Uruguay is a known quality Latin American team that depends on physical strength more than the finesse of the Brazilians.
Like the top footballing nations of South America, Uruguay has exported large numbers of footballers to Europe to enjoy the riches of the European leagues. Therefore, Head Coach Diego Alonso has a wealth of players at his disposal and can always field a strong side against any opponent.
However, Uruguay national team has recently suffered from aging players who tend to hang on despite their advancing ages. Players like Luis Suárez (35); Diego Godín (36) Edison Cavani (35) and Fernando Muslera (36) are still included in the squad.
Undoubtedly Alonso will use the match against Iran to give his younger players the chance to prove themselves as worthy of a place in the final list flying to Doha while putting them through their paces against a tough opponent. So, it is expected that Darwin Núñez (23), Federico Valverde (24), Matías Viña (24), Ronald Araújo (23) Lucas Torreira (26) to take the center stage.

As for Iran, it will interesting to see if Carlos Queiroz will stick to his old and trusted game plan and close all the gaps on the Uruguayans or perhaps be more adventurous with the likes of Azmoun and Taremi up front. Defense is one of the strong points of the Latin American team and the Iranians will it quite difficult to breach the defenses of Uruguay. With somehow a modest midfield that lacks creativity, most of the offensive moves by Iran are expected to be made from the half-backs with players Rezaeian, Moharrami, and Mohammadi doing the work.
Another interesting observation is whom will Queiroz pick for central defense, will he stay with the duo Khalilzadeh-Kananizadegan who were fundamental in Iran’s qualification to the FIFA World Cup and the two that Dragan Skocic religiously believed in, or will the Portuguese pick his own favorites from 2019 Majid Hosseini and Pouralganji?

Queiroz keeps the cards close to his heart and so far he has been following the same style. He is not going to reveal much to the press about his game plans and player selection either. However, it was interesting to notice some observers during Queiroz’s press conference that the Portuguese has slightly changed his attitude that he was well known in Iran. That venomous, tough-talking, and defying man has become a cooler and more settled character. Perhaps it is a sign of advancing age or it could be that Portugues no longer wants to open fronts against everyone and everybody, preferring to work quietly and avoid confrontations, especially with the press. Of course, officially he is only contracted to the bench of Team Melli until the World Cup with an option for extension.

For some players m this match is vital though. Saman Ghoddos needs to prove himself as this player has stagnated. He is one of the few players that can turn the team’s fortunes with his magical passes and vision. It is a crucial time for him and Team Melli.  Ansarifard‘s selection is because he is one of the Portuguese favorites but his performance has not been anything to shout about, the same can be said of Hajsafi. Both are capable players and can be useful for Team Melli but they really need to step up and be counted. There are more capable players who can claim a place in the team.

Beiranvand is another player on the edge. He had two bad seasons in Europe and Abedzadeh took the number one spot and showed quite a bit of class too. No doubt that Beiranvand is in the good books of the coach, but will he prove his worth against Uruguay?

Azmoun’s case is puzzling. The move to the Bundesliga so far has been a big-time flop. In European leagues, there is precious little time for a player to settle and Azmoun for one reason or another did not manage that with Bayer Leverkusen. He needs to play well against Uruguay and prove his worth for Team Melli at least.

Kick Off time is GMT +3
Iran Time: 20:30