Izuchukwu OkosiWith barely a week to the big kick off of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Prime Business Africa presents profiles of the teams heading to the 32nd edition of the tournament and Iran is on the spotlight next.
Iran will play in Group B with England, Wales and USA as opponents. Most of these previews are sourced from the official website of FIFA.
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If one was to put a title to Iran’s FIFA World Cup Russia 2018™ campaign, ‘so near and yet so far’ would just about sum it up. Now, four years on, Team Melli are looking to restore the formula that took them within inches of making history.
In Russia, Iran picked up four points from what had previously been deemed an impossible group, featuring 2010 world champions Spain and a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Portugal.
A lucky deflection off Diego Costa and a trademark Ricardo Quaresma outside-of-the-boot strike from long range ended up being the only two goals conceded by Carlos Queiroz’s men in their three games.
However, a 1-0 opening win against Morocco and a point collected against his native Portugal was not enough for Queiroz to create history for Iran as they finished third.
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Just two months before kick-off in Doha, Queiroz is back to take care of unfinished business in Iran and is targeting a historic first round-of-16 qualification after five unsuccessful attempts is the target.
There is a definite feeling of déjà vu, with Iran drawn in Group B for the second time in a row, participating in the FIFA World Cup under the same manager for the third successive edition and facing a rematch against USA that will add to the sense of nostalgia for those old enough to recall the sides’ first encounter at France 1998.
Iran’s Group B Fixtures
21 November
England vs Iran (16:00 local time, Khalifa International Stadium)
25 November
Wales vs Iran (13:00 local time, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium)
29 November
Iran vs USA (22:00 local time, Al Thumama Stadium)
Queiroz’s approach and tactics
The experienced Portuguese tactician returns to Team Melli after a seven-year first spell in which his playing style can be summed up in one word: ‘solid’.
In 16 games played across four major international tournaments, Queiroz’s Iran kept an impressive total of ten clean sheets and conceded only ten goals in regular time, six of which came in uncharacteristic collapses against Bosnia and Herzegovina (1-3) at the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 and Japan (0-3) in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.
Throughout this run, Queiroz often set-up his side in a system that fluctuated between a 4-3-3 and 4-5-1, with two players often forming a double-pivot in front of a flat backline and width provided by the two wingers, roles likely to be played by Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Mehdi Taremi.
Key Player: Sardar Azmoun
Seven years ago in Australia, Queiroz introduced Azmoun off the bench with 15 minutes to go in an AFC Asian Cup group stage game against Bahrain, replacing Reza Goochannejhad. In the next game, Azmoun was named as a starter, scoring one of the goals of the tournament after an exquisite on-the-turn control against Qatar. From that moment, Azmoun never looked back.
Since then, the current Bayer Leverkusen forward started each of the 12 major tournament games Iran competed in under Queiroz, playing at least 80 minutes in all but two of them. In Russia 2018, Azmoun did not find the back of the net, but the nation’s top-scoring active player will be odds-on to break his FIFA World Cup duck in Qatar.
Prime Business Africa’s Prediction: It will be a hurculean task for Iran to make it out of the Group B that contains teams like England and Wales despite the threats they pose.
However while they will have a near impossible task against England, Wales might be an easier proposition.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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