That English idiom is a classic example which explains a lot about the ills of Iran's football..
Look very closely at this picture of moments just before Japan opened the scoring against Team Melli in the semi finals of the Asian Cup 2019. 5 players not 1 , 2 or 3 but 5 Iranian players, which is the whole of the defense line plus one are gathered at the corner of the box raising their hands and pleading with the referee to whistle for an imaginary foul!!
Even if there was a genuine foul , a blatant foul for that, if these players do not realize by now that the action stops only when the referee blows his whistle, frankly speaking , they should not be playing for Iran at this level.
It is very harsh to say that, but unless the truth is told and unless the issues and shortfalls are tackled, Iran will never see another Asian Cup in our life time.
This picture typified the difference between the professional Japanese that have conquered the world with their technology , mind-set , intelligence and work ethics and Iranian who have always been passionate, forgiving, accommodating and emotional.
By the time those five Team Melli players realized that the game is alive , Minamino Takumi comfortably controlled the ball and had all the time in the world to adjust his posture , send a perfect cross without any Iranian bothering him for Yuya Osako to head home (against the uncertain Beiranvand who completely hit an air ball) and send it into the net.
This goal also exposed Iran's top keeper weakness which we have already mentioned before (see the article below)
It is a simple act that says volume of the difference in mentalities between the Japanese and it is just on reason why Japan has won 4 Asian cups and perhaps the fifth is on the way.
http://www.teammelli.com/2018/12/27/know-your-team-melli-players/
China was well beaten by Team Melli and much credits should go for one player, Sardar Azmoun. The Ruben Kazan forward was on a mission and he succeeded by mixture of strength, skill and determination. The Chinese defense, in truth, had a big role in the defeat of their team with some poor defending and suspect decision making.
China, however, was not a minnow team and did not lack the skills required at such level of football. They are guided by one of the world best and famous coaches in Marcello Lippi. A world Cup winner and a coach who has a trail of trophies behind him. Queiroz, on the other hand, out foxed the master in every department and his team came out a clear winner.
Queiroz has masterfully rotated the team for this tournament. He is the envy of the rest of the teams in UAE because he is spoiled for choices in every department. The absence of Vahid Amiri was not even felt. Hopefully , the same will be true against Japan when Mehdi Taremi will be missing due to his suspension.
Team Melli dominated the center and at times defended deep. their teamwork was a delight to watch. On my occasions, the series of short and fast passes interchanged between the players intimidated the Chinese who were chasing shadows. Despite the fact that most of the goals came either from long balls or route one followed by a Chinese defense blunder, that doe not hide the fact that Iran was the better team in all departments.
To be able to take advantage of the opposition mistakes , you need the quality player to do that. Team Melli had the right quality to punish mistakes by opposition defenders.
If there were some negative points, they were the same ones that were mentioned in other matches too and that is the wastefulness of the forwards, particularly Mehdi Taremi. It is very difficult to criticize a player who scored one goal and provided an assist for another, but Taremi was really appalling when he missed an open goal from a few meters after the ball was given to him on a plate by a perfect header from Kanani-Zadegan. It was a shocking miss!
Overall, it was an emphatic win in the quarter final of the AFC Asian Cup. Now……Bring on Japan.
Azmoun threatened again in the 10th minute when he was left unmarked at the back post at a corner and would have opened the scoring with a free header if not for Zheng Zhi being alert to the danger and clearing just before the line, but there was to be no denying Iran eight minutes after.
There looked to be no real danger when the Iranian defence played a long ball over the top but Feng Xiaoting’s hesitation saw him recklessly lose possession to Azmoun, who did well to unselfishly square a pass to hand Taremi with a simple finish.
The Al Gharafa star should have doubled his and his side’s tally in the 26th minute from a similar position when he was left with a sitter after being picked out by Hossein Kanaanizadegan’s flick-on from Ashkan Dejagah’s freekick, only to fire wide with the entire goal gaping.
By now, China’s 2006 FIFA World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi had seen enough and was motivated to make two substitutions even before the half-hour mark, but it still seemed only a matter of time before the Iranians’ supremacy reaped a second goal.
That duly arrived a minute after the half-hour mark and – this time – it was Liu Yiming who was the culprit despite being the favourite to make an interception, allowing Azmoun to nip in and win possession and casually take the ball past Yan before slotting into the unguarded net.
With a two-goal advantage now in their grasp, Team Melli were never in danger relinquishing control of the contest in the second half, and even had further chances to add to their tally which would have certainly but the result beyond doubt, although they were never really threatened by a lacklusture Chinese outfit.
And, in the first minute of injury-time, they finally added the gloss on an emphatic victory after profiting from another China error; Shi Ke’s poor touch handing possession straight to Taremi, who immediately threaded a ball through for substitute Ansarifard to latch onto and finish into the bottom corner.
