2014 FIFA WC QLF, AFC: Group A (II) [R]

some thoughts during our June qualifying matches. exception of Qatar, Lebanon who played 3 games, other 3 teams played 2 games. one home and one away.

1. Korea. I thought Qatar away game would very hard on us and predicted that they would give us big trouble. i was wrong. but even with that, i expected full 6 points out of two games. i don't doubt our chances now and would probably on course to qualify with couple of games in our hand.

2. Iran. Absolutely stole a win in their away game in Uzbekistan. So even with today home draw against Qatar, their in a good position. But there's a weird thing about scheduling during this qualification. Iran will play a match every three match days we have this calendar yr, and they won't play another and finish the remaining three game until the next June. That's way too long of absent period during qualification. So the biggest test will be the next three games. Two home games against korea and uzbeks and away game against lebanon. Out of that three games, Iran would probably have to target at least 5 points. If i were Iranians, I really don't want to enter last phase of the qualification (last three games) with anything less than 9 points. But at 9 points, another 4 points would do it for them. Magic number line would be around 13, 14 points to be safe. And better get it done before their away game against us. Because if Iran comes to our home in the last matchday looking for result? They're asking for trouble.

3. Qatar, Two away with one home games played and asked them they'll be in third place with 4 points, They'll probably take it. But they lost to us by three goals. For them, goal difference can be all the crucial factor in the end. One of their biggest test, a draw from their away game in iran was a success no matter how you look at it. Two away games are done, so their right on course for big two home games coming against uzbeks and lebanon which i think they can get 4 points. And with 8 points with three games remaining, i don't think a direct qualification is not out of the question for them. Good away draw against Iran today, not because Qatar collected a point today, because Iran didn't collect three points.

4. Uzbekistan. What happened to them? Very unlucky for not getting that goal against iran. But you can't allow your biggest threat in the group to collect all three points in your home at the last minutes. That's recipe for disaster. While Lebanon is no push over, you should've been more determine to make up that lost points against them but only managed another point. But it's not out of the picture just yet. But it can be if you lose again in your next game against us(korea). For uzbek to qualify, they have to collect full three points on at least 3 of remaining 6 games. And probably at least 10 point and more to have a chances for direct ticket. On paper, i still believe this is the same team that did so well in the Asian cup in Qatar, and the same team that beat japan in their own home couple months ago. But a lost to Iran in a home game is a killer. Probably have to do the same in order to qualify.

5. Lebanon. Coming out of this qualification, I thought they would be gifting their opponents with automatic three points. But from what I've seen today's game against us, they'll put up a good fight until the bitter end. Even with going down 0-2, then i thought they would be in a full on give-up mode and concede the game. But no, they fought until very end. With that attitude, that's means they could be spoiler for other teams in the group. They'll targeting a third place finish. And in order to do that, they'll probably need 10 points, and i doubt that. But you could see that these players are enjoying themselves because they shouldn't even be in this final round of qualification, but they'll gonna fight on. You wanna talk about how Iran, Uzbek, or Qatar are going to fight for that second place, well then you better at least collect full max point against these Lebanon.

 

hey, thanks guys for repping me. took some time and effort to come up with this thought.

 

http://footballitarin.com/video_page.php?id=1981

 

Iran coach Queiroz: It was a one-way game against Qatar

 

I am disappointed in Queiroz for Iran's poor performances so far against Uzbekistan and now Qatar. Our result against Uzbekistan was fine, but totally undeserved. The result against Qatar in front of 100,000 fans is unacceptable and frankly the performance was not anything to praise either. Qatar might have parked the bus, but Iran didn't do anything special either. In fact, as much as I hate to admit it, the 0:0 draw was actually a fair result. Except for Qatar's ridiculous and annoying time wasting, nothing else would have suggested they deserved to lose or that Iran deserved to win.

All this brings me to what I wrote about Carlos Queiroz before he was appointed Iran's coach. As I said then, reviewing his record in various places, his record means "that we certainly got a world famous coach (if Queiroz actually signs up with Iran), but that there is absolutely no guarantee that Queiroz would do better for Iran than the coaches who have preceded him. That really is just how it is."

Truth to be told, I am just hoping Queiroz can do at least as well as I would have expected from some the coaches that have preceded him! This is a relatively easy group, and a very easy path for qualification to the World Cup. Messing it up would be rather inexcusable, even for a coach like Queiroz whose record as head coach of senior squads has never been all that stellar.

 

Wow. It is truly appalling to see how Iran can't score a goal when Ali Karimi dribbles past 2,3 players that easily.
Iran is the same Iran from 10 years ago. They have absolutely no team work. They fight among themselves even during the match. They think they are all that and rather than improving themselves they talk down on the Arabs giving lame excuses like how they have all the talent but their government is ruining everything. They are also quick to give up on their team after only a couple of games. The same story over and over since the birth of bigsoccer.com.
You really need to do something for your country if your government is at fault. Turn it over or something.

 

Did you dream up those stuff? Yeah some of those things have happened in our football history, but why are you bringing up shit from eons ago?

It's obvious that you wanna start some shit. The Iran-Korea wars of eons ago are now part of BS history, let it go. Nobody gives a shit anymore. You're welcome to talk smack all you want, but I doubt anyone will join your little one man crusade.

Edited by Tex

 

This poor performance is not largely attributed to CQ. A lot of the problems in our football are the result of corruption within the IRI. There are many people in Iran's football who are clueless in football and are selected for their political connections. But as I said we simply are not producing results given how much resources we put into football. We are far more successful in koshti, volleyball and futsal and of course weight-lifting.

There has been criticsm of Iran's performance against Uzbekistan which I do agree with. BUT at the same time, we converted the only opportunity we had and I don't think we are getting enough positive response from that.

 

what resources are you talking about? I am 100 PERCENT CERTAIN that we spend FAR LESS than Japan, AUS, SK, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE... We have a camp before every major tournament and that's it!! If we're lucky our federation spends a few bucks on a random friendly from time to time.

What does management have to do with our player's inability to shoot straight? Do African teams have proper management? Ours is a million times better than theirs. How is IR EVEN REMOTELY related to how we play our football????

You're right, people are selected for their political connections. But aren't the heads of our volleyball, basketball, futsal, wrestling, taekwondo... federations also selected based on their loyalty to the regime???

Of course they are! And yet, we've won 2/3 previous Asian basketball championships and came close to making it 3/3, we won the last Asian Volleyball championships, we ALWAYS rape everyone in wrestling, we became WORLD champions in taekwondo by beating SK (FIRST TIME this has ever happened), we've won 10/12 Asian Futsal tournaments and finished 4th in the world cup... I'm missing a bunch of other sports as well.

 

I don't understand what people are complaining about. Progress takes time, you don't become a footballing powerhouse in the world overnight. Sports is actually one of the few things in Iran that the Ahmadinejad regime has actually improved in the last 7 years. We used to suck at team sports, now we're a powerhouse in every major team sport in Asia, from Basketball and Volleyball to even Handball and Waterpolo. Look at how we've been the dominant force in the world in Weight-lifting, Wrestling and Teakwando. Look at just how well we did at the 2010 Asian Games, or how we're actually projected by the USA Today to win a dozen medals at the 2012 Olympics, including five Gold medals, which is unprecedented in our history. What else do you want? Do you want Iran to become China or Russia overnight? For the right perspective, you just need to compare Iran's sports development with the countries around Iran, and you will see how far ahead we are, even in football. We're actually overachieving in sports and some people still bitch.

 

I don't follow other sports as much other than the results so I'm not as familiar with their organizational strategy. As I said in my post, I do agree that we don't have the right people in charge but it is disappoining to see a team like Qatar which just got killed against Korea and played 3 matches in 9 days draw against us at Azadi.

 

For me, I consider top dogs in Asia are: Japan, Australia, S. Korea. These teams are above level than the rest of asia.

 

For me AFC rankings:

Tier A+: Japan
Tier A: Korea Republic, Australia (flip a coin)

Tier B: The rest of AFC.

 

Yeah Iran and Guam are in the same Tier, excellent ranking.

 

I'm too lazy to class all the other Asian teams. All that matters is the big 3.

But if you insist ...

Tier A+: Japan
Tier A: Korea Republic, Australia
Tier B: Iran, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia
Tiers C/D: AFC

 

This group is still wide open; we have 6 more games to be played. Nobody should celebrate yet. As for Iran, the draw was disappointing specially after snatching 3 points on the road against a strong Uzbak team but 4 points from 2 games under the circumstances is acceptable.

 

Disappointing game for Iran, can't believe they struggle against a very small team like Qatar in their home game. LOL

 

This is just anothe recipe for hate posts. So stop it. Just because we managed to bear them by three goals. They're no small team. Qatar is a quality team who just held another quality team Iran to a draw in their own backyard. If our players had an attitude like yours, our outcome against Qatar would have been completely different.

 

To be perfectly honest, unless you're from Australia, Japan or South Korea (in no particular order), you shouldn't be in the position to gloat about your country's sporting achievements in the past 10-15 years, much less be excused for looking down at other nations within your vicinity. None of the other Asian sides come close to those three aforementioned names. Iran's greatest sporting glory occurred long before most of us were even born; it belonged to a different era of torchbearers. The same could be said about the glories that countries such as Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia lived through. We're in a new age today and none of the Middle Eastern countries show any signs of narrowing the gap between Asia's big three and the rest. The only two countries, in the region, that have invested heavily into sports in the past decade or so are Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar reaped some of its rewards with the Asian Champions League success in 2011, albeit controversially. But the only country in the Middle East that is really building a proper system from the ground up, including an excellent youth system, is the UAE. They've shown signs of what they're going to achieve in the coming decade, by building some of the best youth sides in the history of West Asia. Their domestic league isn't as evolved as the Saudi league but it's nearly there in my opinion. That's about it, to be honest.

Anyway, I think the upcoming fixture between South Korea and Uzbekistan is going to be the most important and pivotal fixture of the World Cup qualifiers. Should Uzbekistan win, there's a good chance it'll encourage them to take things seriously again and work on winning their succeeding matches against Qatar, Iran and Lebanon (in chronological order). Should they lose, it wouldn't surprise me if they continue their losing streak against Qatar, thereby giving Qatar just the momentum they need for facing the Lebanese in Doha. For some reason, I think neither outcomes will affect Uzbekistan's performance against Iran, away from home. Regardless of their position in the table, I feel the Uzbeks would feel bitter by the fact they hold Iran accountable for their current qualification nightmares, therefore it wouldn't surprise me if they take the game against Iran very seriously, regardless of their chances of qualifying.

So the way I see it, Iran and Qatar should both hope that South Korea defeat Uzbekistan in September. If Uzbekistan loses, there's a 90% chance that one of Iran or Qatar automatically join South Korea in Brazil. On the other hand, if Uzbekistan wins, there's a very good chance Uzbekistan gains momentum and wins its next three games as well, thereby placing them alongside South Korea. I have no idea how things will unfold if the game ends in a draw, though. Bear in mind, this is all hypothetical. Nothing's guaranteed. In other words, the Uzbeks might beat South Korea and end up losing to Qatar, but the chances of that happening are much slimmer than Uzbekistan beating Qatar after a momentous victory over South Korea.

Now if I could be a little bit more honest here, I just hate the fact that Kuwait could have been in this group. I don't know how upset Saudis are in knowing that their team could have been in the other group; I don't think they'll be too upset because finishing in the top 2 (in a group that has Australia and Japan) is very difficult. But with Group A, the second spot is open for anyone. Dare I say, finishing in second place is like winning the lottery; it's so random and will depend on a lot of luck. I hope the Kuwaiti players are kicking themselves for the fact they missed out on being in the easiest group, for the second time in the row. But who am I kidding, they're probably watching the Euros right now. And God knows how exciting the qualifiers would've been if Kuwait and even Saudi Arabia made it at the expense of Lebanon and Oman; no disrespect to the latter teams though because they deserve to be here. Many respectable Asian teams like China, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have failed themselves in the previous round, and I hope they're regretting it now.

 

imma say it now. Korea will win in the azadi 2-0

 

2-0. It has never been done before in Azadi.

Do you care to make a bet? It seems tha'ts how things are done here.

This is the bet.
If Iran wins by 2 goals you will admit Iran is currently better-Unlikely, but you gotta have goals.
If Iran wins you can't post in the forum until the final match day.
If a draw happens. Well thats boring, but life goes on
If Korea wins I won't post in the forum until the final match day.
If Korea wins by 2 goals I will admit Korea outclasses Iran and is the better team.-I doubt this will happen in Azadi.

Do we have a deal?

 

it's bound to happen eventually and right now Iran look terrible. that may change by October but I like our chances to win nonetheless

 

randomthoughts, don't know who you are yet, but behave. Chiwoo, a newbie posting so aggressively, you seem to have been baited!

 

My prediction is 2-1 for korea. Especially, park chu young and lee chung yong will come back.

 

As for the current situation in Asia. Here is a realistic ranking:

1. Japan
2. Australia and Korea
3. Iran
4. Uzbekistan, Iraq, KSA, Oman and Jordan
5. The various irrelevant Sheikhdoms and tiny Island nations