Opposing Fans Reaction to Getting Iran as Their Opponent

[inarsenewetrust]

Thanks for the warm welcome! Our match against Saudi Arabia is last, so hopefully it's nothing but a formality. Russia will be tricky, being the host nation - but they're very beatable for sure and I'd be upset if we didn't get all 3 points. 4 points from our first two matches would be an excellent return. We have the squad to do it, so hopefully we play with confidence!
If I'm honest, I haven't really followed Iran closely, but I was keeping an eye on the Asian qualifying tables. I noticed that you made light work of it, so naturally I googled your squad and saw a couple highlights of your WCQ matches. I think a win against South Korea was one of them if I recall correctly. Quite impressed with your striker Azmoun.
What is your strongest 11?

Beiranvand (25) ( Persepolis GK who makes assists with his throws that go the length of the pitch)

Right Defense : Ramin Rezaeian. (27) Very good attacking right back, sometimes defending is questionable. loses concentration at times. Plays in KV Oostende, Belgium .

Center Backs : Hosseini (36). our most experienced,consistent player and defender , Pouralganji (25) plays for Al Sadd in qatar, very good defender -similar to your Hegazi

Left Defense : Milad Mohammadi (23) young, very fast left back. Best Left defender in Russian League, plays for Akhmat Grozny. Great crosses, great defender too.

Defensive Midfield : Saeid ezatolahi (21) ex Athletico Madrid youth team. Now plays in Russia. Lot of potential. Physically very imposing.

Defensive Midfield : Ehsan Hajsafi ( 27) . Solid all around player. Very hardworking, not the most technical. Plays in Greece.

Right Winger : Alireza Jahanbakhsh . (24) One of the top 5 players in Eridivisie, linked with Napoli. A really talented player who will make a big move after Russia.

Attacking Midfield : Ashkan Dejagah . (31) Ex Wolfsburg, Fulham, Germany youth. Very experienced player. Our most composed player in midfield. Crucial to our success.

Left Wing : Mehdi Taremi (25). One of the most unique players in our team. Acrobatic, very strong, can score out of nothing, but also misses easy chances sometimes. Also plays for Persepolis. Top scorer of our league for multiple years in a row.

Striker : Sardar Azmoun ( 22). You know about him. Scored against Ajax, anderlecht, Bayern, Athletico Madrid in Champions League last year. Our most talented player. Almost moved to Lazio for about 15 million Euro this summer.

Bench : Reza Ghouchannejhad (29). Plays for Herenveen in Eridivisie. Second top scorer last year with 20 goals.

Karim Ansarifard (27). Plays for Olympiakos. Top scorer in Greek league right now. Very fast, strong, good dribbler.

Saman Ghoddos (24). Plays for Ostersunds in sweden, but will likely leave in the winter (Werder Bremen, Hertha Berlin ).Nominated as Best forward in Swedish League for the season. Will play winger for us. Actually played for sweden in friendlies before we convinced him to play for us. Very talented dribbler, strong shot.

Thats pretty much our best 11, and best three subs. We also have Vahid Amiri, another who plays for Persepolis who is a very hard working left winger.

[Doctor DOOM]

The more we are dismissed and discounted, the better for us.
I actually am happy.
If they fear us, they will put up their strongest team. And all the other teams in our group, at least on paper ARE indeed stronegr than us. So it's no surprise they entertain such thoughts

[Ghermez Agha]

Thanks for the warm welcome! Our match against Saudi Arabia is last, so hopefully it's nothing but a formality. Russia will be tricky, being the host nation - but they're very beatable for sure and I'd be upset if we didn't get all 3 points. 4 points from our first two matches would be an excellent return. We have the squad to do it, so hopefully we play with confidence!
If I'm honest, I haven't really followed Iran closely, but I was keeping an eye on the Asian qualifying tables. I noticed that you made light work of it, so naturally I googled your squad and saw a couple highlights of your WCQ matches. I think a win against South Korea was one of them if I recall correctly. Quite impressed with your striker Azmoun.
What is your strongest 11?

Interesting thoughts so are most Egyptian fans thinking anything less than 3 points vs Russia would be a disappointment too? It’s usually tough to play against the hosts especially if they have a solid team I think you guys can beat them but I’m not sure 1 point should be disappointing.

Our team is really unique the best 11 is up for debate because we actually have a really deep squad - anyone is capable of being a starter but our best 11, in my opinion is:

GK: Mazaheri (our best domestic keeper)

Our keepers are really inconsistent and in bad form other than Mazaheri. Beiranvand who is our current #1 is our biggest liability he lacks fundementals. Haghighi has issues stopping low shots any decent European team will exploit Haghighi or beiranvand’s weaknesses if they do their homework (which they will). That’s is why Mazaheri is our best choice he doesn’t have any major weakness to exploit

Defense: Rezaeian (oostende) Jalal Hosseini (arguably our best player) Morteza Pouraliganji (Al Saad - has declined lots of European offers for Qatari money), Milad Mohammadi (Terek Grozny)

Our defense is a real nice blend of experience, young promise, and our fullbacks are both playing in respectable European leagues Milad is actually one of the best in Russia and one of the fastest players you’ll see in the World Cup.

Midfielders: Ezzatolahi (former Atlético academy player very impressive physically), Rouzbeh Cheshmi (best defensive mid in our domestic league), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (AZ Alkmar’s best player), Masoud Shojaei (played 5-6 years in La Liga currently one of the best midfielders in Greece all the big teams in the league have been inquiring for his services for some time), Saman Ghoddos (capped by Sweden one of their best young players then switched to Iran)

Our mid field also has a nice blend of talent, not the most experienced but if you throw dejagah in that lineup you’ll have 2 vets like shojaei and dejagah who have shined in the best leagues in the world.

Striker: Azmoun (he’s in real crappy form this season and does not hustle like he used to in national team matches but he’s easily our most talented overall striker)

The forward line is hands down the most competitive for us we have tons of good strikers ghoochanejhad was the runer up for top scorer in the Netherlands last year, Kaveh Rezaie is one of the best strikers in Belgium right now, Ansarifard is the top scorer in Greece, and Medhi Taremi might actually be more talented but makes you want to pull your hair out sometimes with his misses

[kastro]

Beiranvand (25) ( Persepolis GK who makes assists with his throws that go the length of the pitch)
Right Defense : Ramin Rezaeian. (27) Very good attacking right back, sometimes defending is questionable. loses concentration at times. Plays in KV Oostende, Belgium .
Center Backs : Hosseini (36). our most experienced,consistent player and defender , Pouralganji (25) plays for Al Sadd in qatar, very good defender -similar to your Hegazi
Left Defense : Milad Mohammadi (23) young, very fast left back. Best Left defender in Russian League, plays for Akhmat Grozny. Great crosses, great defender too.
Defensive Midfield : Saeid ezatolahi (21) ex Athletico Madrid youth team. Now plays in Russia. Lot of potential. Physically very imposing.
Defensive Midfield : Ehsan Hajsafi ( 27) . Solid all around player. Very hardworking, not the most technical. Plays in Greece.
Right Winger : Alireza Jahanbakhsh . (24) One of the top 5 players in Eridivisie, linked with Napoli. A really talented player who will make a big move after Russia.
Attacking Midfield : Ashkan Dejagah . (31) Ex Wolfsburg, Fulham, Germany youth. Very experienced player. Our most composed player in midfield. Crucial to our success.
Left Wing : Mehdi Taremi (25). One of the most unique players in our team. Acrobatic, very strong, can score out of nothing, but also misses easy chances sometimes. Also plays for Persepolis. Top scorer of our league for multiple years in a row.
Striker : Sardar Azmoun ( 22). You know about him. Scored against Ajax, anderlecht, Bayern, Athletico Madrid in Champions League last year. Our most talented player. Almost moved to Lazio for about 15 million Euro this summer.
Bench : Reza Ghouchannejhad (29). Plays for Herenveen in Eridivisie. Second top scorer last year with 20 goals.
Karim Ansarifard (27). Plays for Olympiakos. Top scorer in Greek league right now. Very fast, strong, good dribbler.
Saman Ghoddos (24). Plays for Ostersunds in sweden, but will likely leave in the winter (Werder Bremen, Hertha Berlin ).Nominated as Best forward in Swedish League for the season. Will play winger for us. Actually played for sweden in friendlies before we convinced him to play for us. Very talented dribbler, strong shot.
Thats pretty much our best 11, and best three subs. We also have Vahid Amiri, another who plays for Persepolis who is a very hard working left winger.

Thanks for the informative post. How do you rate Saudi Arabia among other Asian teams? I've watched a couple of their latest friendlies but no official matches.

[kastro]

Interesting thoughts so are most Egyptian fans thinking anything less than 3 points vs Russia would be a disappointment too? It’s usually tough to play against the hosts especially if they have a solid team I think you guys can beat them but I’m not sure 1 point should be disappointing.
Our team is really unique the best 11 is up for debate because we actually have a really deep squad - anyone is capable of being a starter but our best 11, in my opinion is:
GK: Mazaheri (our best domestic keeper)
Our keepers are really inconsistent and in bad form other than Mazaheri. Beiranvand who is our current #1 is our biggest liability he lacks fundementals. Haghighi has issues stopping low shots any decent European team will exploit Haghighi or beiranvand’s weaknesses if they do their homework (which they will). That’s is why Mazaheri is our best choice he doesn’t have any major weakness to exploit
Defense: Rezaeian (oostende) Jalal Hosseini (arguably our best player) Morteza Pouraliganji (Al Saad - has declined lots of European offers for Qatari money), Milad Mohammadi (Terek Grozny)
Our defense is a real nice blend of experience, young promise, and our fullbacks are both playing in respectable European leagues Milad is actually one of the best in Russia and one of the fastest players you’ll see in the World Cup.
Midfielders: Ezzatolahi (former Atlético academy player very impressive physically), Rouzbeh Cheshmi (best defensive mid in our domestic league), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (AZ Alkmar’s best player), Masoud Shojaei (played 5-6 years in La Liga currently one of the best midfielders in Greece all the big teams in the league have been inquiring for his services for some time), Saman Ghoddos (capped by Sweden one of their best young players then switched to Iran)
Our mid field also has a nice blend of talent, not the most experienced but if you throw dejagah in that lineup you’ll have 2 vets like shojaei and dejagah who have shined in the best leagues in the world.
Striker: Azmoun (he’s in real crappy form this season and does not hustle like he used to in national team matches but he’s easily our most talented overall striker)
The forward line is hands down the most competitive for us we have tons of good strikers ghoochanejhad was the runer up for top scorer in the Netherlands last year, Kaveh Rezaie is one of the best strikers in Belgium right now, Ansarifard is the top scorer in Greece, and Medhi Taremi might actually be more talented but makes you want to pull your hair out sometimes with his misses

What I've taken from both posts is that you guys seemed to be blessed with a hanful of strikers. When are your next friendlies? I'd be interested to watch.

Regarding my NT, I think a point would acceptable given the circumstances. But if we get a point from Uruguay, I think most people will be disappointed not to get the 3 points against Russia. Playing on quality pitches definitely will be a bonus I'm looking forward to. The state of some pitches when playing away in Africa is brutal.

[saeed_noro]

Thanks for the informative post. How do you rate Saudi Arabia compared with other Asian team? I've watched a couple of their latest friendlies but no official matches.

their football have improves. they now work harder, fight harder for each other and play dangerous football but risky football and open match.