We have yet to reach our potential

[zereshk-ali]

This in an interesting chart of the historical rankings of some of our closest rivals (Chile, Ireland and Japan) in the current FIFA team rankings...


I have deliberately chosen teams from three different confederations and allowing for the occasional normalisation of the rankings (e.g. recently) I think there is a clear trend. Whilst the other teams have had a cyclical nature to their rankings, rising and falling according to their current team's strengths and weaknesses, Iran's movement since the start of the rankings has generally been upward.

I think this shows that our football is improving and we have yet to fulfill the potential we had before the revolution and war. Obviously there is still a long way to go in improving facilities and infrastructure but if you compare our improvement to three wealthier and more logistically developed and organised countries it is a tribute to the wealth of natural talent we have in Iran.

[pajamNL]

nice graphic! thanks!

[Martin-Reza]

It's amazing if you look at Branko's era (late 2001 - 2006). You can even see the result of Shahrokhi's spell in 2003

The downfall after Branko's era of course is the result of the modified ranking procedure after WC.

[zereshk-ali]

nice graphic! thanks!

you're welcome pajam jaan

[zereshk-ali]

It's amazing if you look at Branko's era (late 2001 - 2006). You can even see the result of Shahrokhi's spell in 2003
The downfall after Branko's era of course is the result of the modified ranking procedure after WC.

yes MR jaan, you're right that there was a modification.

But part of this downward adjustment is of course directly as a result of Asia's poor performance (and hence partially down to our own poor performance) at the world cup.

[Martin-Reza]

yes MR jaan, you're right that there was a modification.
But part of this downward adjustment is of course directly as a result of Asia's poor performance (and hence partially down to our own poor performance) at the world cup.

Sure, but basically we finished 25th in world Cup and all the non-participating nations got no points during that time while we still got a few, so with the old system I doubt we would have lost more than 3 or 4 spots.

[zereshk-ali]

yes, but the problem with your argument is this is as a result of a readjustment of the continental standings.

we cannot expect to have no Asian team in the 2nd round and then justify us finishing 25th out of 32 to remain in the top 30 of the FIFA rankings. So what if we finished as one of the 'best' last placed teams? This is not an achievement. If none of the Asian teams qualified as a 2nd round team, and Bahrain lost to Trinidad and Tobago then it's obvious that 4/5 places for Asia was too high and therefore our inclusion in the world cup itself is in question! Hence why should we get a ranking amongst the top 32 teams?

We finished as last place team in a group that contained Angola, a team that had a poor ranking even amongst African teams prior to the WC. This does not help!

The fact that European teams made up the last four realistically means that our position could not be realistically justified and Asia was accordingly moved down the rankings. This is directly as a result of our own poor performance.

[Martin-Reza]

I don't say that we didn't deserve to fall down, I just point out it wasn't due to the WC performance but mainly due to the reform.

[Ali Chicago]

I don't say that we didn't deserve to fall down, I just point out it wasn't due to the WC performance but mainly due to the reform.

Martin Jaan, maybe you are missing the point of his last post. I guess what is he trying to say is what was the cause of the reform? Poor performance of Asian team in general and Iran in patricular. Had our team made it to the second round in WC, do you think Iran's ranking would have droppoed (or at least by this much????).