FIRST HALF:
1- We knew it was going to be a very drab, dour confrontation with the ultimate cautious cynics, north korea playing their usual packed, physical defensive game. So anyone expecting great quality football or highly skillful flashes of technique was going to be highly disappointed. And b my God, it was as bad as that … and more!
2- I think replacing ando with the fresh legs of Pejman was a very good idea. So was giving Ansarifard a chance at the post. Nothing against gholami, though, who did contribute to the Iraq game through physical presence and constant running. But I think Ansarifard brings in a little more finesse (as opposed to gholami’s more brute physical force). Whatever the reason for benching Shojaei (illness or poor performance) ghotbi has my support.
The only issue is replacing the lively rezaei with haidari! That didn’t sit well with me. I’d have preferred to see a player who had the ability to score goals also. As it is our offense suffers due to lack of scoring. So I don’t see why we replace a goal scorer with someone who’s only a provider and scores only once in a year or more! I’d have liked haidari coming in as the RB. Coz I really doubt our flanks are going to be under such pressure to sacrifice a goal scorer like rezaei at RW, for nosrati’s presence at RB.
3- N-Korea is playing a very rough and physical one, perhaps trying to scare our midfielders from playing the ball. They’re just going in rashly and looks like they don’t care if they Injure our players, or at least put the scare of injury in them to force them to release the ball sooner than necessary!
Not that is makes a difference as aghili has been hoofing it with alarming regularity!!! Lob after useless lob!! What the hell? We’re back to ghotbi’s pet tactic: lob the f**k out of the ball at every chance possible!
4- Iman is lost in the middle of all this sk1rmish & rough play in midfield. He’s getting out-muscled and roughed up at every ball he receives. I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t sustain some injury during the game if this goes on (or the ref allows it).
5- All in all, quite an UGLY display of football in the first half …. Exactly how the north Koreans like it!!!
6- Hajsafi has been lively going forward, which is more suitable to his style. But we already knew this. It is his defending that is suspect. He’s doing ok, so far though. But north Koreans aren’t as adept at using the flanks as the likes of south korea or Australia, who will be relentless. So I wouldn’t put too much in store of this display.
7- THAT WAS NOT A HAND BALL!!!!!!!!!
THAT WAS A CLEAR GOAL. no hand ball, no foul. Nothing. That was a clear goal that the stupid ref denied us!!!!!
8- After our “good” (but unaccounted) goal, our lads started some nice passing game and put pressure on the koreans’ defense, but I guess having so few players who CAN SCORE GOALS, let us down at this moment.
9- Poor game by mobaali. I think he shd either get his act together or he’ll be subbed soon.
10- Pejman has been lively so far and is not making the absence of Ando felt by the team.
11- Very poor shooting by our lads, though! This is something that needs desperate attention. They SHOULD be able to shoot better than this. Their few shots are so off target, sometimes it’s embarrassing!
12- North korea is very lucky to end the half on zero-zero. The stupid ref robbed us of a perfectly good goal
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SECOND HALF:
1- No surprise to see mobaali subbed out. And with Md. Nouri, a more attacking mid, hopefully we’ll have more chances and pressure on the Korean goal. not to mention nouri’s heading, which could help with haidari’s crosses. I’d like to see more crosses from the left too, now that we have a tall lad like nouri to head the balls.
2- Pejman has been the revelation of the game so far. With his untiring runs, defense as well as surges forward, he’s really a live-wire out there. Imagine having both ando and pejman in the middle!!! They’d run for 5 players.
If only he would cut his bloody hair!!!
3- Nekounam has not really picked up his game! Compared to pejman in this game and ando in the other game, he’s come a distant second! Wonder what’s bothering him.
4- Khalatbari down the left flank has done a satisfactory job (considering the rough & physical game of north Koreans) and certainly far far better than shojaei. But I think his pace is well matched with the quick footed Koreans. I believe against uae, he’s be creating havoc down this side.
5- Aha! With rezaei coming in, and haidari moving back to RB, our right flank will be far more productive than before. Really, having both nosrati and heidari was a bit of defensive over-kill.
6- Absolutely beautiful goal. from hajsafi’s quick throw in, to pejman’s lovely run and marvelous cross and the highly professional tap-in by ansarifard. Simply magnificent.
This was one classy goal. and long due. All 3 players had a great hand in the goal.
Just loved it. Especially the presence of mind of hajsafi and pejman to get things going quickly (to catch defenders by surprise)
7- That was a very lucky moment for us as the korean captain could have scored the equalizer near the end of the game. That was one dangerous chance. and nekounam shd be extremely grateful to god, as he missed the ball which ended up with the korean captain. not very reassuring, I must say
The Koreans also had another moment where they almost penetrated through the center of our defense. And we got a bit lucky on this instance too. So maybe our CD’s need to work on their concentration, especially as things get near the end of the matches. A warning for the coaching staff to consider.
8- I liked how our lads ran the clock down near the opponents’ corner, instead of what they usually do, which is pull back and try to defend in front of our own goal (which usually allows for mistakes and even goals). Shows more thought and ontrol over emotions than usual
The main thing is they did try to play possession football (even as far back as 70th minutes). Good job and good strategy.
9- absolutely pathetic shooting stats!!!! 2 on target for Iran!!??!?!?
that's just pathetic.
why dont we practice shooting a bit? it's like entering a race with one tyre punctured already!
Bottomline: an expected UGLY game that suited the north Koreans. But the classy goal by ansarifard made it up for me.
The Aljazeera commentators have been swooning over him and have been pouring complements and praise for him … and deservedly so too.
1- We knew it was going to be a very drab, dour confrontation with the ultimate cautious cynics, north korea playing their usual packed, physical defensive game. So anyone expecting great quality football or highly skillful flashes of technique was going to be highly disappointed. And b my God, it was as bad as that … and more!
2- I think replacing ando with the fresh legs of Pejman was a very good idea. So was giving Ansarifard a chance at the post. Nothing against gholami, though, who did contribute to the Iraq game through physical presence and constant running. But I think Ansarifard brings in a little more finesse (as opposed to gholami’s more brute physical force). Whatever the reason for benching Shojaei (illness or poor performance) ghotbi has my support.
The only issue is replacing the lively rezaei with haidari! That didn’t sit well with me. I’d have preferred to see a player who had the ability to score goals also. As it is our offense suffers due to lack of scoring. So I don’t see why we replace a goal scorer with someone who’s only a provider and scores only once in a year or more! I’d have liked haidari coming in as the RB. Coz I really doubt our flanks are going to be under such pressure to sacrifice a goal scorer like rezaei at RW, for nosrati’s presence at RB.
3- N-Korea is playing a very rough and physical one, perhaps trying to scare our midfielders from playing the ball. They’re just going in rashly and looks like they don’t care if they Injure our players, or at least put the scare of injury in them to force them to release the ball sooner than necessary!
Not that is makes a difference as aghili has been hoofing it with alarming regularity!!! Lob after useless lob!! What the hell? We’re back to ghotbi’s pet tactic: lob the f**k out of the ball at every chance possible!
4- Iman is lost in the middle of all this sk1rmish & rough play in midfield. He’s getting out-muscled and roughed up at every ball he receives. I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t sustain some injury during the game if this goes on (or the ref allows it).
5- All in all, quite an UGLY display of football in the first half …. Exactly how the north Koreans like it!!!
6- Hajsafi has been lively going forward, which is more suitable to his style. But we already knew this. It is his defending that is suspect. He’s doing ok, so far though. But north Koreans aren’t as adept at using the flanks as the likes of south korea or Australia, who will be relentless. So I wouldn’t put too much in store of this display.
7- THAT WAS NOT A HAND BALL!!!!!!!!!
THAT WAS A CLEAR GOAL. no hand ball, no foul. Nothing. That was a clear goal that the stupid ref denied us!!!!!
8- After our “good” (but unaccounted) goal, our lads started some nice passing game and put pressure on the koreans’ defense, but I guess having so few players who CAN SCORE GOALS, let us down at this moment.
9- Poor game by mobaali. I think he shd either get his act together or he’ll be subbed soon.
10- Pejman has been lively so far and is not making the absence of Ando felt by the team.
11- Very poor shooting by our lads, though! This is something that needs desperate attention. They SHOULD be able to shoot better than this. Their few shots are so off target, sometimes it’s embarrassing!
12- North korea is very lucky to end the half on zero-zero. The stupid ref robbed us of a perfectly good goal
=================== ====================
SECOND HALF:
1- No surprise to see mobaali subbed out. And with Md. Nouri, a more attacking mid, hopefully we’ll have more chances and pressure on the Korean goal. not to mention nouri’s heading, which could help with haidari’s crosses. I’d like to see more crosses from the left too, now that we have a tall lad like nouri to head the balls.
2- Pejman has been the revelation of the game so far. With his untiring runs, defense as well as surges forward, he’s really a live-wire out there. Imagine having both ando and pejman in the middle!!! They’d run for 5 players.
If only he would cut his bloody hair!!!
3- Nekounam has not really picked up his game! Compared to pejman in this game and ando in the other game, he’s come a distant second! Wonder what’s bothering him.
4- Khalatbari down the left flank has done a satisfactory job (considering the rough & physical game of north Koreans) and certainly far far better than shojaei. But I think his pace is well matched with the quick footed Koreans. I believe against uae, he’s be creating havoc down this side.
5- Aha! With rezaei coming in, and haidari moving back to RB, our right flank will be far more productive than before. Really, having both nosrati and heidari was a bit of defensive over-kill.
6- Absolutely beautiful goal. from hajsafi’s quick throw in, to pejman’s lovely run and marvelous cross and the highly professional tap-in by ansarifard. Simply magnificent.
This was one classy goal. and long due. All 3 players had a great hand in the goal.
Just loved it. Especially the presence of mind of hajsafi and pejman to get things going quickly (to catch defenders by surprise)
7- That was a very lucky moment for us as the korean captain could have scored the equalizer near the end of the game. That was one dangerous chance. and nekounam shd be extremely grateful to god, as he missed the ball which ended up with the korean captain. not very reassuring, I must say
The Koreans also had another moment where they almost penetrated through the center of our defense. And we got a bit lucky on this instance too. So maybe our CD’s need to work on their concentration, especially as things get near the end of the matches. A warning for the coaching staff to consider.
8- I liked how our lads ran the clock down near the opponents’ corner, instead of what they usually do, which is pull back and try to defend in front of our own goal (which usually allows for mistakes and even goals). Shows more thought and ontrol over emotions than usual
The main thing is they did try to play possession football (even as far back as 70th minutes). Good job and good strategy.
9- absolutely pathetic shooting stats!!!! 2 on target for Iran!!??!?!?
that's just pathetic.
why dont we practice shooting a bit? it's like entering a race with one tyre punctured already!
Bottomline: an expected UGLY game that suited the north Koreans. But the classy goal by ansarifard made it up for me.
The Aljazeera commentators have been swooning over him and have been pouring complements and praise for him … and deservedly so too.
.
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