- Players to observe in the Welsh Team
Wales has two household names on the team. Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey. Fortunately for Team Melli, they are in the twilight of their careers, but still players to be reckoned with nonetheless. There is also another veteran in Joe Allen. The Swansea midfielder is fit enough to play some part after missing their World Cup opener.
The 72-times capped Allen, so fundamental to the way Wales operate, has not played since damaging a hamstring on September 17. But Allen has stepped up his fitness push over the past few days and joined the main group after spending the first few days in Qatar training on his own. It is still not clear if he will be recalled by Coach Page.
At 6ft 5ins Kieffer Moore is difficult to miss and the absence of his name from the Wales teamsheet for the opening game against the Americans was a shock for many Welsh fans.
Page realized the error of his ways after a futile first 45 minutes and Moore changed Wales’ fortunes after being sent on at half-time, holding the ball up to bring Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey into play. It is possible that Moore will be in the starting line-up on Friday, especially after England showed in their handsome opening 6-2 win that Iran could be defensively fragile in the air. The coaches of Iran need to pay particular attention to their players.
2. Environmental Condition
Wales had the luxury of a 10 pm kick-off local time against the United States and playing in cooler conditions. But the Iran game is first up on Friday, with the action kicking off at 1 pm. The weather in Doha is still warm. The temperature is expected to be around 29 degrees Celsius at kick-off, so will that prove an advantage for Iran players more used to hot conditions?
3. The Fans Factor
The Iranian fans in Doha could very easily outnumber the Welsh by a large margin in and out of the stadium. Team Melli fans could always depend on the vociferous Iranians and the passionate fans to give the team a morale boost during major championships. This time, however, and due to the political situation back in Iran, a split and a crack has developed within the ranks, with some fans accusing this very team of representing the suppressive regime of the Mullahs. The arrogant and patronizing Carlos Queiroz has worsened the situation by bad-mouthing the Iranian fans who showed their anger at the team after the England defeat. It does not sit well with those fans and could be of a negative impact.
It is not known if this will be a factor, but be rest assured that a good Team Melli performance and better still an early goal will ignite the passion and pump up the Iranian fans, even those who have reservations about the team and players.
4. Queiroz’s Game plan
One does not need to be a genius to figure out that the lineup and game plan against England was a pretty pathetic failure. Even a dogmatic person such as the Portuguese coach knows that despite the fact that he blames the earth and sky for his now repetitious failures. The problem is that Queiroz is an aging coach and it is difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. If he deviates from his defensive mode, he might feel discomfort and not be at ease. Yet, he has to change to survive this. His contract is short term and a failure in this World Cup means he will be looking for his third job in as many years. Changes in personnel and game plan are a must for Iran.
5. Team Melli player’s morale.
This one is the most difficult to predict. No one really knows what the status of the players is in the camp especially after the whole team displayed unity in sympathy for the public cause and sided with the people of Iran by not singing the national anthem. For the sake of the team and the nation, one hopes that this time, the players unite and show their worth in front of the world against a team that they can beat under normal circumstances. The onus is on the players, provided the coach, plays his cards right.
Tehran clash
Whereas England had never played Iran until Monday’s World Cup meeting, Wales has previously met the three-time Asian Cup winners. A Tehran friendly was arranged in April 1978 as the Liverpool-supporting son of the Shah of Iran wanted to invite a British side to play in the country.
Wales won the game 1-0 with Cardiff’s Phil Dwyer scoring the only goal in front of a 50,000 crowd.