Iran Uzbek Analysis

[faraz]

-the right side was clearly rejuvenated with a true out n out winger

-the left side was non-existant

-rahman rezaei's performance was the worst i've ever seen from him, 1 or 2 more games like this and it is clear rahman is on a downhill slope and we should perhaps bring in a new, young and motivated defender to take the reigns in the defence line

-hosseini's performance was heroic, i can't remember one missed header and his goal was world class, he is clearly the future of our defence line

We also learned that not panicking (like many in the forum did) as soon as we conceded a goal obviously works in your favour. They scored early, and in the first half, were not giving an inch of space. There was no way Uzbekistan was going to keep up the constant blistering pressurizing of our midfield/defence as it was doing in the first half. They ran out of steam, and our 2nd half was completely solid.

There are many other things one can say, but in the end, i'm just pleased with the result. This was not an easy game, pressure filled with high expectations, and we got out of it with a win - something Japan and Australia couldn't do with lesser opponents.

Well done to a successful first game.

[Kavian]

This was a very luckluster performance by Iran. I said it before and I say it again, inclusion of Zandi in our defense line is a big mistake. He should be part of midfield or even forward line. He showed today that infront of speedy and strong forwards he could be very volunarable. Aghili is the best choice we have in defense line. The reason Rezai didn't perform well, was becuase he was not only manning the middle, but he was also covering for the left back.

Iran has always benefited from speedy wingers and today was a testimony to that. Javad Kazemian made a big difference in our team and for me he was our true hero.

Teymourian and Nekonam should not be played along each other. The combination is not producing. In fact I have not been impressed with either of them today at all.

Karimi should be part of our offense line.

Khatibi should be sent back to Iran. He is no TM material. I have no idea why he is included in the team.

And much more .. but I am at work and cannot write anymore ...frustrated with the performance!

[Haf3z]

One thing that disturbed me a lot in the first half was the inability to play the ball on the ground. Even Karimi would choose the easy way out and to cross the ball without really aiming at a specific player. Truth is that our best goal chances were "created" by through balls from our offensive midfielders and by forward runs from our wingers/strikers.

Karimi did 2-3 good things this game, he was invisible the rest of the time. I wish we had Massoud Shojaei in the squad because I am sure he would have played better than Karimi in this particular game.

Ando played well and showed that he has been developing his passings in Bolton. He is also a bit more technical today than 12 months ago.

Javad Nekounam can do much better, I want to see him deeper on the pitch, offering Rahman and Jalal an alternative. He is one of our best passingplayers and from there he can play the ball furhter to the other midfielders more dynamically.

The Uzbeks pressed us high up on the field and that requires better passes than Khatibi's and Enayati's. Those 2 had a bad game and I expect to see Khatibi on the bench against China. Kaebi and Kazemian are waaaay better!

Zandi on the left back post is terrifying. Something must be done.

Ghalenoi was sent off and that is not so good because we face China in the next game and they are strong. TM needs to be better prepared for that game than they were today!