PRE-MATCH DISCUSSION | vs. UAE - Asian Cup 2015

[littlepersia17]

PRE-MATCH DISCUSSION | vs. UAE - Asian Cup 2015

Does anyone think there would be any chance in Sardar playing any part in this game?

[persian8iran]

Adel was saying that Dortmund sent their scout to watch Abdulrahman's game in Australia so apparently he has an interest from them as well.

He reject Benfica, all scouts said he is one of the best players of Asia sure... And if you see the class of this player, you are agree too sure

[eerooni]

I heard he had an offer from Manchester City on a 3 year contract...but I haven't seen him playing against decent and solid defensive Asian teams like Iran yet, so it remains to be seen how good he actually is.
He is the kind of a player who needs space like Masoud, if you cut him he won't be able to do well. That's why Abdulrahman Omar will have a much harder time against packed defensive teams like Iran.

Bear in mind Man city is own d by the UAE govt so don't be surprised the offer was done due to a lot of string pulling!

[Z Joon]

The Omar kid is going to be big in few years, gonna cause a lot of trouble against Asian teams in the future. Don't be surprised to see him in a top league soon. Luckily, UAE are a minuscule country and Abdulrahman is just a rare gem that they won't be able to produce for at least in 10-15 years IMO. He is special but I don't see them producing any more players with his level of quality. Players like him for UAE are like Mkhtaryian for Armenia, the country creates one of them every 30-40 years.

He played against Iran in the 2011 Asian Cup as well, coming on in the second half. He was very young back then and already proving to be talented, but I never knew he will develop that good. I can safely say that he is the only (Asian) Arab player that I enjoy watching. We spanked his team with our B team tho

[ehsan singapore]

Regardless of their 2 or 3 quasi-star players, UAE has always been an easier opponent for us than Bahrain and Qatar.

For one they play less anti-football and two they are more of a finesse team rather than a physical one. Overall their style is very similar to the old TM - not the new physically strong one - but with less skillful players.

For that reason, they have never beaten us in a competitive match (!!!) and in fact the only time we ever lost a game to them was in a friendly in Abu Dhabi more than 17 years ago.

Other than that game, they've scored only one goal against us in 14 matches!!!!

Statistically, this is the most lop-sided match of the group in favor of TM.


Head-to-head Record

First game: August 1980, Iran 2 - UAE 0

Total Played: 15
Iran Win: 11
Tie: 3
UAE Win: 1
Goals for (Iran): 23
Goals against (Iran): 4

Last game: 2011 Asian Cup, Iran 3 - UAE 0

Record in competitive games: Iran 7W - 3D - 0L, 14 GF, 1 GA

your right, they have never won ,but they have drawn, they only need to draw that all

[minirum]

Anyone here going to the Brisbane game?

My friend and I were so upset we didnt go last night that we booked our flights to Brisbane for Monday.

We will be in the city for literally 14 hours. LOL. It will be worth it though if we win and qualify in first place.

Leaving for Brisbane tonight; catching the Australia v South Korea match as well

Hopefully we get a decent crowd up there!

[AminGP]

He reject Benfica, all scouts said he is one of the best players of Asia sure... And if you see the class of this player, you are agree too sure

I've seen some of his videos and he's a great player but we have an excellent defense that it's hard to crack so I'm not worried about him at all.

[Adesor Vafaseya]

The most important issue for this game: Queiroz needs to come up with a plan to neutralize Omar who is an incredibly dangerous playmaker.

if we neutralized Messi for 93 mins in Brazil, i am sure CQ doesn't need to come up with any new plan to neutralize a guy, who is not even 1/40th of what messi is.

Abdulrahman is a good player, for Middle Eastern level, but not too much to write about on AFC level.

[Adesor Vafaseya]

You've got to respect this UAE team. A small country with limited manpower, but investing in their youth which is now paying off.
Imagine if they had our pool of raw talent which gets 99.99% wasted.

well, they have an organized league. invested in the last 25 years in European coaches at club level and youth level.
It was a matter of time, to see some of the investments show results.
As I said Abdulrahman is a talented player, but not the big giant in Asia. UAE would face huge problems if they play S Korea, Japan, and Aussies. But for Middle Eastern level, they are OK.
Also lucky to beat Bahrain, as Bahrainis lost to themselves versus UAE IMHO!

[littlepersia17]

PRE-MATCH DISCUSSION | vs. UAE - Asian Cup 2015

Ando was dead tired near the end of the match. At one stage he just collapsed to the ground as if somebody shot him in the back. It's not worth playing him in this match. If we do, we won't see his normal self.

[Karimi 8]

I think this should be our formation for this game

--------------------Haghighi------------------------
---Ghafouri--Hosseini--Sadeghi--Pouladi---------
---------------Nekounam-Ebrahimi---------------
--Jahanbakhsh------Rafiei--------------Hajsafi--
----------------------Reza-------------------------

[The Realist]

I think this should be our formation for this game
--------------------Haghighi------------------------
---Ghafouri--Hosseini--Sadeghi--Pouladi---------
---------------Nekounam-Ebrahimi---------------
--Jahanbakhsh------Rafiei--------------Hajsafi--
----------------------Reza-------------------------

I agree that we have to use the squad, I feel we will have fitness issues in the knockout stages if we don't rotate. Its a chance CQ will consider. Bosnia game was a good example.

Either JB or even AN can respond as the loan striker. If PourAliGangi (PAG) was to play he could be pushed up the midfield to neutralize the little Omar with Sadeghi coming into CB position but even PAG gave it all he had in the Qatar game, whilst Sardar took the credit, PAG performance was exceptional (under one for European scouts).

Whatever happens, I feel CQ will have one or two surprizes in his line-up on Monday?

[littlepersia17]

PRE-MATCH DISCUSSION | vs. UAE - Asian Cup 2015

Just a reminder of that brisbane's Suncorp stadium is in a horrific condition. It is mainly used by a NRL team (rugby-like sport).

Who would this affect more?

[teammelli91]

I want a 100% record in the group stage! How nice would it feel to have defeated all 3 of these anti-Iran Persian Gulf states.

To be honest, it would be better to avoid Japan in the quarter-finals. But if there's a possibility that we will face them then let it be.

If we want to win the Asian Cup we will eventually hit Japan somewhere down the road. And if worst comes to worst and we draw UAE, or for whatever reason we end up going head to head with the Japanese in the quarters, then we let it be.

Whether the quarter-finals, semi-finals, or the final itself, to prove we are Asia's best team we will have to beat the best.


P.S. Of course I want us to play the weaker opponent, but we should with our hearts and souls (like we've had so far) against any opposition.

[Afat11]

Just a reminder of that brisbane's Suncorp stadium is in a horrific condition. It is mainly used by a NRL team (rugby-like sport).

Who would this affect more?

I'm pretty sure it will affect UAE more. UAE is wanting to do short passes and possession ball, while Iran is going to be doing a lot of hoofing of the ball away and try to act opportunistically, as we always do.

Guys like Abdulrahman and others will have problems if their passes are hitting knots and holes in the ground and changing directions before they reach their targets. UAE seems weak when the ball is bouncing around. That greatly benefits Iran who loves to have the ball bouncing around, and it gives us a great chance to punish on unexpected bounces.

Could hurt us too, but I think it will be more bothersome to UAE's gamestyle. It will hurt ours less. Our play is fairly ugly anyway, but all I care about is wins. CQ, ugly, defensive football, but gets results.