alright with Terakotorsazi right now.

    Anyway, Ansarifard and Khalatbari (both shown below in the pic from goal.com) are 2 players I like to see shine. I rate both of them highly. I also like to see some younger players (Payam Sadeghian and Alishah from Perspolis, as well as Arash Afshin now back with Foolad) invited by Queiroz occasionally, at least for a look to boost their confidence, because these guys (Ansarifard, Sadeghian and Alishah) will the stars of our future team after this World Cup.

    [​IMG]
     
  3. persianfootball

    persianfootball Member+

    Aug 5, 2004
    outside your realm
    how about nosrati and rezaie.
     
  4. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    I don't think they are really even in the picture now.

    Anyway got to go for now.
     
  5. persianfootball

    persianfootball Member+

    Aug 5, 2004
    outside your realm
    i think at least nosrati should come to the world cup. he has a lot of experience and is a good utility defender.
     
  6. Iranfootie

    Iranfootie Member

    Dec 20, 2006
    IM, I agree with this post. But let's not get carried away. While we have never gone pointless, we haven't gotten past the group stage ever either. Did you hear about the NASTY comments made by our fellow Iranians in Iran on Lima's FB page? Calling Lima a prostitute (presumably by some khar hezbollahis). But trolling Messi was just simply NOT intelligent. TM's defense is not Italy. Hopefully we didn't cause Messi to have an outburst against us where we became the new 0-8ers.
     
  7. spuzzaccute

    spuzzaccute Member

    Nov 5, 2013
    switzerland
    Club:
    FK Sarajevo
    Nat'l Team:
    Bosnia-Herzegovina
    o_Oo_O
    And what about Dejagah tattoos?
    If you are against Lima then you should be against his tattoo. Its not good example for the kids you know. Is he muslim?
    o_O
     
  8. Zandi360

    Zandi360 Member+

    Dec 10, 2013
    Club:
    Sepahan
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    #83 Zandi360, Dec 11, 2013
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2013
    Lol Dejagah might be the most muslim of all the national team :p , he's pretty religious unlike the majority of the team. Tattoos have nothing to do with Islam I think.. Im not sure because I don't practice it.

    And nobody is against Lima. Those were like an army of internet trolls. It's very weird and fishy what happened to this "facebook attack". But any real Iranian would never say any of these words to Lima or Messi... I think the federation said they will try to apologize to Messi on behalf of those iranians. Many shows and news in Iran were completely ashamed and against this facebook story.
     
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  9. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    I haven't been paying enough attention to him lately to dismiss the idea out of hand, but generally speaking, I think we have better options available.

    I agree with much of the rest of your post, but I don't see what is irrational in believing that Ansarifard has a lot more potential than he has shown. In terms of his skills and attributes, he rates up there with the very best. Not by me, but by many others as well. He was top scorer in our league in 2011, had offers to go to Europe, decided instead to go to Perspolis, where he and that entire team had a terrible season. He then left Perspolis for Teraktorsazi and is leading our league right now with 8 goals in 17 matches, or one goal every other match.

    Anyway, its possible that you are underestimating Ansarifards? Otherwise, just to remind you of this pretty short list of players to watch for 2012 from around the world by FIFA.

    http://www.fifa.com/world-match-centre/news/newsid/156/760/9/index.html

    Players to watch in 2012

    Football fans love little more than witnessing an exciting new talent announcing his arrival to the world. Over the past year, the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Neymar, Mario Gotze and Phil Jones have made the leap into stardom, and we now wait to discover who will follow in their footsteps during 2012. Here, FIFA.com looks at a few of the likely candidates.

    Thiago Alcantara Midfielder, 20, Barcelona Described as “having everything” by Pep Guardiola, Thiago is the latest midfield gem to roll off the famed La Masia production line. He is not short of competition in the Barça engine room, but with skill, tactical discipline and versatility enabling him to fill a variety of roles, the 20-year-old – already with three senior caps to his name – seems certain to become an increasingly influential player for club and country.

    Karim Ansarifard Striker, 21, Saipa Likened to Ruud van Nistelrooy and hailed in his Iranian homeland as the heir apparent to Ali Daei, this elusive and athletic centre-forward is one of Asia’s brightest talents. Only issues with national conscription have prevented Ansarifard moving to Europe already, with Borussia Dortmund among several suitors, and the youngster is sure to be a key figure in his national team’s 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ qualifying campaign.

    Ross Barkley Midfielder, 18, Everton His time in the first team spotlight has been brief, but it is not for nothing that Manchester United and Chelsea were considering bids of up to £30 million for this energetic and inventive midfielder. Lauded by former England and Everton centre-half Martin Keown as “one of the best players we’ll ever see in this country”, Barkley signed a new contract last month and seems set for Premier League stardom.

    Dede Defender, 23, Vasco da Gama The oldest of our shortlisted players, Dede is nonetheless likely to face a big year as international audiences become better aware of this classy, goalscoring centre-half. Tall, powerful and pacey, the Vasco da Gama star has also earned the nickname ‘Dedeckenbauer’ for his ability to orchestrate play from the back, and looks certain to be a Brazil star of the future.

    ....
     
  10. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    So, let me wrap up my comparison of Iran and Bosnia in terms of talent, and in terms of the other factors that play a role in predicting how they will do against one another.

    Talent: Bosnia have better, or at least more proven, talent than Iran on offense and in goal. They also enjoy an advantage on the flanks. But they are weaker than Iran in the critical middle of the pitch as well as on defense. On talent alone, one cannot say a Bosnian victory is somehow assured, although if we just looked at Bosnia's talent, their chances against Iran would probably be better than 50/50. But not by enough to be the determining factor when they meet.

    Experience, Confidence, and Pedigree: No two teams play the game on a blank canvass. The history between them, their respective pedigree, and what they expect of their team, will influence how they play, what will satisfy them and what won't.. These are all critical elements in how far and how well players push themselves to achieve a result in a match.

    On these points, there are several advantages for Iran (favorable h2h record, more experience including at the World Cup, larger country etc) and one major advantage for Bosnia, namely its European experience (both as a team and as far as its individual players are concerned). From it all, the picture that emerges for me is that neither team will accept defeat at the hands of the other team easily. But that this even more true of Iran.

    No matter how much everyone in Iran is working to reduce expectations arising from a seemingly favorable draw, pointing to how the rest of the world sees Iran as the weak team in this group, there is no denying that while Iranian fans are willing to concede defeat to Argentina, and might be ready to accept a close match that ends in favor of Nigeria, they aren't willing to accept a loss to Bosnia. They respect Bosnia, but Bosnia has had famous players throughout its history: Ali Karimi's teammate and friend at Bayern Munich, Hasan Salihamidzic; Mahdavikia's teammate at Hamburg, Sergej Barbarez, an all-time favorite at that club, who along with other all-time greats for Bosnia, namely Misimovic (still around), Bolic, and Dzeko (Bosnia's most famous player still) have all even scored against Iran in our friendly matches. But the overall record is emphatic between Iran and Bosnia. In light of that record, they might reluctantly accept a draw in Brazil when we meet, but a loss is out of the question.

    How meaningful is the match? While its a World Cup match, its the last match in the group stage. Its possible that one or the other or both have already been eliminated by earlier results. In other words, the standings will play a role in what these teams expect and how well they will perform. Although in the case of Iran, even if eliminated, beating Bosnia will be important to make a point.

    My prediction: Iran wins.
     
  11. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Good reading. Nice to know.

    For those interested in january there is local player only tournament in south africa. Nigeria also play there and the coach likes to play local league players in the full national squad, so it might be interesting to watch. It will also be the first chance to see u17 star Iheanacho play against adults.

    Keshi has said that if Iheanacho is good enough he will take him to the world cup. What a rise from obscurity to fame that would be....
     
  12. Iranfootie

    Iranfootie Member

    Dec 20, 2006
    Dejagah has the same name as I do so he's forgiven. But I don't think you understood me. I am NOT against Lima. I think she is very pretty. And I'm pretty sure the Quran forbids tattoos but I'm not sure. May be kinda like the premarital sex thing maybe.

    As others have posted, it was a bunch of trolls but given the "image" of Iran and more generally Muslim countries in general, it is not good PR to have guys to support raping a woman because she's not covered well.

    And I don't get this fascination with talent. Yes Ansarifard is talented but he has not shown that on the pitch for TM. For example, I know a LOT of smart guys in high school (very intelligent) that ended up not even graduating from college. All that matters are results. I actually think Ashkan (not me) is our most talented player.
     
  13. Mani

    Mani BigSoccer Supporter

    Aug 1, 2004
    Club:
    Perspolis
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    Dejagah is a good Muslim. The night of the Iran-Bosnia match, he'll be like:

    "Dear Allah, give me strength to ******** Bosnia figuratively..."
    [​IMG]

    "...so that I can celebrate by ********ing my hot wife literally, back at the hotel"
    [​IMG]
     
  14. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    1) There is no fascination with Ansarifard. I rated him a (3). Someone said I had overrated him compared to Jahanbakhsh and thought my rating had no basis. I disagreed and tried to show the basis, which then got some Bosnian fans excited because to show how good Ansarifard's potential is, I posted how he rates in different component attributes according to Goal.com and compared to a striker that we all know is good, namely Dzeko fro Bosnia. In this process, as some felt that I was now being ridiculous in thinking Ansarifard's potential was that promising, I posted how he was among a very select group of players picked by FIFA to look for in 2012.

    2) Askhan Dejageh is our most capable player right now. And he will probably help us the most in Brazil. Dejageh might even join a bigger club and go on to better and bigger things still. He certainly has that potential and ability. But there is this outside chance (a very remote outside chance, nothing like the chance that Dejageh might end up with a much better EPL or Bundesliga club for instance), that Ansarifard might not only make it, but make it really big. He has some attributes, skills and instincts that truly stand out. Some of his goals and assists are really a joy to watch. Not like Karimi, aka the Asian Maradona, who was dazzling in other ways, but perhaps like one of my Dutch favorites, Dennis Bergkamp. That is how I see Ansarifard's potential. He is only 23, so I wouldn't write him off still.

    3) Yes, what matters at the end, is the result. Not talent, not potential, not promise. Result. And that is all I am focused on in this World Cup. It is not like in 2006, when I really wanted the chance for the world to see Karimi, only for Karimi to then get injured, then get into a fight with Daei and Branko, play a couple of halfs injured and refuse to play against Angola, leaving no one else who hadn't already seen Karimi with Iran or Bayern Munich, understanding what was the big deal about him? We really don't have much of that kind of thing right now. We have a bunch solid players, but nothing and no one that will truly turn heads. Not unless Ansarifard comes in and scores some of the very classy goals he is capable of scoring. In which case, he can then make it big. For himself and for his team.
     
  15. Mustafa Filipovic

    Dec 11, 2013
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    http://www.fifa.com/world-match-centre/news/newsid/156/760/9/index.html

    Players to watch in 2012...


    It's funny how you mention this article that talks about Karim Ansarifard and edit out the part that talks about the young Ahmed Musa of Nigeria. Ahmed Musa is already 100 times better then Karim ever will become. Plus this article is from 2 years ago (January 2012) Now, two years later... look how well Nigeria's Ahmed Musa is playing and how much he is worth and compare him to Karim.

    Karim is now two years older and he is pretty much where he was before. Karim Ansarifard would not even make it on Nigeria's or Bosnia's bench.

    I understand that everyone is optimistic about their national team and looks at their players from the best possible perspective. But please... you guys are way over the top. Japan and Korea have not been this bad for decades. The reason that Iran did well in Asia is because the other teams have been doing poorly. If Iran, Korea, or Japan would have been put in an African or European qualification group they probably would not even have made it to the play offs. Seriously! Congratulations on your success in Asia, but I still think Japan is a stronger team than Iran.
     
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  16. Mustafa Filipovic

    Dec 11, 2013
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    I also find it funny how some Iranian and Nigerian fans are trash talking about Bosnia and other teams from that area. They keep on saying how we never qualified and how little experience we have in big competitions. How Bosnia is not a football nation and we have no clue about the sport. haha Really? (This last one was told to me by and Ivorian fan btw... 'guess he never heard of Halilhodzic who was their former head coach at one point.)

    If Iran has much more experience than we do then why isn't Bosnia looking to hire some of their experienced players and coaches to teach us more about soccer?

    The fact is that things are the other way around! Let me remind you that Bosnian born Miroslav Blazevic coached Iran in 2002 and right after that they hired Croatian Ivankovic as the National coach. Iran and other countries that have the money to buy talented coaches find them in the former Yugoslav republics (Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro, etc.)

    Bosnia (and Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, etc.) did not just appear out of nowhere. They existed under Yugoslavia just as much. It's not like our history started in the late 90s. The fact is that all of Yugoslavia had a very rich soccer history. All of Yugoslavia played and loved soccer since the beginning of the sport. Let's be honest here, if Yugoslavia still existed, Yugoslavia would probably be amongst the top 6 teams to win the whole world cup. They would have an amazing pool of players to choose from. (Including Zlatan Ibrahimovic. I am still sad he didn't play for Bosnia. I don't blame him, but I'll never get over it.) :(
     
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  17. BHF

    BHF Member+

    Jul 15, 2012
    Love this.

     
  18. BHF

    BHF Member+

    Jul 15, 2012
    Halilhodzic was the one who took Ivory Coast to the 2010 World Cup.
     
  19. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Well... he qualified them but was dropped by the clueless FA for the even more clueless Ericksson.

    He managed to qualify Algeria for 2014. Hopefully he stays on.
     
  20. Mustafa Filipovic

    Dec 11, 2013
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Plus, Iranian fans don't understand what was going on with the Bosnian Football Federation from 1995 till 2009. Have you ever wondered why Bosnia played Iran 5 friendliest in the past? It was a huge deal in the Bosnian media because we never wanted to play that many friendly games against Iran. There was lots of bribery going on. Bosnia's soccer coaches and talented people that understood the sport were not allowed to have a say in the Football Federation. The Bosnian Football Federation was run by crooks and politicians and everything was corrupt on purpose. The laws were so designed that it was practically impossible to change anything. The guys running the Football Federation wanted to see Bosnia do poorly. Some guys in the Bosnian Football Federations were Serb nationalist and Croat nationalist that wanted the Football Federation and the whole country to fail and did their best to make sure Bosnia fails at EVERYTHING. It was all money and politics. It's impossible to understand if you have no clue about the recent conflict that tore Yugoslavia apart.

    Anyways, there was revolutionary change around 2009. Since then Bosnian soccer is much healthier and the national team is doing much better.

    The Bosnian National League has huge problems still , but even there small steps into the right direction have been taken.
     
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  21. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran

    Bosnia's first ever game was a non-FIFA match organized by Iran to celebrate Bosnia's independence as a new nation. Bosnia actually won that match 3:1, although Iran was quite bad at the time and, besides, it wouldn't be right to celebrate Bosnia's independence by beating them! That was the only match that had some political overtones. Otherwise, for Bosnia to have played Iran 5 times between 2000-2009 isn't so surprising. Often we played each other because we were both preparing for World Cup qualifiers. Those games usually took place at the invitation of the Bosnian federation and seeing how you couldn't beat Iran, I assume they were worthwhile. A couple of times Bosnia played Iran because it was invited to participate in the LG Cup. Granted, your team didn't do well, but I don't see why Bosnian fans would care much about it either way. Besides, except in 2009, the other times we played you. Iran had coaches who were Croats (Miroslav Blazevic as well as Branko Ivancovic) and were presumably connected to people in your federation. (I wasn't aware Blazevic was Bosnian, but I knew he coached Bosnia. For me, what distinguishes Bosnia from Serbia is that it is a majority Muslim country, even if there are non-Muslim Serbs and perhaps Croats who live there too).

    I wasn't trying to edit anything out! I was focused on something else when I posted the article and Ahmed Musa had nothing to do with what I was focused on. But thanks for pointing he was on the short list too.
     
  22. Mustafa Filipovic

    Dec 11, 2013
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    I apologize if I made it sound like I was discrediting Iran's victories against Bosnia. I wasn't. I wasn't trying to make excuses either.

    There is much more to this story of the Bosnian Football Federation problems, but I was just making a point on why and how Bosnia's national team changed since then.

    Having seen the transformation since 2009... I can tell you that Bosnia will be a tough bitch for Nigeria and Iran.

    From what I can tell is that there is not much between Nigeria and Bosnia. Both teams have lots of talented players and unique playing styles. My honest opinion is that Nigeria and Bosnia will fight for the second place. That doesn't mean the match between Nigeria and Bosnia will determine who will get the second spot. Iran could upset anyone. We only get to play each other once, which is very tricky.

    PS.
    Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia are different not because of Islam. They were different peoples and different religions even before the introduction of Islam to the Balkans. It's maybe a little like Irish, English, and Scottish I guess. Each were different from each other even before the introduction of Christianity in this case.
     
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  23. persianfootball

    persianfootball Member+

    Aug 5, 2004
    outside your realm
    do you even know what is going on with Irans federation from 1979 to.........?
     
  24. Zandi360

    Zandi360 Member+

    Dec 10, 2013
    Club:
    Sepahan
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    Right Iranian federation im sure is much much worse, It is basically a mafia and still is. And whatever you guys say for the Bosnian federation is actually super similar to Iran's, they don't want Iran to do well. Many that work there have no clue about football and are political men (like Bosnia). Iran is still like that unfortunately, so good that Bosnia isn't anymore. But both were in similar situations back when both teams played friendlies.
     
  25. persianfootball

    persianfootball Member+

    Aug 5, 2004
    outside your realm
    man i wish i can find that video of i think kafashian (president of Iran football federation) who was asked about liverpool and he did not know its a team or he was asked to name 1 player from it and did not know. that was gold and sad at the same time.
     

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