Tag: Sardar Azmoun

A comfortable win for Iran keeps them at top of the table.

Team Melli defeated Syria 3 -0 in Amman in the first match of Group A’s return legs of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers. The goals were scored by Saradar Azmoun (33’),  Ehsan Hajsafi (42’)(P), and Ali Gholizadeh (89’).

With this win Iran consolidates its position at the top of the table with 16 points, opening a 10 points gap with the team in the third position UAE. Korea Rep. beat Iraq 3-0 in Doha to remain second with 14 points.

This match saw a much-improved performance from the Lebanon game 5 days ago. The changes that Skocic had to make on the lineup were sensible and effective. Beiranvand was given an off day in goal, while his deputy Abedzadeh was a very competent replacement despite not being really tested. His Aerial ball control was immaculate, but his ball distribution was quite impressive.

The midfield was more effective and distributed the ball efficiently feeding Azmoun and the flanks.  In defense, the introduction of Omid Nourafakan was satisfactory, while Sadegh Moharrami had a sterling performance.

Ahmad Nourallahi was one of Iran’s best players and it is pity that he was not on the scoresheet after several fine shoots especially near the ends of the match which the Syrian keeper remarkably saved.

Azmoun scored the opener with a marvelous assist from Vahid Amiri. Azmoun immaculate ball control, his escape from two Syrian markers, and the finishing touch was world-class.   Azmoun however, could have easily ended this match with a hat trick missing two golden opportunities in the second half.

Hajsafi made a start after some time with Team Melli, however, he has not lost any of his quality and scored well from the penalty.

The third goal by Gholizadeh was Messi-like. The Chareloi midfielder received the ball on the left and bamboozled four Syrian players before slotting the ball into the net. It was a great goal and one for the purists.

This was one of the matches that Team Melli won in performance and result. Players were disciplined and hardly made mistakes of judgment. It also helped that the Syrians came to play football and that made the match competitive and entertaining. However, the difference in class was evident from the start.

Although there were many candidates for MVP including Azmoun, Nourollahi, GHolizadeh, and Moharrami, The star of the match was Vahid Amiri. Not only did he provide a classy assist to Azmoun, his energy, runs on the flank, control of the ball, passing accuracy, and general attitude in the game were exemplary.

Syria Match review: The most challenging is the enemy within

Team Melli players under Dragan Skocic, will be meeting Syria tomorrow with all eyes on the three points and widening the gap at the top of the table of Group A of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers.

While on-field, this match like the rest of them in this group, is far from a forgone conclusion despite the fact that Syria is at the bottom of the table. It is going to be the same story for Team Melli. The object is to translate the superiority of the team into goals while keeping the defense tight.

However, the biggest battle for Team Melli seems to be occurring outside of the field of play and the enemy within. There seems to be an agenda to undermine the coach, Skocic. That enemy within, people working behind the curtains, have a systematic means of ruining the squad to serve their own interests. The target is Dragan Skocic.

The Croat has been criticized left, right, and center by many so-called Iranian football personalities who are perhaps blinded by self-interest or serving some agenda. These people conveniently ignore facts and figures such as playing 12 games, winning 11, and drawing 1 under the resume of Skocic, while denying the Croat coach any credit, by attributing the team’s immaculate results to individual players’ performance !!

Their objective is to force FFIRI to replace Skocic with one of their own.

Even a personality like Ali Daei, who is a living legend, has been dragged into this battle, In defense of Skocic-Taremi , Ali Daei who has been out of work in football since he left Saipa in 2019, took a side and supported Taremi but he also made some statements against Skocic which was indeed in poor taste and not appropriate for the character of Daei. Many other ex-footballers went on similar rhetorics.

Whether FFIRI will succumb to pressure to replace Skocic at some stage, is another tale for another day but suffice to say that the Croat has held his heads high, performed marvelously for Team Melli, and put Iran on the brink of qualification to the World Cup with a few games to spare.

On the field, Syria with a few key players missing will hardly deviate from their usual game plan. Tight defenses, pressure of opposition players, and hope of a goal on counterattacks. Heaven forbids if the Syrians score, as the repeat of the Lebanese Black Art of time-wasting, cheating, and faking injury, will be the tale of the day.

With Jahanbakhsh missing, Skocic will have several options available. He has Hajsafy, Torabi, and Sarlak as replacements. Last time out, Ghoddos was used from the start but it was a disappointing performance from the Brentford midfield player alongside Azmoun. Ansarifard or Rezaei are two options for Skocic while Ghoddos , if used again, would be operating behind the two strikers.

Goalkeeping was far from assuring against Lebanon. It will not be a great surprise if Beiranvand is benched and either Abedzadeh or Niazmand start instead.

The defense was solid and Vahid Amiri excelled in his left-back role.

Under the circumstances, Syria’s job to improve their record against Iran looks like a mammoth task, But football is a strange game, and surprises can happen. Skocic, however, is a Wiley coach and has prepared well for worst-case scenario.

Late strikes secure Iran victory against Lebanon

Group A: Late strikes secure IR Iran victory against Lebanon

Saida: Stoppage time goals from Sardar Azmoun and Ahmad Nourollahi saved the Islamic Republic of Iran at Saida International Stadium on Thursday as Dragan Skocic’s side claimed a dramatic 2-1 win over Lebanon in Group A of the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar 2022.
Azmoun showed his predatory instincts once again for his country as he cancelled out Soony Saad’s opportunistic first half opener before Nourollahi smashed home a low drive to earn the visitors all three points as the qualification campaign for Qatar 2022 reaches the halfway stage.
It was a remarkable escape for the five-time FIFA World Cup qualifiers, who remain on top of Group A as a result of win that broke the hearts of a Lebanese side that looked set to hold on for a historic victory.
The Iranians move on to 13 points and stay two clear of Korea Republic at the summit of Group A while Lebanon remain on five points from the first five games of the campaign.  The result, though, was a cruel blow for Ivan Hasek’s side, who put on a disciplined defensive performance that frustrated their visitors until deep into injury time.
IR Iran started the game on the front foot and seemed set to dominate when, with less than four minutes on the clock, Alireza Jahanbakhsh saw his shot was deflected wide for a corner after Vahid Amiri had danced through the Lebanese defence.

Goalkeeper Mostafa Matar had to be alert in the 28th minute when the Lebanese midfield stood off Jahanbakhsh as the PSV Eindhoven winger drove into the home half before unleashing a long-range effort that was tipped over the bar.

In the 37th minute, however, the hosts took an unlikely lead. Hasek’s side had made few incursions into the Iranian half but a cross from wide on the right touchline by Abbas Asi caught out a defence that expected the ball to sail out of play.
Instead, the strong wind from behind the Iranian goal held the ball up and Saad, the only player alert to the situation, controlled with a deft first touch before clipping a neat finish over a startled Alireza Beiranvand.
The Lebanese almost doubled the lead 10 minutes into the second half when Beiranvand’s mishit clearance fell at the feet of Mohamad Haidar, but his attempt was deflected wide for the home side’s first corner of the game.
That was a rare sight of goal for a Lebanese side that started to drop deeper as the second period wore on.
Azmoun looked set to equalise as the half approached the midway point only for Matar to push the Zenit St Petersburg man’s right-foot shot over the bar while Ali Gholizadeh squandered another opening 12 minutes from time.
Azmoun, though, finally broke through in the first minute of added time with a trademark finish from inside the area as the pressure finally paid off and, four minutes later, Nourollahi smashed his drive home from the edge of the area to cap a remarkable comeback for Skocic’s team.

A dramatic win for Team Melli against Black Artists Lebanon.

Team Melli bagged all the 3 points after being behind since the first half when Lebanon scored a freak goal by Soony Saad (37′). Two last minutes goals in injury time of the match by Sardar Azmoun (90+1′) and Ahmad Nourollahi (90+5′) settled the match for Iran and maintained its lead on the top of the table at the halfway stage of FIFA World Cup Qatar 200 qualifiers of Group A.

While Team Melli started the match positively despite the bad conditions of the field and the grass which was more suitable for grazing than playing a decent football match, that superiority in possession and passing was thwarted time after time by the Lebanese solid defense.

As expected, Lebanon defended en mass and was quite disciplined in the back, breaking most of the Iranian attacks and protecting their goalkeeper well. Iran had 10 corner kicks in the first half but could not create any threat on Lebanon keeper Mostafa Matar who was quite dominant on the aerial balls.

From the first attack by Lebanon on the 37th minute, a right flank cross which seemed to be going out but somehow pushed by the wind within the field of play deceived Beiranvand who was raising his hand and watching the linesman instead of the ball that was floating right above him. The ball landed inside the box and in the front of the advancing Lebanon forward Soony Saad who cleverly controlled and wrong-footed Beiranvand with a shoot up the roof of the goal.

It was a schoolboy error by Beiranvand who had nothing to do all that time. While two other defenders close to Saad were at fault as there were also caught napping.

The first half ended 1-0 to the home team. Starting the second half Iran continued its assault on the Lebanese, who at times were packing the box with 10 players. In desperation and looking for the equalizer, much of the shoots were missing the target or hitting the Lebanese defensive wall. Only Sardar Azmoun’s terrific volley managed to penetrate that wall for Mostafa Matar to make an excellent save.

Lebanon’s famous black art was at its best in the second half, grass rolling, simulation, and with every contact. falling on the ground, even when the referee whistled a foul against them.  Skocic had to act to strengthen the offensive capabilities while withdrawing Saman Ghoddos and Ezatollahi who were both disappointing in the middle of the park. Milad Mohammadi and Sayyadmanesh were the replacements but their contributions made little impact.

While the match was in the first minute of the injury time, Azmoun received a ball in the box reflected from a Lebanese defender, with skill and mastery, he slotted the ball into the net to score the equalizer. The host team was gutted after what they thought will be a famous win, however, Team Melii was not finished. In the remaining minutes of the 5 extra, the onslaught was total, until Ahmad Nourallhi got the winner at the last touch of the match.

It was a deserved win against a stubborn, well-disciplined defensive team. The quality of the teams, however, was clear and it told at the end.

LAST WORD

There is no denying that Lebanon has the right to choose any tactics or styles that suit the player and the coach. Obviously, they realized their limitation and capabilities and opted to build walls around their keeper.

Defensive tactics, while not particularly attractive to many fans, are legitimate and are part and parcel of football.

However, Lebanon and many other countries of the region, have gone beyond defensive tactics football and encroaches into the boundary of Black Art where gamesmanship trickery, deception, and simulation have replaced decency, honesty, and genuine hard work. Their Dark Art of time-wasting, faking injuries, grass rolling, and cheating was obvious for all who watched this match. To turn a match into ugliness and a farce, all that is needed is a sucker referee like today (Abdulrahman Al Jassim). The Qatari referee blatantly failed to observe how the Lebanese are acting and restoring to delaying tactics by faking an injury. There was plenty of such unlawful gamesmanship that the referee simply, In fact, he aided and abated this Ugly football by stopping the match for every tackle that the Lebanese players dropped on the floor!!!

It is quite surprising that very few talks about the Dark Art in Asian football. The media in South Korea briefly touched on the subject for the Lebanese to cry foul and claim discrimination.

There has to be a campaign against it. FIFA is responsible and should act as it did against the Egyptian team in the 1990 World Cup by introducing the law that prevented Keepers from handling the ball back from their players.

Something has to be publicized about Lebanon and the dark art of football.

a team like Lebanon does not deserve to be in the World Cup, using such Dark Art, spoiling the taste of the beautiful game at its most important event. They give the beautiful game of football

Lebanon-Iran : WC qualifiers preview

Team Melli will meet Lebanon in Sidon to consolidate its position at the top of the table in Group A of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar qualifiers. This is the final round before the midway stage of the robin format as the qualifiers will resume against Syria 5 days later.

While Iran topping the table is not much of a surprise, Lebanon’s third-place ranking is certainly is as the Lebanese team started the qualifiers as the lowest ranking team in the group. However,  Lebanon picked up their first victory in the group last time out after a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind win against Syria, with a quickfire brace from Mohamad Kdouh and a decisive strike from Soony Saad securing all three points. Lebanon lost narrowly to South Korea while picking up a draw against Iraq.

The Cedars will be looking to continue the momentum but face tough outings against Iran and the UAE in the week ahead. Having played all four of their games away from home so far, though, Ivan Hasek’s side will be eager to take advantage of home comforts in five of their next six matches. Lebanese FA effort to open the gates for the fans at home has failed to materialize as the match against Team Melli will be played without spectators.

Lebanon’s game plan is quite simple. The brute defense even with 8 or 9 players, frustrate the opposition and pray for a counterattack opportunity. Lebanon is a hardly ambitious forward-going team, as they only managed to score in one of the four matches only. Their intensity is in the physical strength of their players and good defensive discipline regime.Torabi against Syria

 For Team Melli, it will be the same as what has transpired so far under Dragan Skocic, except for the absence of Mehdi Taremi. With three wins and a draw against the Koreans, Team Melli will be fighting hard to get the fourth win in Lebanon. There is going to be a minimum of changes in the team lineup with the goalkeeper and defense pretty much unchanged. Where the Team Needs improvement is in the middle of the field as the last matches showed that this area is lacking creativity, enterprise, and a schemer amongst other things. Saman Ghoddos is surprisingly being ignored while he is the one player that can split defenses with his passing and clever positioning. There is no carrier of the ball from the heart of the midfield, a player who can beat one or two markers inside to provide a killer pass for  Azmoun and co. Most penetrations come from the flanks. As such, Skocic’s game plan is quite predictable and can be easily read by the opposition coaches.

Team Melli needs variety in the offensive part, changing of guards, some players’ positions, and tactical variation will do the team a world of good. The inclusion of the Captain and star of Omid team, Yasin Salmani in the squad is one promising move. The exciting 19 years old Sepahan midfielder might just claim a place in the lineup and make his international debut. It will be a gallant move by Skocic and could silence many of his critics.

With an opposing team that can frustrate you and presses hard on the ball carrier, it is important for the Team Melli players to keep their composure, especially with Lebanon resorting to simulation, time-wasting, and many other tricks to frustrate the Team Melli players.

FIFA RANKING

November 2021

IRAN LEBANON
World Ranking 22 92
Points 1545 1250
Asia Ranking 1 15
Highest Ever Ranking 22 81
Lowest Ever Ranking 122 161
Average Rank 44 122

PAST 5 GAMES  – IRAN

15/06/21 WQA Iran 1 – 0 Iraq
S. Azmoun 35′
02/09/21 WQA Iran 1 – 0 Syria
07/09/21 WQA Iraq 0 – 3 Iran
69′ M. Taremi
07/10/21 WQA UAE 0 – 1 Iran
70′ M. Taremi
12/10/21 WQA Iran 1 – 1 Korea Republic
0 – 1
1 – 1

PAST 5 GAMES  – LEBANON

3/06/21 ARC Lebanon 1 – 0 Djibouti
02/09/21 WQA UAE 0 – 0 Lebanon
07/09/21 WQA Korea Republic 1 – 0 Lebanon
07/10/21 WQA Iraq 0 – 0 Lebanon
12/10/21 WQA Syria 2 – 3 Lebanon
1 – 0
1 – 1
1 – 2
1 – 3
53′ Soony Saad
2 – 3

Head2Head

In 25 years of competition, Lebanon managed to score two goals only while Team Melli has a handsome 27 against the Lebanese.

The only win for Lebanon came in a World Cup Qualifier.

Venue Matches W D L Goals + / –
Home 4 4 0 0 14 – 0 +14
Away 5 3 1 1 11 – 2 +9
Neutral 1 1 0 0 2 – 0 +2
Total 10 8 1 1 27 – 2 +25

Date Comp. Venue Final score Result Stadium Attendance
19.11.2013 Asian Cup Qualifier A 4 – 1 W Sports City, Beirut xxx
11.06.2013 World Cup Qualifier H 4 – 0 W Azadi Stadium, Tehran 91,300
06.02.2013 Asian Cup Qualifier / Group B H 5 – 0 W Azadi Stadium, Tehran 19,733
11.09.2012 World Cup Qualifier A 0 – 1 L Camille Chamoun Sports City, Beirut 10,000
17.06.2004 WAFF / WAFF H 4 – 0 W Azadi Stadium, Tehran 40,000
28.11.2003 Asian Cup Qualifier H 1 – 0 W Azadi Stadium, Tehran 20,000
19.11.2003 Asian Cup Qualifier A 3 – 0 W Madina Al Riyadhiya, Beirut 5,000
03.09.2002 WAFF / Group 1 N 2 – 0 W Al Abbassyin  Stadium, Damascus 2000
12.10.2000 Asian Cup / Group A A 4 – 0 W Sports City, Beirut 52,418
13.11.1996 Friendly / Friendly A 0 – 0 D Beirut 50,000

TEAM MELLI COACHING REVIEW

Team Melli is enjoying the view from the top in Group A of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying rounds. A statistical analysis rather than a scientific one gives Team Melli a 68% chance of qualifying to Qatar as the table stands now. With just one match short of halfway, that is a high percentage and a source of confidence for the fans in the team looking ahead for a historical milestone, the third consecutive qualification to the World Cup finals.

However, there is as always, a lot of room for development as all is not well. The focus of this article is on the coaching and the vital role the whole staff played in these results.

To start with and to make things clear, anyone who discredits the coach and places the success of the team purely on the individual players or other factors is either ignorant or has a grudge against the coach, and by God, there are a lot of them in Iran.

When the name of the new Team Melli coach was announced, many people asked, “Dragan who?”. The fans and critics should not be blamed because the reality was that Skocic was not a household name, and his CV contained the name of uninspiring Persian Gulf league clubs only. Not exactly on the same level of coaching Manchester United, Portugal National Team, South Africa, and even UAE which Carlos Queiroz had. Even the doomed Marc Wilmots had a much better CV.

So, the pessimism of the fans could be justified, and the doubters started growing in numbers as some mainstream Iranian media looked like it was on a mission to subconsciously destroy the Croatian Dragan Skočić. Reminiscing about the glorious days of Carlos Queiroz while finding faults in Skočić tactics or players selection, to the extent of making up stories. The fact that the Portuguese coach did not achieve any championships or titles and failed to win the AFC Asian Cup twice, seemed not to matter!

Others, in the minority, had a different idea and believed anything is better than Marc Wilmots, which in reality, made sense as Belgian has to go on record as one of the worst coaches who sat on the bench of Team Melli.

But Dragan Skočić proved his doubter wrong. He prevailed and did not give up against his domestic opponents winning one match after another, breaking records in the process, and having a high chance of qualifying to the World Cup while we have not reached even the halfway stage.

Football is not exactly rocket science. It is popular because it is such a simple game to play and understand (although offside rules and when a handball is a handball is still confusing millions of people across the World).

As such errors by players and coaches are easily recognized especially in these days of technological advances. So, although the coach and his assistances, know them inside out of the team, the capabilities of his player, physical condition, and most importantly the emotional and the psychological status of his players which always remains out of view for the fans, the team mistakes in many areas can be singled out by expertise and critics.

Provided there is no ill intent, the criticism of a coach can benefit him.  Dragan Skočić, who undoubtedly and unequivocally has done a marvelous job since his appointment, can really gain pointers and benefits from the view outside the box.

Here we will only mention three areas of concern with the way Skocic manages the team

Game Plan: Predictable, lacks diversity, and seems like an open book to the opposing coach. Team Melli is heavily suffering in the midfield that has no imagination and low effectiveness. With a lack of pace, which is no fault of the coach, he does need to offer a solution which is not doing right now. Players like Azmoun and Taremi need services to be effective and they are not getting it. When a player in the caliber of Saman Ghoddos is available but warming the bench, one must question the coach’s reading of the game.

In modern football, it is the midfield where battles are won and lost. The tactics of the world’s leading teams are fundamentally midfield dependent, Skocic chose otherwise. It is his call of course and his selection of game plan, but it is clear that ignoring the midfield might become a  risky matter especially against the pressing teams.

Perhaps Taremi, Azmoun, and Jahanbakhsh in one line forward is not the right strategy for Team Melli. He needs to experiment with one forward and pack the midfield with players using the flanks with pace and ball crossing skills. Never mind the ego of these superstars, the interest of the Team is above the interest of the individuals.

 Many past coaches on Team Meli had some obsession of playing a certain limited number of players, hardly changing the squad or the starting lineup. it seems Skocic is joining that league. It is not an effective mindset and detrimental to the team and the capable players sitting on the bench waiting for a possibly 30-second cameo show.

Substitutions: This is where many coaches excel or fail. While Skocic has made a few effective substitutions, he is guilty of not utilizing his expensive and experience players. And what is this with minute 90+5 substitutions that he is been using? Such substitution is an utter waste of time, bordering idiocy. In fact, many coaches do that for no logical reason and the rest have the herd mentality and simply imitate. A player needs at least 15 minutes to be effective, anything less than that is just a game of luck nothing more.

Preparations & Readiness: It is quite embarrassing for Team Melli to go into an official match with absolute minimum preparation. There is where the character of the Team Melli coach needs to stand out and prevail. If the lack of international friendly matches is due to Skocic, then he needs to rectify his way and start planning and programming for FIFA days like a professional. If the fault is because of Azizi Khadem and his bureaucrats in FFIRI, then Skocic needs to impose himself and strongly demand proper perpetration for the National Team with international friendly matches as a priority. Skocic cannot afford to do trial game plans and tactical changes in competition match as it may turn out costly. Every respectable team in the world arranges friendlies, Iran is becoming the odd exception and frankly a disgrace. it is worrying by all accounts.

Skocic consciously reduced number of midfield players.

The head coach of Team Melli says that he knows that his team has a problem in the middle of the field.

According to ISNA, the Iranian national football team stopped today (Tuesday) in its fourth match in the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar against South Korea with a result of one, one.

“In the first half, we realized that we had a problem in the middle of the field and we tried to reduce the distance between the Iranian and Korean players by making changes,” Iran’s coach Dragan Skocic told a news conference after the match.

“We knew we had a three-on-three duel in the middle of the field. In the second half, we had a better view with the addition of the Nourafkan. In the first half, I was aware that if the two strikers went forward, the balance would be upset, but I did it consciously.”

“All the players did their best,” commenting in a question about Sardar Azmoun’s performance

“Today was not the best day for Sardar, but he is one of our most important and key players. His goal in the previous stage made us reach this stage of the competition and continue the dream. “

Asked what he expects ahead for his team and its mission to qualify for the World Cup, Skocic said explained: “I am not satisfied with the result of today’s draw and I am not convinced, but I must say that Korea was a great team and has world-class players. Today’s game was against our direct opponent. We move forward with positive thinking and we are alert to the shortcomings and need to solve the team’s problems and have a better performance.”

Asked if he was surprised in the first half against Korea, Skocic said: “If you had listened to me, you would have realized that we were not surprised. We consciously decided to have more players on the offensive line and the reason for that was to increase the pressure on their defenses. But when we realized that such a plan is upsetting the team balance, we changed the tactics. We were ready for other events. I repeat that I deliberately reduced the number of midfielders and it was a risk that I accepted as head coach.“

Top of the table clash ends in a draw- Iran 1 – 1 Korea Rep

Team Melli drew 1-1 with Korea Rep in a top-of-the-table clash in Azadi. The hosts scored first in 48th minutes by Son Heung-Min while Iran’s equalizer came through Alireza Jahanbakhsh assisted by Sardar Azmoun.

Both teams adopted a cautious approach in the first half, although the Koreans had the better ball possession at the beginning. Team Melli was content in defending or sending long direct balls to the forwards in the hope that either Azmoun or Taremi beat the solid Korean defense.

The rhythm of the game remained slow and lethargic with far too many easy missed passes by the two teams and both having problems in the final delivery of the ball. Despite the better ball possession, the Koreans have failed to register any shot on goal. As the game was in the last 5 minutes of the first half, it suddenly burst into action.

Sardar Azmoun tested the Korean keeper Kim Seung-Gyu from just inside the box with a powerful shot. The keeper could not control the ball and had to deflect with the ball somehow found Taremi. The FC Porto forward acrobatically hit a scissor kick that badly tested the keeper again, but Kim’s reflex and a fingertip save kept the ball from entering the net.

A third assault followed but to no avail.

Early in the second half, Son Heung-Min did what he does best. With one shift of the body, he easily left Sadegh Moharrami for dead and was one on one with Beiranvand. The Tottenham winger made no mistake finding the net. Iran 0 -1 Korea.

It was then that Team Melli came alive starting with a rather bold substitution by Skocic. He introduced Omid Nourafkan instead of ineffective Gholizadeh.  Nourafkan, who is originally a midfielder would be playing as the left-back and winger. However, it was the same old same old with this player. It only took him 6 minutes to get a yellow card for another silly foul. He is now suspended after two consecutive cards in two games.

The change in game plan was working well for Team Melli but there was always the threat of a quick counterattack. Saeid Ezatollahi hit a delightful shot against the woodwork as Iran was denied an equalizer. The attacks continued while Team Melli’s defenders dealt very well with the Korean counters. The Koreans were unable to penetrate the walls and hardly gave Beiranvand any trouble.

Team Melli equalized on minute 76 when Sardar Azmoun did a brilliant job of following what looked like a wasted ball on the left of Korean keeper Kim who followed the ball initially but retreated when he realized that Sardar was faster and closer to the ball.  Azmoun controlled the difficult ball just before it crossed the line and crossed towards the on-rushing Jahanbakhsh. The team Melli captain scored from a header again to maintain parity with the Koreans. With few minutes left on the match, Taremi hit a swerving shot that once again bounced from the post, the second time in the match that Iran hits the woodwork

In the last minute of injury time, there was a scare for Team Melli but Beiranvand heroically saved his goal and parried a ground shot into a corner kick.

Pre-match Preview Iran vs. Korea Rep. Lessons to be learned.

With Team Melli sitting comfortably at the top, this particular match remains the most crucial of all the matches. A win by Iran will lead to practically unassailable command for Team Melli and 70% of the mission accomplished towards the qualification for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Of course, the results of other matches are also significant, but not as important as the three points of this one.

Korea Rep will always be a tough and uncompromising opponent for Team Melli never mind the Table or the Ranking. The Koreans are 14 places behind Iran in the FIFA Ranking of October 2021 and 59 points behind. No one should be fooled by such numbers though because the Koreans will surely give it all for this particular win.

FIFA RANKING

RK

Team
Total Points
Previous Points

+/-
22
IR Iran
 Iran
1538.08
 1522.04 16.04
26
Japan
 Japan
1520.46
 1529.45 -8.99
32
Australia
 Australia
1493.99
 1477.21 16.78
36
Korea Republic
 Korea Republic
1479.41
 1474.96 4.45

During the Queiroz era, this match would have been the right candidate for combustions. There was no love lost between Queiroz and the Korean coach. Eventually, Queiroz was instrumental in his counterpart losing his job following defeat to Team Melli. That is all settled now as no such hostility exists between Bento and Skocic.

Politics of the game aside, when it comes to the power, tactics, and influential players, the teams are neck and neck. There is, however, a marked decline of standard and form by the Koreans, versus the ascendency and improvement of Team Melli in the last few years, but particularly under Dragan Skocic.  Despite having arguably the best Asian player in its rank, in the shape of Son Heung-min , the Tottenham winger has been less than effective in a team of many new faces. The Iraqi’s managed to close all doors away to the Koreans,  with the match ending goalless. Lebanon was next where the Koreans won by the tightest of margins. Then came the third match against Syria. The match was drawn 1-1 until a momentary lapse of concentration in the 89th minute of the match by the excellent Syrian defense allowed Son Heung-min to score the easiest of goals and his first for his country since 2019. Son Heung-min was unmarked and the goal came from a set piece.

Sadegh Moharrami during a practice session before the Korea Rep match

The winning goal scored by the Koreans is a lesson to be learned by Team Melli. number one is that players should never relax against them and number two,  Son Heung-min can not be left unmarked in or around the box. That goal was similar in circumstances to the one that was conceded by Team Melli against Iraq in Amman in Round 2 of the same qualifiers, a goal that ended in defeat for Team Melli.

Singling Son Heung-min as their main threat is also misleading as there are many such good players in the squad, however, this team has been surprisingly profligate, wasteful, and squandering chances by the dozen in the last three matches. The other area where the team has seen a decline is the accuracy of the passes and the end result. While passing the ball around might appear neat, the final passes were mostly disappointing. In fact, the Koreans despite their control and passing stats in all three matches, have created only a handful of real scoring chances in relation to their superiority.

KOREA REPUBLIC MEN’S RANKING

The official World Rankings of the international Men’s team

36

40

17

69
Recent Ranking Average Ranking Highest Ranking Lowest Ranking

Team Melli’s perfect record in round three is also somehow misleading. Out of the three matches, only against Iraq that the team shined quite well and the result reflected the good performance. The last one played against UAE was perhaps the most worrying, but we can excuse the team performance as they were playing in a humid and warm climate that normally seeps the energy of players not accustomed to such conditions. As such it results in exhaustion, dehydration, adverse physical conditions, and lack of concentration. A very good example of that was the penalty kick carried out by Sardar Azmoun right at the end of regulation time of the match. His body language did not augur well for a player who is about to take a penalty. He was visibly tired and his feeble kick was easily saved by Khausaif, the UAE keeper.  The miss did not change the outcome, but it could have been costly in other circumstances. Another lesson to be learned by the coaching staff.

We cannot conclude any Team Melli match preview without mentioning the proverbial discipline. While Korea was lucky to get the winning goal against Syria, Iran were lucky not to lose their key central defender with around another half an hour to play. Such fouls like the one committed by Shojaa Khalilzadeh against Ali Mabkhout, was amateurish by a player who was until that time, one of the best players in the match. What instigated this foul was more emotional than tactical. Granted that Mabkhout beat him and was heading towards the goal at the edge of the penalty box, a professional and composed defender would have left his goalkeeper deal with the forward, after all, Beiranvand is one of the best in Asia especially since Mabkhoiut was not in full control of the ball anyway, and he runs behind to cover Beirnavand. Khalilzadeh, took the weaker option by pully Mabkhout!

It was all immaterial at the end because there was a VAR decision that an offside occurred earlier on and Shojaa’s red card was rescinded. A lesson learned? perhaps.

Mental and Emotional control, composure, and cool balanced heads are in short supply at team Melli level. There is always a possibility of combustion and fans have grown accustomed to seeing silly fouls and acts from the players. We just hope that tomorrow in Azadi against Korea is not one of those black days.

 

 

 

The Koreans intent to change history in Tehran.

the-afc.com
Tehran: Korea Republic have never won in Iran, but Paulo Bento’s side will see Tuesday’s top-of-the-table AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar clash as the perfect time to put that record right.
Seven times the Korea Republic men’s national team have ventured to Tehran, and a pair of draws – in 1977 and 2009 – are the best it has ever got for a team that has historically been one of Asia’s giants.
The last three visits to the famed Azadi Stadium have all yielded 1-0 defeats, and it has been six matches across 10 years since the Koreans have gotten the better of Team Melli at any venue.

With seven of a possible nine points accrued from three successive home games, and with attacking weapons like Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan in tow, Bento and co will be hoping the 2021 visit to the Iranian capital is the one which ends a decades-long drought, but they will arrive to find a star-studded and in-form opponent.
Boasting firepower of their own in the devastating strike duo of Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi – and buoyed by a perfect record of 10 wins from as many matches since Dragan Skočić took the head coach role at the outset of 2021 – Iran will hold no fear, even if the Azadi Stadium will remain empty.
Three wins from three and no goals conceded in the Final Round underlines Team Melli’s strength at the back as well as upfront and extends a remarkable run which has seen the team concede only seven goals in their last 25 Asian Qualifiers matches.
Thursday’s win over the United Arab Emirates in Dubai was emblematic of the dual strengths of Skočić’s side.

It was the quality and understanding of Taremi and Azmoun which created Iran’s goal, while the Emiratis, themselves featuring the prolific Ali Mabkhout, didn’t manage a single shot on target over the 90 minutes.
That victory puts Team Melli, even at this early stage, within sight of a third successive FIFA World Cup appearance.
With nine points, the Iranians are two ahead of Korea Republic and seven clear of a chasing pack featuring UAE, Lebanon, and Syria, meaning a draw or defeat on Tuesday would not derail their campaign, but a victory would represent a major accomplishment on an increasingly smooth Road to Qatar.
Iran v Korea Republic
Venue: Azadi Stadium, Tehran
Kick-off: 17:00 hours (UTC+3:30)