Antonio Simoez , Iran’s assistance coach:

“A team that loses 5 points at home , has a mountain to climb. Football is a cruel game. It can only take a moment for you to win or lose a match and possibly  the whole thing. Although our team stared quite well in the first half ,  the further the match was ongoing the more we were making mistakes.”

When asked by a reporter why certain player was not in the lineup, Simoez said “It is the same old story, isn’t it? When we win a match , nobody questions the players’ selection or line-up , but when we lose , it was because of the players that was not included in the match!”

Andranik Teymourian Iran’s midfielder :

” We were unlucky today , we created enough opportunities but we were not lucky to score. It was a bitter defeat and I must apologized to the fans who dared and came to see us under this rainy condition. Nothing is lost , if we beat Qatar , we will be challenging again.“. Asked by a reporter if his playing in Qatar League has affected his standard , Ando Teymourian said “That is your opinion , and I respect that , but today I was the best player in the match and my substitution was due to the coach’s decision (…)”

 

Omid Namazi Iran’s assistance coach:

” Our mission is really difficult now , but not impossible by any means.  We have to defeat Lebanon at home and defeat Qatar away , then fight for our lives against Korea away. We have to be realistic , it is going to be a difficult task ahead to qualify for the World Cup , but we have the resolve to do it”

Mirdjalal Kasimov Uzbekistan’s head coach:

“ Victory against powerful Iran in Azadi stadium is quite sweet. This was an interesting game in the sense that both teams were going for a win. I was 100% sure that we could win even in front of a full capacity stadium. I appreciate the small number of our supporters who stood behind us during the match,”

Reza Ghoochanejad Team Melli forward

“Uzbekistan had one serious attack and that was on a dead ball, and they scored while we missed several scoring chances. I missed some chances myself. I admit that a team with a record of 2 goals in five matches is not very encouraging , but we have to create chances and have to take our chances. The mission is very difficult but we should not lose hope and more importantly , the fans should keep backing the team all the way to the end of the campaign”

:

Group A

#	Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	D	P
1	Uzbekistan	5	2	2	1	5	4	+1	8
2	Korea Republic	4	2	1	1	9	4	+5	7
3	Iran	5	2	1	2	2	2	0	7
4	Qatar	5	2	1	2	3	5	-2	7
5	Lebanon	5	1	1	3	2	6	-4	4

Uzbekistan exacted revenge against Team Melli , when they won the 5^th round encounter 1 -0 in Azadi stadium. The rainy weather reduced the number of the fans to less than half the capacity (43,700 fans)

Team Melli, without the suspended Carlos Queiroz on the bench,  started the match with lightning offensive moves in a quest for an early goal to put the pressure on the guests.  Through the right flank , the combination of Heydari, Teymourian and  Dejagah created many chances for the forwards one such  opportunity resulted in a goal scored by Mohammed Nouri, but disallowed by the referee. It was a debatable call as Nouri receiving a diagonal ball from Andranik Teymourian from the right , shot and scored from just outside the box , however the  linesman raised flag for offside on Khalatbary, who was in an offside position , but had no effect on the ball.

After 20 minutes of sustained Iranian attacks, that yielded no goal, the Uzbek slowly started coming back into the game and managed to settled down creating some chances of their own.

The rest of the first half was mainly uneventful.

The second half started with Iran playing with ten men as Kari Ansarifard who was supposed to come in for Khalatbary , was unable to start due to administrative delay with his substitution card.

The second half was unlike the first as Team Melli looked slightly jaded.  The active right flank which created so many threats in the beginning of the match , was all  but disappeared in the 2nd half. The Uzbek were gaining in confidence and although not very open or adventurous, they did create a few chances , mainly through long range shots. Rahmati , however ., was not seriously threatened.

By the midway of this half, the match became quite a scruffy affair; with too many lose balls and wild passes. The slippery surface due to the all night rain, was not helping, although the host, Iran , was more vulnerable exposed with several of the players slipping or missing easy passes.

Almost all the offensive moves of Team Melli was based on sending crosses  from the flanks in hope of creating scoring opportunities. However , few , if any of the crosses reached Ansarifard or Ghoocahnejad in the presence of the towering Uzbek defenders.

In the 72^nd minute , a foul on the right hand side resulted in a free kick in which Servar Djabarov sent an immaculate cross  which was met by Bakatev’s  who cleverly dispensed of his marker , Teymourian , to simply flick the ball past the half idle Rahmati.

Iran still had ample time to get a result with some 20 minutes left , but the insistence on the same futile tactics of sending crosses into the opposition box and no other tactical variation , left Team Melli in in a precarious situation.

There was an exciting end with Ansarifard even sending the ball into the Uzbek goal to be ruled offside again., while Dejagah , who was visibly fatigued by the game’s end , also missing a chance to beat the on rushing Uzbek keeper.

At the end , the poor tactics of Team Melli and an offensive record which is the weakest ever in an official competition ( 2 goals in 5 games)  by Team Melli , meant that Iran , once again , have to endure some anxious moments in the next round against Qatar. Uzbekistan , meanwhile is comfortably topping the group with 8 points after a slow start to this campaign.

Full match details HERE

Team Melli can all but settle its claim for a spot at the 2014 World Cup, with a win against Uzbekistan in the FIFA World Cup 2014 – Asian Zone Qualifier on Wednesday.

When Group A joint leaders Iran hosts third-placed Uzbekistan, a win would take them to 10 points through five games – within one point of Carlos Queiroz’s men officially sewing up their spot in Brazil.

Conversely, the Uzbeks will be out to at least avoid defeat to ensure they remain in with a chance for a top-two spot, and automatic qualification to the finals when the two nations do battle at Azadi Stadium in Tehran.

Also in Group A, Qatar and Lebanon (both on four points) will go head to head in Doha, with both sides still well and truly in the race for a finals spot despite being the bottom two in the group.

Should Uzbekistan hold Iran, both the Lebanese and Qataris will be still alive heading into the final group game regardless of their result. Korea Rep, will have an off day on Wednesday.

The first clash in the qualifying round in Tashkent between Uzbekistan and Iran was one unusual event. Even before the match started, the Uzbeks were in dilemma having 5 of their regular players suspended for the match.

Having qualified for the next rounds with two games to spare in the previous round, Uzbek players near yellow-card suspensions thought the fifth game would be a good time for them to receive a second yellow so they could serve the suspension in the meaningless game and start the final round with a clean sheet. The AFC was wise to this scheme by the Uzbek and barred them all from the Iran game.

Ironically, those 5 absentees did not lessen the resolve of the brave Uzbek. The host dominated the game against Team Melli and had several scoring opportunities , one of which saw Jalal Hosseini clear the ball from inside his goal. A clear legitimate goal that was not seen by the referee or the linesman. Right at the end of the match, a counter attack took Karim Ansarifard on the right flank. The Perspolis striker spotted the run of Khalatbary in the middle and sent him a great ball across and Khalatbary made no mistake. It was a definite heart breaker for the Mirdjalal Kasimov players who were the better team throughout the match yet ended up losing all the three points.

Iran went on to continue the disappointing and below par performance as they played a goal-less draw with Qatar in front of capacity 100,000 fans in Azadi. To add salt to injury, Team Melli lost to Lebanon 1-0 in Beirut in the third round. That was the first ever loss to Lebanon in the history of the meetings between the two teams it was also the first ever goal scored by Lebanon.

Meanwhile Uzbekistan , still suffering from the disappointment of the loss to Iran , went on and played a 1-1 draw with Lebanon in Beirut , before bouncing back quite strongly against Korea republic in Tashkent with a 2-2 draw. Uzbekistan was once again the better team yet failed to get the result it was after.

The fourth round of this competition was defining for both Iran and Uzbekistan. Team Melli had the toughest task of the two teams when they had to face the group leaders Korea Rep. at Azadi , while Uzbekistan was in a desperate position and needed all the three points from their away game in Qatar.

With 100,000 vocal supporters, Iran took all the three points from the Koreans with a Nekounam goal, while Uzbekistan kept their hopes alive by beating Qatar in Doha.

 The match in Azadi is too close to call. Iran , always a very tough opponent in Azadi , has s alight edge , while Uzbekistan will be fighting to the end and would not be too disappointed with at least a point.

Interestingly , this is the first time that Uzbekistan plays in Azadi stadium.

The majority of Team Melli players agree that this match is even more important than the last one against Korea Rep. and a win is absloutely vital for them to take them on the threshold of qualification. Carlos Queiroz also repeated the same sentiments and invited all the fans to Azadi asking them to carry the tric colr Iranian flags with them.

The match in Azadi will start at 19:00 Tehran time.

Head to Head meetings:

H / A / N	Matches	W	D	L	Goals	+ / –
H	0	0	0	0	0 – 0	+0
A	2	1	1	0	1 – 0	+1
N	2	2	0	0	6 – 1	+5
Total	4	3	1	0	7 – 1	+6

Date	Comp.		Final score	Stadium	Attendance
03.06.2012	WC Qualifier	A	1 – 0	JAR Stadium -Tashkent	9000
05.09.2009	Friendly	A	0 – 0	Tashkent / Pakhtakor	9500
11.07.2007	Asian Cup / Group C	N	2 – 1	National Stadium Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur	3000
14.12.1998	Asian Games / AG	N	4 – 0	Suphachalasai	3200