Can Iran end their eight-year World Cup drought?

GOAL.com – A football-frenzied Iranian nation is gearing up for yet another intense and anxious round of World Cup qualifiers, with the country’s first World Cup berth in eight years hanging in the balance.

Eyes across the country are intently focused on TV screens. Debates rage everywhere, from taxi cabs to pastry shops and family gatherings, over whether or not the Iranian team can turn around past miseries and end an eight-year World Cup jinx. Analysts and punters alike regularly calculate outlandish ‘what-if’ scenarios, in case Iran get stalled by Uzbekistan, or if Uzbekistan beats South Korea, or if Iran ties with South Korea in the last match. Or, worst of all, the possibility that the West Asian nation will need to win a play-off if they hope to play in Brazil.

Not much has changed through the years in the landscape of Iranian football, where success or failure in World Cup qualifying often comes down to last-minute chances on the pitch, and crossed fingers in the stands.

Some analysts studying the downward trend of Iranian football are not too optimistic about the team’s chances of securing a flight to Brazil in 2014.  News publications and TV media regularly bemoan the deep corruption present in the country’s professional league and transfer market, which results in overpriced and over-hyped players who perform below-par as internationals yet continue to receive call-ups despite luke-warm displays across both domestic and Asian competitions.

However, not all is doom and gloom in the quest to find a rising star in Iran’s talent pool. The famed Portuguese manager, Carlos Queiroz, has already taken the initiative with the bold selection of well-performing Zob Ahan youth academy players such as Shahab Gordan and Hossein Mahini, as well as Mehrdad Pouladi of Perspolis, Karim Ansarifard of Saipa, and the Sweden-based Iranian-Pilipino midfielder Omid Nazari. While veterans Javad Nekounam and Ali Karimi are bound to feature in a World Cup qualifying campaign for perhaps the last time.

There are worries surrounding Team Melli’s defensive depth, which has not been shaken up despite their previous poor form against South Korea. The team’s poor defensive displays, in particular regarding man-marking and positioning, have cost them on too many occasions; including a recent friendly match against Albania when similar errors allowed the visitors a win.

While Iran’s defensive midfield is as solid as ever, the iconic attacks through both wings are not as efficient as they used to be with previous generations of players. That Wolfsburg’s goal-hungry midfielder Ashkan Dejagah missed out on the Uzbekistan encounter due to injury, while Osasuna-based attacker Masoud Shojaei has been absent from the whole campaign, is also cause for concern.

Although Khalatbari and Ansarifard have shined occasionally up front in Iran’s previous games, the country have yet to replace the on-target and accurate strikers of the past such as Vahid Hashemian and Ali Daei.

In preparation for the qualifying campaign, Iran’s experienced manager has had too few chances to experiment, having been given low-calibre opponents such as Mauritania, Mozambique, and Albania to prepare against.

Yet the stakes are high in Group A, where Iran have to overtake South Korea, Asia’s record holder in World Cup qualification. There is also Uzbekistan, who advanced from the previous qualifying round with the fewest goals conceded. Team Melli will also face Qatar, who are eager to avoid the embarrassment of elimination they look forward to hosting their own World Cup. Finally there is Lebanon, clearly the weak link of the group but more than capable of playing the spoiler.

Can Iran overcome a difficult series of opponents and qualify directly as one of the top two teams from Group A? Will the team’s road to Brazil be forced to take a play-off detour? Or, worst of all, will they come back empty-handed? For die-hard supporters of Team Melli, it’s time to cross their fingers and hope for the best.