You want a review of the game? We qualified directly. That should be enough.
Yes, some of us recognized this is one of those rare chances to drub the c0cky Koreans in front of their home crowd as this edition of the Korean team was nowhere near the old Asian powerhouse they used to be. But still, this was no small team and the war or words in the run up to the game made things less predictable. And I am extremely happy we capitalized on this chance and added something to the records that we can be proud of.
The game wasn’t pretty. Not by a mile. We also didn’t show an attractive style of football. But we knew this and our objectives dictated differently.
All 10 men in the team played well. And to achieve an unprecedented victory on the Korean soil with one man short, is something that will last for many years to come.
The defense was set very well and they played with a kind of discipline that we have rarely seen from them. Hosseini , Montazeri and Sadeghi must have found an extra gear for this game (for which, we must thank the undiplomatic Mr. Choi, the beleaguered Korean coach who had to resort to verbal battles to create an urgency among his players). They handled the two tall Korean strikers (18 and 20) so well that both these guys got so frustrated that they had to resort to violence. One incident, their captain, #20 had a very rough body check on Ando which warranted at least a yellow, but was let off by the Chinese ref!!
On the wings, Both Heidari and Beikzadeh had a more restrained duties and tasks which they carried out so well to force the Koreans who traditionally are great in wing play, resort to pumping balls from the middle, straight up into our 18. Something that played right into CQ’s tactics of appointing 2 tall beasts who faced all these balls and if they didn’t have the first contact, they didn’t allow shinwook (#18) to be able to feed anyone.
Ando’s non stop running and Nekounam’s experience also helped in checking the runners from the middle and intercepting shinwook’s feeds.
Jabbari, like the other recent games faded in and out of the game. But the few times he had a touch, he made those touches count. Although I assume this ultra defensive kind of situation did not suit his game.
And finally RGN, our man up front where he doggedly ran and ran. Tried to force the Koreans to keep at least one, if not two defenders to mark him. And even though he didn’t receive too many balls, he still did what he was told. But his great intelligence came when he finally got his one chance and made it count. His hassling the young Korean defender and not giving up only proves how hard working a chap he is. Loved his never give up attitude. And his curler only reminded me of David Villa and such super stars of the world of football.
There was another chap whom I thought he was playing for Iran. But with repeated passes and feeding of the Korean players, I corrected myself and my flawed perception. He seemed like their playmaker as he consistently fed their attackers and started their attacks and transitions. But his jersey was a bit discolored and faded. I don’t know why the Korean FA didn’t give him the same color jersey! My only point is how did we allow this chap to freely pass to their attackers and midfielders? Where was our marking? Very disappointed in CQ for ignoring this player.
Therefore we must really admire our Team Melli for stepping into that atmosphere (already poisoned by the Korean coach and silly players) with 10 men and once again, proving to the Koreans we can beat them with 10 men. Hats off to them.
I end with someone I would call the Man Of the Match, Rahman Ahmadi, who despite not inspiring great confidence in most fans, with his great exits, punches, parries and most importantly, fantastic double saves was instrumental in us advancing to the WC as group toppers for the very first time. His fantastic display clearly made Rahmati’s absence a thing of the past.
Subs:
I am not sure if Rezaei as our first sub was the right one. Yes, the Koreans were coming forward and we could use a little pace. But after his abysmal performance last week, I wouldn’t have used him. Perhaps Khalatbari would have been a better choice if we were going for pace up front. However, I would have brought in a taller player like Hatami who could help the midfield relieve some pressure off the defense, as more and more crosses and lobs were pumped into our defensive areas.
Hajsafi also was the right choice, but should have been done far FAR earlier, like at the beginning of the second half. He used his physicality, pace and ball skills well and in those few minutes did 10 times more good things than the fool he replaced, in his entire miserable, pathetic 82 minutes.
But for me, THE best scene of the entire match happened after the ref whistled and declared the end of the game. It was when I saw CQ pump his first and show how serious he was about this game. This proved the Koreans simply misread or were advised very wrongly to start a controversy with our team. And seeing CQ’s wide eyes, pumping and gesturing towards the Korean coach (I presume) just captured the whole tie for me. Loved seeing that.
I just wonder where the bloody hell this fire in the belly was early into our campaign. A little bit of this from the start, would have seen us qualify even before the final game. But as it seems, we Iranians need to inject as much drama into things as humanly possible!
More later. As I am just too pumped and happy to even mention what was going on in the other game.
Congratulations everyone. Now, I gotta catch my flight back home! (and since the forum is totally down, I don’t know when I can actually post this)
Yes, some of us recognized this is one of those rare chances to drub the c0cky Koreans in front of their home crowd as this edition of the Korean team was nowhere near the old Asian powerhouse they used to be. But still, this was no small team and the war or words in the run up to the game made things less predictable. And I am extremely happy we capitalized on this chance and added something to the records that we can be proud of.
The game wasn’t pretty. Not by a mile. We also didn’t show an attractive style of football. But we knew this and our objectives dictated differently.
All 10 men in the team played well. And to achieve an unprecedented victory on the Korean soil with one man short, is something that will last for many years to come.
The defense was set very well and they played with a kind of discipline that we have rarely seen from them. Hosseini , Montazeri and Sadeghi must have found an extra gear for this game (for which, we must thank the undiplomatic Mr. Choi, the beleaguered Korean coach who had to resort to verbal battles to create an urgency among his players). They handled the two tall Korean strikers (18 and 20) so well that both these guys got so frustrated that they had to resort to violence. One incident, their captain, #20 had a very rough body check on Ando which warranted at least a yellow, but was let off by the Chinese ref!!
On the wings, Both Heidari and Beikzadeh had a more restrained duties and tasks which they carried out so well to force the Koreans who traditionally are great in wing play, resort to pumping balls from the middle, straight up into our 18. Something that played right into CQ’s tactics of appointing 2 tall beasts who faced all these balls and if they didn’t have the first contact, they didn’t allow shinwook (#18) to be able to feed anyone.
Ando’s non stop running and Nekounam’s experience also helped in checking the runners from the middle and intercepting shinwook’s feeds.
Jabbari, like the other recent games faded in and out of the game. But the few times he had a touch, he made those touches count. Although I assume this ultra defensive kind of situation did not suit his game.
And finally RGN, our man up front where he doggedly ran and ran. Tried to force the Koreans to keep at least one, if not two defenders to mark him. And even though he didn’t receive too many balls, he still did what he was told. But his great intelligence came when he finally got his one chance and made it count. His hassling the young Korean defender and not giving up only proves how hard working a chap he is. Loved his never give up attitude. And his curler only reminded me of David Villa and such super stars of the world of football.
There was another chap whom I thought he was playing for Iran. But with repeated passes and feeding of the Korean players, I corrected myself and my flawed perception. He seemed like their playmaker as he consistently fed their attackers and started their attacks and transitions. But his jersey was a bit discolored and faded. I don’t know why the Korean FA didn’t give him the same color jersey! My only point is how did we allow this chap to freely pass to their attackers and midfielders? Where was our marking? Very disappointed in CQ for ignoring this player.
Therefore we must really admire our Team Melli for stepping into that atmosphere (already poisoned by the Korean coach and silly players) with 10 men and once again, proving to the Koreans we can beat them with 10 men. Hats off to them.
I end with someone I would call the Man Of the Match, Rahman Ahmadi, who despite not inspiring great confidence in most fans, with his great exits, punches, parries and most importantly, fantastic double saves was instrumental in us advancing to the WC as group toppers for the very first time. His fantastic display clearly made Rahmati’s absence a thing of the past.
Subs:
I am not sure if Rezaei as our first sub was the right one. Yes, the Koreans were coming forward and we could use a little pace. But after his abysmal performance last week, I wouldn’t have used him. Perhaps Khalatbari would have been a better choice if we were going for pace up front. However, I would have brought in a taller player like Hatami who could help the midfield relieve some pressure off the defense, as more and more crosses and lobs were pumped into our defensive areas.
Hajsafi also was the right choice, but should have been done far FAR earlier, like at the beginning of the second half. He used his physicality, pace and ball skills well and in those few minutes did 10 times more good things than the fool he replaced, in his entire miserable, pathetic 82 minutes.
But for me, THE best scene of the entire match happened after the ref whistled and declared the end of the game. It was when I saw CQ pump his first and show how serious he was about this game. This proved the Koreans simply misread or were advised very wrongly to start a controversy with our team. And seeing CQ’s wide eyes, pumping and gesturing towards the Korean coach (I presume) just captured the whole tie for me. Loved seeing that.
I just wonder where the bloody hell this fire in the belly was early into our campaign. A little bit of this from the start, would have seen us qualify even before the final game. But as it seems, we Iranians need to inject as much drama into things as humanly possible!
More later. As I am just too pumped and happy to even mention what was going on in the other game.
Congratulations everyone. Now, I gotta catch my flight back home! (and since the forum is totally down, I don’t know when I can actually post this)
