Uzbekistan absent of 5 individual key players still managed to beat Japan in Toyota. So it would be unwise to overestimate Iran's chances of winning against Uzbekistan on their turf on the account of the Uzbeks missing some players. Qatar is a very physical team, with technical African and South American players. They are a hard team to beat away. We saw that this round with Iran (hell we didnt even beat it them in Azadi, but then again I dont think we pushed 100 %), and also in last years Asian Cup when they played a fantastic game against Japan in QF. Plus they are going to want to prove themselves to the world in light of all the protests against FIFA awarding them to host 2022 Word Cup. And while some may expect Lebanon to be this punching bag, fact is they have gotten 7 out of 9 points at home, including a shocking win against South Korea. I dont expect them to go far or get near qualification, but they are surely capable of taking points from anyone including the big teams. And lastly (but obviously not least) South Korea needs no further explanation. A traditional Asian power-house. I think the groups are pretty well balanced, neither is significantly harder or easier than the other one. And it's not going to be easy for anyone, it's a tough road ahead. Well that's my take anyway. As Tri said, Iran has a problem with lack of consistency. They drop points in the most crucial matches. That was the case in 98, 2002 and 2010 WCQ. I want to believe this will have changed with Carlos Quieroz but it remains to be seen. I predict Iran and Korea will qualify directly, with Qatar clinching third place. Initially I was thinking Uzbekistan because of their fantastic form and results, but I have a distinct feeling they will choke final round.
what a poor scheme. I wonder what other team has this set up with 3 games played in one month within the span of 2 weeks with two of them on the road.
Don't feel too bad, fourth seed teams does have the same problem only they play it on first half of the campaign. As for Iran, you got have it wrapped up before the last away game against us.
True, but the first half of the round our schedule is actually very good. As heyhey said, we need to seal qualification prior to our last game against South Korea in Seoul.
we have to stay consistent in order for qatar not to get a direct qualifying spot ahead of us. 1. south korea 2. Iran 3. qatar 4. uzbekistan 5. lebanon
Oh boy. Another South Korea v Iran group. BS will not cope well!! Altogether I'm happy. Although would have preferred Australia to South Korea, the one team I would have definitely wanted to avoid would have been Japan which luckily Iran couldn't face. Iraq has history with Iran and they usually play very well and frustrate Iran, so as strong as the Uzbeks are, rather them than Iraq. Lebanon and Qatar should hopefully be OK.
At the end of the day if we don't get out of this group we should be happy not being in the World Cup.
we know that we will never do anything in the world cup... so lets just enjoy being there. well hey, we might win 1 match in group stages, which would be an achievement.
Put together a wee piece on the draw: http://sandalsforgoalposts.com/2012/03/09/afc-2014-wcq-round-4-preview/
If Iran doesnt comes first in the group, Id be disappointed, and who cares about 3rd place? Thats too much work. Iran probably doesnt deserve to be in the WC if they dont come first or a close second in my opinion.
As much as I know that I am biased and probably think far too highly of Iran, I agree that Iran should really top this group. No excuses. And yep, if Iran doesn't end up in top 2, it will not make it, nor would it deserve to!
I dont know about finishing first, South Korea and uzbekistan will be tricky. However its safe to say that if we dont quality by finishing in top 2, its a disaster/HUGE disappointment And as Bob said no excuses would be acceptable. Things haven looked this good in a looong time. We have a great squad (karimi should retire though). Inclusion of dejagah and most probably gucci... Not only that, but i cant remember the last time we this good depth in Team Melli. Last but not least we have some real great talents emerging, like Omid Alishah and Payam Sadeghian that is going to be really interesting follow and see if they can break in to the national team. If nothing else, the future does not look all too shabby. And call me stubborn but i still have NOT given up on Karim Ansarifard. Right now it looks as if if its à mental factor blocking him but i really hope he can break through and live up to the hype surroundind him (maybe that is where the problem lies)
If Gucci makes it, it might take some pressure off Ansarifard and hopefully deliver what he does in IPL. The only real worry I have is defence. Going forward, most of the midfielders seem like they can score (which is why we don't actually need a number 10 to score goals, of course having one would help), but defensively, it always looks rather suspect.
i say the truth in all cases. south korea have won 1 game against a coachless 10 man togo and 1 game against greece in their entire non hosted world cup history. nothing to be proud of either. so i dont trash talk too much. you do.
Iran has won one game against the USA wheen they just started to play football, and they.....................TIED against the mighty strong ANGOLA.
bro tiger. there's no denying korea is better in wc than iran. history shows that. no denying that. but the games in asia are totally different. persianfootball never said we did better, he just said we'd be happy to be in WC.
Ok, but before we get to the World Cup, we have to play two matches against each other, and the record is 9-7-9 no? Not exactly Korea dominating us.
Despite all the shit talking I do, (and will inevitably do this year too), when it comes to WC, I would happily cheer for Japan and SK (even NK) against almost any other nation as the Asian representatives. Although, slightly tougher to cheer for Australia or Saudi Arabia!
Yeah true, when it's time for the WC I support all Asian representatives, we have to change the perception that AFC is a weak confederation.
l genuinely like Japan as a fan, and I support Australia, Korea and every other Asian representative each World Cup, because their success means AFC's success. The only time I cheered against a AFC representative, was Saudi Arabia in 2002 World Cup for how they undeservedly qualified over Iran due to the Bahrain-Saudi collaboration. Otherwise, I even rooted for KSA against non-Asian teams in 1994 WC, 1998 WC and 2006 WC.