I, incidentally, didn't like Colombia in WC2018, but then again I only watched their match against Japan (who I was rooting for) and their R16 match against England (who I almost never root for but did in that game because I felt Colombia was too negative until very late in the game and was playing dirty and engaging in antics that sometimes turns me off on some other S.A. teams and players).
Oh, you didn't miss anything (other than Colombia getting robbed against Brazil) - they did just enough to get out of the group stage without setting the world alight, then did just enough to get past Uruguay on penalties. The only noteworthy performance was dragging Argentina to penalties in the semifinal.
Yup. Neither James or JuanFer played in the Copa. So finishing third was really a good finish. And Diaz was a revelation.
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/466760/Taremi-left-out-of-Iran-squad-for-2022-World-Cup-qualifiers Will this affect Iran's qualifying chances? 1- Taremi is Iran's most influential player. While Iran has enough depth to handle Taremi's absence for the games ahead against Lebanon and Syria, if the needless spat which Taremi started isn't resolved soon, Iran will become weaker both on the pitch as well as in the uproar, division, and controversy that will surround the team as a result. 2- I ultimately see this as one of the byproducts of the cultish environment created under Queiroz. Taremi, a loyal member of that cult who has repeatedly thanked Queiroz for his "guidance" in helping him move to Portugal, seems unable to accept someone else as the national team coach. M6ch less a hitherto 'no-name' coach like Dragan Skocic who was coaching 2nd division clubs in Iran when he was appointed to lead Iran's team and, yet, has managed 10 wins, zero losses, and 1 draw as Iran's manager (out performing Queiroz so far).
Group A is weaker than Group B, but the Taremi/Skocic issue could (if not handled properly) cause Iran's team to implode from within by the controversy and issues it will create. The irony is that both Taremi and Skocic are rather soft-spoken and neither has an aggressive public personality. But Taremi is right now Iran's most popular and successful player, in peak form for both club (Porto) and country. Skocic is put in a very tough position. He can't win a fight against Taremi and yet he can't lead a side whose biggest star has appeared to question the tactics (or lack thereof) and qualifications of its coach.
Bro I do not know why you are making a big story out of this and continue to discuss about it here which is not the right place to talk about it. Skocic did the right thing to drop Taremi from the team. No matter who Taremi is. The team discipline and unity is above every player. Taremi must know his place. He is not our most important player to me. For example, Azmoun is more important than him to me. Compare to our legends like Mehdi Mahdavikia, Vahid Hashemian, etc., Taremi is nothing. I am not worried about his omission. We have a lot of depth in forward position. For now, assume that we never had him.
Group B is tougher than Group A only because of Saudi Arabia. Pot 1: Japan = IR Iran Pot 2: Australia = Korea Republic (South Korea) Pot 4: Iraq = China (IMO Slight edge to Iraq) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Pot 5: Oman > Syria Pot 6: Vietnam < Lebanon Although Oman and Lebanon have been better than Syria and Vietnam so far, but on the paper both Oman and Lebanon are not enough strong to challenge Japan, Iran, Australia, and South Korea for top two spot. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Pot 3: Saudi Arabia >>>>> UAE Not only Saudi Arabia is much better than UAE and are strong enough to challenge any team from first two pots, they are also strong enough to be able to win any given group at the moment. If we take out Saudi Arabia from Group B along with UAE who was in the same seed with Saudi Arabia for the draw, in that case you can see that there is not much difference between the two groups in terms of difficulty.
1- I blame Taremi, not Skocic, who was left no choice. 2- Taremi is, to me, our most influential player. Azmoun is our best finisher but needs service to shine. Taremi can help a team even when the team is otherwise struggling. While we should be okay against the teams in our group without Taremi, in bigger stages and the World Cup, the absence of Taremi will hurt us badly. 3- This is big news which can't be buried by ignoring it. It is still very early in the morning in Iran but in a few hours time, this is going to dominate the football news and discussions in Iran. 4- Our biggest footballing legends are Ali Daei, my all-time favorite, Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia (another favorite of mine), along with a lot of other names that come way ahead of Vahid Hashemian (Bagheri, Parvin, Hejazi, Roshan, even Nekounam). But unless Taremi has decided to shoot himself and his career in the foot with his recent behavior re Skocic and the coaching staff, Taremi was going to be among the very top in that list. p.s. Skocic, incidentally knows full well the importance of Taremi to his team. When Iran's defender Khalilzadeh was red carded against the UAE (reversed thanks to VAR), he mentioned how that decision (if it had stood) would have forced him to 'cut-off one his arms', either Taremi or Azmoun. Guess which arm Skocic was going to cut? Azmoun, not Taremi. Reports from Iran indicate Skocic tried calling Taremi to bury the issue after Taremi's twitter post, but Taremi didn't respond or return his calls. Next, he asked Hashemian to call Taremi, who still didn't return the calls. And when Taremi, shockingly, didn't even return Bagheri's call (at least according to khabar online), he felt he had no choice but to cross him out.
Comparing group A and B in the AFC, the obvious difference is of course Saudi Arabia. Although there are teams in Group A such as Iraq who aren't as likely to suffer the kind of embarrassing defeats that the Saudis have suffered at the World Cup, playing in Asia (and particularly in their own neighborhood) the Saudis are one of the top teams in Asia. In fact, except against sides that are simply stronger and deny them the ability to play their style, the Saudis generally play a possession oriented game that benefits from the decades of investment in coaches and facilities they have poured into their football. What ails Saudi football, however, are 3 things: 1- lacking players with experience in European leagues or players who have faced adversity (as opposed to the pampered environments they have played), the Saudis lack the psychological metal to adapt properly when facing stronger teams in games that aren't going their way; 2- like most of their GCC Arab neighbors, their defense can be exposed all too easily; and 3- they are (generally speaking) physically subpar and suffer as a result against European sides. Otherwise, though, if Saudi Arabia were in Group A instead of the UAE, the picture in Group A would certainly look different than it looks now. With Taremi, I would still put my money on Iran to beat them, but without him not necessarily. And I think the Saudis would beat S. Korea.
Wrong. I guess you could argue that with James but he was better than Cardona who was called. Cardona looked very slow and out of shape. It was more to send a message to James for his behavior at Everton. JuanFer was in China at the time and they had very strict Covid quarantine rules so he was basically not allowed to join the team. It had nothing to do with him or his form at all.
I mean, James is the type of player that only really seems to excel when the team operates with him as the focal point of everything. That worked in 2014 when he was super good and the best player on the Colombia team by far, but not sure how well that'll work today. He's on the wrong side of 30 and not getting much playing time at the club level.
You are preaching to the choir on this one. I am not sure how he will play with the team after such a long hiatus and within Rueda's tactics. That said he is way, way better than the aforementioned Cardona who played in his stead at the Copa and he is also one of the best passers and set piece takers in the player pool (and in the CONMEBOL region when he is on his game) so he can still be a valuable asset. As I said, these next two games in qualifying will tell me a lot about where he is form wise and what he can do. I am not convinced he will be great but I also know he can redeem himself with some effort and good work ethic.
James recently joined a Qatari club, Al Rayyan, where he is at least getting a lot of playing time. p.s. For me, Diaz (and Colombia being able to properly use his strengths offensively) will have far greater influence in Colombia's future prospects than James.
Diaz is the key up front. James and JuanFer are the engines in the middle. Or at least they should be for the free flowing beautiful football to work and excel.
Changing gears back to Uruguay I just realized that they will be missing many players this FIFA Window. Viña, Valverde, De la Cruz, Arrascaeta, Cavani, Coates and Nunez are all out. I thought they would have trouble against Argentina and in Bolivia WITH those players. Without them it makes it much more difficult. Let's see if they can surprise me and sneak out with some points.
In 2009, Uruguay and Argentina met on the final matchday and Argentina won in Montevideo. I think that was the most important match between the two sides in recent times as either team could have missed out of the WC with a loss combined with an Ecuador win. Of course, Ecuador didn't win and Uruguay went on to the WC semifinals. In 2013, they met on the final qualifying day again and that time Uruguay won but the game didn't mean much as Uruguay had already clinched 5th place.
In the AFC, the Iran-Lebanon match gains additional significance because of the Taremi/Skocic issue (which I hope is patched up quickly), but clearly the highest profile game will be the one between Australia and Saudi Arabia in Group B. If Australia win, the group will go down to the wire before anything is really settled. If not, Saudi Arabia can begin to think about the World Cup itself, while Australia and Japan (along with Oman) will be in a close race to determine who gets the other direct spot and which side goes to the playoffs.
I think the implication was that they aren't at the "need a favor" stage just yet - but when they get there ... well ... J