World Cup 2014 - Group F: Preview & Analysis

Against Nigeria, Iran's main concern was Nigeria's physical strength and speed. To counter it, Queiroz decided it was best for Iran to defend deep to deny Nigeria space, neutralizing their advantage in terms of speed while also not relying so much on our ability to out muscle them to the ball and instead ceding possession to them.

Argentina, on the other hand, aren't physically very strong. Indeed, physically, Iran might be even stronger than Argentina. What would worry Iran about Argentina, however, is their ability with the ball at their feet. They obviously have plenty of players who can dribble and who are creative if given time with the ball. Hence, it would be quite foolish for Iran to play Argentina the way we played Nigeria. What worked against Nigeria is not going to work against Argentina and I think Queiroz realizes that as well. I expect Iran to press Argentina a lot more, challenge Argentina for possession more vigorously, and while we will definitely play a cautious game where most of our players will be busy marking Messi and company, the pressing must start in further up field compared to where we challenged Nigeria for the ball.

Ultimately, however, while Iran does have talented players who can score on any team if given enough of the ball and chances, it will be indeed require a superb game from everyone on our team (and a poor day from Argentina's best players) for us to get a result. Its possible and I my alternative prediction is a 1:1 draw. But I regret that the more likely result I see will see Iran lose by 3 goals.

 

12 hours to go, doo doo doo Iran.

 

GO ARGENTINA!!

 

how old are you, if you dont mind answering? you may round to the nearest 5 years ie if you are 12 then say 10.

 

heart: 0-0
mind: 0-2

my mind is usually correct guys. sorry.

 

3

 

Iran 6:0 Argentina.

Gucci 7th, 9th, 34th
Dejagah 43rd
Hoseini 74th
Jahanbakhsh 89th

 

The nation of poetry, the nation of the likes of Khayyam, Hafez, Saadi, Rumi, and others, produces music like the above youtube. I'm a bit confused. What happened?

 

Nice try trying to jinx the result.

 

Today we make history. A history we will talk about for many years. A history we will retell to our children. Go Iran. Don't fear. Don't take a step back. Go fight till the end. Make us proud

 

You want something more Persian and poetic in the tradition of Khayyam, Hafez and Rumi, this one should do, it even has the Tomb of Hafez in it:

 

Now that is much better. Really brought a smile to my face. I think I'll cheer on your lot in the morning. Good luck!

 

Carlos Queiroz in the press conference: we are here to win the game and compete respectfully. There are a few things in football that need to be proved. One is the fact that no one can predict the outcome of a game. The other is that the better team is not always the winner and the weaker team is not always the loser.

 

The day has finally arrived. Tonight we'll see who is who. My best wishes go to Bosnia and Argentina. Let's go 'Zmajevi' and 'Albiceleste'!

 

I'm hoping for a better performance than against Nigeria, and that it will be entertaining football that represents Iran well.

 

Samba of Iran made me feel good. Thank you so much for the post. It was beautiful

 

Game ON in less than two hours. I have been waiting so long for this

 

Argentina 3 - Iran 0

 

Iran 0:0 Argentina
or
Iran 1:0 Argentina
Who knows? Anything can happen

 

Iran's leader Khamenei himself permits them, which my friend means they are not illegal.

 

Maybe even 4-0 Iran, never know.

 

It looks like now the the last group game BiH v Iran going to be the vital decider, contrary to fears that by the last group game one or both teams may have nothing to play for except pride.

1st round matches
Argentina - BiH: I already said in a previous post Argentina's performance was much less than the expectations, whilst BiH's performance was pretty much on par with my personal expectations, which was they they could get a draw especially if Argentina was going to start the WC slow. Indeed BiH could have gotten a valuable point had they been bit more lucky.

Iran - Nigeria: I forecasted that this will be a game of the shield v spear. Iran will defend and counter, Nigeria will attack and rush back to defend. However, I also said this may be a more exciting match than the other 1st round match. Boy did I get that wrong. Iran didn't just park a bus but they parked a double decker, whilst Nigeria's spear didn't have any edge on it, indeed it was a stone age spear rather than made of iron or even bronze.

I know CQ was defence minded, but v.surprised how defensive Iran played. I do think Iran should have gone for a win in the last 20min after seeing Nigeria's dull blade. 1pt is better than nothing, and if CQ thought Nigeria would be tougher than BiH before the WC, a plan to go for the 3pts against BiH is also perhaps not a bad plan, but after seeing BiH performance against Argentina and Nigeria 1st half he should have had the presence of mind to tweak his plan and risk going forward and go for a win.

Instead Iran continued to play for the whole 90min like the teams they themselves despise in the AFC. Ironic that Iranian posters are now saying that anti-football is a good way to play football as its all about results forgetting the scorn and derision they gave to other teams who played anti football against them.

2nd round matches
Argentina - Iran: Having said all that Iran should park the bus again against Argentina, and hope Argentina's slow start continues for another match.

Nigeria - BiH: I foresee Nigeria turning it on this game because BiH won't bunker and this will give Nigeria the space to exploit, especially against the slow backline. I call a draw but with goals (and a draw will make the last round of matches v.interesting). A must not lose game for BiH. at least 1pt required to stay in the hunt.

3rd round matches: three potential pts combinations going in to this last round.
Argentina: 6pts (4pts) (6pts)
Nigeria: 2pts (2pts) (1pts)
BiH: 1pts (1pts) (3pts)
Iran: 1pts (2pts) (1pts)

BiH - Iran: This could well be the decider, not only on who will get the 2nd spot, but also which fans were right! Forget the transfer market values, forget Iran always scoring more than 2 (?) goals against BIH and beating BiH in every single friendly they ever played, this is it, the WC match will decide who is better forever! (well for the next 4yrs at least).

What has been quite unsatisfying about the whole debate between the fans has been the fact whilst BiH could provide empirical proof on how good their players are e.g. Dzeko, Pjanic, Iran on the other hand had to rely on hypotheticals, some of which was so mind numbingly obvious and circulatory e.g "if Nekounam and Teymourian play well they can control the midfield" or "if Gucci and Dejagah scores goals Iran can win".

I however have sympathy for Iranian fans. It is true not many of their players play outside Iran so it is hard to get recognition, and the last time they were in the WC in Germany 2006, they performed below the level they could have.

This game will put all that to bed. 3pts against BiH, and not only will they finally get the recognition they want but also in WC 2018, people won't discount them.

Nigeria -Argentina: Again, better chance for Nigeria to score against a team that will not bunker against them. Argentina may well start the match with maximum pts of 6 so can relax that they are through but will want a win or at least a draw to ensure 1st place finish.