WC 2018 Group B: Spain Portugal Iran Morocco

Tunisia's coach, incidentally, was quite pleased with his side's performance. He said he was particularly pleased to see the new French born players added to their team show chemistry with the rest of the squad. He felt Tunisia played well despite the rainy conditions. He mentioned he had not been aware of Iran's unbeaten record until this match and that made the win over Iran all the more satisfying.

 

If we can get a result against Algeria then I see more positives for us. If not, then we should start getting worried for what's coming this World Cup. Our backups CB's suck and we don't have an answer to our DM problem.

Ideally these are the players I'd like to start against Morocco:

 

I am surprised Cheshmi isn't being tested in his regular position, namely D-mid when we need to find a replacement for Ezatolahi, and is instead being groomed as a CB? Besides Cheshmi, I wouldn't mind if Iran looked a bit more at Noorafkan as well.

As for backup CB, the most promising one to me is the young Esteghlal defender, Majid Hosseini, who is injured. If he wasn't injured, I would have really liked him to be tested to backup either PAG or Persepolis' S. Jalal Hosseini.

 

I agree about Noorafkhan, I was surprised that he alongside Abdollahzadeh were crossed off after the Sierra Leone game. The latter seemed to me like the ideal replacement for Ezatolahi in the Morocco game.

 

The Tunisia vs Iran game in Full:

 

I think it’s time for CQ to bring back Andranik Teymourian as our backup DM. As old and out-of-form as he maybe, he has more international experience than all the other options and won’t make silly mistakes. Not to mention that he’s also loved by all the other players and will help with the overall team morale too.

 

Like it or not, we really need Dejagah for the first game because of Ezatolahi's suspension. I replace Ghoddos with Dejagah. If Dejagah is not good enough for 90 minutes, he should be replaced with Shojaei in the second half.

IMO Ali Karimi and Khanzadeh should not be in the final squad. Algeria game can be the last game for Omid Ebrahimi to prove himself. If he does poorly, Cheshmi, Noorafkan, Hajsafi, and Ezatolahi should be our final choices for that position. Cheshmi should be used as DM not CB.

 

You really make up your mind on a highlight video of a friendly game where several starters were missing? You should think over the way how you judge teams.

You might be right regarding your prediction but it's not fair to write a team off after just one below-average performance. Especially Iran was consistent over the last two three years. Big teams have sometimes a bad game or bad result too. We should still give them credit. I think with an adjusted line-up they will look better against Algeria.

 

If he is physically fit and can play for 90 minutes, CQ should definitely test him in next friendly matches.

 

I am actually very happy with Ghoddos and Jahanbakhsh. If they build chemistry together and we figure out a suitable LW(Taremi?) we would have a lightning quick attack with Azmoun spearheading. Thats where our counters come from.

Although I think Egypt did us a favor by showing Portugal can be frustrated. CR7 did show up as the GOAT at the end but he was frustrated for a good amount of the game.

 

The moroccan players had tracking vests on, to analyse their performance.

 

hehe The first opinion I've seen that felt Spain (and/or Germany) didn't perform well. Not surprised it comes from a fan of Spain's fiercest rival.
I realize you hope and want it to be all lip service but we'll see beginning June 15.

Lopetegui said he liked what he saw on Friday so I'll go along with that. My eyes agree with him.
David Silva has left the team "for personal reasons" and will not be available for Tuesday's friendly against Argentina. Some will believe he cannot handle the political talk that's going on from the Catalans but I'm guessing it has to do more with the health of his infant son who was born prematurely which also caused him to miss time with Manchester City as well.

 

I am not entirely sure what you mean by frustrated?

Portugal dominated possession the 1st half, were the more offensive minded, and created the more chances. This was the reverse for moments in the 2nd half however, which i must acknowledge..

It did not go well for them, but this is not the 1st time we have seen Portugal.. or any bigger nation be 'frustrated' by a lack of goals against a 'smaller' side... and it will not be the last.

To be completely honest, i think the fact Portugal snatched the win with 2 goals in extra time only serves to benefit Portugal, and show them and the world that they are never out of a game, never quit, and can perform 'miracles'.

 

I said it many times in many threads and I will say it again. Spain and Portugal are the favorites because they have the difference makers that can score out of nowhere and change the match in an instant.

The other teams in this Group can try their best to keep up and not lose but when push comes to shove Spain and Portugal just have a bit more quality and stars to make things happen on a big stage.

Hands down the favorites.

 

Happy with Morocco's performance. It was not the prettiest game, and they weren't as spectacular and slick as they were last fall but they confirmed that they are a serious team with a lot of depth and quality. I think that this team will either surprise Portugal or Spain OR get eliminated in the first round but narrowly and with a lot of honor like in 1998.

It was nice to see that Mendyl can do a good job as a sub for Hakimi. Da Costa's performance was not that good and we need to find a better sub for Saiss. Too bad Feddal is out.. It was also very nice to see guys like Belhanda, Ziyech, El Ahmadi, and Boussoufa play at their club level.

Renard confirmed that he will play the bench against Uzbekistan so it will be nice to see Labyad, Harit, Boufal, El Kaabi, Benoun etc. I think that it will be a fun game to watch.

I'm also very happy for Nigeria's win against Poland in Poland. The 6th nation in FIFA ranking losing at home against the 52nd nation. They need to do something about those rankings especially in regard to African teams. It's becoming a little too ridiculous..

Sorry for Iran's loss against Tunisia. Tunisia looked good and Khazri was great. I'm surprised that the stadium was so empty though. It will be interesting to see what happens in the Iran vs Algeria game.

 

I posted it in our forums, but under Santos late game goals/winners are common place. Portugal has turned into a team with a mental strength we have never seen before.

 

Does anyone have a full game link for the Egypt vs Portugal match?

 

It's actually on youtube

 

m.youtube.com/watch?t=5s&v=7-RufeQJJH4

 

Realised I posted mobile link.

This is better and it's in English

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3QMSScrSGw

 

I thought it was a high quality game as far as friendlies go.

I imagine David Silva leaving is just Lopetegui giving him some time off to spend with son and family. He won't have many more moments to get time off in the coming months.

 

Tunisia surprised the most when it came to their physical strength. They matched Iran in that department and then some. That is the one thing that stood out about Tunisia for me, aside from the fact that they were also decent moving the ball upfront. While Khazri and company got passed our make-shift defense on several occasions, I wouldn't read too much into that: Given the overall conditions (terrible pitch due to the rain) and the make-up of our team and its back-line, it is not all clear to me that Tunisia's ability to expose our defense was entirely to their credit. A good bit of it, indeed, seemed to me to reflect individual mistakes, errand passes and missed assignments on the part of players who hadn't played much together at all.

Overall, Tunisia was better than Iran in this match and that particularly true in the first 15 minutes, where Iran's inexperienced players seemed nervous and unable to play well. Tunisia were also better than Iran for most of the 2nd half. That said, Iran was robbed of a clear penalty (totally unjustified error by the Egyptian referee) and if Iran had taken the lead in the first half, I doubt Tunisia would have been able to do more than at best draw this game. In that sense, I don't think Tunisia's win was fully deserved.

 

good to see Portugal has got the mental strength to come from behind and get the win with out 4 starters in Danilo Pereira and William Carvalho in midfield and Pepe and Fonte in central defense

 

Awesome. Thank you! Watching it right now!

 

Could he ? I didn't appreciate his performance