Tag: Mehdi Taremi

Team Melli defeats Uruguay in a friendly international

The Portugues head coach Carlos Queiroz made a winning start to his second term in charge of Team Melli as Mehdi Taremi’s second-half goal earned his side a 1-0 win over fellow World Cup qualifiers Uruguay in St. Pölten, Austria on Friday. 

Although the overall assessment of the team under the new cum old Portuguese coach can be graded as average, there were some good points that Iran can positively take to the World Cup.

In the first half, Team Melli’s priority was to shut shop and keep their defenses tight for most of the half. Uruguay, which included its household names such as Luis Suarez , Darwin Nunez and Valverde, had most of the possession in the first half and launched attacks on Iran’s goal, but the solid defense of Team Melli stood up well to whatever the Uruguayns forwards offered. Darwin Nunez prompted Alireza Beiranvand to take action after 15 minutes when the Liverpool striker let fly from distance, forcing the Iranian goalkeeper to tip the ball over the bar.

Luis Suarez sought to lob Beiranvand in the 38th minute but his attempt sailed over while a later effort from the former Barcelona forward curled wide.

In a wise and logical thinking, Queiroz stuck to the tried and trusted duo of Shoja’a Khalizadeh and Hossein Kananizadegan who did not allow Beiranvand to be seriously threatened. On the other hand, Team Melli managed to reach the opponent’s penalty area on several occasions, but could not seriously threaten the goal of their South American opponent.

Uruguay side lost Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo to injury after he hobbled off with barely a minute on the clock clutching his groin.

The first half ended in a goalless draw as both teams lacked the punch to score.

The second half started like the first 45 minutes, with the Uruguayan national team having the majority of ball possession and controlling the midfield creating many chances to score, but in several scenes, Alireza Beiranvand thwarted their attempts .

The best opportunity for Iran to score was in the 65th minute when Mehdi Torabi in good teamwork with Saman Ghoddos breached the Uruguay defense and was close to opening the scoresheet. The final shot by Torabi was parried by Sergio Rochet the Uruguayan goalkeeper and on the second attempt, Torabi’s shot went wide of the goal.
Sardar Azmoun could not create any significant threat to the Uruguay goal until he was substituted. Alireza Jahanbakhsh started an attack, but the final shot by Ehsan Haji Safi was easily handled by Uruguay’s goalkeeper. In the 66th minute, Uruguay was on the verge of scoring, as Abedzadeh missed a cross from an Uruguay corner kick but the header from this team’s striker was cleared off the line by Mehdi Torabi.

Late in the match, Queiroz decided wisely to change the lineup to give the team some needed energy.  , He sent several players including Taremi and Ansarifard to the field in the last 20 minutes. These substitutions improved the situation for Team Melli and the result was decided by Taremi in the 79th minute.
The forward started and finished the move, feeding Saman Ghoddos on the left, and his pass through to Karim Ansarifard was played back into the path of Taremi who side-footed home to score the winning goal of the match and to the delight of the bench.

In the final minutes, Uruguay was looking to compensate for the lost goal and its hope was Suarez in the attack line. In the 89th minute, this player was preparing to shoot at Abedzadeh’s goal behind the penalty area, when Ezatollahi gave away a free kick in a dangerous area with a foul on Suarez. The resulting free kick hit the body of the Iranian defense and an opportunity went missing for the South Americans.

In the end, Queiroz managed to outfox Uruguay’s coach Diego Alonso and achieve a promising victory in Team Melli’s first of the two friendly international matches. This win is valuable for Queiroz as he has precious little time to prepare the team until the first game in the FIFA World Cup.

With England (vs Italy 0-1), Wales (vs Belgium 1-2), and the USA (vs Japan 0-2) all losing their matches in the international break, Iran’s hope and confidence to qualify from this group is certainly not that impossible.

IRAN   1-  0 URUGUAY

Venue: NV ARENA (St. Pölten)
Referee: Walter Altmann (Austria)
Half time : 0 – 0

Scorer: Mehdi Taremi (79′)
Yelloe card : Uruguay R. Bentancur (81′)

IRAN – A. Beiranvand (63′ Abedzadeh): S. Moharrami , S. Khalilzadeh, H. Kanani, A. Jalali(69’Noorafkan), E. Hajsafi, S. Ezatolahi, M. Torabi( 69′ A. Gholizadeh), S. Azmoun (68′ K. Ansarifard), S. Ghoddos (85’V. Amiri), A. Jahanbakhsh (68’M. Taremi)

URUGUAY -S. Rochet, D. Suárez (72’G. Varela), M. Olivera (85’M. Viña), R. Araújo (5’A. Rogel), S. Cáceres,M. Vecino (72’G. De Arrascaeta), R. Bentancur (85′ L. Torreira), F. Valverde , F. Pellistri (46’N. De La Cruz), L. Suárez, D. Núñez

Taremi is pursued by Chelsea.

The Sun Newspaper
London 31.Aug.2022

CHELSEA are lining up a beat-the-deadline move for Porto strike sensation Mehdi Taremi, according to reports.

The Iran international bagged 26 goals in 48 games as his club won the Portuguese league and cup double last season.

Mehdi Taremi's stunning bicycle kick goal against Chelsea came second in the 2021 Puskas awards
1
Mehdi Taremi’s stunning bicycle kick goal against Chelsea came second in the 2021 Puskas awards

Stamford Bridge boss Thomas Tuchel is desperately seeking reinforcements following the Blues’ poor start to the season.

They lost 2-1 at Southampton on Tuesday to slump to eighth in the Premier League. And Lisbon sports daily A Bola claims the German has targeted 30-year-old Taremi.

Under contract until 2024, the frontman is valued at £22million. The Iran ace is likely to face England at the World Cup finals in November.

He has 58 caps and 27 goals for his country.

All told Taremi has an impressive 53 goals from 101 Porto appearances.
He hit a stunning bicycle-kick winner as Porto beat Chelsea 1-0 in the Champions League in April 2021, although the Blues won the quarter-final 2-1 on aggregate.

The Persian goal machine was a bargain £4.25m buy from Portuguese side Rio Ave in 2020.
He previously played for three Iranian clubs and Qatari side Al-Gharafa.

Meanwhile, a Portuguese source claimed that Concesaou, the Porto Head Coach has threatened to resign if yet another of his strikers is sold.

Mehdi Taremi asks Vice President of Iran’s son for a tax exemption for his luxury car.

Is there a problem with the involvement of politicians in the luxury car entry permit?

The rebel group of players in the Team Melli camp led by Taremi has issued a public call on their social media pages demanding that the two most critical members of parliament cease interfering in football and Team Melli affairs!!

It is believed that this group has the backing of former FFIRI head Mehdi Taj, who has allegedly promised his followers in Team Melli that he will rid Team Melli of Skocic if he is elected.

While the statement lacks professional ethics and knowledge of how politics works, there is also a contradiction between the words and the deeds of those players, especially those supporting Mehdi Taj. Hassan Kamaranifar, hinted at this issue and demanded that players mind their own business and not interfere in what is not their job.

In yesterday’s statement by the players, parliamentarians and politicians have been asked to take care of people’s livelihood and attend to economic problems and leave football in the hands of football players, but there is no problem if the same MPs authorize funds from the public coffer to the Team Melli Players! Some of these players had recently joined politicians to advance their personal gains. One of them is Mehdi Taremi himself who admitted in his last interview that he held a meeting with the Vice President’s son to obtain a permit for the entry of his luxury cars without paying taxes and customs!!

In the midst of all the economic and livelihood problems of the Iranians, with a large percentage of them earning in a year what Taremi and other European-based players earn in a week, they have the audacity to ask for tax exemption for their luxury cars. It seems that such intervention is fine.

 

 

Mehdi Taremi, from hero to villain!

From the moment it was announced that Adel Ferdosipour had interviewed Mehdi Tarimi and that this discussion was going to be broadcast in cyberspace, it was clear that some of his statements would become controversial, divisive, and might very well create friction in the team and fans for a long time. As much as Taremi’s value as a striker is undeniable, his controversial talking is harmful to himself! In this case, the predictions came true and some of the topics raised by Taremi became the center of attention, criticism, and various conflicting opinions. He has already managed to create divisiveness & sedition.

This player, who had taken a stand against Dragan Skočić, becoming the spokesman for some other players as well, questioned Skocic’s competence in a conversation with Ferdosipour. Taremi criticized the exclusion of and then the U-turn of Esteghlal players from the Team Melli camp and then claimed that in the past year, far too many players have been selected for Team Melli !, which is not a good thing to say. These statements had wide repercussions amongst the stakeholders in Iranian football, which were mostly negative.

Who are you, What position are you in?

Some of Tarami’s statements might be merited but some are not. But here, the criticism of the speaker is more important than the content of the speech. Basically, no player in the world’s professional football should give himself the right to openly and candidly take a position against the Coaching staff and particularly the Leader, the head coach.

If this issue becomes a normal procedure, no stone will be left unturned. It is really rare and rare that even the greatest players in the world of football have taken such positions against their coaches. You don’t see this behavior from Messi and Ronaldo either. Didn’t Paris Saint-Germain have a few failures? Have you ever heard Kylian Mbappe criticize his coach as the best player on this team?

The crossroads of Skocic.

Even if Tarami’s efforts to dismiss Skočić were successful, the story would not be over, because in this case, the next coach to take over, would have to be approved by him in order to survive. is that the correct thing for a football team? Skocic’s difficult dilemma is now on how to deal with the issue of Mehdi Taremi, and to a lesser extent Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Ehsan Hajsafi.  Dragan Skočić has now faced a big predicament. That he does not invite these players and significantly reduces the Team’s foundation in the World Cup, or that he pleads ignorance to the fact that there are players who don’t respect him and might spread the bad word in the camp.  in which case his authority will be questioned even more. All this could not exist if Tarami maintained his sense of responsibility and did not utter those unnecessary words.

Mehdi Taremi has proved through the few years that he has a behavior problem. His action on the field doesn’t reflect his age. His famous dismissal in the Champions League was when he kicked the ball away a few minutes after he was awarded a yellow card. This typified his immaturity and lack of emotional control. Despite his popularity amongst the Porto fans, Taremi is probably the most hated player in the Portuguese league. He is famous for his diving and deception of referees and is the subject of many reporters’ criticism for lack of sportsmanship.

Is Taremi an Asset or Liability?

Right now, looking at the picture, it looks like Mehdi Taremi is a risk and a dangerous element in the Team Melli camp. Thinking that he will change his attitude and mentality in a few days or months is simply impossible. He has a lot of grudge against Skočić starting from day one.  His exclusion from the team is not going to be disastrous for Iran with the presence of Sardar Azmoun to spearhead the offensive line. The problem is the exclusion of Jahanbakhsh.

In any case, Skočić must choose between discipline, values, and respect or act as if nothing has happened and call Taremi back in the hope of better things.

How is more valuable for team Melli?

A comparison table on the performance of Azmoun and Daei for reference

Sardar Azmoun Mehdi Taremi
Age 27 30
Club Bayer Leverkusen FC Porto
No of seasons in Europe 15 6
Foreign leagues Russia & Germany Qatar & Portugal
Games played 217 243
Goals scored 86 125
Yellow card 38 32
Red Cards 2 4
League title 3 1
TEAM MELLI
Matches 63 58
Seasons 9 8
goals scored 40 29
Yellow card 10 8
Red Cards 0 0

What should happen now in Team Melli.

Mirshad Majedi and the rest of the board members of the federation, after a long and winding meeting , decided on the status quo and that the incumbent head coach of Team Melli shall remain in charge up to the FIFA World Cup 2022 and beyond.

That was the best decision possible under the circumstances and taken for the sake of Team Melli with crucial days left up to the world cup. Majedi did not succumb to pressure exerted mainly by the Minister of Sport and some other elements who were influenced by a group of Team Melli players.

To be clear, the categorical refusal of Ali Daei to take over from Skocic despite several attempts or pleas, was the catalyst in Skocic’s survival. There were no alternative viable options and the conditions of Team Melli would have been disastrous if Skocic was sacked.

Despite reaching the wisest decisions possible by the FFIRI leadership, the problem with Team Melli is far from over. There must be action by the FFIRI to eliminate the rebels in the squad else these disruptive elements will make the Croat job impossible in Qatar. There is no doubt among many experts that some players will not be happy with this decision while some begrudgingly will tag along.

Hamid Estili’s position

The man that should support Team Melli’s coaching staff has taken a side and worked against Skocic. He was a member of the Technical Committee that decided that the Croat is not qualified as a coach of Team Melli.  Hamid Estili must accept his poor insight and should resign his post immediately to save face. Estili however, is a man of thousand faces and changes positions in a blink. He will try to weasel his way out of this situation, however, it is better for the federation to sack him from the job before he inflicts damage.

The rebel players.

Including the rebel players who are led by Mehdi Taremi in the squad for the World Cup is a serious risk. In addition to Taremi, there are players such as Karim Ansarifard, Ehsan Haj Safy, and Saeid Ezatollahi, with some mention of Alireza Jahanbaksh being in this rebellion group.

No doubt that Jahanbakhsh and Taremi are key players and getting rid of them could be a disadvantage to Team Melli. Their experience and abilities are undeniable, however, much depends on how Skocic will perceive these players and likewise the player’s comfort level with the coach, especially after some bad feelings made publicly by some of them.

It is a difficult formula and there must be a middle-of-the-road solution. Keeping all the rebel players is certainly a risk. From the track record,  Skocic does not score high in the discipline department. He is not like Daei or Queiroz both of who are no-nonsense coaches and have no time for indiscipline. So, controlling the rebels and their effect on the whole squad could be a difficult task for him. The leadership of the football federation must come to his support and coordinate with the coaching staff and in consultation with Karim Bagheri, who was an assistant coach until lately when Persepolis pulled him back,  should come up with the right decision.

One school of thought believes that some of the rebel players are dispensable and could be thrown out as an example to the rest, while the two most valuable of them should be kept under strict behavioral restrictions and maintained discipline. The reputation and name of Iran especially at such a level of competition are far greater than the interest of some players never mind what European league they are playing in.

If a player is selected to represent his country, he has no right to decide who the coach is and must give 100% to the team under whichever coach is appointed, period.

Sardar Azmoun: “Dismissal of Skocic was an act of cowardice”

Team Melli’s central forward and its top active scorer did not munch his word in support of Head Coach Dragan Skocic.

“The dismissal of Skocic was an act of cowardice by the so-called technical committee (laughing).  What can I say? This action (the removal of Skocic by the technical committee) was the bottom of cowardice. There was one camp left until the start of the World Cup and these things are happening. Why do we keep on lying?  When Queiroz eventually left the country, there was only one person who went to the airport to bid farewell to him; He was also his driver. If we want to fire him, let’s do it right. Don’t be ungrateful.”

“Skocic was the man who took the national team’s hand in Bahrain and led the team to the World Cup. Ok, even if he is a bad person as some claim; at least show some grace and gratitude toward the man. Let’s say that his tactics were below zero, how is that possible while he lead us to qualification to the World Cup without any problems? what kind of logic these people are using?. We have to treat people who come from outside the country well. Even if Guardiola takes over now, we can’t do anything either, there was only one camp left until the World Cup.

Whether it is Skocic or Queiroz at the helm, it does not make a difference to me, I am here to stay with Team Melli, I am me. We have eight days of camp next. Do you think Guardiola can overturn the team’s tactics in these eight days? This was cowardice. I look at it from the point of view of humanity; This was cowardice.

 

Don’t be like many snake players!

Azmoun also criticized many players who were lobbying. Don’t be like many snake players! We were born as men and we must die as men. I hope the young players have a clean heart; If your heart is pure, you will reach everywhere. Don’t be like many snake players and don’t go underwater. Your heart must be pure, otherwise, you will not get anywhere. I spoke with Mehdi (Taremi) last night. We are always in touch. I said that I don’t like people who change their words at a whim, whether it’s my family or strangers. That’s why it’s better to avoid them; Why take the risk?

90% of Iranian players are full of bragging

Even if my head is put down, I will still speak out. I have to keep my word and be honest. 90% of Iranian player only claims. do not doubt that. Some did nothing yet claim a place in Team Melli as their right !!. We have this player who was not been invited by two national team coaches. How long has he been playing? Now he thinks that he is technically the best player in his post; No, my dear, you must be honest with yourself first and know that you are “locked” out because you are not what you claim. During Queiroz’s time, when I had a row before the World Cup in Brazil, I was honest with myself and said that I had no right to go to the World Cup because I played badly. I said this also crying. Don’t pretend by showing your body on Instagram, I’m not saying like me, but be honest with yourself and don’t pretend to be a game and post on Instagram and show your body. These do not help. If you are a man, show yourself and help the national team for the World Cup. Personally, I will do whatever it takes to fight for my country’s national team in the World Cup, no matter who the coach is.

Two players, claiming they are talking on behalf of the rest,  did not want Skocic!

The final part of the Azmoun talk was about allegations that one or two unnamed Team Melli players have spoken on behalf of the rest to officials regarding Skocic.  “I doubt that those two players talked about such a thing. But it is better to ask them directly so that there is no misunderstanding. I talked to one of those two people who doesn’t lie, He said that I didn’t talk about changing the coach at all. But there were other players who have spoken on our behalf, which is wrong and distasteful. One of our players said that the players don’t want this head coach, but we will speak our mind to him and solve this issue.”

Meanwhile, the executives of the Football Federation, in particular, the acting head Mirshad Majedi have yet to officially announce the sacking of Skocic. Majedi, who two weeks ago was talking about the extension of the contract of Skocic to beyond the AFC Asian Cup 2023 has remained tight-lipped and in negotiation with the Minister of Sports.

 

Team Melli instability continues to raise concerns.

The countdown to the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has reached 134. While all the teams in the most important football tournament in the world have prepared their plans with the necessary support, resources, and detailed requirement in order to get the best performance tout of their teams, the case in Iran is quite different.

Team Melli is facing many challenges and struggling despite the fact that they qualified early and with many matches to spare. The crisis began after the dismissal of the Head of the federation, it is now embroiled in rumors of the impending dismissal of Dragan Skocic from his post as head coach of the national team.

“Behind the scenes, the intervention of people outside the football federation to bring about change has put undue pressure on the federation. Controversially several players of Team Melli are playing significant roles to push for change. Mirshad Majedi, the acting head of the Football Federation, entered the fray after seeing the two parties that had arisen among Team Melli players in stories supporting or criticizing Dragan Skocic, to end the matter for good by contacting them directly.
Majedi conveyed his displeasure about the behavior of the players to the senior members of the Iranian national team. He, who was surprised by the arrival of several new players in the recent camp of the team, postponed dealing with them to another time to show that he has decided to talk to the main players of the squad and calm the created atmosphere.

Among the strong supporters of Skocic, Azamoun and Taremi have been the most vocal. In an act of sedation, some new players, led by provocateurs are supporting the other side. The partisan is also clearly felt in the media which are taking sides, instead of encouraging stability and accepting the Croat.

The efforts of Majedi to change the atmosphere team’s dressing room have been counteracted by secret meetings in the corridors of the Ministry of Sports. Majedi, who no longer categorically dismisses Dragan Skocic’s departure, is now struggling with all kinds of demands to replace the Croatian head coach. The catalyst of these demands comes from the Ministry which has a long history of interference behind the scenes and applying all sorts of pressures to the extent of threats to get to their demands. In public, however, The Ministry always manitains the official policy of non-interference in FFIRI affairs and respect for the federation as an independent entity.

Some patrons of Carlos Queiroz have secretly held meetings with the officials of the Ministry of Sports during Majedi’s tenure as acting head and demanded the return of the Portuguese. Meetings that were supported and perhaps attended by several representatives of the Islamic Council (the Parliament) who demanded the explicit intervention of Hamid Sajjadi, the Minister of Sports in the affairs of the FFIRI. However, Sajjadi, aware of FIFA’s sensitivity to the subject and Iran being very close to being sanctioned because of several issues, including females attendance in stadiums, has announced that he will not get directly involved in the story, but an old Queiroz advocate who is closely related to Sajjadi has given strong indications of the return of the Portuguese man creating an atmosphere of insecurity and agitation.

 Will Skocic achieve his dream of sitting on the bench of the national team in the World Cup? Will Queiroz becomes the head coach of Team Melli due to external pressures? Will an Iranian option leads the national team? You have to wait a few more days to get answers to these questions

The result of Porto match and Taremi’s hat-trick are under investigation!

In the 30th round of the Portuguese Football League, Porto managed to defeat Portimonense 7-0 a result that solidified the leadership of Porto at the top of the table. In that match, Mehdi Taremi, Team Melli and Porto striker, and Payam Niazmand, the Iranian goalkeeper of Portimonense, faced each other for the first time as bother were in the starting lineups. Taremi scored a hat trick in that match and provided one assist to endure terrible suffering on his Team Melli teammate Niazmand. It was indeed quite a bitter experience for Niazmand in one of the few times that he was picked up as a starter for his team.

 The events of that match, however, raised quite a few questions and concerns with some allegations of complicity, betting, and bribery being mentioned.  The large victory margin and the social media activities on the match prompted the disciplinary committee of the Portuguese Football Federation to act and begin its own investigation into this result, which is questioned even by the media. All the attention on the result of that defeat is being focused on  Paulo Sérgio, the head coach of Portimonense, who did not play many of his fixed players against Porto, and even his substitutions were suspect as he sent players with little experience on to the field some who had only played a handful of games for the club.

Sergio, of course, reacted sharply to the decision to investigate the result of the game with Porto. “What they are doing is insulting me,” he said yesterday. “I have already said everything I should have said about this.” He added: “You can see that our substitution bench (due to the absence of a large number of players) was not even full. With two goalkeepers, there was still room for others on the bench. Just look at the players I had on the bench to see what I had for that match.”

The head coach of Payam Niazmand emphasized: “I have children, I have parents, I have a family and it is a shame for me to see that my name is associated with such trepidations.

Paulo Sérgio Bento Brito coached in Iran and was the head coach of Sanat Naft Abadan between July 2018 and May 2019 when he left for the Saudi club Al Taáwon before returning to Portugal to coach Portimonense in February 2020.

Meanwhile, Portimonense SAD club considers that the investigation process opened by the Disciplinary Board, on suspicion of fielding a weakened team in the game against FC Porto, at Estádio do Dragão, “a fierce, merciless and unfounded attack on the club and recalls that, even this season, Belenenses SAD was allowed to face Benfica with a team of nine players only.”

In a long statement, the SAD of the Algarve club was surprised to have known about the investigation through the media and recalls that the club has “scrupulously” complied with its financial obligations.

Portimonense still considers it “absurdity” to open an investigation for the reasons presented in a season in which a team was already allowed to enter the field with nine players, in allusion to Belenenses vs. Benfica.

Mehdi Taremi scores a hat-trick against Niazmand in a 7-0 win

Mehdi Taremi achieved a special achievement by recording his second hat-trick in the Portuguese league with his team Porto scoring an emphatic win against Portimonense.

In the 30th round of the Portuguese Football League Porto played against Portimonense who had TeamMelli’s reserve keeper Payam Niazmand in goal. Port won  7: 0. Taremi excelled in this match and managed to score a hat-trick with his dazzling performance. He scored in the 19th, 34th, and 47th minutes and also provided an assist.

Hattrick: Mehdi Taremi scored his second hat-trick of the season in this match. Benfica Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunz has the most hat-tricks in the Portuguese league this season three times.

Top scorers chart: The Iranian striker scored 18 goals in the league this season and is currently ranked second in the scorers’ table. Benfica’s Uruguayan striker is still in the lead. Darwin Nunes is the top scorer in the Portuguese league with 24 goals.

Assists: Taremi has the most assists with a goal against Portimonense, reaching a record of 13 assists, and after the Benfica player, Rafa Silva, The Team Melli forward lies in the second place in this category.

S. Korea coach willing to take risks vs. Iran in World Cup qualifier

SEOUL, March 23 (Yonhap) — Chasing the top seed in South Korea’s group in the final Asian World Cup qualification round, head coach Paulo Bento on Wednesday called on his players to “take some risks” in their next showdown against Iran.

South Korea will host Iran at Seoul World Cup Stadium at 8 p.m. Thursday. It will be the penultimate match in the current World Cup qualifying phase for the two countries, both of which have already secured spots in the big tournament.

With Iran leading Group A at 22 points and South Korea sitting in second place at 20 points, Bento has repeatedly talked about wanting to overtake the Middle Eastern powers for first place. South Korea will have to play out of their comfort zone to accomplish that, Bento said.

Paulo Bento (R), head coach of the South Korean men's national football team, speaks at a press conference at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on March 23, 2022, on the eve of a World Cup qualifying match against Iran, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Paulo Bento (R), head coach of the South Korean men’s national football team, speaks at a press conference at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on March 23, 2022, on the eve of a World Cup qualifying match against Iran, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association.

“A draw for them (Iran) is a result that can make them stay in the first position. On the other side, there will be a team (South Korea) that wants to reach three points and first position, and, of course, should take some risks during the game,” Bento said at his online press conference from the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. “I am confident we’ll be able to take those risks and reach the victory, and make our fans happy.”

South Korea last defeated Iran in January 2011. Iran won their next four meetings by 1-0, and the two have had three consecutive draws since, including a 1-1 tie in October last year in Tehran.

 

Things will be quite different this time around. Both countries have lost a few players to COVID-19 infections, but Iran, minus their two leading scorers in Mehdi Taremi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh, have suffered a bigger blow.

Members of the South Korean men's national football team train at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on March 23, 2022, on the eve of a World Cup qualifying match against Iran, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

But Bento remained wary of Iran’s quality.

“We should play as we played before during this phase of qualifying; trying to control and dominate the game through ball possession, and trying to play in opponent’s midfield as much as we can,” Bento said. “And of course, we should take into consideration that we’re going to play against a strong team. We need to attack as much as we can. At the same time, (we should) respect the opponent. When the moment dictates that we should defend, we should be able to do that as well.”

As for South Korea’s own absences, which include young, useful midfielders Paik Seung-ho and Kim Jin-gyu, Bento said he will just have to find ways to beat Iran with the players he has.

“(Paik and Kim) are players that, due to their features, allow the team to play with a different way. They adapt themselves to many tactical systems,” Bento said. “We need to find the right tactical system to play tomorrow. We will play with a strong starting XI. We will have options on the bench to use during the match. And of course, all of the coaches like to have all the players available, but it’s not always possible to have all of them available. We need to find the solutions and make the team compete in the best possible way.”