Team Melli was unable to capitalize on its supremacy in the match against Turkmenistan and ended the match in a 1-1 draw in the first match of Group D of the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers. These rounds of matches are also considered as the qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
The match started brightly for Team Melli taking full control. The goal came as early as the 4th minute when the Sardar Azmoun dribbled past two defenders before slotting the ball at an acute angle between the Turkmen Goalkeeper and the upright. Team Melli was 1-0 up and threatening to run riot.
The match continued its one way direction with chances one after other being missed by Iran. Amiri, Torabi , and Heydari all had good chances to score but the 2nd goal was not coming. Nikita Gorbunov standing firm in Turkmenistan goal.
Turkmenistan finally reached Iran goal after 16 minutes, however that first attempt exposed the shaky Haghighi who was not too confident against the shot.
Heydari then sent a perfect cross from the right, met majestically by the flying Azmoun who headed powerfully against crossbar with Nikita Gorbunov stranded, the ball was cleared on the rebound.
SHOCK GOAL
And then an amazing lapse of concentration in the back of Team Melli resulted in an unexpected equalizer for the host. The Turkmen midfielder passed Hajsafy with ease, then outrun Ando Teymourian to cross, with both Pejman Montazeri and Hossein Kanani just watching. Ruslan Mingazov came from behind to pip Ghafoori who was the nearest to the ball to slot an easily ball with Haghighi stranded on the other side of the goal, could not save. An undeserved equalizer for Turkmenistan against a pedestrian Iranian defense.
The manner that the goal was conceded must worry Queiroz. Certainly not acceptable for a team that is looking to reach the world cup.
The 1st half ended 1-1 in a half that Iran has controlled and should have been 2 or 3 goals up. However , there were gaps in the performance and some profligacy by players especially Masoud Shojaei. This player seems to be permanently fixed player although his form for the last few years has been abysmal with club and country. Queiroz obsession with this player is an enigma!
Nevertheless, even Queiroz , his ardent supporter must have realized that the pedestrian Shojaei was a liability and rightly replaced by Omid Ebrahimi in the second half.
SECOND HALF
The 2nd half of the match started in the same manner as the first. Iran had much of the ball and several half chances were created. Weak finishing prevented Team Melli regaining the command of this match.
Mehdi Taremi committed a totally unnecessary foul to get himself booked while he was on the pitch on for a few minutes only. Another player that might be a source of concern.
With the match continuing, Turkmenistan players grew more confident and more aggressive in this half as the result of scoring the goal and managing to stop Iran from scoring further.
Haghighi blunder nearly cost Team Melli when he fumbled the ball after a mild shot, Kanani cleared the rebound.
Ruslan Mingazov came close for the hosts with a thunderous shot that beat Haghighi but also was wide of the upright.
In the last quarter of the match, Team Melli continued pressing using the good old crosses, which seemed to be the only option. Several crosses ended up with Azmoun and Taremi who missed the target by small margins.
This tactics of crosses was the result of the bad pitch that did not aid playing on the floor and also due to the parking the bus of Turkmenistan. The only shortcoming was all the crosses came from the right side as Team Melli had little options from the left, something that Queiroz must be worried about.
And then the Turkmen players started time wasting as early as the 70th minute!
The onslaught by Team Melli continued right to the end without a result. Alarmingly the only shot on target from distance came right at the end of the match when Ando released a ferocious shot in 88th minute. Gorbunov only parried the ball then cleared by the defense.
At the end, it was a disappointing result for Team Melli. This team is definitely work in progress, There are obvious shortcomings one of which is the acute shortage of creative players. The midfield is simply short of idea and skills to feed the forwards.