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

[PSGman#19]

We have to play our best players for :
1- avoiding Japan
2- having our best player having the rythm of the competition.
CQ cannot rely on the friendlies excuse now : he had plenty of them since 6 months ago : 3 friendlies prior to WC, 3 WC matches, SK, Iraq, Qatar, UAE (+ some camps in Portugal and South Africa)

[The Realist]

[QUOTE=PSGman#19;2247484]We have to play our best players for :
1- avoiding Japan
2- having our best player having the rythm of the competition.
CQ cannot rely on the friendlies excuse now : he had plenty of them since 6 months ago : 3 friendlies prior to WC, 3 WC matches, SK, Iraq, Qatar, UAE (+ some camps in Portugal and South Africa)[/QUOTE

I am not sure it's excuse, by highlighting it he has stated the facts, put pressure on IFA and take the limelight off Team Meli. Never was his intention to lose to teams and then blame preparations. Just look at his passion and approach.

[The Realist]

So now we are potentially looking at my prediction of Iran Australia final in front of 30,000 persian-blooded partisan fans, iran winning on penalties, Haghighi saving from Cahill.

Those that watched Aus-SK game, any chance that Aus didn't try hard enough to beat SK?

[Bi-honar]

LOL. The koreans are staying in the same hotel as TM in Brisbane, so apparently after their match they wished us luck in beating UAE and going into the top bracket, so we can play them again!!!

Engar az roo nemiran taa dobareh shish tayee beshan!

[Bi-honar]

"Cheetah Gate" continues...

AFC has fined IFF $5,000 for the Cheetah print being too dark and Nabi had said that this is going to resolve the issue and we can wear the uniforms going forward, but apparently AFC has not given the green light yet and the two sides are still negotiating.

The issue is that the original sample IFF gave to AFC for approval had a much lighter Cheetah print on it, so that's the uniform that AFC approved. But then 3 days before TM left for Australia, Uhlsport sent IFF all the jerseys and this is the print they had on them.

Needless to say, there wasn't/isn't enough time to change the jerseys. Nabi has said that Uhlsport should pay the $5,000 fine, but at the moment that's the least of our problems because we may not be allowed to play in them at all. Naked an option AFC?!

[Lorestani]

LOL. The koreans are staying in the same hotel as TM in Brisbane, so apparently after their match they wished us luck in beating UAE and going into the top bracket, so we can play them again!!!

Engar az roo nemiran taa dobareh shish tayee beshan!

Do you know which hotel TM is staying at in Brisbane?

[Tehranto]

Some updates and news on TM

* PAG did not attend practice to avoid inflaming a minor injury - all the rumors about CQ not letting him practice are untrue.

* Contrary to some other rumors, Ashkan is fit and ready for the UAE match (he did not practice today either - due to fatigue)

* Third and last player who did not do regular practice with other players was Pouladi, but he is also fine, just tired.

* Apparently there was some friction in the camp after the Qatar game: Ando was selected man of the match but one of our other players (not specified) jokingly told him, what did you do to be selected as MOTM? Another player nearby (also not specified) laughs to this comment and apparently Ando lost it. A few other players and some TM staff got involved an deescalated the situation. This incident is most likely the reason for the other rumors.

* But on a lighter note, Mahdavikia gheyb goft! "Japan will be a tougher opponent than Iraq in the quarters"!

What rumours?

[Bi-honar]

Do you know which hotel TM is staying at in Brisbane?

Based on what I've read, it's Sofitel. But I don't think it's very fan friendly (in terms of access) since all the NT's are staying there.

[Bi-honar]

What rumours?

The ones from the 1st 3 points bro. PAG not having been given permission to practice and Ashkan and Mehrdad having "issues".

[Paradigm]

Here's Iran's wins & losses against Asian Teams. I know records don't mean much in a tornument but it's good to post this for those who have forgotten what a great team we have always been

Surprisingly we have lost 7 times against Jordan which is a lot more than I thought it would be.

[ATTACH]15519[/ATTACH]

Very interesting statistic versus Jordan. It would be nice to know circumstances regarding those losses. It might well be because of underestimation.

By the way, looks like South Korea again is on Iran's progress path, now having topped their group! I almost want Iran to finish 2nd and avoid them.

[PSGman#19]

I don't know what you think but I always had the (maybe wrong) impression that Hajsafi doesn't have a big impact apart of some brillance here and there (some very beautiful goals and dribbles). I find him pretty passive, imprecise passes and not very fast.

Not the kind of player that can shake the opponent defense.

But maybe it is a wrong impression, I don't watch him often

[Kavian]

He simply said that he hopes Azmoun intentionally made that turn, which is a completely reasonable statement.

That is like saying, I hope Azizi's goal against Australia wasn't just a fluke.

[aenima_8]

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/t...18-12srkd.html

[ehsan singapore]

it seems pourali ghanji cant train as CQ got upset with his interview

[Ando Teymourian]

We have a pretty deep team this year. If you want to win the title you have to make use of most of your players.

I think something like this would still have a fine chance of beating UAE


--------------------Haghighi------------------------

Rezaeian---Khandzadeh----AH Sadeghi-----Pouladi

-------------Ebrahimi------Ando/Nekou--------------

Jahanbakhsh---------Rafiei----------------Amiri

-------------------Ansarifard---------------------


(Or Heydari on the RW and Jahanbakhsh playing LW)

I'd prefer Ando and Nekou get the most rest, so hopefully they play a half each. Maybe Deja, Gucci, or Azmoun can make an appearance in the last third or so of the game if we need to make a push.

But to me that looks like a solid team with a real chance of winning. If we manage the 3 points, fantastic.

If we don't manage three points then at least our first team is well rested for a big clash in the quarter finals.