Im kinda torn on this. Obviously qualifying for the World Cup and have Team Melli compete with other nations is a source of pride. But do I want Iran to get obliterated by the likes of England, Germany, Holland etc? With Ghalenoi we will get stomped and get a worse beating than when England demolished us in the last World Cup. Khalilzadeh should most definitely retire. And players like Noorafkan, who run around like headless chickens with no vision, does not even belong on the bench of girl scouts team much less Team Melli. The problem is that good section of Iranian football organization and maybe even fans probably feel content with Ghalemorghi as head coach, because he did qualify Iran with good results in this qualification round. But those fans will get a cold shower next year, Im afraid...
I have Only seen one person supporting Ghalenoi, and he is on this forum. But the question is, if its too late to change the manager. How much Can a new coach implement? And Im afraid a former coach like Carlos Queiroz Will Come and use the players he are familiar with. Will he use a Mohebi, who has been one of our best players the last couple of years. I remember him dropping Kanani and Shoja at the world cup 22, Even though they had been great in the qualifications. That was a fault on his behalf. Ghalenoi has done some good things. Like making Mohebi a part of the team. But he has also done alot of harm. He is not picking the best team and he has no defensive structure at all. He May not need that against UAE and Hong Kong, but we need that against Spain and Germany. Oh and our last 4 games vs Uzbekistan has all ended in draws, and we have conceeded 4 goals. Carlos Queiroz won his last 6 games against Uzbekistan conceeding 0 goals!! This is scary
Iraq is choking Big time. As I Said after the Kuwait game, those 2 points they lost Can be deadly. They should have gotten 6 points from these two games, instead they Got 1. If they dont win against South Korea, it Can get really really difficult
6 points from 2 games for us is about as good as it gets. The Saudi's getting a point in Japan is the only bad thing for our chances. Still, our destiny is in our hands (meaning we can qualify on our own results and not rely on other results). The +6 added to our goal difference helps as it may be the deciding factor in the end.
Group B is wide open and it will come down to the final minutes of the last match day. Not even South Korea is safe.
Just looking at the group c table and two points next window sees us qualify but we could miss out with three.
Group B has an incredible scenario that could occur on the final matchday. If Oman beats Jordan on June 5, and Iraq draws at home with South Korea.... that leaves Oman, Jordan, and Iraq on 13 points going into the final group game. Oman have the inferior goal difference, but a win in Palestine, coupled with a draw between Jordan and Iraq could actually see the Omanis pip both teams to the 2nd spot. Incredible given their predicament a couple of days ago. Oman had a pretty could window picking up an unlikely 4 points in South Korea and Kuwait....
Iraq still have a chance, they are neck in neck with Jordan. But they probably have to win in Amman in their last match. But otherwise I would agree that the Kuwait and Palestine matches should have resulted in 6 points and not 1 point for Iraq. Gonna be an interesting race.
Not: Carlos Queiroz lost one game against Uzbekistan ) Now, Uzbekistan NT has quality players from Roma, Manchester City, SCKA, Russian, Turkish Super Leagues. I think and hope we will never lose (at least) to Iran in upcoming 10 years.
Yes he lost 1 game. But he won his last 6 games against Uzbekistan and conceeded 0 goals. But Irans defence in that period was to strong for Asian standards. Now Afghanistan og Hong Kong scores against us. He have to solve this problem as soon as possible
Window Summary Group A Uzbekistan 1 Kyrgyzstan 0 Iran 2 UEA 0 Qatar 5 Nth Korea 1 Kyrgyzstan 3 Qatar 1 Iran 2 Uzbekistan 2 Nth Korea 1 UAE 2 Iran 20 (+9) Q Uzbekistan 17 (+4) UAE 13 (+7) Qatar 10 (-5) Kyrgyzstan 6 (-6) Nth Korea 2 (-9) E Iran - Iran gets a win against UAE and a draw against Uzbekistan and become the first qualifier from group A. They travel to Qatar and host Nth Korea in the last window. The Qatar match is pretty important for Qatar. Uzbekistan = 4 points this window from a home win against Kyrgyzstan and a vital away draw with Iran. Could have qualified after leading Iran for a large part of the game but a draw away with UAE will see them through. A loss means they must win their last game at home to Qatar to guarantee qualification. They should make it if they keep their nerve. UAE - A loss to Iran and a win against Nth Korea sees them with an outside chance of qualification but they need two wins against Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and hope Ukraine can't defeat Qatar. At worst they go to the 4th round Qatar - A strong win against Nth Korea Followed by a loss to Kyrgyzstan. The 2 time Asian champions continue with inconsistent form. Can't qualify directly but can reach round 4. A tough finish for them with Iran at home and Uzbekistan away. A win somewhere guarantees round 4 but even if they don't get that Kyrgyzstan needs two wins go past them. Kyrgyzstan - A loss to Uzbekistan saw them on the brink of elimination but they followed up with a win against Qatar to keep them in the hunt for round 4. They simply need two wins against Nth Korea and UAE and hope Qatar don't win a game. Nth Korea - Two losses see them become the first team in Group A that have been eliminated.
Group B Sth Korea 1 Oman 1 Iraq 2 Kuwait 2 Jordan 3 Palestine 1 Sth Korea 1 Jordan 1 Palestine 2 Iraq 1 Kuwait 0 Iraq 1 Sth Korea 16 (+7) Jordan 13 (+6) Iraq 12 (+1) Oman 10 (-2) Palestine 6 (-5) Kuwait 5 (-7) Sth Korea - Had a chance to qualify but could only manage 2 draws at home against Oman and Jordan. They have Iraq away and Kuwait at home and a draw in the first game sees them through. If they lose to Iraq then the last game becomes a win and qualify match unless other results favour them. Jordan - A win and a draw sees them in a good position to qualify. They finish the group with Oman away and Iraq at home. The last game could be decisive but we have to see what happens on the first matchday. If they win against Oman and Sth Korea defeat Iraq they could qualify on matchday one. Iraq - A disappointing window overall with only 1 point from matches against the two bottom teams. A tough finish with Sth Korea and Jordan and they likely need two wins to qualify but have an outside chance of a win at home against Korea and a draw away to Jordan being enough if Korea have a very bad window or Jordan can't get the 3 points in Oman. Oman - Still a mathematical chance of qualifying but really need two wins (Jordan away and Palestine at home) and hope other results go their way Palestine - A loss to Jordan and a win over Iraq sees them still with an outside chance of round 4. They need to win both games and hope Oman don't win against Jordan. Kuwait - Technically still a chance of round 4 but they two wins against Palestine and South Korea and a few other games to go their way.
Group C Australia 5 Indonesia 1 Japan 2 Bahrain 0 Saudi Arabia 1 China 0 Japan 0 Saudi Arabia 0 China 0 Australia 2 Indonesia 1 Bahrain 0 Japan 20 (+22) Australia 13 (+7) Saudi Arabia 10 (-2) Indonesia 9 (-6) Bahrain 6 (-8) China 6 (-13) Japan - A win against Bahrain saw them qualify comfortably. A draw against Saudi Arabia was academic for Japan but Vital for Saudi Arabia. They travel to Australia in an important match for Australia before finishing the campaign against Indonesia at home. Important matches for both the other teams. Be interesting to see if Japan plays their full squad or treats the games as friendlies and does some experimenting. Either way they will still be difficult opponents as they seem a class above the rest of us right now. Australia - The best possible window for Australia as they gained 6 points and added +6 to their goal difference in the process. A solid 5-1 win against Indonesia (the scoreline flattered Australia a bit IMO) and a solid 2-0 away win over China. A win or draw at home over Japan will mean a draw in Saudi Arabia will be enough to qualify. The goal difference buffer over the Saudis will help a bit but they still need to get something from the Japan game. At worst they have qualified for round 4. Saudi Arabia - A win over China and a draw in Japan sees them within striking distance of qualification. Australia v Japan should be finished by the time they take the field against Bahrain so they will know what sort of result they need there. They have to at least match Australia's result to keep their hopes alive. The large goal difference disadvantage to Australia could be the difference in the end. Mathematically possible for them to not make round 4 but their chances of qualifying directly are higher than that IMO. Indonesia - After a strong start against Australia when they could easily have led 2-0 after 15 minutes they folded to lose 5-1. Came back strongly to defeat Bahrain and keep their hopes alive. They finish with China at home and Japan away. 2 wins will send them to 15 points, then they can qualify if both Australia and Saudi Arabia lose to Japan and Bahrin respectively and Saudi Arabia and Australia have a draw in the last match. A win over China and Bahrain not defeating Saidi Arabia sees them in round 4. I'm sure they would have taken that at the start of the group. Bahrain - A horrible window for them with losses to Japan and Indonesia. They finish with Saudi Arabia at home and China away. A few permutations could see them sneak into 4th place but they likely need 2 wins. China - A bad window for China as well with losses to Saudi Arabia and Australia. They finish with Indonesia away and Bahrain at home. They need two wins to have a chance of making round 4.
Australia beats Japan for the first time in 16 years with a 90th minute strike from Aziz Behich. If you watch that goal you’ve pretty much seen all the highlights. Pretty ordinary apart from that with Australia parking the bus with five at the back from kickoff.
Iran once again with a disappointing performance. Once again no tactics at all. Just Long balls from defence to attackers. Dinosaur Football. And that was even before the red card. The manager promised to try Young players after the Secured the qualification, but as most iranians expected he lied. He keeps using and inviting old players that are nowhere near the level. He did invite some Young guys, but they were not in the game squad. Many iranians are fed up with this pathetic mafia guy
Seems very little to play for on the last match day with only two matches affecting qualification. For direct qualification in group c Saudi Arabia must win by 5 at home to Australia to qualify for the World Cup and send Australia to round 4. In group B Palestine must defeat Oman in Jordan to take the round four spot from Oman. Congratulations to Uzbekistan, Jordan & South Korea on joining Japan and Iran at the World Cup. Best of luck to Iraq, Qatar, UAE and Indonesia in round 4, along with whoever the other 2 qualifiers are.
Imagine Palestine going to the playoffs. Not Many would have predicted that. The playoffs Will be very interesting. You could the 3 Rich countries Saudi, UAE and Qatar, who have invested so much money in Football. If Saudi doesnt qualify it would be a huge PR lose. After getting so Many european players to their league and getting the World Cup in 2034. The same with Qatar. Iraq bottled the qualification against Kuwait and Palestine. Now they have to go the hard Road through the play offs Indonesia is competing as the Only non Arab team.
Amateur performance by Iran in the last match. Looked like a bunch of high school kids. Ghalenoi needs ro be replaced now. I still think hiring CQ represents out best chance in next years World Cup. We are not going anywhere with this team led by Ghalenoi.
Goals either side of half time see Australia take the lead 2-1 over Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia need to score 6 more times to qualify without conceding further. As I type a red card sees the Saudis reduced to 10 men. Palestine takes the lead against Oman.