Iran v Mexico 2:1 (2:1) Iran held out to win, but while we had several opportunities to add to our lead on the counter, Mexico put a lot of pressure on Iran and had some chances to equalize as well. Iran's best player at this level unfortunately got a rather undeserved but certainly unnecessary yellow card which given that he carried a yellow card into this game, will mean he will miss Iran's next match.
The team was tired as hell. The humidity is too much for our boys in India. Chamanian should have rested the main team versus Costa Rica because we had already qualified for this round. This is the difference between a professional coach and a semi professional coach. Our captain Ghobeishavi picked up a red in that match and most of our key players were not rested. Now we also lose our best player Delfi for next match and Sayyad is also seating on a yellow already! I have no hope for next match vs Spain. We have literary lost 2/3 our fire power. Does Ghobeishavi come back for next match or he has to stay out for 2 matches? It is really messed up.
Spain beat France 2:1 after coming back from behind and will meet Iran So I'm actually doing pretty well so far: 3 out of 4. But then again - given how the group phase panned out who would have guessed with Germany... Next Mali to beat Iraq and England face off Japan.
I don't believe Ghobeishavi got a red card against Costa Rica but picked up a 2nd yellow that disqualified him merely against Mexico. Delfi's loss will hurt, but as odd as this might sound, I suspect Spain is not going to be as tough as Mexico.
So far: IN UEFA 2 teams, CONCACAF 1 team, AFC 1 team OUT UEFA 1 team, CONMEBOL 2 teams, CONCACAF 1 team
BTW Any favorites for MVP of the tournament yet? Weah sure seems like a good bet, but that all depends on whether USA get pass England / Japan. Maybe England's Sancho and obviously Brazil's Lincoln. Iran look like a great team, but I don't have a stand out player there. But why not?
Whoever makes the rules for this tournament needs sacking. Why are yellow cards not wiped after the group stage? This is a development tournament and key players are going to miss knock out games. One card happy ref can screw a teams whole tournament.
You are right. I only watched the highlights of that match and the info provided by Fifa.com (under Iran vs Mexico match) was showing he picked up a red in previous match. Fifa.com supposed to be a good source?
Our best player Delfi got a yellow card and will misses the next match because he merely touched the ball after referee whistled for a foul commuted by another player. That was wack!
So you're saying a 17 year old should be able to kick the ball away after the ref calls a foul ? Why? because he's Persian ? Shouldn't they be subject to the same rules as others? Congratulations to Iran for their first ever knockout win in ANY Fifa Cup.
These are pretty standard rules. Of course the counter argument to yours is that if you reset the yellow cards too early (e.g. after the group-stage), more players will miss the semifinal or final.
If you are picking up two yellows in three games then fair enough a one game ban is deserved. But to create a circumstance that means you could play five/six games and getting two yellows means you miss a semi-final/final? I find it ridiculous. It's even worse in UEFA youth tournaments because you only have an 18 player squad and can end up with barely a bench with the added injury issues. If I had my way I would wipe cards after the group and after the semi-finals.
I have seen enough football matches to know the difference. Yellow is given when a player kick the ball aggressively as a sign of disobedient. This guy was in action when he heard the whistle and he didn't kick the ball aggressively or showed any sign of rebellion. He was just not quick. I have never seen a referee to give a yellow so easy to a person who is sitting on one already. I think referee acted a little harsh on this case.
Thanks. Maybe if you had phrased it differently, you would be correct. But given that Iran is rather highly ranked in a couple of other affiliated sports which are organized by FIFA, namely futsal and beach football, the way you put isn't right. For instance, Iran finished 3rd in the 2017 Beach Football world cup and, ironically, started its campaign with a win over Mexico. And it certainly won a couple of knock out round matches on its way to finishing 3rd. And Iran's futsal team has finished among the top 4 in a few Fustal World Cups as well. http://www.fifa.com/beachsoccerworldcup/matches/index.html
Mali cruising 3:0, so we know we have one Africa 1/2 finalist. No more, no less. England vs Japan a close affair... Albeit with England dominating possession.
I think that Colombia only looked good against the US. In that game the boys were already qualified and feeling out of sorts because of the surprise elimination of the senior team.
Someone needs to go to England and find out what they are doing. It's like they've fixed all their problems developing young players. England win on penalties. I know, an oxymoron.
FWIW, this is apparently only the third win on penalties by England across all FIFA competitions. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/euro2012/article-2164153/England-penalty-shoot-history.html
Since Zahzah got some slack for this predictions, I decided to see how he has done so far. He got the following right: USA over Paraguay Spain over France Iran over Mexico Mali over Iraq He obviously (but somewhat understandably) got Colombia over Germany wrong; indeed, very wrong. He was actually somewhat right about England and Japan as it was close, except for the final result which favored England on penalties over Japan. Since most everyone would pick Brazil over Honduras, and the all-African Ghana v Niger bracket isn't going to be something to prove his bias, you have to admit that so far Zahzah has actually done well. Of course, things can start looking very differently in short order. But it is certain that a CAF side will make the semis (and Mali looks the best of the lot). And it looks almost certain that Brazil will be in the semis as well, although they haven't yet booked even their ticket to quarterfinals. The tough choices will be picking between Spain and Iran. And to some extent between England and USA. In theory, UEFA could end up with no teams in the semifinals as both match ups will be close and can go either way.
Have you been watching him play? I like the kid, but he is incredibly overhyped due to who his father is. During his hat-trick performance, he wasn't even the best player during the match, and nearly everyone agreed about that. There was no guarantee he was going to start the most recent match nor has he started every match so far this tournament, which six players had done for the team, just to give you an idea of where he stands in the pecking order among the team. He hadn't done all too much prior to this game, and he doesn't lead the team in stats so far this tournament. I wouldn't mind if he won over a player from another country, I like the kid's game, but unless he starts playing like he did the last game in every game, I don't think its a proper representation of whats happened in this tournament to have him in contention for the tournament MVP.