I have to admit, I was surprised with the amount of support that Iran has around here, they do have devoted fans. Also, I was suprised with the type of predictions that were brought about by these Iran fans. I dont know much about the Iranian team, a lot of people dont, so I did some research and found the reason for all this support: Dillusion Looking at Iran's achievement in recent times, it seems like their greatest accomplishment is beating the US (the worst team in the tournamnet) in France 98'. They have been to two World Cups (78, 98) where they were eliminated in the first round both times with a 1-1-4 record and letting in 12 goals. Now considering that these performances will probably be discounted by Iranian fans (because the team has changed, too long ago or any other reason), lets look at qualifying for Germany 06'... Iran was in a group with Japan, Bahrein and North Corea (not to be confused with the good Korea, South Korea). This group had 2.5 slots to the World Cup. In other words, at the end of Asian qualifying 3 out of the 4 teams in this group were either going or had a playoff to go the the WC. That is the biggest percentage out of any qualifying group anywhere in the world. Japan qualified with 15 points, Iran with 13 and Bahrein went to the playof with just 4 and North Korea had 3 (doesnt look very competitive). Looking at their qualifying games, their greatest accomplishments (something that we have seen Iranians gloat about) is beating Japan at home. They fail to mention that they lost to Japan away. They also only won one away game against North Korea. In the Asian Championships, Iran has taken part in every single Asian Championship held every 4 years since 1968. There was a period between 1968-1976 where they won 3 straight championships. However since that championshp in 76, they have not even gotten to the finals of the Asian championship. In the 2004 edition (17 july - 7 august), they qualifyied out of their group in second place behind Japan and infront of Oman and Thailand. Another game that Iranians have brought up is their win over South Korea (the good one) 4-3 in the Quarters. However, they were knocked out by China in the semis. So is Iran really a big a threat as Iranians are predicting, not at all. They do have some talented players but the team itself has not come up with any impressive results. You would think that the team would have stood out above a weak Asian conference with all this "talent", but apperantly they are just an average Asian team. Hope i got the facts right, feel free to correct me if something is wrong
1. If you think the few overzealos Iranian members of bigsoccer represent the entire Iranian population and ways of thinking, you need to log off your computer and get out into the real world and meet some Iranians in person. STOP GENERALIZING 2. Fans all over the world are usually slighly more optimistic about their team's chances compared to the third party opinion. This applies to ANY nation, not just Iran. 3. Teams like Greece had nothing to offer in terms of real notable "achievements" prior to Euro. Same with Nigeria back in 94, Cameroon back in 90, North Korea back in 66, Senegal, Turkey or Korea in 2002, Croatia in 98, etc. 4. After late 1970s (where we won three straight Asian Cups) Iran went through a revolution continued by a devastating 8 year war with Iraq during which everything about Iran went on a steep downhill slide. The new extremist government wanted, at one point, to ban football in Iran all together, they thought of the idea of men with bare feet running around detrimental to islamic values. Iran's soccer only bounced back in lat 90s with the emergence of a few stars and world cup 98. It has been less than a decade that Iran's football is finding itself in the same position that it was before the revolution. 5. During Asian Cup 2004, we were without a doubt the best team in the tournament. The china match was a joke as the referee was obviously bought, he actually later appologized to the Iranian federation for making so many obvious mistakes all against Iran. 6. Iran's away loss to Japan was an unimportant match as both teams had already qualified to the WC. neither team had their A team and Japan had both home advantage and more incentive to win. 7. If you Iran is just an "average" asian team you're obviously another ignorant anti-Iran loudmouth who thinks a 5 minute google search gives him the right to judge an entire national team without having watched a single game involving that country. Put a sock in it having said all that I do agree with the fact that most Iranian members on bigsoccer are inferiority-complexed and childish whose contanst rambling and big mouths only goes to hurt Iran's image in the community. (This is not a license for non-Iranians to say whatever the fuk they want as any racist attacks deserves a harsh reply)
Havent won an Asian Championship in the last 30 years, never even gotten to the finals in a long time, second in qualifying, you win at home you lose on the road, out of the 4 Asian teams going to the World Cup you were 3rd in points in qualifying; You should be glad you were called mediocre.
This shows you have no idea how Asian qualifying works. Iran's final group had 2.25 slots (the 3rd place team had to beat the other 3rd place team to get the full 0.5 slot, and then the North American team [T&T] to get the full spot into the World Cup). But aside from that, it was not just "2.5 spots for 4 teams". There were 8 semifinal groups, with the winner of each advacing to one of the final two groups. In total, of the group final group Iran was in, there were 27 teams fighting for those 2.25 spots, that's not such a great percentage. The following teams all had a shot at taking Iran, Japan, or Bahrain's 2.25 spots: North Korea (as you mentioned), Jordan, Qatar, Laos, Oman, India, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Thailand, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Iran (as well as Japan) did well to earn their spots in Germany.
Shut you big gap bozo. If you weren't intentionally trying to degrade Iran you'd realize that I've already replied your statements. Iran went through a revolution + plus in the 80s. Iran's economy (let alone sporting infrastructure) was destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians fled after the revolution. Millions were sent to the military and war, people were mobilized to fight a war and keep the fledgling country intact rather than win Asian Cups. Our football was so bad we couldn't beat average teams at that point. It's been less than a decade that Iran's become the same powerhouse as before. Hey dimwit how many countries do you want to name with the exact same "poor" achievement streak in the last 30 years who have surprised the world with their exceptional results? O wait I've already named a bunch but someone was too retarded to read and reply. If you want to argue reply to every single statemetn I made, don't pick and choose like an idiot and have us run around in circles.
Name calling, nice, but big gap bozo? must be a cultural thing. Ok let me change the my statement because i see that logically reasoning is a little off in your post. in the past 8 years, Iran hasnt done anything. You can stretch the time frame as far or as short as you want because the truth is Iran hasnt done anything anytime other than qualify for the WC! period. For every country you named that had never accomplished ANYTHING (like Iran) and accomplished something in a big tournament, there are 10 (at least) that had accomplished NOTHING (like Iran) before the tournament and ACCOMPLISHED nothing during the tournament. If you are putting Iran in this same group with a 10% chance of doing anything, I think Mexico and Portugal are well off.
Agreed, after 98 Iran hasn't qualified to the WC and hasn't won the AC. Agreed, Mexico and Portugal have better resumes and a bookmaker might, as a result, give Mexico and Portugal higher chances of success overall. Unlike your previous reasonings, your above post make sense and is correct. However if you want to conclude (based on what you say above) that Iran is an average Asian team, all I can suggest is that you go and watch a few of Iran's games in the AC or WCQs and then give your honest judgement of what you think of Iran. Here're my suggestions: Iran - Germany (Friendly) Iran - South Korea (Asian Cup 04) Iran - Japan (Asian Cup 04) Iran - Bahrain (Asian Cup 04) Iran - China (Asian Cup 04) (just so you can see what a joke the referee really was) Iran - Japan (home match WCQ)
Don't scare off the only Iranian fan on this board older than 14. He's got reasonable and interesting things to say.
I think seeing how a team performs against teams outside its confederation is one of the best measures of how strong a team it is. Here's how Iran has fared against all non-Asian teams since 2002: Iran (IRN) 2:0 (1:0) Togo (TOG) LG Cup Iran TEHRAN IRAN - 13.11.2005 Iran (IRN) 4:0 (2:0) Libya (LBY) Friendly 2005 TEHRAN IRAN - 24.08.2005 Iran (IRN) 2:1 (1:1) Bosnia-Herzegovina (BIH) Friendly 2005 TEHRAN IRAN - 02.02.2005 Iran (IRN) 1:0 (1:0) Panama (PAN) Friendly 2004 TEHRAN IRAN - 18.12.2004 Iran (IRN) 0:2 (0:1) Germany (GER) Friendly 2004 TEHRAN IRAN - 09.10.2004 Iran (IRN) 3:0 (2:0) New Zealand (NZL) AFC-OFC Challenge 2003 TEHRAN IRAN - 12.10.2003 Belarus (BLR) 2:1 (2:0) Iran (IRN) Friendly 2003 MINSK BELARUS - 20.08.2003 Uruguay (URU) 1:1 a.e.t. (1:1,0:1) 4:2 PSO Iran (IRN) Carlsberg Cup 2003 HONG KONG HONG KONG - 04.02.2003 Denmark (DEN) 0:1 (0:0) Iran (IRN) Carlsberg Cup 2003 HONG KONG HONG KONG - 01.02.2003 Iran (IRN) 1:1 a.e.t. (1:1,1:1) 4:3 PSO Paraguay (PAR) Friendly 2002 TABRIZ IRAN - 19.09.2002 Ukraine (UKR) 0:1 (0:0) Iran (IRN) Friendly 2002 KYIV UKRAINE - 21.08.2002 Iran (IRN) 1:0 (1:0) Venezuela (VEN) Friendly 2002 CASABLANCA MOROCCO - 01.03.2002 Iran (IRN) 2:3 (1:2) Slovakia (SVK) Friendly 2002 TEHRAN IRAN - 06.02.2002 Overall: 8-3-2 (counting PK shootouts as draws) Home: 4-2-1 Away: 1-1-0 Neutral: 2-0-1 Overall, I'd say it's a pretty respectable record. A lot more home games than away helps the record. Iran also hasn't played any of the top teams, except for the loss to Germany. OTOH, most of their opponents are at least decent.
Not true Iran has won Busan a few times and WAFF. And Iran was thid in last Asian Cup because China cheated, lol, I don't care if u don't believe me. TM 4 ever! And I'm sorry but the 2nd paragraph is bs
The Asian Cup was ours, it's a real shame, especially after that beautiful showing vs. S. Korea (they did well too!)
Tied Uruguay and beat Denmark at neutral site, BEAT UKRAINE AWAY... but only beat Panama 1-0 at home.
I'm usualy against arguing with racists and try to convince them that Iran is the opposite of what the person things, because their ignorance will hurt them at least once down the road. But I signed up to this forum just to address the issues here. 1) France 98- First world cup since the revolution. We weren't suppose to get a single point. We were suppose to be crushed by all the other 3 teams. We came out surprising against a good Yugoslavian team, however they won 1-0. We lost more then they won because I think that match could've gone either way. The match against USA speaks for itself. All the off-field storylines and controversial political headlines hyped the match up. We rose above it and beat them. Against Germany, we came in with high expectations. We played poorly, but salvaged a draw at halftime, but 2 quick goals and Adios. It was a great experience for our country. We came out third in our group with one victory. That's one place ahead of where we were suppose to be and 3 points more then we should've earned. Therefore, Iran was underestimated once again, but to some degree, shocked the critics. 2) 2006 WCQ After a ugly 0-0 draw in Bahrain, TM came out with a lot of confidence into their Lion's den, the Azadi stadium to play against Japan. Japan had called ALL of their european based players, and STILL it wasn't enough. They were outplayed, outmatched, and most importantly outscored. Iran should've at least scored 4 goals in that game. Iran took care of the rest, winning all of their games until their qualification. A sign of a good team is that they beat the teams they are suppose to beat and that's what iran did, with only ONE goal against. The last game against japan didn't matter as both teams fielded an uncompetitive team. 3) As for the asian cup, we were asia's most dominant team during the reign of Reza Pahlavi, our Shah. AFter the revolution, the league was suspended and soccer was not important, at all. Until the early 90s, soccer wasn't even respected anymore or regarded as a national sport. Therefore, we never qualified for the world cup (78' was before the revolution, 98' was after the resurrection of soccer in Iran) during that era and also never played competitively in the asian cup. You have to compare and contrast our recent Asian Cup performance to our current team if you want a realistic picture. We had 4 players suspended, all of them defence and still managed to get 3rd place. 3 or 4 idiotic calls by the Kuwaitan referee cost us a place in the finals. But that's ok, 3rd place is still highly respectable. Since then we have had 2 big addidtions to the team. Hashemian and Zandi, both successful in the German Bundesliga( Hashemian moreso then Zandi lately). SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE before judging the iranian team, or us iranians as a people, talk to one first. and be open-minded, your stubborness won't land you anywhere.
Ok you said NK is not the good Korea but your bringing back one of our cups from 78.... and in 66 NK was 4th in the world. Stop bringing back useless facts from back them 2 compare modern teams. in 98... we sould have had 2-0 victory the American player kicked our goalie video tapes clearly show that. We lost by 1 goal to the Yugoslavia which is powerful team. We lost 2-0 to germany which is a powerful team. Not a bad showing honestly. Currently we're the best in Asia in my IMO we would have had the asian cup had it not been for poor and biased officiating. Japan and Iran are the two best teams in Asia and my IMO Japan is getting worse as more of tis players return to the J league like Ono and Takahara. Iran is sending more of its players to the Bundesliga in Germany. Our starting 11 is strong, but after that we fall apart. Our strength is in the midfield Karimi and Mahdavekia will be our heavy hitters. Iran is gonna beat Mexico. Trust me we're playing an almost home field advantage last time we played them in California which was nearly homefield advantage for them. We played them in Oakland to now that might as well be in Mexico. The blacks and mexicans have huge populations there. I predict a 3-2 upset over Mexico and 2-0 or 3-0 win against Angola and a loss to the portugese we qualify to the sweet 16 and get demolished by Argentina.
here's my opinion: Iran has probably the best team for ages. I can especially watch the Bundesliga players like Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia and and Ferydoon Zandi. Their midfield is good, with creative players like Karimi and people who can attack. Their problem IMO is the defense which lacks quite a few things. They aren't that good at corner kicks and with 3-4 fast combinations, you can surprise them. They must also rely on Ali Daei and it is the question if he can once again reach his potential that he certainly has. The midfield really has to work HARD, they have to back up the defense in order to win. So, Iran has a stronger team than in its recent history HOWEVER that doesn't necessarily mean that they can really compete in the World Cup.
Haha fool! All Time Asian Cup Final Tournament Table: http://www.rdasilva.demon.co.uk/football/asc/asc_stat.html http://footballmundial.tripod.com/afc_ofc/afc_tablas.htm Team P W D L GF GA GDIF PTS % 1 Iran 50 29 15 6 100 37 +63 102 68.0 2 S.Korea 44 22 10 12 76 50 +26 76 57.6 3 China 41 15 11 15 65 44 +21 56 45.5 winners finalists semifinalists 1.Iran 3 3 8 All time Qualifying round table: Team P W D L GF GA GDIF PTS % Iran 35 27 4 4 106 21 +85 85 81.0 S.Korea 36 25 3 8 122 18 +104 78 72.2 China 26 21 3 2 98 8 +90 66 84.6 All time Asian Games Ranking Ranking of winners 1.Iran 4 (also twice runner ups) 2.S.Korea 3(2 shared*) *in the beginning years they didn't held finals so korea and burma shared the titles! | | | Japan once runner up Saudi Arabia once runner up China once runner up Israel once runner up now, not only is Iran the ultimate and most dominant team in Asia's history Iran OWNS these continents as well Iran also pretty much own these 2 continents as well https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=141143 https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=141141 plus Iran has the #1 goal scorer of all time in this team. the man who holds the record for the most # of assists in bundesliga history in this team the iron man who is among only 6 or 7 others who have played every single minute in serie a last and this season(well he missed a game due to suspension) on this team oh and Iran also has Karimi on this team only if Iran took FIFA based tourney's seriously then we would have won every single one held so far. Sigh p.s FACT: solid444 got owned
It's always interesting to read comments about Iran (the football team in this case) written by non-Iranians. It's obvious (to me, at least) that the research done was half-azz, at best. If you want to know how Iran's football compares to the rest of the world, there is very little data that can help. Any data available is irrelevant anyway, since results in the upcoming WC will have nothing to do with the past. Unless there are fortune tellers who can accurately predict the future, any thought that say Iran will do such and such in Germany is a wish (not factual). Having said that, Iran's chances are just as good as any team in the group to move to the round of 16. Historically speaking, Iran has performed better than expected in the previous two world cups entered. Tying a strong Scottland team 1-1 (Iran scored both goals, OG) in the first ever WC for Iran, and beating the US in the '98 WC were both unexpected. The Iran team that will show up in Germany is a much improved team as compared to the '98 team. The quality of players and the team has improved quite a bit. The Mexicans and the Portuguese will be surprised to see a quality side by Iran. But reading the comments by their fans, it seems that both Portuguese and Mexicans are happy to have Iran in group D. Well, Iran fans are also happy to have Mexico and Portugal in group D. When I looked at the list of the teams Iran could end up with, I was hoping for Mexico, Portugal, and Togo. I almost got 100% of what I wished for. I'm actually happy to see both Mexico and Portugal taking Iran lightly. The less respect these teams (and their fans) show, the bigger the surprise in Germany. All I have to say to Portuguese and Mexican fans is that you both lost to the US the last time you met them at the WC, and Iran beat the US the last time we met them. So go on with your belittling business, it will only help Iran surprise your teams when it counts.
So first you bash solid for bringing Irans... shall we say... less than convincing history into this argument then you finish by mentioning that both portugal and Mexico have lost to the US (ofcourse in the past), yet Iran beat them in the (in the past). Will you please make up your mind? My personal view remains that Mexico and Portugal fans do have claim to the being the top two teams in this group, based on their history and recent results. However, its understandable the enthusiasim in Iranian fans. Every team has to start somwhere.
We have started somewhere, France 98, yes the same world cup which Portugal didn't qualify for. Anyway, Mexico is HIGHLY overrated, their fans seem to base the talent on their team based on one game, beating Brazil 1-0. The same Brazil team that tied Japan 2-2 in the very next game. Now, I watched the US-Mexico game in the US and I was rooting for Mexico, simply because they are a better team and I hate the US national team because they are too cocky. (They think they will win the World Cup by 2010). But Mexico was outplayed and looked very lethargic. They had nothing going on for them. I can't recall one decent scoring chance. Now, you beat Brazil but lost to the US in a more meaningful game. Not only lost, but were dominated against. What now...
Dude, this isn't about Mexico, this thread is about Iran so stick to that. Second, the iranian fans keep talking about getting away from the historical argument, so why don't you guys stop contradicting yourselves by no longer talking about history. You can talk to me all you want about how the US has beat Mexico, but that really doesn't help any claims you are trying to make about Iran. You are in no position to say that Mexico is overrated, that is an argument you will lose over and over again, because it's simply not true. Who overrates Mexico? Mexico fans are optimistic, yes, but that hardly deserves to have them labeled as overrated, i could say the same thing about Iran's fans. So how about you talk about Iran instead of attacking Mexico... as El Cabrito pointed it, this thread went from Solid attacking Iran, to another Iranian fan attacking both Mexico and Portugal. So grow up and leave Mexico out of it, no Mexicans said anything about Iran in this thread until you brought us into it.
Wow the inconsistency. I say that Iran hasnt done anything in 30 years and I am bashed because 30 years was too long ago, the team fell apart after their three asian championships and there was a revolution in the 80s that messed everything up. However, you go back beyond that, to 1956, 50 years ago, and take into account the results in those 3 Asian Cups during 68,72 and 76 and this somehow demostrates that Iran, PRESENTLY is the best team in Asia. They cannot possibly be better than Japan, who qualified above them and are Asian Cup Champions, I dont see Japan on that table. You just went into specifics from what I posted on my first post. Iran won 3 championship (between 68-76), they have been to EVERY single Asia Cup since 68. They have also never even gotten to the finals after 76!. So how about all of you make your mind about either bashing me for using outdate info or bashing me for not using info from half a century ago, but lets be consistent.
No, let them bring Mexico into this. Lets get these illogical comparison out of the way so we can go back to talking about Iran, because they are bound to come up later anyway. This is what bothers me about the conclusions that Iranians make about this group, they are illogical and unreasonable: - They say Iran was an underdog in both WCs they went to and still managed to get some points against good competition, they fail to mention that Mexico has been an underdog the last 3 WC they went to and have finished on top twice in the group stage and second once. In those three years, Mexico has been grouped with Italy(twice, thats 2nd place Italy in 94'), Croatia, Ecuador, Belgium, Holland, South Korea, Ireland and Norway. However, Iran gets the edge here. - They say Iran has won the most Asian Cup Championship games and have 3 titles (once again w/ outdate squads between 68-76). They have won 3 out of the 13 Asian Cups played. However Mexico on the other hand has won 4 out of the 8 Concacaf championships played (thats 50%) and they have not exclusively hosted the Gold Cup a single time. Two of Irans outdated championship came when they exclusively hosted the Asian Cup. However, Iran gets the edge here. - They also fail to mention that Mexico has qualified on the top (thats first place) of their group in every single tournament the Men's National Team has played in the last 4 years (including the WC). Iran ........... well there is just no comparison here. But Iran gets the edge. As you can see, it is logical and completely reasonable when evenly comparing both teams to make the claim that Iran has as good a chance as Mexico to get out of the group.
One intersting point from this thread has arised, and one point only. Iran rarely plays "top" opposition. If we're lucky we play secondary european teams like ukraine, denmark for example. The Germany game was because of the eartquake in Bam. Nothign to do with the IFF. Fact is Iran has teh best talent in Asia. The only reason they dont win every single game is because of hte coach and lack of preperation due to the incompitent IFF. Just look at the squad. We have so amny good attackers, all over the world and yet we still have Ali Daei on the starting lineup. This is purely down to lack of commonsense by the coach. Iran plays with 10 men from the beginning of all the games. Daei is a waste of space. Irans talent is second to none in Asia. With the right preperation and coaching wtih the players we have we could be up there with the half decent teams of Europe. We should expect to be able to qualify for the WC even if we are in EUFA if you catch my drift.