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Wales coach admits his team ‘weren’t in the game at all’ after disappointing Iran loss

Rob Page struggled to contain his annoyance after saying too many Wales players endured off-days in the defeat by Iran that left their chances of progressing to the last 16 of their first World Cup for 64 years hanging by a thread.

Iran had a first-half goal disallowed and twice hit the woodwork before scoring twice in second-half stoppage time to earn victory. Wales, who salvaged a late draw against the USA on Monday, again struggled to stamp their authority and had Wayne Hennessey sent off on 86 minutes after he inadvertently wiped out the Iran striker Mehdi Taremi when attempting to clear the ball.

Page said he would lift his players, many of whom crashed to the floor at full time, before Tuesday’s final Group B match against England. “We can’t sit and cry about it,” the manager said. “We want to give our supporters something to cheer about. They have shown massive commitment to come over [to Qatar] and it really disappoints me that we’ve given them that. We’ll bounce back. We’ll pick them up and go again.”

Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey were among the Wales players who seemed to wilt in the intense afternoon heat before Iran prospered. “We weren’t in the game at all,” Page said. “Even in the first half, before the sending-off … you can carry one or two players if there are off-days but, when the majority of the team are not quite at it, there is only going to be one outcome, unfortunately. It [qualifying] is out of our hands now.”

Hennessey was initially booked for clattering Taremi as the striker latched on to a through ball before a VAR review led to his caution being upgraded. Page acknowledged his side were second-best.

“Before the sending-off I wasn’t happy with the performance,” he said. “They hit the post twice, they had a goal ruled out for offside, which was marginal. We just couldn’t get going in the game and that disappoints me the most. We fell well below the standards that over recent months have given us the success to qualify for the World Cup … when you do that in top competitions you get punished.”

Carlos Queiroz, Iran’s head coach, said he was delighted with the way his players responded to their 6-2 thrashing by England. Queiroz dedicated the victory to Iran’s fans, many of whom inside the stadium jeered his players singing the national anthem after they had remained silent during Monday’s anthem.

“It was very emotional but special because we rebounded from a difficult situation,” Queiroz said. “Nobody likes to lose and, when you lose with those numbers, it is always a tough job. We went back to our roots. I think we played brilliantly. We wanted to give this gift to Iran fans. This game was a gift to the fans from the north, south, east, west – it’s a gift to all of them.”Rob Page struggled to contain his annoyance after saying too many Wales players endured off-days in the defeat by Iran that left their chances of progressing to the last 16 of their first World Cup for 64 years hanging by a thread.

Iran vs Wales: Player Ratings

The players rating against Wales in which Team Melli achieved a convincing win 2-0 scored by the two unlikeliest players.

  • Rouzbeh Cheshmi : Substituted in with 12 minutes remaining of the match. His major contribution was the goal he scored from about 30 meters in added time. Not only it gave Iran a deserved lead but boosted the morale so effectively that the second came soon after his goal. 8.0
  • Mehdi Taremi: He was overshadowed by Sardar Azmoun, yet his moves disturbed the Welsh defense. Slow in transition and missed a few good opportunities to create possession for his teammates. Provided the assist for the second goal to Rezaeian 7.60
  • Sardar Azmoun : His presense was immensly felt in the team. Always willing to run and tackle while doing defensive. duties Provided the pass to Gholozadeh to score the disallowed goal after VAR review. Hit the post too. His contribution was helpful to the team but the injury was worrying. 8.10
  • Ali Karimi: Came in as a late sub without contributing much in the few minutes.6.20
  • Mehdi Torabi : As a sub, he had limited time on the field but a good attempt to open the scoring deserves a good rating. 7.3
  •  Karim Ansarifard: A sub for Azmoun with limited time and contribution to the game 6.6

  • Ali Gholizadeh : Was one o the better player on the field. He was slightly offside when he received Azmoun’s ball to score. His dribbling and ball control was a breath of fresh air. 7.95
  • Ramin Rezaeian: Started the match badly with some wayward crossing that irritated the forwards. Slowly he came on well and started gelling with the rest. Defensive work. His delightful dink to score the second was all class. Got himself booked unnecessarily for useless protesting 7.85
  • Alireza Jahanbakhsh: A bench player for this match who came in with 12 minutes to play. Not only he had no effective contribution, but he also got another yellow card and is hence suspended for the next match against the USA. 6.00
  • Ehsan Hajisafi: Solid defensively and hardly put a foot wrong. It seems that he is not a 90 minutes player and more but for the time he was on the field, he was reliable and did a good job 7.80
  • Saeid Ezatolahi: A much better performance than the last match yet still missing some vital skills in his play. Defensive work from the midfield was fine when combining well with other players 7.45
  • Majid Hosseini: More confident and less error-prone. He combined with Pouralganji to create a solid wall in front of Hosseini preventing the Welsh penetration from the heat of the defense. 7.70
  • Ahamad Noorollahi: Lacks the speed and agility for fast transitions however, he played his role well and prevented the Welsh from taking hold of the midfield areas. 7.70
  • Hossein Hosseini: Was not really threatened by the Welsh player thanks to a solid defense. His Aerial work was fine and had no problem catching most of the crosses aimed toward his goal. Kept a clean sheet. 7.78
  • Milad Mohammadi: Had a calm day and did not need to exert lots of pressure on defensive duties. His incursion into the Welsh half on the wing was limited. 7.78
  • Morteza Pouraliganji : Did a fine job in combination with Majid Hosseini despite the lack of playing together for many years. 7.75
  • Carlos Queiroz: Must be credited for the changes he made in the starting lineup including playing with two center forwards, Taremi and Azmoun. On the other hand, there was no sign of a definitive game plan for ball distribution from the midfielders as he opted for route one football, balls directly sent from the back directly to the two forwards. Although some of the midfield players were capable of distributing the ball more efficiently. Had no solution for the slow transition from defense to attack and for the lack of pace. A player such as Torabi would have been ideal for that purpose. 7.8

Iran grab stoppage-time goals to claim stunning win over 10-man Wales

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Iran scored two goals in stoppage time to claim a stunning 2-0 victory over 10-man Wales at the World Cup on Friday.

Roozbeh Cheshmi and Ramin Rezaeian scored in the 98th minute and 101th minute respectively to hand Carlos Queiroz’s Iran a real chance of qualifying for their first World Cup knockout stages, leaving Wales with it all to do to make the next round.

Rob Page’s Wales struggled to find any rhythm throughout the game and they faced an uphill task when Wayne Hennessey was sent off late on, before Iran made them pay. Iran have three points after two games ahead of their clash against United States next week, while Wales remain on one point.

England will effectively qualify from Group B with a draw against the U.S. later on Friday, and will effectively win the group if they beat Gregg Berhalter’s men.

“We are gutted, there is no other way to say it,” Wales captain Gareth Bale told the BBC after the match. “We fought until the last second and we need to go again.

“We are all gutted but we have to pick ourselves up straight away. It is going to be difficult for us for sure. We will have to see.”

There were off-field incidents before the game as Iranian pro-government fans harassed anti-government supporters outside the stadium. In contrast to their stance against England, the Iranian players decided to sing the national anthem amid loud jeering from the Iran fans in the ground.

Both teams started the game well and Kieffer Moore had the first big chance after 12 minutes when his close-range header was saved by Iran goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini.

Less than five minutes later, Iran had the ball in the back of the net through Ali Gholizadeh but VAR ruled out the effort for offside. The match ended goalless at half time, which has now happened in the last five matches at the World Cup.

Iran, who lost 6-2 to England in their opening match, were the better side after the break and struck the woodwork twice in a matter of seconds. Sardar Azmoun was put through on goal but his effort hit the post. The ball then fell to Gholizadeh and his curling shot struck the other post before Hennessey stopped Azmoun’s rebound.

Hennessey was called into action once again after 73 minutes as he produced an excellent save to deny Saeid Ezatolahi.

Iran sparked scenes of jubilation with their goal in the 98th minute when Cheshmi struck a stunning strike from the edge of the box. Rezaeian then wrapped up the points after a quick counterattack to clip the ball over substitute goalkeeper Danny Ward.

“This is just the beginning, but we need to finish the job,” Iran head coach Quieroz told the BBC. A wonderful day for us. All respect to my players, today showed they love to play football.

“Our players deserve to be supported. We want to play for the fans.”

Wales 0-2 Iran

VAR overturn: Red card for Hennessey

What happened: In the 84th minute, Mehdi Taremi chased a long ball through the centre and Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey came rushing out of his area and crashed into the Iran forward. Referee Mario Escobar of Guatemala booked Hennessey for stopping a promising attack.

VAR decision: Yellow card upgraded to red.

VAR review: There was a covering defender, Neco Williams, who was likely to mop up the loose ball, so the referee was correct not to show a red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. But the nature of Hennessey’s challenge was without doubt endangered the safety of an opponent and the VAR, Canada’s Drew Fischer, made the correct decision to instigate a review for serious foul play.

Hennessey was in mid-air when he completely missed the ball in attempting a clearance and crashed into the upper body of Taremi with his thigh.

VAR overturn: Gholizadeh goal disallowed for offside

What happened: Ali Gholizadeh put Iran into the lead against Wales in the 15th minute, but there was a check for offside.

VAR decision: Goal disallowed.

VAR review: One of the more obvious VAR offside goals, with Gholizadeh unsure whether to celebrate after putting the ball past goalkeeper Hennessey.

The Iran forward was ahead of the ball when Sardar Azmoun played the ball. If he had held his run and stayed behind the ball he would have been onside, even though he was in front of the last defender.

Team Melli stuns Wales with two late goals.

Rozbeh Cheshmi and Ramin Rezaeian scored two late goals against Wales in Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan, Doha to ensure Team Melli grab all three points in an exciting and dynamic match.

The 2-0 win puts Iran in the second position in Group B on goal difference behind group leader England. The USA is third and will be meeting the leaders later this evening.

Team Melli had five changes from the previous match with Azmoun making the starting lineup and Jahanbakhsh benched. Gholizadeh also made the start-up. The match was balanced in the early stages but slowly Team Melli managed to take a grip on the match.  However, efforts by Azmoun and Taremi did not yield any results. Ali Gholizadeh scored a goal from a nice assist by Azmoun but he was deemed offside.

The first half ended goalless

In the second half, Iran was much the better team and threatened Wales consistently. The poor finishing and the slow transition from defense to attack marred Team Melli’s performance. Azmoun shot against the post and seconds later Gholizadeh curled a beauty into the far corner of Hennessy but that ball also hit the upright.

In the dying minutes of the match, Taremi was released from a long ball. He beat the offside trap and was one-to-one with Hennessey, The Welsh keeper came all the way outside the box to cut the ball. He fouled Taremi in the process and also denied him a goal-scoring opportunity, a clear red card case. However,  to the shock of the Iranians, the referee opted for a yellow card to the Welsh Keeper. Moments later, the referee was invited to look at the situation by VAR referees. The review resulted in the rightful decision of sending Henessy off.

Dying minutes of the added time. Rozbeh Cheshnmo lathed at a loose ball from outside the box to score from a low powerful shot right into the corner of Welsh goal. 1-0 to Iran. The Welsh then went on an all-out attack leaving their backlight. two minutes later, a counterattack and a beautiful pass by Taremi ended up with Rezaeian chipping the Welsh keeper to make it 20-0.

Iran deserved this valuable win against the 10-man Wales and needs a similar result to assure qualification to the next round.

Azmoun in the starting lineup against Wales

Queiroz realized his blunder against England and opted to change the shape of the team for the match against Wales in Group B of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. In defense, the same poor lineup is maintained though, except for the right back where Ramin Rezaeian is replacing Moharrami. In the midfield, Karimi and Cheshmi are out, replaced by Gholizadeh and Ezatollahi. The biggest surprise was the exclusion of Alireza Jaganbakhsh who had a bad day against England, with Sardar Azmoun.

The line-up is as follows:

24 Hossein Hosseini
8 Morteza Pouraliganji
23 Ramin Rezaeian
19 Majid Hosseini
5 Milad Mohammadi
3 Ehsan Hajisafi
21 Ahmad Noorollahi
6 Saeid Ezatolahi
17 Ali Gholizadeh
9 Mehdi Taremi
20 Sardar Azmoun

Iran vs. Wales: 5 talking points

  1. Players to observe in the Welsh Team

Wales has two household names on the team. Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey. Fortunately for Team Melli, they are in the twilight of their careers, but still players to be reckoned with nonetheless. There is also another veteran in Joe Allen. The Swansea midfielder is fit enough to play some part after missing their World Cup opener.

The 72-times capped Allen, so fundamental to the way Wales operate, has not played since damaging a hamstring on September 17. But Allen has stepped up his fitness push over the past few days and joined the main group after spending the first few days in Qatar training on his own. It is still not clear if he will be recalled by Coach Page.

At 6ft 5ins Kieffer Moore is difficult to miss and the absence of his name from the Wales teamsheet for the opening game against the Americans was a shock for many Welsh fans.

Page realized the error of his ways after a futile first 45 minutes and Moore changed Wales’ fortunes after being sent on at half-time, holding the ball up to bring Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey into play. It is possible that Moore will be in the starting line-up on Friday, especially after England showed in their handsome opening 6-2 win that Iran could be defensively fragile in the air. The coaches of Iran need to pay particular attention to their players.

2. Environmental Condition

Wales had the luxury of a 10 pm kick-off local time against the United States and playing in cooler conditions. But the Iran game is first up on Friday, with the action kicking off at 1 pm. The weather in Doha is still warm. The temperature is expected to be around 29 degrees Celsius at kick-off, so will that prove an advantage for Iran players more used to hot conditions?

3. The Fans Factor

The Iranian fans in Doha could very easily outnumber the Welsh by a large margin in and out of the stadium. Team Melli fans could always depend on the vociferous Iranians and the passionate fans to give the team a morale boost during major championships. This time, however, and due to the political situation back in Iran, a split and a crack has developed within the ranks, with some fans accusing this very team of representing the suppressive regime of the Mullahs. The arrogant and patronizing Carlos Queiroz has worsened the situation by bad-mouthing the Iranian fans who showed their anger at the team after the England defeat. It does not sit well with those fans and could be of a negative impact.

It is not known if this will be a factor, but be rest assured that a good Team Melli performance and better still an early goal will ignite the passion and pump up the Iranian fans, even those who have reservations about the team and players.

4. Queiroz’s Game plan

One does not need to be a genius to figure out that the lineup and game plan against England was a pretty pathetic failure. Even a dogmatic person such as the Portuguese coach knows that despite the fact that he blames the earth and sky for his now repetitious failures. The problem is that Queiroz is an aging coach and it is difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. If he deviates from his defensive mode, he might feel discomfort and not be at ease. Yet, he has to change to survive this. His contract is short term and a failure in this World Cup means he will be looking for his third job in as many years. Changes in personnel and game plan are a must for Iran.

5. Team Melli player’s morale.

This one is the most difficult to predict. No one really knows what the status of the players is in the camp especially after the whole team displayed unity in sympathy for the public cause and sided with the people of Iran by not singing the national anthem. For the sake of the team and the nation, one hopes that this time, the players unite and show their worth in front of the world against a team that they can beat under normal circumstances. The onus is on the players, provided the coach, plays his cards right.

Tehran clash

Azadi Stadium Tehran, Iran
Iran and Wales played a 1978 friendly at  the Aryamehr Stadium (Andrew Budd/PA)

Whereas England had never played Iran until Monday’s World Cup meeting, Wales has previously met the three-time Asian Cup winners. A Tehran friendly was arranged in April 1978 as the Liverpool-supporting son of the Shah of Iran wanted to invite a British side to play in the country.

Wales won the game 1-0 with Cardiff’s Phil Dwyer scoring the only goal in front of a 50,000 crowd.

Iran vs Wales: Match preview

Wales and Iran will both be going in search of their first wins of the 2022 World Cup when they face off at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Friday. After the trouncing by England, Team Melli is looking for a strong comeback to keep their qualifying hope alive. Team Melli will be without their main goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand who has a broken nose and will sit it out for the rest of the tournament. Amir Abedzadeh is making a strong claim for a starting place ahead of Hossein Hosseini who conceded six goals against England.

Iran will have to have a major facelift if they are going to beat Wales, as the lineup against England was the catalyst in this big defeat. Saman Ghoddos was sorely missed in the middle of the field so was Kanani to lead the defense.  As for the Forwards, it is likely that Queiroz, who is an aficionado of parking the bus and under immense public pressure, will start with both Azmoun and Taremi up front. The midfield in particular is in a dire need of a leader and orchestrator. Jahanbakhsh needs to stand up and be counted. Says applies to Nourollahi and Eztollahi.

Rob Page‘s Wales side rescued a point against the USA in their opening fixture, while Iran was on the end of a 6-2 pummelling at the hands of England as their World Cup campaign began in the worst possible fashion.

Hopes will be higher of picking up points against Wales, although both sides may be going into the game uncertain of what to expect with the two having only previously met on one occasion.

That contest came all the way back in April 1978 too, when former Cardiff City defender Phil Dwyer scored the only goal of the game on his debut in a friendly in Tehran’s Arayamehr Stadium.

It was not an ideal warm-up for the 1978 World Cup for Iran, who went on to finish bottom of their group behind Peru, Netherlands and Scotland – against whom they picked up their only point – in Argentina.

WALES VS. IRAN HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

Wales wins: 1
Iran wins: 0
Draws: 0
Wales goals: 1
Iran goals: 0

MATCH HISTORY

April 18, 1978: Iran 0-1 Wales (International friendly)

Queiroz disdainful interference in domestic politics and his insults.

Carlos Queiroz will use any trick up his sleeves to water down his shameful performance against England. Now he is deflecting the loss on the fans in the stadium and congratulating them for doing their job well. He has also found a useful tool for himself. Politics.

In the days that the country is suffering from hardship, agony, and repression, the so-called Hojat-o- Islam Haj Carlos Queiroz is poking his nose into affairs that has nothing to do with him except to side with his paymasters!  In a blatant interference in politics, and instead of focusing on his own shortfalls, his erroneous archaic tactics, his players’ mistakes, and generally the physical shape and emotional condition of his players, he is sending condemning those Iranians who are critical of low standard, his team low esteem, and the regime.

 On the sidelines of the team’s training in Doha today, Carlos Queiroz commented on the prevailing conditions of the squad before the match against Wales on Friday and the events of the England match. The Portuguese coach, who got the job on a plate of gold, after his predecessor, Dragan Skocic, did all the hard work, referred to the England match “I thank the media for their support. We never want to be on the pitch but not be able to win for the fans. We will learn from the result. We lost against a team that is probably one of the title contenders, and we should be ourselves with proper behavior and mental peace on the field (…). As I said before and in the message I sent, our players in the national team are not our enemies. I congratulate those who want to turn the players into enemies of the country because they did their job right. But I’m sure most people know that these players made people happy and proud for many years.”

Queiroz added: “I want to fight against the idea that the national team players are our enemies. Our enemies are those who tried to disrupt our focus.  Those who think that playing in the World Cup against English or Portuguese teams and others is like playing on PlayStation are very wrong. This is a great responsibility on our shoulders. Congratulations to the people who did it. They should be happy because of what they have done. Carlos Queiroz criticized the media in this interview and stated that this media has reached the composition of the national team on the morning of the game against England! He said: You are a great hero and this showed that there is someone in my team who will inform you!

Don’t hold your horses waiting for the local totally controlled government-owned and-run media to criticize the Portuguese for his rude insult to the Iranian fans. However, this man needed to be confronted with facts.

The first interesting note here is the sarcastic congratulatory note to the fans, who in case this Portuguese does not know, spend their hard-earned money to travel from across the world as far as Australia and America to see their beloved Team Melli. It is not like him who is being paid to do a job, these fans spend their own money. Wise up, Carlos! It is within their full right to criticize. They have not come to the stadium to watch losers, Team Melli fans maintain a high standard and like to see winners. But even if the team loses, they have been supportive, it is difficult to swallow this shameful, embarrassing drubbing. Lucky for Queiroz that he is coaching in Iran, if he was a coach of Saudi Arabia or any other Persian Gulf country, he would have been booted out before even leaving the stadium for shaming the country’s name.

The second issue that Queiroz needs to address in his incoherent statement is that someone actually did a good job, his words not ours, and succeeded, though he himself failed and failed miserably. Perhaps, Queiroz needs to go back to these fans and learn lessons in success and how to achieve it.

It is so sad that the affairs of Team Melli have reached such a status, particularly with the presence of the ever-divisive Portuguese man who should have never been anywhere close to this post. Even if he wins against the next two opponents, which Team Melli deserves, it will never be thanks to him but to the efforts of the coaching staff and crew that have accompanied Team Melli since 2019 in the qualifiers namely Dragan Skocic and the likes of Karim Bagheri.

Team Melli vs England: Players and Coach ratings

Team Melli’s Team Rating in the match against England ended a 6-2 for Iran

Man of the Match for Iran: MEHDI TAREMI

Iran (5-4-1)

Ali Beiranvand (GK) Ludicrous that he was allowed to continue after a nasty head injury. Eventually carried out on a stretcher after 19 minutes.  He was confident while on the pitch and had no real threat to deal with. 6

Sadegh Moharrami (RB) was Overwhelmed by England’s raids down his flank. He could not contain Shaw. Not one of his good days. 5

Morteza Pouraliganji (CB) Formerly a defensive midfielder, the converted center-back was turned by Kane for England’s third. He partnered Hosseini and the duo just fell apart. Booked. 4

Roozbeh Cheshmi (CB) was One of the most unexpected names on the sheet when the starting lineups were announced. Away from Team Melli for a long time only recently recalled by Queiroz. Poor showing and lack of agility were evident. Overpowered by Maguire when the defender nodded down for Saka to score. Substituted at half-time. 3.5

Majid Hosseini (CB) was Not the most confident of defenders and his partnership with Pouraliganji proved to be fateful. He was beaten in the air when Bellingham scored the opener. He struggled with England’s attack. 3.5

Milad Mohammadi (LB) Had the unenviable task of trying to keep up with Saka. The youngster tormented him. He did however manage a few runs on the wing but to no avail. 4

Alireza Jahanbakhsh (RW)  One performance to forget from a player that has done so well in the qualifiers. His time warming the bench with his club was telling as he seemed to be out of match practice. He squandered a glorious chance to score but instead ballooned the ball while no English defender was close to him. Booked and replaced at half-time. 4

Ali Karimi (CM) He was utterly lost and out of place in this Team Melli lineup. Karimi was overwhelmed by England’s midfield trio and could not match their skills.  3

Ahmad Noorollahi (CM)  Another player who was simply overwhelmed by the English midfield players. No support at all for4 Taremi . Really struggled while on the pitch as he saw little of the ball. 3.5

Ehsan Haji Safi (LW) The captain spent much of his time tracking back to mark Saka. It made little difference. 5

Mehdi Taremi (CF) With Carlos Queiroz’s game plan, Taremi was isolated and hardly received any service, but he scored a marvelous goal beating both Maguire and Stones to shoot past hapless Pickford. Iran’s best player scored both goals despite the lack of service.  8

Substitutes

Hossein Hosseini (for Beiranvand, 19) was an early goalkeeper replacement and could not be faulted for any of the goals. 5;

Ali Gholizadeh (for Jahanbakhsh, h-t) Managed a mini-revival when he was introduced. Played a clever pass for Taremi’s first goal. 6.5;

Hossein Kanaani (for Cheshmi, h-t) A player who should have started the game, but the coach thought otherwise. In the circumstances, he did well in the second half. 6;

Saeid Ezatolahi (for Karimi, h-t) His contribution was minimal as like his other midfield teammates he looked disorientated and out of place 4.5;

Mehdi Torabi: (for Milad Mohammadi 63′) Made little impact in the minutes he was on the pitch 4.5;

 Sardar Azmoun (for Noorollahi, 77) Despite the long-time injury, he was mobile and dynamic for the minutes he played. Could have very well scored but for Pickford’s brilliant save 6.5

 

COACH

Carlos Queiroz: His players’ selection and insistence on parking the bus tactics ended in a disaster this time. The substitutions he made in the second half did improve the team somehow, but it was too little too late. Not a coach who admits his faults or mistakes in public, but deep down he is experienced and senior enough to know that he really made some bad choices against England. 4

‘Really good player’: Rio Ferdinand raves about ‘ridiculous’ striker Arsenal reportedly want to sign

Rio Ferdinand has raved about FC Porto striker Mehdi Taremi on BBC today – a striker Arsenal reportedly wants to sign.

According to CBS Sport, Arsenal could’ve signed Taremi back in January as the striker was offered to the Gunners on a loan deal. Mikel Arteta looked to be in desperate need of attacking reinforcements at the start of this year, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of favor before he made the switch to Barcelona. Arteta’s men were left with just Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah for the second half of the campaign.

But A Bola – via Sport Witness – claimed last month that Arsenal are still one of the clubs that could be chasing Taremi’s signature in January. The 30-year-old bagged two goals against England today though as his national side Iran were thrashed 6-2 in their opener at the World Cup. And before the game, Ferdinand was full of praise for the Porto man

Ferdinand raves about Taremi

“This guy knows how to score goals. He’s a bit of a hybrid between a nine and a ten,” Ferdinand told BBC Sport.  “He’s happy to come short or run through. He’s a really good player. This is what I mean if they get on the counter and in transition and chances do fall to this guy, we will have to be worried.”

Ferdinand wasn’t wrong in his assessment of the ‘ridiculous’ Taremi and he looked a real bright spark for Iran. Taremi has bagged 13 goals for Porto this season and opened his World Cup account against Southgate’s men earlier today.

The Gunners probably could have done with a player like Taremi during the second half of last season. They missed out on Champions League qualification to their bitter rivals Spurs and lacked real firepower up-front towards the end of the season. But Arsenal fans probably won’t be losing too much sleep over it, especially now they have Gabriel Jesus leading the line at the Emirates.

The Iran striker could still represent a good option for the Gunners though and would provide quality backup for Jesus in north London.

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