Has any of our players retired?

[Ghermez Agha]

Wouldn't make sense for anyone except Ando to stay. They will all be far too old by the next WC and that's what we are building for from here on out. It's going to hurt TM a lot to let go of guys like seyed jalal and Nekounam as I don't see anyone being able to fill their shoes any time soon. The sooner we deal with the loss of their absence and the longer the time guys have to step it up and figure it all out, the more it will benefit them in the later rounds of WCQs.

[Ghomarbaaz]

None of them should retire until they are the best in their position. Until we have someone who is at least as good as Nekunam, Ando, and Hosseini in their respective positions I would like them to play.

Agreed, but the agents want them to retire as soon as possible regardless of having a younger player who is as good or better because the next player that replaces them in TM will be much more sale-able and that means commissions for agents who control the media!

[O-ZoNe]

We definitely need more injection of youth in the team. Just imagine if we had another two or three PAG's and Ghafouri's in this cup - players that are both comfortable and have the stamina to contribute to our offense.

Let's face it, Nekou hasn't contributed anything to offense for years. Even Ando's average position was behind or in-line with Ghafouri and always in our own half.

In fact, we had 6 or 7 players in every match whose average position was in our own half!!! Compare that to Australia, Korea or Japan who in some games had only 3 players averaging in their own half and in their most defensive games had 5 or a rare 6.

Let me paint a picture for you mate. 10 men vs S. Korea, in Azadi, Nekounam strike gives us a 1-0 win and possibly saves our WC...imagine if that match would have ended in a draw or loss for Iran...would CQ be our coach...prob not...would Iran have made it to the WC...no...his job isn't to score goals, Neku's job is to be clutch, and he hasn't disappointed in that regard yet...(well maybe not so clutch against Bosnia, and a bit shaky against Nigeria, but the whole team was that way...)

Also don't forget the friendly 1-0 win over S. Korea...who shot over the wall with a dazzling free kick that created a rebound and goal for us...Mr. Captain, Mr. Clutch...J. Nekounam...

[ehsan singapore]

i am sure ando wont retire now, he can still play till the next world cup,he is only 31, by the world cup he will be 34, he can play, but i am sure neko will have to retire by the second round of world cup,we have to slowly take him out, since the first round wont be a hard issue for us

[Kiarash]

Teymourian's absence will be a huge loss for our team.

[shahname]

[jahandoost]

What if Hosseini pulls a Maldini?