Tag: FIFA World Cup 2014

Alireza Faghani selected for the AFC Asian Cup final.

The Iranian Alireza Faghani (photo) has been selected to officiate the 2015 Asian Cup Final between Korea Republic and Australia in Sydney, Australia.

The 36-year-old referee will be assisted by his compatriots Reza Sokhandan and Mohammadreza  Abolfazli in the match which will be played at the Stadium Australia. Fahad Al Mirdasi from Saudi Arabia will be the fourth official. After having been a reserve referee at 2011 Asian Cup and also at 2014 FIFA WC, Faghani has already officiated three group stage matches and a quarterfinal in this edition. Thus, this will be his fifth  apperance.

Nawaf Shukralla from Bahrain has been appointed to oversee the Third Place match, between Iraq and UA Emirates, to be played on 30 January in Newcastle at Newcastle Stadium. He will be assisted by his compatriots Yeaser Tulefat and Ebrahim Saleh, with Australian Benjamin Williams as fourth official.

Faghani has been consistently the best referee in Iran since the retirement of Moradi.

 

The forgotten men : Steven ‘Mehrdad’ Beitashour

 Carlos Queiroz was globetrotting looking for dual citizenship players or those with Iranian ancestry to pick them for Team Melli.  in his quest , he managed to find a player who was a long way from Iran. Steven’ Mehrdad ‘ Beitashour , playing for San Jose Earthquake at the time,  was one of these players attracting the attention of  the Portuguese coach.

Mehrdad Beitashour

INTERNATIONAL

A dual American-Iranian citizen, Beitashour chose to represent Iran after being approached by Queiroz, when he was called into camp for 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification. He made his debut in Iran’s 2-1 win over Thailand, coming on as a 76th minute substitute for Hossein Mahini. He made his first start and recorded his first assist for Iran in the ensuing match, again against Thailand, a 3-0 victory that ensured their qualification to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. Beitashour then went on to start the next match as well, a 4-1 victory over Lebanon. Prior to committing to Iran, Beitashour had been called into one camp with the United States men’s national team, getting the call from head coach Jurgen Klinsmann in August of 201

The American-Iranian also made the squad to the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil, however he was not picked to start any match nor was he used as a substitute.

From then on , Beitashour went into oblivion with Team Melli. Not selected for any matches , not that there were many and not considered for the finals of the Asian Cup 2015. Whether he will be available again to play for Iran in the future, is debatable.

So , what went wrong?

The major problem with selecting Beitashour was the logistics. Selecting a player who resides and makes his living on the other side of the world is a logistical nightmare under any circumstances. The only practical time that a player can join a squad is during major tournaments such as the World Cup , once every 4 years. Under other circumstances or during FIFA days, a trip from USA to Iran and back within 3 or 4 days is simply a nightmare.

Logistics aside, Beitashour had a very tough player and established veteran to compete with in Team Melli. AT the time, Khosro Heydari was one of the best performers in the team while Hossein Mahini was closely challenging for recognition as a fix starter. Apart from these two , several younger defenders were raring to go. Beotashour’s position was looking shaky and his value for the team beginning to be questioned.

Mehrdad Beitashour

Overall, Beitashour never really established himself in the team with the logistics problem and the tough competition around.  In total , he made 6 appearances for Team Melli half of it only as a starter. At 27 Years old, he has still a long way to go in his football career, whether any of it will be with Team Melli is another argument. At the present moment and with the Team in Australia without Beitashour , the Vancouver Whitecaps defender may find it difficult to make the Team Melli squad anytime soon before the next World Cup. Beitashour is still a quality player as he has shown with his club in the MSL where he made 27 appearances for the Canadian outfit. He was also included in the “Protected Players”  list , which indicates that his team is not willing to let him go or transfer to another club.

2014 FIFA World Cup: Performance of Team Melli

Performance of Team Melli

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The debate on the performance of Team Melli in the World Cup continues and with it the inevitable saga of Carlos Queiroz contract extension.

Although the first two matches in the World Cup , thrilled thousands of Iranian fans and with it the  increased support for Queiroz work as the master tactician, this enthusiasm was stretched to the belief of Team Melli fans that Iran would defeat Bosnia to qualify for the next round. The reality was quite different. It was a highly disappointing finish. Iran lost 3-1 in a forgettable match performance and result wise. A match that really exposed Team Melli in all departments , including the coaching techniques and aspiration.

A detailed systematic analysis, the sort that the Japanese and the Korean federations religiously produce after each major tournament participation, does not exist in Iran but it is about time that the federation FFIRI comes up with such study. Supposedly , there is a committee named Technical and football development , which is responsible for producing such report. What makes this issue take more importance is that the Asian Cup is only 6 months away , not exactly a long time to go in footballing term if Iran has the aspiration to win the Asian premiere prize that evaded them for 39 years.

Right now as it stands, emotions prevail in decision making for the coaching of Team Melli. Queiroz himself and his supporters, boast about how the team has done well and the people proud, although we suspect that the majority of the fans are quite disappointed by Team Melli in the World Cup according to our surveys and polls. Instead of judging by sentiments, a better tool would be an in depth scientific study  to suppress  the various conflicting emotional and subjective views that is not based on technical studies.

A quick look at the three matches’ data, indicates that Iran was far behind the top teams in many classes, except for distance Run. In fact , even compared to the worst teams , Team Melli did not shine producing some low figures. We have selected Honduras as one of the least successful teams in the 2014 World cup for comparison to Iran. Honduras lost all its three matches and was eliminated at the group stages.

PASSING

Iran was one of the worst teams in passing, completing 604 passes compared to the tournament average of 1305. This is quite an astonishingly poor figure, as even Honduras managed 1046 passes. Spain completed 1703 passes in its 3 matches and that is 282% more than Iran.

In the three matches played, passing the ball especially while the ball was out of the defense was an eye sore. Be it lack of preparation, fear element , or under-confidence, the Midfield players have not managed to play a passing game that they have known to ether at club level or international level. The midfield failed to supply proper ball to the lone forward, the majority of which were in form of crosses. 

 

PASSES COMPLETION RATE

The average passes completion rate for the tournament was 80% a figure which is expected from team playing at the highest level and managed to qualify to be among the best 32 teams in the world. Iran , however managed only 60% passes completion rate. Honduras , to give them credit , managed the tournament average of 80%.  The low percentage of Team Melli passing completion is a poor reflection of a football team playing in the World Cup. This is another critical area where Team Melli failed to produce a respectable performance and subsequently did not achieve the desired result. 

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GOAL ATTEMPTS

Iran made 7.3  goal attempts per match , while the tournament average was 13.1 per team per match. . Honduras , our sample for the poorest team managed 11 attempts.  That is nearly 4 attempts more than Iran. It goes without saying that if there is few attempts on goal , the chances of scoring will be less. The result was evident in Iran’s case with one goal only scored in the last match to save everyone’s blushes.

Poor goal attempts are related to the previous factor of passing. With passes uncompleted or intercepted that attempts on goals will subsequently reduce.

GOAL SCORED

one solitary goal in three matches for Iran while the average for this 2014 FIFA World Cup was an incredible 4.3 per team per match. However , Iran managed to equal Honduras which also scored 1 goal.

Subsequent to the two previous factors, the one goal scored should not surprise anyone. With a team that is built for defense only , it is difficult to see where the goals will come from.

FOULS COMMITTED

Iran was on par with the rest of the team in the group round as it committed 49 with the average being 49.4, while Honduras committed 5 less at 46 solitary goal.

 

DISTANCES PER MATCH

Average tournament distance run was 108.3 Km per match. Team Melli achieved 107.8 Km , very slightly below the average nevertheless a satisfactory figure. Honduras made 96.1 Km per match. This is about the only performance related figure that was satisfactory of Team Melli’s performance  in the FIFA World Cup

This data provided by FIFA only touches the surface but it is a very useful tool to begin the analysis with. Much of the end results as seen in this data , is due to the preparation of the teams before the start of the world cup. The only satisfactory result in distance run per match was due to the three week of heavy and demanding physical fitness program that Team Melli had to go through.   

The comprehensive report should also include the federation objectives (public or confidential) have been satisfied in Iran participation in the World Cup or not. Whether the federation share the opinion of Queiroz that Argentina did not defeat Iran 5-0 as Queiroz claims the whole world was predicting and as such  a 1-0 defeat is considered as a victory for Iran?  Or not.

1 point from 3 games , with only  goal scored , 4 against and being the bottom of the table , cannot be a satisfactory result to any team let alone Team Melli. Even if we live in denial and add a few bells &  whistle and some dressing , there is no escape that Team Melli was poor in performance and result.

The failure of Team Melli , like any failure in any system is usually multi-pronged As much as no victory can be credited to a coach alone never mind how genius he was, if there are any genius coaches in the first place. No such bad result is the sole responsibility of coach either. Saying that, the Portuguese coach feeling of satisfactions of his Team Melli work, as he stated in a recent TV interview, indicates how modest the team mentality was and so little aspiration existed. It sounds like the objective was NOT to concede too many goals rather than playing an honorable football that the world would remember Team Melli for.  This is a truly perturbing mindset for Team Melli, which has a championship pedigree. Is that an indicator that Team Melli fans have to constantly lower their level of expectations?

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Team Melli draws blank against Nigeria

Team Melli drew with Nigeria 0-0 in the first match for both teams in Group F. Argentina is currently leading the table with 3 points after winning their opener against Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Carlos Queiroz fielded a strong defensive line up with 6 recognized defenders sticking to his now well recognized strategy of a strong defensive team. The only surprise of the line up was the inclusion of Alireza Haghighi , who is probably the least experienced of the 3 goalkeepers ahead of no 1 choice Rahman Ahmadi. However , Haghighi did not have to make many saves or even work hard except for ne tricky free kick in the first half.

Although Nigeria dominated the first 30 minutes of the first half, the solid and well organized Iranian defense made that domination by the African champions useless. After the half hour a corner kick awarded for Iran,  the quick reaction of Nigerian keeper Victor Enyeama who saved the powerful header by Reza Ghoochanejad from close range prevented Iran from going a goal up.

In the second half the Nigerian control was reduced with Team Melli getting more of the ball but the players were guilty with some bad passes and spoiling some reasonable chances. Nekounam and Teymourian were majestic in their roles and their solid performance nullified the threat form the Nigerian midfield, especially Teymourian who neutralized Nigerian’s most famous player John Obi Mikel.

The defenders skilfully managed anything the Nigerians threw at them with total domination of aerial balls.

Iran v Nigeria: Group F - 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

Despite being the lone striker , Ghoochannejad managed to play a solid and decent game and was a constant menace for the Nigerian defense. However Ghoochannejad did not connect well with the lone offensive midfielder , Ashkan Dejagah as they seemed to be operating on different channels and missing each others passes.

Dejagah who was expected to be the key player was a disappointment against Nigeria. Half of his passes went astray and he lacked his trademark running and beating the defenders. He was not helped , perhaps , by the number of midfield players opting to stay behind during offensive moves, leaving the team short of players up front while attacking the Nigerian goal. Dejagah was subsequently substituted in the 78th minute  by Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

It was a fair result for Team Melli and Queiroz skillful managed to neutralize the Nigerians threat , with remarkable ease. His selection of player for the defensive duties were immaculate. Iran managed the first point in the competition, and that is good enough of a start. It is going to be uphill from now but with the sold defensive system that Queiroz has created, without being anti-football , Team Melli is still capable to spring a surprise in the two matches ahead.

Jahanbaksh named amongst the young players to watch

Young Players to set the 2014 World Cup alight from Group F

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World Cup 2014, Group F
Here is a look at one young player from each of the four Group F teams most likely to make an impact for their respective countries at the World Cup

Argentina

Marcos Rojo

Rojo

Age

24

Club

Sporting Lisbon

Position

Defender

Int. Caps

21

Int. Goals

0

 

In an experienced Argentina side, Marcos Rojo is one of the younger and probably one of the most important players in the Albiceleste squad. The 24-year-old will be playing in the left-back position for Argentina at the World Cup and has emerged as an integral part for Alejandro Sabella’s side.

While his defensive qualities have been put into question at times, Rojo is a great threat going forward and will surely prove to be a useful outlet in the final third of the pitch for the South Americans.

 

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sead Kolašinac

Saed Kolasnic1

Age

20

Club

Schalke

Position

Defender

Int. Caps

4

Int. Goals

0

 

Sead Kolašinac has enjoyed a breakthrough season with Schalke this year. The young man established himself as an integral part of the German side and impressed many with his mature performance at the back.

A versatile player who is primarily used as a left-back, Kolašinac switched allegiance to Bosnia & Herzegovina after representing Germany at youth level and looks set to play a big part in the country’s debut World Cup campaign in Brazil.

 

Iran

Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Alirejza

Age

20

Club

NEC Nijmegen

Position

Midfielder

Int. Caps

6

Int. Goals

1

 

Alireza Jahanbakhsh is probably the most exciting young player to emerge from Iran recently. The 20-year old plies his trade in Netherlands for NEC Nijmegen and managed to impress with some fine performances for the Dutch side over the course of the campaign.

A tricky winger with a knack of scoring goals, Jahanbakhsh adds a bit of flair to a solid Iran side. While Ashkan Degajah and Javad Nekounam will most probably be preferred to Jahanbakhsh in the starting lineup at the World Cup, one cannot rule out the young man making an impact in the competition whenever afforded the opportunity.

 

Nigeria

Ogenyi Onazi

Onazi

Age

20

Club

Lazio

Position

Midfielder

Int. Caps

20

Int. Goals

1

 

Ogenyi Onazi’s meteoric rise to prominence has been phenomenal. Having picked up by Italian giants from a church-sponsored team in Lagos called My People two years ago, Onazi has gone on to become one of the finest young midfielders plying their trade in Europe.

The 20-year old has also established himself as a regular in the Nigerian national team and helped the Super Eagles to the African Cup of Nations triumph in 2013.

A tough tackling midfielder, Onazi possesses a brilliant temperament and he will surely be looking to impress at the World Cup by taming the dangerous Argentina and Bosnia attack.

Written by: Sarad Shrestha

Grand victory by Iran’s volleyball should inspire Team Melli in World Cup.

FIVB World League 2014

Brazil 0-3 Iran

 

Iran Volleyball team defeated Brazil 3-0 in Sao  Paulo ,Brazil to record the greatest ever team sport victory by any Iranian team in any sport. They don’t come bigger than Brazil in Volleyball. The host of the FIFA World Cup  2014 has an immaculate record in Volleyball , winners of 9 World League titles, 2 times winners  of Olympic Games gold medals, 3 times World Champions , 2 times World Cup winners and 4 times World Grand Prix champions. Like their compatriots the football players, they are a championship pedigree team and have produced quality players that have managed to play and excel in the best leagues of the World.

Such a historic win comes at a perfect time and place for Iran’s football Team Melli with the world cup 2014 only days away. A historic victory like this one by Iran’s volleyball team in the most important and highest profile World Volleyball competition will surely provided a huge boost for the footballers and make them believe that even the best teams in the world can be beaten.

There will be intriguing similarities in this volleyball match to the one that Team Melli will face against Argentina on 21st June 2014. It is similar encounter to the David and Goliath match with the Iranian volleyball players who faced Brazil and against all the odds, beat them comprehensively.

The willpower, the pride, the team spirit , the motivation , the skills , the harmony , the grace that these players have displayed shall be an inspiration and a boost for our football players.

21st of June is also a blessed date for Iran. In this date in year 1998 , Iran has recorded its only victory in the FIFA World cup against USA.

Let us hope that the victory by the Volleyball players inspires the football players to excel against their mighty opponents.

 

Farhad Ghaemi celebrate victory against Brazil

 

Seyed Mohammad Mousavi celebrates a poit scored

WC 2014 – Argentina squad : No Tevez World Cup recall

Carlos Tevez’s excellent form for Italian champions Juventus this season failed to earn him a recall when head coach Alejandro Sabella named his provisonal 30-man squad for the FIFA World Cup™.

Tevez, capped 64 times, scored 19 goals for Juventus as they retained their Serie A title this term. However, not even that was a strong enough argument for Sabella to call up the 30-year-old for the first time since he took over at the helm of the national side following Argentina’s failure to win the 2011 Copa America.

Tevez, who played a full part in Argentina’s 2010 World Cup finals campaign, had wanted to make up for his last appearance as it ended in him missing a penalty in the shootout loss to eventual champions Uruguay in the Copa quarter-finals.

Sabella, who has until 2 June to decide on his final 23 players, opted to allow star player Lionel Messi to play in the role he plays to high effect at Barcelona — which did not allow for Tevez to be part of his plans.

Argentina, who won the last of their two World Cups in 1986, have been drawn in Group F with Africa Cup of Nations champions Nigeria, debutants Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran.

Argentina squad
Goalkeepers: Mariano Andujar (Catania/ITA), Sergio Romero (Monaco/FRA), Agustin Orion (Boca Juniors)

Defenders: Lisandro Lopez (Getafe/ESP), Hugo Campagnaro (Inter Milan/ITA), Federico Fernandez (Napoli/ITA), Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City/ENG), Ezequiel Garay (Benfica/POR), Marcos Rojo (Sporting Lisbon/POR), Jose Basanta (Monterrey/MEX), Nicolas Otamendi (Atletico Mineiro/BRA), Martin Demichelis (Manchester City/ENG), Gabriel Mercado (River Plate)

Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Barcelona/ESP), Jose Sosa (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Augusto Fernandez (Celta Vigo/ESP), Ricky Alvarez (Inter Milan/ITA), Lucas Biglia (Lazio/ITA), Ever Banega (Newell’s Old Boys), Fernando Gago (Boca Juniors), Maxi Rodriguez (Newell’s Old Boys), Enzo Perez (Benfica/POR), Fabian Rinaudo (Catania/ITA)

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona/ESP), Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid/ESP), Rodrigo Palacio (Inter Milan/ITA), Gonzalo Higuaín (Napoli/ITA), Sergio Agüero (Manchester City/ENG), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Paris SG/FRA), Franco Di Santo (Werder Bremen/GER)

List of 30 players submitted to FIFA

The football federation has sent the final list of 30 players as required by FIFA regulations for the World Cup . Out of the 30 players , each team is only allowed to have a squad of 23 players in the competition. Spare players, registered on this list , maybe called upon in case of injuries if approved by FIFA appropriate commission.

 

The list contains no surprises , however , in a bold move by Carlos Queiroz , included three uncapped players  in the list. They are Azmoun , Sharifi and Biranvand.

 

The full list

 

Team Melli World Cup List

  Name Club
1 AHMADI, Rahman Sepahan
2 ALE NEMEH, Ahmad Naft Tehran
3 ANSARIFARD, Karim Tractorsazi
4 AZMOUN , Sardar Rubin Kazan
5 BEIGZADEH, Hashim Esteghlal
6 BEITASHOUR, Steven Vancouver Whitecaps
7 BIRANVAND , Alireza Naft Tehran
8 DAVARI, Daniel Eintracht Braunschweig
9 DEJAGAH, Ashkan Fulham
10 GHOOCHANNEJAD, Reza Charlton Athletics
11 HADDADIFAR, Ghassim Zob Ahan
12 HAGHIGHI, Alireza Sporting Covilhã
13 HAGHIGHI, Reza Persepolis
14 HAJSAFY, Ehsan Sepahan
15 HEYDARI, Khosrow Esteghlal
16 HOSSEINI, Jalal Persepolis
17 JAHANBAKHSH, AliReza NEC
18 KHALATBARY, MohamadReza Persepolis
19 KHANZADEH, Mohammadreza Zob Ahan
20 MAHINI, Hossein Persepolis
21 MAKANI, Sousha Foolad Kuzestan
22 MONTAZERI, Pejman Um Salal
23 NEKOUNAM, Javad Al Kuwait
24 NOUROZI, Reza Naft Tehran
25 POOLADI, Mehrdad Persepolis
26 RAHMANI, Bakhtiyar Foolad Kuzestan
27 SADEGHI, AmirHossein Esteghlal
28 SHARIFI , Mehdi Sepahan
29 SHOJAEI, Masoud Las Palmas
30 TEYMOURIAN, Andranik Esteghlal

 

Why Team Melli stands a good chance against Nigeria?

The Nigerians have a great belief in their football team nicknamed “The Super Eagles” and are pretty confident of qualification to the next round to the extent of arrogance. Majority of the Nigerian experts and analyst dismiss Iran as a serious opponent, focusing instead on Bosnia and Argentina. The World Press seems to be following that inclination. With many of their players making their living in European leagues, Nigeria seems to be favored against the lessor known Iranians who have a handful of players. All The Iranian players in European league play in very modest teams, with every single one of them struggling against relegation. Even with such teams, Only Davari and Dejagah feature regularly in their teams while the other two are peripheral players.

So , it is no wonder that Nigeria is considered to be the favorite to beat Iran.

Here is one analysis to support the belief that Nigeria is one of the top 10 Dark Horses teams that might surprise the world:

This may be a slightly odd selection, especially since Nigeria will have to withstand Argentina and Bosnia/Herzegovina to have a chance at even making the Round of 16. However, the defending Africa Cup of Nations champions have a decent array of weapons at their disposal, with John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses expected to lead their midfield and Emmanuel Emenike as arguably their top striker, as well as Vincent Enyeama having put up solid goalkeeping performances for Lille this past year. Especially since their draw could have been a lot worse – just ask Ghana – don’t be too surprised if the Super Eagles put up more of a fight in Brazil than you’d expect.

However , Team Melli is much stronger than what the Nigerians think. The African Champions self-belief perhaps even over confidence, might nicely work for Querioz’s men. None of the star players mentioned in the above brief is a regular starter for their teams. Obi Mikel has only a handful of matches with Chelsea , so has Moses who seems to be a permanent sub at Liverpool. Emmanuel Emenike whose nickname is the Beast , has hardly set the Turkish League alight , although he did suffer some injury , yet his 3 goals in the season 2013-14 for Fenerbache, is hardly a record that can be frightening for his opponents.

Nigeria has some hard working midfield players and a good defense line, but they are not formidable as seen in the African Cup and the qualification rounds. The teams plays physical football and at times rough and reckless. They have weaknesses that Queiroz can work upon. One of which is if Nigeria falls behind, their players tend to panic. They have also shown traces of indiscipline tactically and on individual basis.

The squad itself is not at its ideal conditions with Head Coach Stephen Keshi, and his employer, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) having differences. Believes that Keshe needs the support of assistance coach with experience, while Keshi sees that as a threat to his authority. Such quarrels has already trickled into the camp. Some of Nigeria’s recent shortcomings were apparent during the match vs. Ghana in the CHAN semi-final match. Although the Ghanaian team was reduced to ten men, the Super Eagles could not find an answer to their power game and eventually lost to them. It was also alleged that during the CHAN match with Zimbabwe for the third place, the Super Eagles could again not find a way to convincingly overwhelm the team despite the fact that one of their players got a red card in the 17th minute of the game.

The strength of Iran against Nigeria will be in the tight defense that will not allow the Nigerians to breathe, a similar tactics that Carlos Queiroz deployed against a much organized South Korean team at home and away during the World Cup qualifiers. Iran has also several individual talented players who can produce some magic and surprise the Nigerians.

There are quite a few good lessons that Iran has learned from the defeat against Nigeria in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, mainly is the ability of the Nigerians to run tirelessly.

In brief, both teams have equal chances of winning. The so-called expertise who claim Nigeria as being superior to Iran, based such judgment on superficial information of Iranian football , and that is expected because of Iran’s low profile in European football scene.

Reality is something else. Iran has the strength in depth to defeat Nigeria. The onus is on Queiroz to use his expertise and motivational power to make his players believe in their ability and their capacity to surprise their opponents.

Iran could hold World Cup surprise in expatriate contingent

No nation competing at this summer’s World Cup finals is rated less likely to win the tournament than Iran. If punters are mad enough to believe otherwise, then take 1500/1 on them lifting the trophy.

For Team Melli coach Carlos Queiroz, it’s a question of relative success. If failing to get his own country Portugal over the first knockout hurdle four years ago in South Africa was under-achieving, then reaching that stage with Iran in Brazil would be considered the complete opposite.

On each of their three previous appearances at the World Cup finals, the Persians have failed to get out of the group stage, recording just one win. Although they have climbed just six places in the FIFA World Rankings to 37 since he took charge in April 2011, Queiroz has quickly introduced a significant foreign-based contingent into the squad.

Iran are set to include their highest ever number of players plying their trade outside of Middle East on a major tournament roster. Chief among this diaspora are right-sided combination Steven Beitashour (Vancouver Whitecaps) and Fulham’s Ashkan Dejagah.

Reunited with Felix Magath at Craven Cottage, after the pair played for and managed Wolfsburg to the Bundesliga title, the German gaffer is once again getting the best out of the winger. Dejagah’s end of season form (three goals and an assist in seven appearances under Magath at the time of writing) could yet help save the west London club from relegation.

Other expatriates set to get the call from Queiroz are goalkeeping pair Daniel Davari and Alireza Haghighi, attacking midfielder Masoud Shojaei, young NEC Nijmegen winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Charlton Athletic forward Reza Ghoochannejhad and uncapped Rubin Kazan frontman Sardar Azmoun. The latter has been affixed with the somewhat dubious label of the “Iranian Messi”.

Fulham fans, but more likely Bolton Wanderers and Barnsley supporters, may also remember holding midfielder Andranik Teymourian. His partnership with former Osasuna stalwart and national skipper Javad Nekounam in the Persians’ engine room remains a key component of their spine.

Both are north of 30 and playing back in Middle East now, but have been to a World Cup – 2006 in Germany – with Team Melli before, and have over 200 caps between them. Queiroz will seldom be able to call on such substantial experience elsewhere in his squad.

Centre half Seyed Jalal Hosseini rarely misses a competitive game for Iran, but has never graced the global stage. Left back Ehsan Hajsafi, meanwhile, is another regular in defence, and has over 50 caps at just 24 years of age.

Khosro Heydari can cover either full back berth or play further up the field. Versatile forwards Mohammad Reza Khalatbari and Gholamreza Rezaei give Queiroz options on the flanks, in behind or up front.

The fact that Iran captain Nekounam was their top-scorer in qualifying says a lot about the players operating ahead of him, as they prepare to grace a World Cup group, which they are widely expected to finish last in.

Queiroz must tackle tournament second-favourites Argentina, first-time qualifiers (as an independent nation) Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Africa Cup of Nations holders Nigeria. All are looking like tough games.

Iran are rank outsiders to win Group F at 28/1, and to reach the knockout phase from this formidable pool at 11/2. They are thus odds-on at 1/10 to bow out after three matches.

As challenging as it looks, then, Queiroz will be counting on individuals like Dejagah to bring their club form in decent divisions across to representing their country. Team Melli can kick things off by stunning Nigeria with victory on June 16th at 11/4.