WCQ final draw

[Martin-Reza]

http://www.persianfootball.com/index...d=850&Itemid=2

Your thoughts?

I think Group A would really have been easier, but we still have a feasible task.

The first match in KSA will be very very important!

[Doctor DOOM]

I'm happy we avoided meeting Japan.
I'd take ksa over japan anyday.

I'm also happy we avoided bahrain. not becoz they're that strong , although they have improved. but becoz they play dirty. and games against them are always rife with unsportsmanship behavior, disgusting pre-game treatment by officials & bahrainis, starting from the moment we set foot in that place's airport to the hotel, to the training sessions, to the game itself and the crowd and .... etc !!!
and most importantly, their team plays like a bunch of rabid animals and I always fear possible injuries to our players.
so I'm very happy we dont have to go through that crap.

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MD 8: June 6, 2009 - DPR Korea v Iran
MD 9: June 10, 2009 - Iran v. UAE
MD 10: June 17, 2009 - South Korea v. Iran

We go to Korea, then back to Iran and 3 days later play the UAE ... allow for a day of travel & jet lag , you end up with BARELY 2 days before the uae game !!!

then again, travel to Korea to play South korea 6 days later. it'll be more like 4 days later!

without any rest for players, especially when we count the couple of days lost in airports and traveling itself.

for this kind of scheduling, we need a very strong BENCH.
players that are as good as the main team players, so they can be used for the UAE game.

the kind of players that daei can rest guys like khalili, karimi, aghili, hosseini, nekunam, rezaei.

fortunately we do have players who can come in for these guys, like
ando for nekunam.
nosrati for aghili.
jabbari/shojaei for karimi
but if we dont call kia and use kaabi in defense, then we HAVE TO call up kazemian as the sub for rezaei.


Daei must see if he has a good set of bench players as good as the main team.
he ought to be drawing up around 3 players for each and every post in his team. try all these players in the run up in test games and friendlies.
then pick the best 2. coz I dont think once the next phase starts, coaches can change their roster. or can they?
coz if the can, then life would be much easier.

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If by the uae game, we arent in a position to garner the required points for the direct game, I'd even go so far as to say since our N korea game is on JUNE 6th and the S Korea game is after 10 days, I'd say Daei and IFF shd try the following:

- keep around 4 players of the main team in the east. let them travel from N korea to S korea. be the guests of our embassy, for god's sake and relax and train peacefully.
depending on the number of points required, I'd say it can vary from 2 defenders, a midfielder and a striker, to something like 2 midfielders & 2 strikers.

however if we are in a position to sew up direct qualification with the uae game, then bring all the top guns and play ur heart out, to make the trip to S korea a formality.

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I'm also happy we are done with the away game to saudi and uae earlier on.
we know they both will try to do as much as they can to cause trouble for us.
I'd rather go through it as early as possible, to avoid the last minute stress and frustrations.

[Mr.Click]

let's see how Australia (and FIFA) is/are going to react to Bahrain's as well as Qatar's dirty tactics..

I would love to see TM getting 6 points against Saudis and knock them out of WC... sweet revenge for 02!

we need to play smart football and refurbish our attacking tactics... Hash and Kia will be needed and they must be cooperative with the coach if they are fielded late in the game or subbed out early..

on the side note, invite an opportunistic goal scorer .. someone like M.Karimi..

btw, I like our group...couldn't be any better

[The-Red]

DD jan, I actually think this is a tough group...I really wanted to avoid being in the group that has 3 of the big boys and just be grouped with the seeded team and no other big team...here, we have to travel to the far east tiwce, and as know IFF can simply NOT plan long trips well,,,,remember the trip to Mexico last year???
N Korea is an improved team from 4 years ago, they tied S korea twice at the group stage, we will not have an easy task against them, at least in Korea we might struggle....
KSA, as we all know they hate us as much as we hate them....in the past 30 years the rivaly between the two has been the only real big rivally in the middle east for us and their usual dirty tactics always get the job done in their favor when it matters...we beat, but they seem to be the team that advance from our group always...'97, '02...also I don't like the fact that UAE is in there, and most likley will work in favor of the saudies more than any other team in the group....

I personally would not want to think about a 3rd place finish and a playoff as we would have to face probably the Uzbs, one of the most in form teams of late in asia and....well, maybe IFF and Daie need to realize that with our current team, our chances our not very good of finishing top 2 if recent form is any inidication, even tho I do realize S korea has not been the Korea we have known and our only chance would be if they slip up and we manage to take over them...I think they will have a fit team for the final round tho, unlike the first group stage.
Kia, Karimi, Hashemina are crucial in the next round...Daie MUST realize that he can NOT do it with simply the young team that we have now.....
we need preparation, we will need not just promises by IFF,,,we need friendlies and all the IPL teams to work with TM in the next year or so....this is a tough group guys, really I think it is...tougher that what we could have gotten, I think.

as for daie again, at this point, everyone must support the guy and hope and pray for his and TM's success cause not making it to the wc will set us back so much in footballing terms.

Let's GO Iran, Let's hope there are at least one or two ppl in the IFF that from the bottem of their heart want to see this team in the IFF and have some power to make it happen, assist and get the support of the regime insiders to do all that is possible and provide everything that daie asks for to make the wc....I don't care if we play crappy, we must get points and put ourselves in a position where we are not going into the last game in a must win or even must draw situation.

[zzgloo]

1- we avoided three teams we least wanted to play against: Australia,Bahrain,and japan.

2-The fifa article,contrary to what,martin-reza e aziz,belives, was correct to give us the third chance...based on other two haveing better records ,as well as sluggish currant state of TM.

3-The single most important opponant for us , is the saudi arabia, as our results with them will prove our faith and out come in this group...and consiquently, our away game with them..............therefore, our most decieding game ,in this turnement, is our very first game !

[Martin-Reza]

2-The fifa article,contrary to what,martin-reza e aziz,belives, was correct to give us the third chance...based on other two haveing better records ,as well as sluggish currant state of TM.

At least to me there's a difference between third chance and being an outsider (on same level with DPR Korea!).

[The-Red]

I just hate seeing KSA in our group...since the early 80s and since I remember we have had trouble with them, with us almost always falling short against them when it counted the most...asian cup 84, asian cup 96, wcq '97, wcq'02.
I hope UAE doesn't become their ***** this time like many other arab teams as soon as they lose the chance themselves, which is usually early in such tournament.s

[maij]

I don't believe that Saudi Arabia is the force that it used to be , in fact they have been on a downward trend since they lost a large number of senior players due to retirement.

They have a young and inexperienced team with that famous old guard "Nasser Al Jowhar" as their coach for the fifth or sixth time ( I lost count) after the prince got pissed off with the Argentine coach and fired him. The team lacks in confidence and has been criticized wildly in the media , although their hammering of Uzbekistan 4-0 in the last match of the qualifying rounds , raised their morale and confidence.

As for UAE , I very much doubt that they will do a "Gav-bandi" , it is not in their character and they have never been known to have such type of mentality. UAE is perhaps the cleanest team and most sportsmanship out of all the Persian Gulf states and unlike Qatar and Bahrain , they play with their own citizens , not mercenaries.

South Korea is also in the process of change. They don't seem to be formidable as they used to. North Korea on the other hand is on the rise. A very solid defense , but lacking firepower up the front.

If the previous results of the last round is anything to go by , I put UAE above the other teams as the main threat. But then again , this is the World Cup qualifiers, where the most unexpected can happen.

[yashar_fasihnia]

^
so they are in the same situation we are. we are beginning to improve and still have a long way with this young squad, and the same can be said about them!

[BehzadB]

neither A is tough nor B.. the tough group is the group that we'd be in, period.

KSA, SK, Australia, Japan, these are the top 4 teams, divide by 2, now Add in Iran to either group, that's the tougher one.. Right?

So I think we being in Group B makes B tougher than A, BUT , I think we would have been in a tougher situation if we were in group A instead of , say, Uzbek. Now we had to face Japan and Australia, the regulars at the WC.. specially with the Australians being really pissed off at Iran and Iraq.. specially Iran.. to those guys both are the same anyways..

anyways, I disagree with Daie, we got the better draw.. Group A would have meant play offs, instantly.. but I understand why he has to say that..

and in a way I agree with a the FIFA article, which one of the top 4 teams could they have taken out? they are the top 4 and until we beat some of these teams with some regularity, we are not going to be considered one of them..

I think We need 6 points out of the 4 games against KSA and SK.

[Doctor DOOM]

anyone knows if the roster can be changed during the games?
given how spread out the schedule is, logic would say teams shd be allowed to change their roster. no team can maintain the same 22 man squad for a whole year.

therefore, if it is so, then it gives us some flexibility to choose the right players for a particular game.

for examples, against the slower arabs teams, we can use a team with 2-3 really quick and speedy wingers and strikers. while having at least 2 or 3 tall defenders to counter their attacks.

but for the quick footed koreans, we could use a more physical and technical team that knows how to control the pace of the game , slow it down or quicken it as they like. and keep the ball. plus the physicality would be useful to apply pressure on the opponents. we could also use tall strikers for aerial attacks.

apart from the last 3 games, our games are pretty well spread out and I think Daei can first select his squad according to the needs of the game and he'd have enough time to work out the strategy for each specific match up.

[Martin-Reza]

^ For sure the roster can be changed. Anything else it wouldn't make sense.

I also downloaded the FIFA rules for this a while ago and they say you must name a preliminary squad, however, you can then change the players still anyway - pretty useless in my eyes to select a roster then...

Here the exact wording:

1. Each association entering the preliminary competition shall send the
FIFA general secretariat a provisional list of at least 50 prospective
players for the preliminary competition no later than 30 (thirty) days
before its first qualifying match. This list shall show each player’s last
name, first name, club, date of birth and passport number as well as
the coach’s last name, first name, date of birth and nationality.
2. This list is not binding. Further players may be added, showing the
same information, at any time but no later than the day before the
qualifying match in question.
3. 18 players may be entered on the list of players (11 players and 7
substitutes). The 11 (eleven) first-named players must start the match,
the other 7 (seven) are designated as substitutes. The numbers on the
players’ shirts must correspond with the numbers indicated on the
match sheet (numbers 1-18 only). All goalkeepers and the captain
must be identified as such.

[Hajagha]

Both groups are almost equally tough. With a slight difference between KSA or Bahrain as the seed C which we got KSA. On the other hand, between S. Korea and Australia in Seed A, Australia was the tougher which we avoided them... and Seed D Uzbekistan is a real tough team as well.

Every thing is on the paper. When the games start, we will see who is ready who's not.

[Doctor DOOM]

thanks MR.
I guess if you're allowed 50, then it shd be fine.

I was thinking more like fixing a 23 man squad.
50 gives u a lot of leeway and room for maneuvering
you can choose all sorts of players for all sorts of situations and tactics

[The-Red]

maij jan you live in the area and are more familiar with the Saudi team but I thought their performance in the asian cup, except the final match, had some resemblances to their old good team (knowing how to win games), even though not yet there.

here's the bottom line for me:
Assuming 14-15 points will give us at least the 2nd spot, which for sure it will==>
We MUST get 9-10 points from our 4 games against the UAE and N korea and that's of course is tougher in action than said, and that leaves 5-6 points to be gained from KSA and Skorea in the remaining 4 games we have against those two giants.
God forbids, losing to KSA away should not at all effect our mentality or be a huge set back if we don't lose points that we really shouldn't at home specially againt Nkorea and UAE...and remember, we will have a full 90K+ against KSA and even in the other home games which should make a difference considering KSA and Korea are relatively young teams.