Matchday Thread | GROUP F

You have much to be proud of . Bosnia was very impressive in qualification.
Won the tiebreaker with Greece due to a superb goal differential and avoided a playoff by doing so. You impressed with the development of world class talent , from such a small nation. You got a WC win and had a clear goal disallowed that might have seen you through to the next round. I'm sad for you too but keep your head up.

That was impressive. Iran ? Not so much and that is with all apologies to my Persian friends and colleagues. If it makes you feel better I haven't heard them say anything like this or that they deserved better. Then again , I have reminded the before , that they shouldn't expect anything when they have not made a commitment to the game, despite having a pool to draw from 80 million more people than Bosnia .

 

Iranian fans knew well and good going into this tournament that we had a crappy team. This was a team that was always going to have a hard time even qualifying for the world cup if we are being honest. Coach had to look in all corners of the world to find half decent players with connections to Iran. We should be happy with what these group of average players achieved with little talent. We have had more talented teams in the past do worse. This should also serve as a lesson not to trash talk so much. I remember Iranian fans did the same in 06 to Mexican fans on BS. Stay classy the next time guys. Joone babatoon inghadr oghdeyi nabashid.

 

..

 

That's one helluva Semi final!!!

I can't wait for it to happen!

 

Iran was really impressive against Argentina. They frustrated their attacks, and were well organized throughout the vast bulk of the match, and had quite a few counterattacking chances, and a legit call for a PK.

In the other two games they were brutal. In fairness, the brutal tactics worked against Nigeria, but I think we saw today what would happen if Iran really had to play a bit of a more open game to try and grab three points. There was worse at this cup, for sure, Cameroon for instance, which was even worse than those of us who were predicting they'd be 3 and out. But Iran probably belongs on the next tier with the likes of South Korea, Honduras, Japan, and Australia. It was a god awful cup for the AFC, and in many ways a predictable one. This South Korea was the worst of their past four editions by a large margin (though they still have one last match to sway some heads), Japan was just as bad, playing horrendously throughout the tournament other than for a half against Ivory Coast, and Honduras from my confederation has looked god awful as well, other than the Ecuador game, Australia I put at the top of that tier because while they had Cahill, they gave two of the best five or 6 teams of the tournament so far a genuine fight (Chile and Australia), and that is something that cannot be said of any of the other bottom dwellers amongst this cups sides.

 

wrong. Iran went into the game with a disadvantage. and we conceded the first goal while we were playing defensive. after bosnias lead, we were chasing the game. you cant say that is how Iran plays when they play an open game. chasing a game is different from playing an open game from the start. if it was 0-0 and we were playing an open game, then THAT would be how we would play an open game. unfortunately, in never occurred. so we dont know how Iran would play when they go into a game 0-0 under neutral conditions.

 

game started off 0-0

you guys chose to defend and hope on a goal from a counter attack or from a set piece

that was your best option and it failed

Iran was outplayed in every segment of the game

 

was not best option. the goal was conceded because we were defending. while that may have worked for nigeria, and even nigeria, it was not a good choice against bosnia, at least not when we needed a win.

 

If you guys chose to attack the score would have been much more in favor of Bosnia.

 

if should coulda. you are speculating using bias. means nothing really.

 

That's rich, coming from you. "If that penalty was called, we would have tied or won against ARG"

 

I'm not speculating just telling you what would happen.

IRAN would open up more from beginning and goals would start pouring in sooner.

 

IRAN and Nigeria opted out for valid tactics against Bosnia - even tho their tactics might seem cowardly.

Nigeria was gifted the win against BiH while IRAN didn't receive any gifts from the referee.

 

lol. Touche! That's the master of contradiction for you!

 

LOL are you comparing a 100% penalty robbing to "if x played like ... the outcome y would have definitely happened" lawl.

 

Whatever, man, you know you are making stuff up now. But go ahead and deny it, that's cool. your words are there for all to see.

 

what? lol.

 

OK, belatedly because I worked all day long and avoided the results in order to see my DVR recordings as if live, I finally watched today's matches, and here is what I have to say:

Messi is obviously now enjoying himself and the days of tension, "pecho frio" and low production for the Argentine national team are behind him, which makes of him a *huge* threat for the opponents. Four goals already, and it is not likely to stop there. Messi is clearly making his mark on the Cup and consolidating his position as one of the all time greatest players to grace the football field. His legacy had so far been compromised by being a great club player but an unproductive player for the senior national team in official games. Not anymore, so, regardless of rivalry bias, now I tip my hat to him.

Congratulations to our Argentinian brothers for winning the group with 9 points. Again, in spite of the rivalry, I actually do want to see this Cup remain in South America to even out the count with Europe. Given that the sole European team I support (Italy) is out, I'm now at full liberty to root for the teams from the Americas (minus the disgraceful team of Uruguay with their cannibal - I hope they crash and burn and he gets a long ban), so, I'm actually hoping that Argentina does well on the other side of the bracket. Of course, if Brazil makes it as well and we meet in the final, then I'll wear my anti-Argentina hat again, but for now I congratulate the hermanos.

It must be said, though, that conceding two goals to Nigeria is a bit concerning. This is the same Nigeria that was relatively easily defeated by the United States, in full strength, in the last send-off preparation game right before the Cup. Yes, a friendly, but at that point both teams were trying to get the best possible test. So, it's a bit concerning for Argentina's defense that they face a team like Nigeria and only win by the minimum score, with Messi bailing them out again with two goals. One wonders how many scores Argentina's defense will concede once they face a high-powered offense.

Argentina seems to suffer from the same problem that Brazil faces: over-reliance on the star player. Both Messi and Neymar have scored four goals for their countries. Without these players, both teams might have had trouble qualifying. So, they may continue to have a good run and improve, but if something happens to Messi or Neymar, then the two South American giants are in trouble. Let's hope not, and let's hope that we see an epic Brazil-Argentina final in Maracanã on July 13.

Now, Bosnia and Herzegovina was royally screwed in this group, by the refs. The inversion of the score in what should have been their victory 1-0 over Nigeria but thanks to the ref (later caught on picture celebrating with the Nigeria goalie) it was turned into a 0-1 defeat, bumped them out of the Cup. Again, given this blatant cheating, I wish Nigeria doesn't go far.

Regarding Iran, well, they were very weak. They have justified the idea that they were one of the three weakest teams of this Cup - pundits would quote them, Cameroon, and Australia - the latter clearly was able to prove the pundits wrong, but Cameroon and Iran, not really.

 

lol so honduras, japan, south korea and australia were better than Iran? why would you publicly admit that you are clueless about the sport like this? after writing all that you go ahead and make everything you wrote meaningless lol. good thing i scanned through it fast.

 

To be fair Nigeria was without Emenike (for 90% of the match), Musa, and our best defender Omeuro vs USA. Plus USA only dominated after Mikel left the match...

 

The whole point I made was that when Iran opened up, and began trying to get goals without parking the bus, their normally damn good defense, started leaking goals.

That's soccer. I'm not sure what you're protesting here. I fully understand they were planning on a 0-0 tight game, and trying to find that counterattacking goal they nearly scored against Argentina, in this game, but it also wasn't set up the same way as the previous two either. They needed 4 points. No matter what that game was going to slowly open up as Iran looked to get the goal they absolutely needed to have.

You don't seem to grock the reality that Iran isn't in a place, at least for now, where they can impose their game on other sides of high level quality. Every nation from the AFC, Concacaf, and CAF has gone through this, and it takes time to build up the talent pool, and the experience abroad to become strong enough to play toe to toe with teams. I'm sure Iran can do it from time to time, and I'm sure they can put on a helluva effort like what they did in what should have been drawing or possibly beating Argentina, but its a work in progress and will continue to take time.

Assuming that Q was wrongheaded and foolish to do what he did is just, beyond crazy to me. He got you a point, and nearly 3-4. if he'd applied a more attacking game, you guys would have been absolutely annihilated. The strategy he did apply came within a whisker of having you potentially qualify if that PK had been called (because I imagine you would have parked the bus, and defended in numbers and quite furiously to preserve a +1 GD, with 4 points. Then he would have been beyond a genius, instead of a coach who got a performance out of you guys on matchday 2, that trumped anything, anyone on the planet was expecting from you guys.

 

And blatant cheating??? The GK is a very friendly guy.

 

you dont get it dude. when we conceded the first goal against bosnia we were DEFENDING. the same style as we played against nigeria and argentina. it is not 100% goal proof. so then we had to CHASE the game. of course when you are CHASING the game against a team that has nothing to lose, it will be really hard.

however, had we attacked from the 1st second, before we conceded a goal, and had bosnia been desperate for 3 points themselves, things would have been different. that is what i am trying to say. so you cant say "look Iran got scored on when they tried to play an open game" because there is a difference between an open game and CHASING the game. very few teams are able to CHASE the game then end up winning. look at croatia vs mexico. same story. croatia was desperate for the win. then mexico scored first. croatia had to win. mexico ended up scoring 3. but under neutral circumstances, if both teams were to start off the game attacking each other if they both had to win, then it would be a different story. croatia would probably win.

 

Well, nothing other than the fact that there is zero data to suggest Iran could produce from the fun of play in an attacking approach, and truck loads of evidence that they'd be played off the park. We've got no victories in your past two world cups, no Asian Cups in eons, no youth trophies to speak of, or even qualifications, no olympics, no nothing of consequence other than has previously been mentioned, in the Asian Cup they've been repeatedly beaten by decent teams on PK's/or in extra time.

What evidence is there available, ANYWHERE, to suggest that Iran could have played toe to toe with Nigeria's athleticism, or Bosnia's flat out talent, or Argentina?

There isn't any.

There is a ton of evidence that Q's approach, came far closer than anything else would have, to earning you guys 2 draws, or possibly 4 points in the group. Something you've never come close to accomplishing since 1998, and something you haven't done regionally since the seventies back when you were still winning the periodic Asian Cup and Japan and South Korea were focused purely on baseball, and Australia was in Oceania.

I don't think Q's a great coach, but he nearly got you guys 4 points, and a fighting chance at the Knockouts. That's a freaking miracle.

 

So, let's see. Iran: points, one. Goals for, one. Goal differential, minus three. Oops, you are right. Sorry, sir. I was obviously so blatantly mistaken! I apologize for wrongly not recognizing that Iran is one of the best teams in the world (I mean, Germany, Holland, Brazil, Argentina? Pfft... they pale in comparison to mighty Iran!!!), and did exceedingly well in this World Cup. Obviously FIFA should just stop the tournament and give the Cup to Iran already, because oh boy, they are surely one of the most spectacular football powerhouses in the world! Well done! You scored ONE goal (in a game you lost 1-3) and collected ONE point in the entire 2014 World Cup; such an OUTSTANDING team!!! How could I be so wrong??? I don't know what got me. I humbly apologize, I'm so dumb!