ITALY GK IS ON FIRE!!!!! Italy beats Uruguay in PK shootout. Finishes third in 2017 FIFA U-20 world cup.
Federico Valverde (Real Madrid Castilla) of Uruguay, embroiled in the racist gesture saga, wins the silver ball award. Booed by the crowd throughout the award ceremony. Dominic Solanke (Chelsea) from England, obviously, won the golden ball, and Yangel Herrera (New York City) from Venezuela comes third with the bronze ball.
Also perfect timing for Dominic Solanke. He leaves with a big 'f*ck you' to Chelsea as he leaves on free transfer to Liverpool for the forthcoming season. I'm sure @takeuchi is happy.
Azmoun calmly converts a brilliant through pass that was fed to him across Uzbek defense. Iran 1-0 Uzbekistan 22'
iran winning increases koreas chances but id rather iran didnt win because 3 points today assures them of world cup birth. i think id rather play iran when they still have something to play for (albeit very little). as much as i want kfa to be humiliated itd be tough watching koreas unorganized group of players scrap for points against relaxed iranian team with nothing to lose
interesting point. Usually we assume that a team with nothing to play for is easier to beat than a team that has something to play for.
no you always want to face someone with something to lose. what theyve got to lose is what they have on the line. if they dont have anything to lose they have nothing on the line
JTBC commentators are terrible. It is really unfortunate that the channel acquired rights for KNT matches.
Iran will still be hungry for 3 points against us. Why? 1) They still believe our success in 2002 was fraud. 2) They still keep bragging about 6-2 win at AC 1996. 3) They don't like the fact that Korea has qualified for 8 consecutive World Cups whereas it is their first ever consecutive World Cup appearances. 4) They are on 4-game winning streak on us without any goal conceded. They do want to keep it alive.
iran is beyond the point of treating as a rival. their record against us in the last 10 is 6 wins 3 draws 1 loss. iranian players probably look at korean players like they be shit gravy iran wants to beat korea the same we would want to beat them when we were ahead of them. its a freaking match of course they want to win
http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2017/06/13/2017061300371.html 케이로스 감독 휘하 이란은 브라질 월드컵서 처절한 실패를 경험했다. 아르헨티나, 나이지리아, 보스니아 헤르체고비나와 F조에 속해 조별리그 1무 2패(승점 1)에 그치며 최하위로 짐을 쌌다. 당시 1골 4실점하며 무기력하게 탈락했다. 케이로스 감독은 3년 전 실패를 거울 삼아 최종예선에서 명확한 러시아 로드맵을 그리고 있다. '선수비 후역습'이라는 확실한 포맷으로 효율적인 축구를 선보이고 있다. 이란은 러시아 월드컵 최종예선서 물 샐 틈 없는 수비를 뽐냈다. 조별리그 8경기를 치르는 동안 실점이 없다. 6승 2무를 거뒀고, 8골 무실점했다. 아시아에서 처음으로, 전 세계에서 세 번째로 완벽한 본선행을 결정지었다. Iran kept their coach even after the Brazil WC. Now look how they are doing.
Queiroz's tactics are at least effective against Asian opponents. Stielike can't even beat the grass-rolling Syrians.
Queiroz and Stielike aren't in the same level. Queiroz actually executed changes, and Iran NT (and in my opinion, the entirety of Iranian football) has been strengthened. One can strongly argue that Queiroz made positive changes even between 2011-14. In comparison, what has Stielike done so far? He's had around 3 years with the team, and I struggle to point out a sign of improvement under his helm. Our style didn't change much from pre-Uli days. Whatever tactical approach he drilled into the team (or not) is clearly not working right now.... even at the AFC level. Sure, we're second place as of now, but the performances have been unconvincing to say the least. Stielike has not demonstrated progress. I think most of us will agree he has actually regressed (totally screwed team chemistry with his PR blunders), and is increasingly being exposed of his deficiencies. Hiddink, in his time with the KNT, laid out a clear plan and took concrete steps towards it even as he suffered humiliating defeats in friendlies. Stielike has not. EDIT: I'd like to conclude by saying that giving Uli Stielike more time won't change shit. He's not good at utilizing the time he is given. Sorry.
There's a huge difference between keeping a manager who's helped/helping a team improve as opposed to keeping a senile fraud who hasn't done shit. CQ may have had some small fits with the Iranian FA in terms of his salary/wage, but he's done a great job at improving and building Iran into one of the most compact-defensive team out of the AFC, so keeping him at the helm for almost 8 years is clearly justified since he managed to prove himself otherwise. Stielike on the other hand, even if you are to give him an additional 10+ years with the KNT, it will still be the same shit story day in day out, it's like trying to keep a repeat offender to do management work for the super market, no progress, only more added trouble.
Iran's win against Uzbeks both has ups and downs as far as Korea is concerned. It secures Korea's place as 2nd placed team after todays match, regardless the result against Qatar. And with Korea having a good chance to increase the gap between themselves and Uzbak. The negative could be that now you are facing an Iran, which has nothing to fear or put on the line, when we meet in Seoul. Which will give Iran more liberty and playing without stress. Alternatively Quieroz may opt to experiment with some bench players, which could be positive for Korea. Korea will have the pressure on them to win against Iran, because of 1. World Cup qual. on the line 2. Fan pressure, it being a home game 3. Past meetings, with Iran's 4 consecutive wins. I think this pressure will affect the Korean players in a negative way, they could become more prone to mistakes. The worst thing that could happen is another loss, which might result in Korea playing more catious. I dont know, but it'll be exciting to see what awaits. Good luck against Qatar. A win is almost a must for Korea.
I think we will definitely try out new players in the last 2 matches with Syria and Korea. And frankly I wouldn't be so sure that it will be worse for Korea that our team will play more relaxed. It could be either positive or negative. In my experience Iran plays better when there's something on the line
CQ will not experiment against S. Korea. Even if he does, it won't be so drastic. He wants maximum points in the group and would love another win against Korea in his record. Azmoun will miss the game due to yellow card accumulation but Ansarifard who's been doing okay in Greece or Ghoochanejad who was Eredivisie 2nd Top Scorer should be good replacements. PS: Good luck to S. Korea in today's and future matches. Shitlick has been awful but thanks to individual brilliance by certain players, KNT has been in it and should make direct qualification even if they draw or lose vs. Iran. Crunch game is vs. Uzbeks who have an even shittier coach but talented squad too. Will be a good last match day game! Need to change Shitlick before WC though...After Shitlick...I hope Korea NT displays their good ol' sportmanship they displayed against big teams. Not saying all KNT players are immature but Choi Kang-hee and Shitlick did not have much access of making their players disciplined and positive towards other teams.