This Team Melli @ Next WC

[YeCheesi Tala]

Wow I keep forgetting how young Ezza is...my man will only be 25 next WC

[Sam van Dam]

how many teams will qualify from asia since its in gutter?

top teams in group a and b? while both second place teams play home and home, winner qualifies, loser plays concacaf or conmebol?

[Medzdidz]

how many teams will qualify from asia since its in gutter?

top teams in group a and b? while both second place teams play home and home, winner qualifies, loser plays concacaf or conmebol?

All I've seen according to Wikipedia page on 2022 World Cup is that Asia has been designated 4.5 places (not including Qatar), not sure who the play off will be against.

[krol]

I actually made a thread about this topic a few months ago when we were kicking ass in the qualifiers. By the next WC not only will the key players from the current team still be available, we'll have new blood in Delfi, Shekari, Sayadmanesh, Gholizadeh, Noorafkan, Taha Shariati and others who are undoubtedly going to be discovered in the next four years. Just consider how many people had even heard of Taremi, Ghoddos or Pouraliganji back in 2014. Any other country would be bending over backward to keep CQ but with this regime anything is possible.

Anyway, this was my post. I think I made a pretty good case why CQ should want to extend with Iran instead of taking an offer elsewhere.

First let's be realistic. IFF has to be willing to keep him. But if we do even reasonably well in Russia not only will Taj and Soltanifar be under great pressure to re-sign him, but they'll also know keeping CQ guarantees international success which in turn makes them look good too. But even if IFF tries to keep him, having shown what he can do with Iran since the last world cup, Carlos will have his share of lucrative offers once his contract is up next year. If other countries had doubts about his abilities they're erased after watching his team in the qualifiers. He turned Iran from a team whose defense used to be its Achilles Heel into a team that can't give up a goal in an away game with a man down if it tried! In Asia alone just about every Arab team will be offering him millions hoping he can recreate for them what he did with Iran.
But here's the other side of the coin. Carlos will be 65 when his contract is up next year. If he takes up a new assignment he'll have to start all over again and spend time getting to know another country's talent and football culture. Doing what he did with Iran takes time. It took at least 3 years to mold Team Melli into what he had in mind. In Iran he may not have a professional system to work with, but he has one of the things every coach dreams of: a generation of talented players that UNDERSTAND his system and RESPECT him immensely. This is gold for any coach.
In terms of crowds, that cup will be for Iran what the last world cup was for Argentina. The close location makes every match effectively a home game.
CQ will have a team of talented players...in their prime...that can implement his system blindfolded...with home team advantage in every match!
This team melli is CQ's baby. He built it from scratch and fought tooth and nail against jealous losers and incompetent managers to get it to where it is. I doubt he'll want to hand his masterpiece to another coach before his star players have even hit their prime. He can sign a big contract with a new country, or, stay and win the Asian Cup, qualify for a third successive WC, then SHOCK the world in 2022 and retire as an all time great.
I hope he goes with the latter option.

[PEJ]

All I've seen according to Wikipedia page on 2022 World Cup is that Asia has been designated 4.5 places (not including Qatar), not sure who the play off will be against.

This is the reason we should always root for Asian teams, except Saudi of course. The better the Asians do, the better chance Asia gets more bids in the future. Obviously everything really changes in 2026.

[Sly]

What ever happens, it's time to let go of the old players after the WC. Now we have 2 great young defensive players who could replace the older ones.

This formation would be my wish:

---------------------------------------Beiranvand---------------------------------------------------

----Rezaeian-------------Pouraliganji----------Majid Hosseini----------Milad Mohammadi-------

---------------------------Ezzatollahi--------------Cheshmi----------------------------------------

--Jahanbakhsh-------------------------Ghoddos---------------------------Torabi/Taremi----------

-----------------------------------------Azmoun-----------------------------------------------------

Subs: Gholizadeh, Shekari, Delfi, Sayyad, Shariati, Taha Shariati, Hossein Kaebi, etc....

[Payam_Ali]

Is Ryan Tafazolli ever going to play for us?