In a roundabout way, this is what I'm trying to say. How can some give a baseless, bordering nonsensical opinion, and have someone else view it as "true"
My opinion is, Spain is elite, Portugal is very strong, and Iran and Morocco are strong. Teams like Panama and Saudi Arabia are mediocre, while a team like Tunisia is slightly above mediocre.
Your rating makes sense to me, but what is really clear is that this is the only group in this World Cup with not just one, but two, teams that would be legitimately rated by most among the top 8. But leaving that aside, "123 Watson" wasn't exactly clear in what he was saying and even if he was saying something remotely sensible (didn't appear that way to me), I am not sure how a jumbled post like that would suddenly raise to the level of "never a truer word spoken"! Somehow, I have to think that whoever wrote that hasn't heard any statement in his life that sounded true, since this one was an odd candidate for such high praise!
What's the matter with you guys His post was so nonsensical I figured my sarcastic reply would have been obviously sarcastic... Jesus
Phew, I can usually pick up sarcasm especially because I use it all the time, but that flew over my head. Glad to know you weren't serious.
I mean obviously no matter the methodology used there are no guarantees in this sport which is what makes it so entertaining. Friendlies are even more tricky but here are my predictions for this month: Tunisia 1 Iran 0 Algeria 0 Iran 1 Serbia 0 Morocco 0 Morocco 4 Uzbekistan 0 Portugal 2 Egypt 1 Portugal 1 Netherlands 1 I would be curious to read what others including Portuguese fans here would predict for this month's friendlies. Fataliste and MarocFAN? Hans? Nani? We talk a lot of theory here so this would be one fun way to see who is actually more or less in touch with reality and who isn't haha
Even though it doesn't represent who is more or less in touch with reality because even as you state, anything can happen, I'll give it a try. Tunisia 1 Iran 1 Algeria 0 Iran 2 Serbia 2 Morocco 1 Uzbekistan 0 Morocco 2 Egypt 1 Portugal 3 Netherlands 2 Portugal 3
hehe yea really tricky with friendlies! Iranian Monitor is the expert (joking) Tunisia - Iran = 1-0 Algeria - Iran = 0-2 Serbia - Morocco = 1-2 Morocco - Uzbekistan = 3-0 Portugal - Egypt = 1-1 Portugal - Netherlands = 2-0
Making predictions, if nothing else, does spice friendlies and add to their excitement. I noticed vancity eagle post predictions on all the upcoming March friendlies in the thread relating to upcoming friendlies for World Cup bound teams and I posted my complete predictions there.
The problem with football is that there really is no methodology that can help us predict its outcomes with any reliable accuracy, but if there was any, picking Iran to lose an open door friendly against Tunisia would contradict results from 3 years and over 36 matches played by Iran. Our perfect record in that regard was only tarnished by a closed door friendly loss to Iraq on a non-Fifa match day without our first choice players. Otherwise, as much as I am not a fan of Carlos Queiroz and his antics, I feel indebted to him so far for giving Iran a side that simply hasn't lost a match I have seen since Sweden defeated us in a friendly in 2015. And I have seen every open door match Iran has played! Incidentally, I will be on vacation when Iran plays Algeria but even then, I will try to figure a way to see Iran play that match as well.
Missed the sarcasm, sorry. But your first subsequent reply didn't help make the sarcasm clear either as you went about trying to fix his sentences to make them comprehensive even if still somewhat nonsensical.
Unfortunately Tunisia-Iran and Serbia-Morocco matches are played almost simultanesly. (1h15min is in between) So it won't be possible to watch both games over the full distance. For me only Morocco's match with Serbia will be conclusive. Serbia is a side which I rate somewhat equally to Iran. But for Uzbekistan they are still without a proper coach and maybe some players are still striving against the disappointment of missing out again on the World Cup. I can't see why there should be any confidence and motivation to put up on a good fight against Morocco. They also lost the first game after the end of the qualifiers 1:0 away to UAE. Plus they don't have any experience of playing non-AFC sides. I can easily see Morocco thrashing them by three or four goals. So we should indeed focus mainly on the Serbia game to draw any fruitful conclusion in my opinion.
At least it's only one game that you might miss. It's way worse when you live in the U.S. or Canada. The games are almost always during work hours if they happen to be on week days. I will have to just check the results at work and watch the replays when I get home. I'm jealous of those of you who live in Iran or Europe.. I'll have to take PTO to watch Morocco's World Cup games lol
Any way to watch the replays? I know footballitarin usually posts Iran games in full after the game. I want to see Portugal and Morocco's friendlies because I might only have time for Spain vs Germany this weekend
4 of Iran’s starters, including the two best players/goal scorers from WCQs, will also be missing the match against Tunisia. Sardar Azmoun Mehdi Taromi Ashkan Dejagah Morteza Pouraliganji
I knew Taremi and Pouraliganji were nursing injuries, but thought they would recover in time. Are you sure they will miss the game? As for Sardar Azmoun, I wasn't aware he was injured. Why is he missing the game?
Ashkan Dejagah is out for months. Morteza Pouraliganji is out for weeks. The status of Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taromi is “day to day” and “doubtful”, so likely out for Tunisia match. http://www.varzesh3.com/news/1512799/شاید-طارمی-و-آزمون-نباشند
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/mar/21/carlos-queiroz-iran-world-cup-2018-russia How Carlos Queiroz turned Iran into Asia’s best World Cup hope
The Morocco games are usually posted on YouTube right after the live transmission. I'm not sure about the Portugal ones. I'll post the Serbia-Morocco replay link here once I find it.
If none of the players Mani mentioned recover in time, I would expect our starting lineup against Tunisia to be as follows: Beiranvand (Hosseini) - Ghafouri (Rezaeian), Montazeri (Cheshmi), Hosseini, Mohammadi - Ezatolahi, Haj Safaie (Ebrahimi) - Jahanbakhsh, Shojaie, Ghoddos - Ghoochannejad (Ansarifard)
I agree Serbia - Morocco would be an important match and I certainly will try to figure a way to see it.