What a sad day for Iranian football

[mahestan]

First event is the U23 losing to Qatar, which was a coaching blunder. Second, we have Iranian players transferring to Thailand, and Nekounam is pretty much going to Al-Arabia of Qatar to meet up with Dejagah. So very sad.

Edit: Fixed typo.

[Ghermez Agha]

Let's not get overly emotional, the team played ok they just made minor mistakes here and there that cost them (mostly coming from khakpour - if not entirely on him) like the line up and tactics with the defensive line so high up from the very first minute, that's not something any team should do unless you are desperate for a goal. If we correct our mistakes going forward we will be fine.

If motahari didn't hit the post and/or Cheshmi would have converted the penalty we wouldn't be having this discussion. Qatar was more organized and more ready than we were today, the good news is we are still likely to advance if we can play smart next game.

As for nekounam why should anyone care what he does? He isn't in TM anymore and isn't a vital part of an ACL team, let him cash out in Qatar now is the time. The majority of great players these days cash out at the end of their careers, let nekounam enjoy Qatari money he's earned it after years of service for TM.

[Bessos]

Iran also lost to Saudi Arabia in handball today. 21 - 26

So let's call it a bad day for Iranian sport!

[Iran_19]

Let's not get overly emotional, the team played ok they just made minor mistakes here and there that cost them (mostly coming from khakpour - if not entirely on him) like the line up and tactics with the defensive line so high up from the very first minute, that's not something any team should do unless you are desperate for a goal. If we correct our mistakes going forward we will be fine.

If motahari didn't hit the post and/or Cheshmi would have converted the penalty we wouldn't be having this discussion. Qatar was more organized and more ready than we were today, the good news is we are still likely to advance if we can play smart next game.

As for nekounam why should anyone care what he does? He isn't in TM anymore and isn't a vital part of an ACL team, let him cash out in Qatar now is the time. The majority of great players these days cash out at the end of their careers, let nekounam enjoy Qatari money he's earned it after years of service for TM.

Qatar was much better team. I just hope coaching staffs realize their mistakes, but look like they didn't as Khakpour justified his line up and considered this good game by Iran.

We got really lucky in couple occasion referee called offside in our favor which could go either way or a possible PK for Qataris as Adel mentioned.

I wasn't impressed..

[Gotham]

If any of you guys would actually turn down a chance for a big money move to Qatar or whatever late in your football career (pretending you had one), then you're either a liar, too rich to care, or an idiot. Even Xavi along with many other football greats cashed in with smaller clubs.

[Nokhodi]

If any of you guys would actually turn down a chance for a big money move to Qatar or whatever late in your football career (pretending you had one), then you're either a liar, too rich to care, or an idiot. Even Xavi along with many other football greats cashed in with smaller clubs.

Xavi is a footballer who is near the end of his career and has won everything there is to win. If a 21 year old player has the same motivation as a nearly retired football player then khak bar Saresh.

I'm old enough to remember Arab teams bringing in fading superstars for at least 15 years now. It does nothing but excite some very gullible fans.

[Nokhodi]

Qatar was much better team. I just hope coaching staffs realize their mistakes, but look like they didn't as Khakpour justified his line up and considered this good game by Iran.

We got really lucky in couple occasion referee called offside in our favor which could go either way or a possible PK for Qataris as Adel mentioned.

I wasn't impressed..

I actually think the Qatar team was quite ordinary and TM lost to itself. They did what any team with half a brain would have done - keep pressuring the centre backs because it's not their natural positions and the line is high.

[Bi-honar]

Khakpour had a major faux pa today, made some big boo boo and Iran played like poo poo!

Sorry, brain mush after writing that article - I was very tempted to say Khakpour Smokes Crack Under Pressure instead of Iran Crack Under Pressure!

Joking aside guys, my only hope is that Khakpour will learn his lesson from this match like he learnt the lesson from the Saudi match. The absolute last thing you want to do against a team with fast wingers/forwards is to ask your backline to push up and play the offside trap, especially when your LB/RB are slow!

We obviously can't afford another major experimental whatever the hell that was that defies all common sense - not in a tournament setting. Stick to the tried, tested and true with minor adjustments.

Speaking of "experimental", in other news of the day a few people in France are brain-dead or have permanent brain damage after volunteering to take part in the trial of a new pain-killer.

A true parallel story to what happened to TM Omid today.... much can go wrong with unproven experimental shit... harm you it will... kid you I not.

[Gotham]

Xavi is a footballer who is near the end of his career and has won everything there is to win. If a 21 year old player has the same motivation as a nearly retired football player then khak bar Saresh.
I'm old enough to remember Arab teams bringing in fading superstars for at least 15 years now. It does nothing but excite some very gullible fans.

I never knew Nekounam was 21 years old, I could have sworn he's at least over a decade older.

[Ghermez Agha]

Qatar was much better team. I just hope coaching staffs realize their mistakes, but look like they didn't as Khakpour justified his line up and considered this good game by Iran.

We got really lucky in couple occasion referee called offside in our favor which could go either way or a possible PK for Qataris as Adel mentioned.

I wasn't impressed..

Yeah they were better (definitely not much better as you say, you need to re-watch the match if you genuinely believe that the difference was that big as both teams had pretty equal amount of chances if not more for us) because they took advantage of the chances....they played well as a team and seemed to be a very disciplined side. Both teams had lots of chances that could have gone either way but qatar was more organized due to better coaching which is why they came out on top.

Adel said it best at half time: Qatar plays better as a team but we are definitely superior in individual talent. Very true and spot on statement, most of our starting XI plays fix in their respective clubs and is an important player. Khakpour is yet to show that he can get even 50% of this teams potential out of them but when and if he can we the team will look very, very different and the results will show.

Also the ref missed several important calls both ways so lets not bring him up. He deprived us of at least 2-3 FKs and 2-3 corners so again I dont think this is one sided in the qatari's favor as it seems you're implying.

[Bi-honar]

Guys I've watched most of the matches or at least large sections of them and as I said before the match, Qatar and Iran were actually the most impressive teams after the 1st match day with Qatar also being the most organized and disciplined team (ahead of even Korea, Australia and Japan).

They also have home field advantage which should not be simply dismissed as a non-factor. Don't forget, they won the 2006 Asian Games gold medal in the very same stadium, but have not even reached the quarterfinals outside home turf - so the impact is HUGE.

Having said that, I totally agree with GA that Qatar were not the better team. What it really came down to was that Sanchez was the better coach.

Had we not insisted on playing those stupid offside traps, which became VERY obvious within the first 30 minutes that they would not work, Qatar would have had no goal-scoring opportunities at all in the match - zero, nada, nilch.

Even the corner they scored on came after an Akhbari save on a poorly executed offside trap. I'm still having a really hard time wrapping my head around why Khakpour opted for such an OBVIOUSLY terrible game plan.

But even worse why he opted to stick with it and not make any adjustments after the first 30 minutes when he saw that it was going to be a disaster.

[Damavand]

^ Today's coaching is the reason I have said numerous times that NO VATANI COACH IS QUALIFIED TO LEAD TM.

[Gucci10]

^ Today's coaching is the reason I have said numerous times that NO VATANI COACH IS QUALIFIED TO LEAD TM.

Only have faith in Hashemian...he is our Pep Guardiola...

[Damavand]

Only have faith in Hashemian...he is our Pep Guardiola...

He is the only Vatani coach who is not taking any short cuts and learning everything from the ground up. But it will be at least 5 or 6 years before he is mature enough for TM.

[Leopard]

If Khakpour was a real coach he would talk to CQ and ask him what he would have done from lineup to end of 90 minutes. Maybe he would learn a lot. But this needs courage to ask.