Group B - Iran, Spain, Portugal, Morocco Discussion

[Javeed]

The more I think about it, the more I love this group. I love the fact that no one takes us seriously - there is absolutely zero pressure on our players. Anything we do can only be seen as positive.

Imagine we were drawn into Group A? Iranian's would expect to come out of that group and our players would be facing tons of pressure from the fans.

We are to this World Cup, what Iceland was to the 2016 Euro. Can't wait to turn some heads on the world stage.

[the matrix1]

There is no chance in hell we are going to beat Spain. We have no choice but to go all out on Portugal and Morocco!.

[Jadou]

Jadou, how would you rank the north-african countries(Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco)?

few months ago it was :
1- Algeria 2- Egypte 3- Tunisia 4- Morocco

actually:
1-Morocco 2- Egypte 3- Tunisia 4-Algeria

- Morocco did well hiring great coach 18 months ago or so and they are getting better and better match after match, it's rebirth and coming back to top for Morocco, we wre around 85 in fifa rankingwhen Renard started, now we are 40th, morocco always had good players but we didn't have "a team" last 2decades, and our eternal big problem is "the striker", but actual team is very balanced, strong, talented as always.. and anyone can score, like against Mali, we won 6-0 with 6 scorers, defenders can score, middle too and if we are lucky strikers too hehehe but the real deal is the coach and the spirit,energy... he put on boys, he changed them from first day, they fight for him like i never seen moroccan players do, thats' why moroccan confident and no matter if they go to next level or no, if they play well and fight with heart,i will be satisfied no matter deception if they fall.

- Algeria changed coach after world cup 2014, 5 times, new managers of federation did more mess than it already was, their actual coach, Madjer was great player, won the champions league with porto, in my eyes 2nd best algerian footballer ever. but he did not manage any team for more than 10 years and have no real training to be coach, so he will probably destroy that team more as most algerian say and think, algeria is like Morocco in many ways, we always had best technical players in the region, sometimes we play similar but not actually so when i seen Iran will face algeria, i thought hmmm maybe not so good idea for them, actually morocco don't play like algeria at all, their teams look like have no tactics, i think you will beat them easy in june if they don't wake up and unfortunatelly it seems they can change coach again before june maybe, because the press and all algerians are against him and complain, he was choosed by politics not by federation or specialists.!!.

- Tunisia and egypte are in quiet same level now , they have more local players even if lately egypt start export some players, they have 6-7 now i think with M. Salah(liverpool) as star but their problem is the coach, Hector cuper, exprienced coach but have very defending tactics, egyptians are angry at him,they have players to produce better football but the coach only care not lose or win 1-0, i prefer to win playing badly than play good and lose, i experienced that with Morocco for eternity hhehehe

tunisia have many local players and few players are in middle-east like Msakni, their best player is in Qatar!!!.. few others are not in so big teams in europ.., they fire coach before the last game in WC qualifications and a good local coach finish the job and qualified them drawing agaist lybia in tunisia!!, anyway, i don't expect a lot from tunisia in world cup, they are good with african but not in top level because the have less talented players than algeria and morocco.. but who knows?!

i talk about tunisia and egypt in same time because even if their philosphy of football is different, tunisia like defense then counter attack and use tricks, provocations, waste time... ,that's their football from always and we hate their playing,we suffer form that a lot... but they can beat african teams because that way, they are probably with egypt the best teams, players in africa that are really formed and are good in tactics, this work with african that have no tactics formation and only use talent and inspiration but it don't work with europ or very high level, thats why egyptians and tunisia teams are almost always in semi final in african clubs cups when they don't win.
egypt have solid formation in basics of football, tactics and like to play good football, we call them german of africa, even in their worse moment, they still can win, experience and good formation help with african teams but actual coachs making them play defense and counter attack and it's not natural for them so...!!?,
well, they are in not so difficult group but Russia place is reserved probably so it will be fight between egypt ,uruguay and saudi arabia, i will say egypt can make it against uruguay but the problem is saudi arabia can put problems to egypt(arabs.. bla bli blo rivalry....) but lose easy against uruguay!

[Jadou]

The more I think about it, the more I love this group. I love the fact that no one takes us seriously - there is absolutely zero pressure on our players. Anything we do can only be seen as positive.

Imagine we were drawn into Group A? Iranian's would expect to come out of that group and our players would be facing tons of pressure from the fans.

We are to this World Cup, what Iceland was to the 2016 Euro. Can't wait to turn some heads on the world stage.

i hope so for Iran and Morocco

[Jadou]

jut saying, Morocco will probably be more different in world cup than in qualifications, playing in africa is very different, if you noticed, players too technical like boufal, ziyech... don't play much matches outside morocco, because they don't have habit to play in bad conditions, playing on kind of potato field don't suits technics, and it's more about fighting than beautiful football, very hot weather and humidity very high, difficult to breath... ,referees decision can be unexpected and non sense.... in Russia it will be carpets i think so there will be more technics and different players, depend on opponents, i guess againt Iran, it will be more players Amrabat who can fight than Boufal,who can come in n last 20 mins in need maybe..
as many said here, iran # morocco and vs portugal matches are the keys of qualification for Iran and Morocco even if there is still a chance to draw/beat spain, especially as i hope, now, i'm fan of barça and real madrid both, i hope they play final of champions league with prolongations, play spanish super cup.... play as much as possible to come tired to world cup hhhhh

heeey we can make it like when Costa-rica and Uruguay kicked out Italy and England in 2014

[Omids]

Welcome to the forum Jadou and your input is much appreciated.

On a different note, I was watching CQ interview on Navad and he mentioned that there would be 37 cameras at each game during the WC. And every players move would be scrutinised during the game. He further mentioned that the local player are not used to such detailed scrutiny in the local league will have to prepare for it. The question is, is there a change in the way refereeing will be done in the WC? Will referees be referring to replays during the games? Does anyone know?

[ehsan singapore]

now we getting made fun by egypt or morroco, can some one tell this two countries when was the last time they made the world cup, morroco over 20 years and egypt over 27 years, iranian players must see this and react i cant take this disrepct any more

[Sly]

now we getting made fun by egypt or morroco, can some one tell this two countries when was the last time they made the world cup, morroco over 20 years and egypt over 27 years, iranian players must see this and react i cant take this disrepct any more

Go back one page and look at the first Tom and Jerry cartoon the Moroccans made. They make fun of themselves there. It's not disrespectful. It's good old fun korkori. We should and probably will do lots of it too when the WC gets closer!

[Afat11]

now we getting made fun by egypt or morroco, can some one tell this two countries when was the last time they made the world cup, morroco over 20 years and egypt over 27 years, iranian players must see this and react i cant take this disrepct any more

Lol, they will see it and react on the field. These fans think their players are some kind of hot sh*t for playing in big teams, but we have played against plenty of big names on big clubs recently like Jovetic, Rondon, etc. Names as big as those on Morocco, and they were surprisingly quiet against our stifling defense.

Azmoun will score and shush the entire booing Moroccan section in 2018 just for you ehsan. We will make our statement where it matters. Let them think they're better. On paper they may be. Thank God football is played on a field and not on paper. Renard may be a decent coach, but we will see if he can outcoach a veteran tactician in CQ who has been oiling this Iranian machine for the past 7 years.

Some need to learn that a cohesive team Trumps a rag-tag group of "stars" (seriously there are no real stars on Morocco, all second-rate European players at best) will have a mighty tough time breaking down a cohesive team.

Iranians play with pride and gheyrat, and just like Hertha Berlin and Athletic Bilbao learned from a small club like Ostersund in Europa league, names mean nothing. Coaching, chemistry, pride and will win matches, and Iran has a whole lot of that. I hope the Moroccans truly believe that they have more, because if they don't they will be sent home early with a loss to the weakling Iranians on matchday 1.

[Leicester City]

now we getting made fun by egypt or morroco, can some one tell this two countries when was the last time they made the world cup, morroco over 20 years and egypt over 27 years, iranian players must see this and react i cant take this disrepct any more

Bro it’s literally the world, this shouldn’t be/isn’t something new, all teams shit talk/meme other teams in their group. Let’s be glad we aren’t Brazil/got Brazil’d.

[ehsan singapore]

Bro it’s literally the world, this shouldn’t be/isn’t something new, all teams shit talk/meme other teams in their group. Let’s be glad we aren’t Brazil/got Brazil’d.

we never got disrepected 4 years ago and morroco is not that great, going to world cup after 20 year is no miracle. but making iran look like women, is insulting

[Jadou]

i'm sorry if any Iranian feel offended for what few silly moroccan football fans do or say but this kind of people are minority and don't represent all the country or people of Morocco and such idiots exists in all the world and all fields not only football ro sports.
I'm sure majority of moroccan respect Iran and most important and what matter is Morocco players and coach do respect Iran and will "study" them and theur playing as they will do for spain and portugal, there is specialists of video analysis, tactics, stats, H. Renard is head of large team working with him and no way he under-estimate any team, and i'm sure after world cup even "footix" and silly minds will respect Iran no matter results.
Iran is team that play with heart and pride... it's always interesting, amazing to see a gladiators in action especially against "supposed" strongest teams as it will be against Spain and Portugal little too, but against Morocco i think it's very close teams, i don't think Morocco IS much better than Iran, they are at similar level, so luck and few little tiny details can make difference and i will be suprised if there is win with more than 1 goal for Iran or Morocco, i just hope they will not eliminate each other by playing like world cup final between each other and end draw then forget their football and lose against "andalusia"...

[Afat11]

i'm sorry if any Iranian feel offended for what few silly moroccan football fans do or say but this kind of people are minority and don't represent all the country or people of Morocco and such idiots exists in all the world and all fields not only football ro sports.
I'm sure majority of moroccan respect Iran and most important and what matter is Morocco players and coach do respect Iran and will "study" them and theur playing as they will do for spain and portugal, there is specialists of video analysis, tactics, stats, H. Renard is head of large team working with him and no way he under-estimate any team, and i'm sure after world cup even "footix" and silly minds will respect Iran no matter results.
Iran is team that play with heart and pride... it's always interesting, amazing to see a gladiators in action especially against "supposed" strongest teams as it will be against Spain and Portugal little too, but against Morocco i think it's very close teams, i don't think Morocco IS much better than Iran, they are at similar level, so luck and few little tiny details can make difference and i will be suprised if there is win with more than 1 goal for Iran or Morocco, i just hope they will not eliminate each other by playing like world cup final between each other and end draw then forget their football and lose against "andalusia"...

Thank you for your comment, I wish more fans can be as level-headed as you. You are right that it is probably a small minority of Moroccan fans who disregard Iran, and I hope you will excuse us for being defensive.

Sadly, it is not just those Moroccan fans that have minimized Iran's quality in recent years. It is very upsetting to us to view World Cup group reviews and hear "Morocco has a chance to do something, and then there's Iran..."

I have actually seen the literal statement above in several group reviews from reputable sources, and it just grinds my gears. To minimize an entire soccer-mad nation like Iran is just the highest level of disrespect, and you can bet your biscuit that we have a massive chip on our shoulders as a result.

It is nice to see that a fan of a soon to be opponent, like yourself, respects our team. As I said before, the Iranian team is also reading many of these statements and this dismissive attitude by opponent fans and pundits could really come back to bite the other teams. Our players being relative unknowns has caused teams major problems in the past, and I could really see us playing with our hearts for 3 consecutive games and doing some damage in the group.

We've been telling ourselves we are the underdogs since Queiroz became manager, and that mentality has really driven our team to pull out results. We play every game like it is the World Cup final to be honest. That is why I think Iran should be feared. We never treat a game as merely practice, or at least I cannot remember the last time we did so. Never taking our foot off of the pedal will be a major asset for us in 6 months.

[Jadou]

Thank you for your comment, I wish more fans can be as level-headed as you. You are right that it is probably a small minority of Moroccan fans who disregard Iran, and I hope you will excuse us for being defensive.

Sadly, it is not just those Moroccan fans that have minimized Iran's quality in recent years. It is very upsetting to us to view World Cup group reviews and hear "Morocco has a chance to do something, and then there's Iran..."

I have actually seen the literal statement above in several group reviews from reputable sources, and it just grinds my gears. To minimize an entire soccer-mad nation like Iran is just the highest level of disrespect, and you can bet your biscuit that we have a massive chip on our shoulders as a result.

It is nice to see that a fan of a soon to be opponent, like yourself, respects our team. As I said before, the Iranian team is also reading many of these statements and this dismissive attitude by opponent fans and pundits could really come back to bite the other teams. Our players being relative unknowns has caused teams major problems in the past, and I could really see us playing with our hearts for 3 consecutive games and doing some damage in the group.

We've been telling ourselves we are the underdogs since Queiroz became manager, and that mentality has really driven our team to pull out results. We play every game like it is the World Cup final to be honest. That is why I think Iran should be feared. We never treat a game as merely practice, or at least I cannot remember the last time we did so. Never taking our foot off of the pedal will be a major asset for us in 6 months.

i agree with you and honestly its rare nowadays you see very poor teams, maybe teams like andorra, lichtenstein and so on in europ, guam, lesotho... and so on elsewhere, in all continents there few rare real small teams that have players who are teachers, postman... all the week working normal job and training few hours on weekends or so, but in big majority, the gap between big teams and rest of the world in all continents becomes less and less, nowadays all can study, learn last training techs... years ago.. or before internet especially it was very difficult for many contries to know what's going on even in country beside them but nowadays all is easy and you know things "live".. and football is part of that world, there is limit in the top, spain, brazil... can't be too much more better, there is limit to human talent and power but little teams can grow up, can developp a lot to be closer to top teams, even if they don't reach them still they can only get better and better with years and can "annoy them" when top teams can miss some matchs or even years, italy is not qualified to world cup!! they are not so good last years but they are not worse than Lesotho...

anyway, i bet both Iran and Morocco will surprise planet football,either they make it to next level or no, what matter is players do their best then no regrets.

[teammelli91]

now we getting made fun by egypt or morroco, can some one tell this two countries when was the last time they made the world cup, morroco over 20 years and egypt over 27 years, iranian players must see this and react i cant take this disrepct any more

Ehsan jan, it is okay.

Do you remember when Al Nassr didn't stand for Naser Hejazi's moment of silence? Shahab Gordon was chuckling as our fans were hoooing. Shahab knew, as calm as he was lol, that Zob would tear Al Nassr a new *******. So what happened? It was a sexy match and Zob Ahan eliminated Al Nassr 4-1

One thing I've noticed is that we Iranians do much better once provoked. Not always, but the majority of the time. We also don't forget things like this. Just think about the Saudi hip bump that every Iranian football player does after a win over the Saudis.

So let whoever wants to speak, speak whatever they want. You be calm and you be patient. Justice is usually served in these situations. And if not, they will go through hell against Team Melli regardless