The fans will be assured of two things comes tomorrow’s clash against Argentina. One , The Brazilians who will form the majority of the attendance at the Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte will be supporting Iran , two Queiroz will stick to his game-plan and will remain faithful to the same starting 11 played against Nigeria.
Both are two good signs for Team Melli in a match that is, if not the most important in its history , it is one of the highest profile matches ever played by Iran. Every player that will be playing for Argentina, will be familiar or a household name for the Iranian players and fans. That in itself has positive and negative effects. If Iran players get rid of the inferiority complex that Carlos Queiroz has contributed to build in the mentality of his players by repeatedly refereeing to them as “amateurs on and off the field”, Team Melli has what it takes and are up to the task. Playing against greats like Messi and co does not exactly require super human power, again as Queiroz is implying, after all even the greats like this magician Lionel Messi is a human. Curiously, great player have more than their fair share of off days as pressure to excel, be at the top and be a winner, is sometime excessive and takes its toll. The pressure on the great players can be stressful and result in such player to perform below expectation. Of course, it requires powerful and motivated opposition players to turn the day of greats like Messi to a miserable one or at least make his life difficult. In Team Melli, there are enough signs to indicate that the defense line can indeed frustrate Messi and his teammates.
Like Reza “Gucci” Ghoochannejad stated, “we are under no pressure “. Indeed everyone expects Argentina to win, after all they are one of the title contenders. So, the pressure is on Argentina rather than Iran. On the other hand being cool and being complacent does not work very well against the likes of Aguero and Higuain , not to mention Messi who will punish you in a blink of an eye. Team Melli players need to concentrate during the entire match, never leaving their guard down. Iran has done a pretty good job against Nigeria, and despite that repeated statement that Argentina is not Nigeria, (so obvious, isn’t it ?) The crux here is about a game-plan and defensive discipline that should work regardless to the opposition.
That goalless draw in the first match against Nigeria was not pretty but no one can take it from Team Melli that it played an organized well-structured defensive system that yielded the required result. The result and the one point was also quite satisfactory for the majority of the fans. No doubt a similar performance and result will be a welcome against a tougher opposition. Lest not ignore that this opposition has some shortfalls of their own such as high average age , stamina and a questionable defense that has already been scored upon once in this group. It is ironic that at the start of the match tomorrow when the stats are announced, Iran has a better defense than Argentina. Let us hope that is another of those good omens.
The reality could be something completely different than what we think and write about. It could all turn out to be the opposite of the predictions, but one thing is for sure. You do not need to have 11 players who played in the European Champions League to compete against Argentina. You need guts, motivation, skill and discipline which Team Melli has managed to a high degree in the last match.
The Question now is can the boys maintain the same discipline against Argentina?
Go Team Melli.
