Well, the 3 time Asian Cup Champions still have the fire burning but as recent history shows, a very unpredictable team! It all depends on Iran's team and its decipline, its unparalleled talent in Asia can walk all over any Asian team as demonstrated in Busan 2002 (Asian games). Will Iran get its act together and win the Championship for the fourth time?
It will depend on the teams they sent in Asian Cup. It will also depend how well they play defensively. Iran tended to collapse in critical moment.
YES WE WILL i am not saying this beacause i am iranian..iran has a lot of talented players and we will hire a new coach for the ac04. if we send our A team we will win it all.we play to the level of our opponents..korea has only beateing us 1 time 2-1 in lobnon00 and that was on a last second goal.japan has not beat us in a long time.we killed korea and japan in pusan to show asia we still the king. i respect the korean and japan team by spending huge a mpount of money on thier team but they have not goteen good result against us...we out classed the japan in busan or pusan wth u call it.. iran with this team will destroy any eastern asian teams mirzapour razai peyrovani nosrati minavand nikbakht mahdavikia nekounam karimi azizi daie KOREA HAS ONLY SPEED AND NO TECHNICS..JAPAN HAS BOTH AND IRAN WILL PUT BOTH OF THEM IN THEIR PAYKAN AND TAKE EM BEHINDE THE CHINA WALL......IRAN 2 JAPAN 1..IRAN 2 KOREA 0..WHEN WE PLAY THEN IN CHINA
HAHAHAHAHA You are the funniest guy ever. Whoop-dee-do, Iran beat Korea who fielded a *@#*@#*@#*@#*@#*@# team and had just hired a new coach. How proud you must feel. I wouldn't have minded if you said Korea can't finish, but to say that Korea ONLY has speed? If I remeber correctly, didn't the sub-par Korean team sh!t all over Iran in terms of... well everything... except goals? (As I admitted, Korea can't finish) Korea has only recently (preparing for WC2002) started spending money on soccer. I can prove it, go to Korea and see if you can find a public grass pitch.
Bauvafa Iran CAN win it like any other good team in asia. That was not so hard to answer... just like the other thread CAN Japan win the asain cup. Some one post CAN korea win the asain cup thread and get it over with.
Iran held Korea to a draw. They beat us on penalties. I'm sure our team won't make the same mistake twice should we meet Iran again.
Well, Iran did have enough skills, technics, and speed to go directly to their couch to watch WC 2002 on TV. I do respect Iranian soccer but these morons who talk about their team as the best in Asia are waaaaaaaaaaay off. Come on Saudi's finished ahead of you in qualifying. Who know's if Iran made it to WC 2002, they might have lost 10-0 to Germany instead of 8-0 like the Saudis.
It's funny to see how cocky some Koreans have gotten over the WC2002. Let's not forget that before WC2002, Korea was an easy 3 points for all its oponents. If it wasn't the home field advantage & Refs blessings, the trend would have continued Let's see what you got, AC is coming and then WC06 qualies.
...yeah... thats true. we were only easy 3 points. ask spain about it. i didnt really want to say this but... i have no idea where iraninas self confidence come from. i half understand hamatachi rambling about japan being the best. no saudi or chinese say they are the best... but iran?? team that lost to bahrain?? always claiming that they have the best potential and talent?? can you guys actually name one east asian player that hasnt played in the national team? no doubt iran is good and has lots of talent, but it is kind of annoying when a team that failed to directly qualify for the world cup in over a decade to not just say they are the best, but also discount the country that actually allowed asia to get 4.5 tickets as "only speed." the first post is ok... it say iran's good and that iran will win. no problem with that. but third post... you can feel that he has pointless inferiority complex. he wants to put down the korean team. yes... korea may not have had a good result against iran. But let me tell you frankly; Korea is better than Iran, looking at the performance in the past 10 years. Only thing you can talk about is the "potential" and the wonderful "techniques." and the "world class" players who will surely help iran prove that they are the best "next time." stop rambling about how much korea sucks and start proving that you are one of the 4 best teams in Asia.
I hold my head in shame. It's puzzling how you Iranian folks managed to remain humble after AG 2002. I mean, the undeniable significance of AG in deciding which country in Asia is the best needs no mention. Go Iran!
sorry for being a bit emotional about my previous post, but i've about had it with korean soccer team bashing... anyway my prediction: If Iran wins the AC, they wont qualify to the WC. If Iran screws up in AC they will qualfiy to the WC.
I am not bashing Korea or any other team. I admire Korea for its WC2002 acheivements but I also look at the longer period of football in Asia. anyway, what's your logic for the above prediction? what's the reason for the flip-flop prediction?
Added to that, S.Korea's U23 team hired their coach 1 month before the tournament. To make things even worse, the entire team first got together about 3 weeks before the tournament. On the other hand, Iran's Asian Games squad had been practicing for the Asian Games for almost a year. They've been playing most A-matches with their AG squad under Ivankovic. But hey, nobody can blame their preperation. They deserved what they got considering how much effort they put into that tournament which Japan and China even sent an U-21 team. For God's sakes they even sent their "legend" Ali Daei!
ask Spain, Bulgaria, Belgium and Germany about that. Klinsmann said that was the toughest game he ever had.
again, to answer the question of the thread, yes Iran CAN win it. Not that likely, but they surely CAN.
Re: YES WE WILL the myth that always seem to go around Iranians is that they think Japan and Korea are the same in terms of investment. It's just like saying Saudi Arabia and Iran are the same in terms of investing on football.
i dont think u bashed korea at all. i really dont mind it when you say irans the best and will beat everybody. but lets look at the "longer period" of 10 years... even looking at the past 10 years, korea deserves to be the contender for number one spot.
sure, Korea is definitely one of the contenders. but you didn't answer me. what's your reason for that flip-flop prediction?
I think Junjun's reason is based on consistancy Iran's shown on internationally. On one day, they can play great as they showed in world cup 98 and Asian cup 2000 (Korea was lucky to win that game I admit, Iran had better of that game up until right at the end), but on another day they can lose to teams such as Bahrain and fail to qualify for the world cup. However, I think it's pretty much the same story with any asian team. Korea and Japan both had an amazing world cup run, but right now both teams are struggling with new coachs.
There are three teams that have great chances to win the tournament - Japan, South Korea, and Iran. End of story.
excuse me if i'm wrong, but i feel like the biggest problem with iranian team is their attitude and mentality. If most iranian players think like iranians around here- that they have the best talent and they'll win it "next time"- then they'll get their butt kicked badly. K19 summed it up pretty much. The question is, did the Iranian team learn its lesson or not from the 02 WC qualifying. If Iran screws up in AC, they'll realize that it takes more than potential to get to where they want to. However, if Iran wins the AC, they'll probably go back on their old thinking... that they were right; the best potentials in asia started to blossom and from now on, will rule asia.