POST-MATCH DISCUSSION | vs. Bahrain - Asian Cup 2015

[shahname]

Btw the refereeing of this match was starting to go on my nerve.

There was a very clear penalty on Poualiganji on a corner kick in the second half where he jumped to head the ball and the Bahraini defender just pushed him from blow. It was a clear penalty but not whistled.

Also all the offside calls... a couple of them were very very close and there was also an incidens where there was an offside call on Gucci while the broadcasting was showing a replay of another situation and the Aussie broadcast cleverly never showed a replay of the offside situation so we could see if it was right or not.

[Camran khan]

We need to win all 3 games, since UAE has a good chance of beating us on GD.

[Nariman]

Congratz Hajsafi, a true soldier.

Beautiful words as always, permission to use your photo of the offside?

I am disappointed you even ask, go ahead and use whatever you want bro.!

[Bi-honar]

Now, on a more technical side and the 2nd most positive aspect of the game to me:

Ghafouri was IMHO the man of the match. He steps into this game with only two caps and puts on a phenomenal performance.

But it's what was not clearly visible to most fans that made him the man of the match for me... that CQ believed in him so much, that not only he started him in this very important match with just two caps, but that the main part of his game plan was in fact built around Ghafouri's offensive abilities and overlapping runs with Ashkan.

CQ knew very well that Ashkan would be tightly marked by Bahrain's left defense and to some extent central defenders. By adding the overlapping runs from Ghafouri we not only created a lot of confusion for Bahrain on that side, but took a lot of pressure off our two other attacking midfielders - Shojaei and Hajsafi - and guess who scored the goals?!

But to understand how genius this tactic was, we also have to understand how those goals were created... both of them through overlapping runs from Ghafouri on the right which created the corners off of which we scored! Tactically brilliant from CQ, and technically brilliant from Ghafouri with the runs, Ando for delivery of those two corners, Ashkan for the great holding plays and Ehsan and Masoud for the fine finishing.

Speaking of Masoud, I've talked about this a few times and actually brought it up again right before the game... he loves playing and shines in games played at sea level and sub-tropical conditions... on that note, I think Australia is his time to shine as he's getting close to the end of his career as well and will be making room for some up and new coming talents like Rafei. So, I hope he makes his mark on this tournament on a grand scale.

[Team Melli Fan]

That one's not an offside in my eyes. And that was our best play of the game. Would've been a nice goal.

[khodam]

We need to win all 3 games, since UAE has a good chance of beating us on GD.

UAE #10 in the midfield was an impressive player (although he was challenged with a very poor Qatar). All teams in this group hope for a tie with Iran. But I still think both UAE and Qatar were really slow to cause any danger for Iran. If anything, I think Bahrain is a better team than both UAE and Qatar and would see them advancing along with Iran.

[Bi-honar]

Now on some negative aspects of the game:

I felt that the officiating was terrible. The whole idea of having 3 Australian Refs, officiating an Iran game in Melbourne, which has nothing but TERRIBLE memories for the Aussies stunk from the get-go. Asking these guys to officiate the game without bias is like having expected a Dodo bird to grow bigger wings and fly!

Aside from the terrible offside calls against TM, what really helped Bahrain was the non-stop fouling (25 that were called!) and getting away with a single yellow card. On the other hand Ehsan gets a yellow card just for putting the ball in the net after the whistle with no warning!

The fouls obviously killed a lot of TM's momentum and the lack of yellow cards encouraged Bahrain to just keep doing it. When you have players constantly coming at you to take you out, it's tough to hold on to the ball and play your usual game. I think Bahrain played a VERY rough game and are lucky not to have left this game with at least 5 or 6 yellow.

But putting a positive spin on it, if they weren't going to get a red in this game, it's best for us that they're at full strength and without suspensions for their next two games.

It will be very interesting to see how they fare against UAE who have struggled against higher-tempo, physical teams. I think it will be a very tough game for UAE and I wouldn't at all be surprised to see Bahrain beat them if they play with the same heart and intensity they played against Iran.

Of course the obvious negative aspect of the game was TM's start and some lack of coordination, but I wouldn't dwell on that at all. We all knew the first 30 minutes was going to be like that given our lack of friendlies.

[sarbaz]

It it wasn't for the stupid refs my prediction would have come true with a 4-0 win for TM
But I say these group games are rally like warm up friendlies for Iran
The real TM will come alive in the 1/4 finals and beyond

[Karimi 8]

We will continue to grow. Lots of positives from this game, and a lot to consider and take away. I honestly dont follow our league too intensely, so I hadn't seen Ghafouri or Pouraliganji before these games. They are very impressive and can have bright futures in TM. What a difference having Ghafouri instead of Heydari. And Pouraliganji was so calm for his second cap. Haghighi put that Bahraini player in his place, he was trying to draw fouls all game. This didn't feel like the general intense Iran VS Bahrain match (anger wise) which was good because for that to happen both teams have to get overally emotional, and we didn't let it get to that and we played our game. We need ot work on our counter attacking, and also encourage mroe simple passes. Our players like dejagah most noteably is making it more complicated then what it needs to be.. We had problems getting more than 3 quick passes together, and watching the UAE VS Qatar game, quick passes will destroy Qatar. Also just as a side note, like any other obective critic, I love to be proven wrong, and see a good performance from every player. I dont try to pick on Masoud, and I was happy that he scored, and had some nice plays today. He is terrible at winger, his position is CAM and today he played much better. If he is starting I would like to see him in the same position. Nice goal by him, and also what a quality player Hajsafi is!

I couldn't vote for the best player but I realized, the number one player should be the fans. That was unbelievable! It was as if we were in Azadi!

Well done everyone, I feel very hopeful for our team.

[AminGP]

Did anyone else notice that there were no players from from Esteghlal or Perspolis in this game? This is probably the first time that this has ever happened and I'm glad it did.

Ando no longer plays in Esteghlal and Khosrow and Sadeghi were both on the bench today.

[Abtin]

AWESOME SUPPORT, dame hamegi shadidan garm!!!! https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10205075680006010

[DireStraits]

Talking about something else Australia has warm weather people Wear T shirt. In Denmark it is Cold. So Iranians who traveled to Australia is having fun.

[OFFSIDE_1]

Intersting stats:

Ashkan had the worst Pass Accuracy with 69 %.
Best was Pouraliganji with frickin 94 % that's amazing.


1. Pouraliganji 94 %
2. Ando 90 %
3. Reza 83 %
4. Shojaei 82 % (!)
5. Nekounam and Haj Safi 76 %
6. Ghafouri 75 %
7. Pooladi 73 %
8. Hosseini 72 %
9. Dejagah 69 %

the stats are misleading. The position which Dejagah plays forces him to make risky passes. This lowers his percentages. A missed pass by Dejagah is not devastating. A miss pass by Pouraliganji is.

Pooladi, Hosseini and Pouraliganji make alot of passes that are side-to-side or back to the GK. These are high percentage passes.

[persiangodfather]

Lol at all the girls in the stadiu screaming everytime Haghighi saved the ball.. The guy gets mad *****

[Ali.Karimi79]

POST-MATCH DISCUSSION | vs. Bahrain - Asian Cup 2015

^ i know mate. I am fully aware of what you wrote and totally agree with you.
Still interesting to know these stats. For example: Everyone praises Ashkan for his performance while his accuracy was the worst.

The high accuracy among our defenders is actually the best part for me. I remember players like ostad asadi lol. Imagine his stats