Sweden vs. Iran
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As if we needed a reminder , if anything was learnt from the match in St. Poulten where Iran defeated Chile 2-0 , we learned that the gap between world football teams is narrowing. Despite the star studded Chile team where virtually the whole squad plays in major European leagues, a clever and hardworking Iran , which had only a couple of European based players in the second tier of the La Liga can beat the odds and win.
Team Melli can repeat the same excellent result Friends Arena against Sweden. Iran is expected to play 4-3-3, with the Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz choosing to play “European style ” with 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 defensive forward. As witnessed against Chile , Team Melli has the ability for a quick transition game and counter attack using the skills of players such as the excellent Ashkan Dejagah and equally superb Vahid Amiri. While attacking in depth, the team also plays an aggressive defensive game when needed. Teymourian and Nekounam have added to the versatility of Iran’s overall defensive game by defending from deep while feeding the offense with penetrating balls.
Sweden has for a long time chosen to play with a pronounced forward, in a sort of 4-3-3 lineup offensively and turned to 4-5-1 in the defensive. “Yes, we in the past had the need to become stronger centrally. With two forwards, depending on how they play together, you risk getting a little weaker in the middle of the field “ says coach Hamrén of Sweden.
”It will be a very interesting match against a good opponent who played a great World Cup although they did not win any match” said Reine Almqvist who saw their match against Chile on Friday. ”we have seen their matches on DVD, and they impress us” added Sweden head coach Hamrèn.
Judging by training sessions, it seems that Captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be playing from the start, possibly with Marcus Berg next to him instead of Isaac Kiese.
The match seems to be a closely fought affair. Team Melli had always what it takes to challenge the big boys. This Chile game result, while making waves and some headlines especially in the British newspapers, is not unique by any standards. In fact, if we needed a reminder, Team Melli beat Russia in a friendly while giving their opponent which has not been beaten for 12 matches, quite a frustrating time. Iran played some superb football against the powerful Russians in the last match before the same Carlos Queiroz took over as a coach.
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What it takes, apart from the players that have ability and skills to play at the top , is some desire and courage. A team with a winning mentality, players who have the capacity to win , a team that is thinking of scoring rather than parking the bus for damage limitation.
Simply put, winning a game starts with establishing a winning mine set.
There are some very good players in the Swedish team, but it is hardly a formidable one and defiantly not as strong as the Chileans on paper. But in Sweden, there is one world class player who can make a difference in Zlatan Ibrahimovic. This eccentric player has his ups ad down. He is moody, arrogant and superb. If he chooses, he can win matches single handed, being a class of his own , or if he is not in such jolly mood , he plays like a stroll in the park type of football.
If this is the last match of Iran under Carlos Queiroz as the Portuguese coach himself and FFIRI boss Kaffashian leads us to believe, then the fans hope that Queiroz will leave with a real bang. And that would be to go for some entertaining football in this friendly. Daring but logical game plan will leave Queiroz with lasting reputation and fond memories with Team Melli fans.
The Portuguese coach does have some niggling tendencies in picking players and does things that are enigmatic to the rest of us, such as playing one lethargic player like Shojaei, and insisting on picking a forward who has not scored all season in Ansarifard , but he is undoubtedly still the fan’s favorite with a large percentage of approval points.
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Possible Starting Line Ups:
Sweden:
Andreas Isaksson (vice-captain), P Bengtsson, Andreas Granqvist, M Olsson, Anton Tinnerholm, S Larsson, Pontus Wernbloom, K Kallstrom, ErkanZengin, Z Ibrahimovic (captain), Johan Elmander, O Toivonen
Iran:
Alireza Haghighi, Pejman Montazeri, J Hosseini, V. Ghafouri, H Beikzadeh, Javad Nekounam (Captain), A Teymourian, Masoud Shojaei, H Amiri, Reza Ghoochannejhad
FIFA RANKING
Sweden is the 45th team in the FIFA current Ranking, which is their lowest FIFA ranking in their football history ever. Highest was 2nd at November 1994.
Iran in the 42nd Place (March ’15) . Their best ranking was 15th