Someone needs to remind all players this is a friendly not a world cup qualifier. They are committing foul one after another. No injuries please.
Much better second half there overall. Iran started strong with Japan starting flat but Japan seemed to get stronger as the game went on while Iran seemed to stagnate... I'd actually would have expected it to be the other way around with it being an Iranian home match. Both goals were a bit comical in how they came about/went in though, lol. 1-1 seemed about the right result overall.
Shitty match by both sides. It looked like no one wanted to be there on the field. On the Japan's side, I save only 2-3 elements: Kiyotake, Yonekura. Maybe Shibasaki and Usami (this last for his defensive work).
Decent result by this squad. We have been under performing even with this new and transitional team. Considering this was like 60-70% of our potential team (player selection wise) at the moment. Their performance was better compared to our last two matches but of course not near our best situation. I think our team played like to 70% of its current potential in this match. We were expecting a much stronger Japan to be honest. We wanted a serious team gives our coach a reality check but this didn't happen today. Second half Japan was like 60% of what I have expected from them but first half was an embarrassment. Specially I thought Honda will smoke our RB which didn't happen. What is wrong with Honda?
I agree with your overall synopsis. While it was Japan who used their 6 subs after they equalized, with Iran being a lot more timid in that regard using only 3 subs, I should add that Iran's team is nonetheless going through a transition with a lot of new players starting for Iran these days. For that reason, especially considering that Iran hasn't been firing on all cylinders in the preliminary qualifiers either, I wasn't sure how we would do against Japan. I was therefore satisfied that we were able to hold our own, regardless that this was a home match.
I don't know what game we're playing anymore but it's not football. Bunch of headless chickens who panic with the slightest pressure on them, kicking the ball without aim, incapable of executing the simplest things which are required to succeed at this level ... It's really worrying in terms of quality.
Good entertaining affair overall. Iran was slightly the better team today. The blunter by Haghighi gifted a draw to Japan. Either Japan was having a bad day, or they're not as good as they're advertised. Either way, I would rather play Japan in next round than Korea. They seemed like a better match up for Iran and the matches will be more exciting. Iran-Korea matches are getting repetitive and boring.