Tag: Arturo Vidal

Team Melli , one last chance to excel under Queiroz.

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The Iran’s vs. Chile friendly match in St. Polten, Austria on Thursday , is overshadowed by the resignation of Carlos Queiroz on the eve of Nowrooz , the Iranian New Year.

The match has lost a major part of its significance as a new coach will most likely deploy different team game plan , different strategy and for sure , he will have his own sets of players in mind after a period of familiarization with Team Melli and Iranian football in general. Assuming of course that the next coach will likely be a foreign one.

No surprises !

As far as the match goes, there is not going to be many surprises in the game plan and line up unless Queiroz, for the only time, changes his mind-set and decides to give the offensive game plan a go against powerful opposition. Otherwise, it will be the usual tight at the back and counter at the front for Team Melli. There are no new players to look forward to except for the gifted young striker Masoud Hassanzadeh of Zob Ahan, who might be given his debut.

Masoud Hassanzadeh
Masoud Hassanzadeh

Defensive prowess

The lineup for this match will be quite close to the Asian Cup matches except that Queiroz managed to get his two injured defenders back. Pejman Montazeri and Hashim Beikzadeh were on the injury list and did not make the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. Queiroz had to significantly change the defense as he was short of options. Whether Montazeri and Beikzadeh will claim their posts back is an interesting question as their replacements, Morteza Pouraliganji in the heart of defense and Vouriya Ghafoori in the left back position, did a marvelous job in the competition and both performed to the admiration of the critics and observers.

Midfield Woes

The middle of the field is where Iran is lacking and will continue so with the aging players, lack of creativity, lack of pace and dearth of offensive capabilities hurting the team. Nekouman ,  Teymourian and Shojaei are on steady decline and despite their significant efforts during the Asian Cup , they were found wanting as they were no match for younger, energetic and more creative opposition players. UAE and Iraq matches, highlighted the weakness of Iran midfield. Ashkan Dejagah remains the main midfielder who can make a difference.

Up front , there is a very healthy competition developing between the established forward Reza Ghoochannejad who has a terrific scoring record with Team Melli and up and coming star , Sardar Azmoun.

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Although Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh will be absent from the team due to commitment of Omid Team in Tehran, which lead to Queiroz wrath and subsequent resignation , the addition of Masoud Ahmadzadeh is another shot in the arm for Team Melli offensive capabilities. On a perturbing note, Karim Ansarifard has lost much of his sparkle and abilities since moving to Spain to join Osasuna. His inclusion in the team as a striker without scoring a single goal in the season and not even providing a single assist, is one of those Queiroz special mysteries !.

Goalkeeping Calamities

Goalkeeping will remain the biggest of Iran’s worries for the forcible future, unless the new coach changes the keepers altogether. Haghighi is still the number one choice of Queiroz however; it is unlikely that he will remain so for long. The selection of calamity Sousha Makani is yet another of Queiroz mysterious rational that defies logic. Makani has been consistently unreliable for Persepolis

The star performers

The Chilean team, La Roja ,  is one of the contenders for Copa America.  Head coach Jorge Sampaoli is expected to field his strongest line up including the Chilean household names of Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Arturo Vidal (Juventus), Claudio Bravo (Barcelona) and Gary Medel (Inter Milan) for the two games series against Iran and then Brazil in Emirates Stadium in London. . Because most Chile player play abroad, the chances of the team training together on regular basis is small hence these FIFA days represent the most important times for the coaches to impliment their game plans.

sanchez training chile

 Players’ Fatigue

Sampaoli is quite lucky that he has no major injury except for Johnny Herrera (Universidad de Chile) custodian who dislocated his shoulder during the victory over Palestino in the league match at home and did not make the trip, However , in  Claudio Bravo (Barcelona)in goal , such absence is the least of his worries.

Artur Vidal
Artur Vidal

The European contingent join the squad after some heaving playing schedules. Sanchez and Vidal in particular had  busy schedules with significant number of strong matches played in the League and the Champions League. Fatigue might be a factor for these two games for Chile. Sampaoli might think it is wise to conserve their energy and refrain from playing them the whole 90 minutes.

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Chile vs. Iran : Match review

By Michael Huguenin

www.goal.com

Mar 24, 2015 12:13:39 AM

Iran will face Chile on Thursday in its first game since its Asian Cup exit, with the South Americans looking ahead to Copa America.

Midfielder Arturo Vidal has reminded Chile it must “take advantage” of its friendlies against Iran and Brazil ahead of this year’s Copa America.

Chile faces Iran in Austria on Thursday before taking on Brazil in London on Sunday, and Vidal has underlined the importance of match practice for Jorge Sampaoli’s men before they host the Copa America in June and July.

Vidal and Co. has lost just one match since last year’s World Cup, going down 2-1 to Uruguay in November, but has won four times in seven friendlies.

In its most recent game, Chile came from behind twice to beat the United States 3-2 in January, and Vidal wants to see some improvement against Iran in St. Polten.

“It’s an important game for us, we have these two games before the Copa America and we must take advantage,” he said, according to Chilean newspaper La Nacion.

The 27-year-old also denied any issues with his fitness after he was subbed off in his most recent league match for Juventus on Sunday.

“I stepped on an opponent late in the game and left the field just in case, and I was also a little tired, but no problems or injury,” Vidal said.

Coach Sampaoli has named a strong squad for this week’s matches with the likes of Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal, Fiorentina’s Matias Fernandez, Inter’s Gary Medel and Claudio Bravo of Barcelona all involved.

The Chileans will face an underworked Iran side in Austria, with Carlos Queiroz’s side not having played since it was eliminated from the Asian Cup in January.

Queiroz has made just four changes from his Asian Cup squad for friendlies against Chile and Sweden, with goalkeeper Sosha Makani, defenders Pejman Montazeri and Hashem Beikzadeh, plus striker Masoud Hassanzadeh promoted.

Iran lost the game of the tournament to exit the Asian Cup, losing in a penalty shoot-out in a quarterfinal against rival Iraq after the match ended 3-3 through 120 minutes, with four goals scored in extra time.