Carlos Queiroz’s squad was not much of a surprise for the people who have known his style in his 8 years reign with Team Melli. A coach that believes in brute defense, or parking the bus, if you wish, especially if the team he is coaching is facing powerful opposition. Queiroz is not much a fan of players with a special skill or technique as he much rather has a strong physical player who can tackle and defend no matter what outfield post they play. Physically strong opponents is exactly what Iran will be facing in the shape of England Wales and the United States.

Sixteen players from Team Melli’s last World Cup adventure are included in the latest selection of Queiroz. On the other hand, only 7 England players kept their place for World Cup 2022 from the previous one in Russia. Many things change in four years of football, and Team Melli has naturally changed too, however, with less than two months to go for the first match in the World Cup and 17 days in total where Queiroz can actually work with his players, the Portuguese coach will not risk trials and as predictable as he can be, the bets that he will stick to the players he knows best from 3 1/2 years ago. No place for Aref Gholami, Mehdi Gahyedi, Mohammad Mohebbi, or the future star of Irans football Yasin Salmani.

The future is repeating itself with Queiroz, hence his bland predictability. He left out Sardar Azmoun the rising starlet of Iran in World Cup 2014 and now doing the same with Yasin Salmani.

While all of these are not big risks, there is one drawback in his selection that could prove the downfall of Iran’s team in Qatar. Queiroz’s favorites are 4 years older, but even worst than that, all the player bar one are experiencing not-so-brilliant playing careers with their clubs in European leagues. Most are bench warmers with the exception of Mehdi Taremi.

The likes of Vahid Amiri, Omid Ebrahimi, Saeid Ezatollahi, and Saman Ghoddos, who are regarded as Team Melli’s aging ‘old guard’ can give experience to a game, but are not necessarily the weapons that are required to face the mighty teams. With some being fringe players in their clubs, there seems to be an acute shortage of skill and leadership in the midfield. Even though, only one additional player (Sarlak) has been added in a line that really needs strengthening. In fact, the midfield is probably the weakest link without a dynamic or creative player. The offensive plan that Queiroz would stick to is “route one” the style of play where the ball is sent forward from the back straight to the lone forward bypassing the midfield. Rezaeian, Mohammadi, Moharrami, and even Hardani can do the job for Queiroz in such plan. Midfield would be used more in bolstering the defense than any offensive duties.

9 players in Team Melli’s current squad are at or above 30 years old. In the demanding environment of Qatar, and oppositions that are runners with stamina, it is difficult to see how Queiroz will stand against the much fitter European and American players.  The average age of Iran’s squad is 27.6 years, however, if one considers the expected 11 starting players, then the average age will be significantly higher.

It is not expected that Queiroz will deviate much from this mindset of his and why should he take the risk? Fans who admire offensive and exciting football might very well be disappointed by Queiroz’s approach as we have all seen the FIFA World Cup 2018.

TEAM MELLI SQUAD 

Austrian Camp September 2022

Red denotes players not selected for WC208 Russia.