Tag: Saman Ghoddos

Match Preview: Korea Republic v  Iran

the-afc.com
Seoul: Top spot in Group A is on the line when familiar foes the Korea Republic and Iran clash on Matchday Nine of the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar™ at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Thursday.
Both teams have already secured their passage to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ having wrapped up the first two places with minimal fuss, while the pair remain unbeaten after eight games.
The Iranians currently sit two points above the Taeguk Warriors with two games to play and if they avoid defeat in the Korean capital, Team Melli will go into their final fixture against Lebanon in Mashhad as firm favorites to progress as group winners.
Iran and Korea last faced off on Matchday Four at Azadi Stadium and there was little to separate the sides as they played out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s leveler canceling out Son Heung-min’s opener.
Since then, they have each won all four of their games, with Iran booking their ticket to the FIFA World Cup Qatar™ following a 1-0 victory over neighbors Iraq on Matchday Seven and the Koreans joining them after a 2-0 win against Syria on Matchday Eight.

Another successful qualifying campaign has seen the Iranians advance to the global showpiece for the sixth time, and third in a row, while Korea’s record is among the best in world football as they have now reached an incredible 10 successive FIFA World Cups.
The match-up at Seoul World Cup Stadium brings back memories of the final round of the 2018 AFC Asian Qualifiers when Iran, already confirmed as group winners, also traveled to the Korean capital on the penultimate game.

With Korea still involved in a battle for the second spot, the sides played out a goalless draw as Carlos Queiroz’s 10-man Iran posted a ninth successive clean sheet following a trademark resolute performance at the back.

It was another in a long list of matches in what is one of Asian football’s biggest rivalries, with the sides having met numerous times over the years, including in the past four FIFA World Cup qualifying campaigns.

The last three meetings have all ended in draws, while Iran had won the previous four – all by a 1-0 scoreline – as they proved a continuous thorn in the Korean side. You have to go back to the 2011 AFC Asian Cup™ quarter-finals for the last time Korea recorded a victory.

Ahead of the latest battle in the rivalry, Iran has been dealt a triple blow with captain Jahanbakhsh, Mehdi Taremi, and Saman Ghoddos all ruled out of Dragan Skocic’s squad through COVID-19.
Paulo Bento has few such worries with star man Son arriving on the back of bagging a brace in Tottenham Hotspur’s win over West Ham United on Sunday and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang Hee-chan returning after missing the last two AFC Asian Qualifiers due to injury.

The game marks Korea’s final home match in Group A as they travel to Dubai to take on the United Arab Emirates on March 29, when Iran will bring the curtain down on their campaign at home to Lebanon.
Korea Republic v  Iran
Venue: Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul
Kick-off: March 24, 20:00 (UTC+9)

Saman Ghoddos out of the squad.

Team Melli midfielder Saman Ghoddos has been diagnosed positive in the latest PCR and hence lost the chance to travel to the Korean capital for the match against the host nation and the following match against Lebanon in Mashad.

In a communique with the FFIRI Brentford, the premiere league club from London has confirmed that Ghoddos will not be available for selection for the upcoming international matches.

Hamid Estili, who has recently been appointed as the new Manager of the Iranian national team, confirmed the news: “Unfortunately, we will not have Ghoddos in these two matches, but we hope that other legionnaires will be able to join the squad and play for Team Melli without any problem”. Saman Ghoddos was a starter and played both the last two matches against UAE and Iraq. His absence gives coach Dragan Skocic some difficulty. Skocic has announced that the result of the game against South Korea is very important to the team.

Team Melli arrived early morning Sunday in Korea and after the PCR test, were immediately sent to quarantine. Many Legionnaire players are yet to join including Azmoun who played for Leverkusen today in a 2-0 away win versus Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. Taremi is also expected to leave for Korea after the match against Boavista. Milad Mohammadi, Ehsan Hajsafi, and Karim Ansari also played for AEK Athens in a 1-0 loss to PAOK in the Greek league.

A critical look at Team Melli.

Team Melli got the result it wanted against the UAE and put further pressure on Korea Rep for the race at the top of the group. With qualification assured, it was an excellent opportunity for Dragan Skocic to introduce changes in the lineup, but to the great disappointment of many, he stuck with the same players except for those enforced changes such as through suspensions or Covid.

If the mission of Skocic was just to finish the match with three points and minimum damage, then he achieved that objective, but it was far from pretty. A countless number of passes went astray, the finishing in front of the goal was abysmal, final balls lacking accuracy, misunderstanding between players and lack the sense of urgency and accuracy. Players were guilty of some unprofessional works at this level. Team Melli must look beyond the final two games of the group, although the one against Korea is a good test, and start looking forward to how would they like to play and compete.

To be recognized and accepted, Team Melli has a long way to go in a relatively limited time period.

Player’s selections and Opportunities

Skocic pick for the match was frustrating. If Team Melli has any aspiration to stand and be counted amongst the elite in Qatar, then Skocic must think positively and bravely to build a team of 23 highly-rated players and not just stick with a skeleton of 11 to 13 fixed starters. That was Queiroz regime style and despite the limited success of Queiroz’s team, it failed to go beyond the group stages in Russia and did not win the title in the Asian Cup 2019.

To give players confidence, Skocic must offer them the chance to play and perform. The bench players must be as good as the main players. Bench players must be integrated and there is no better way of such integration except actually giving them the minutes at any opportunity.

Skočić missed that opportunity against the UAE. Perhaps fear of losing was the catalyst and that is understandable. It is not a crime for a coach to be result-oriented, however, there is a time when the future integration and strength of the team must take priority.

Shaky individual Performances

Non-performing players or those who are consistently playing sub-standard games must realize that they would lose their place in the lineup. For example, both Ghoddos and Gholizadeh were poor against Iraq, yet they both kept their places against UAE. To create the spirit of competition amongst the players, Skocic could have dropped them for this match to send a signal to everyone else that there is no such thing as a permanent place in the team, sub-standard performances have consequences, there are alternative options who can fill the gap and the team is more important than the interest of the individuals.

That methodology has proven to work, as the problem with Taremi proved not long ago.

Most professional coaches religiously adhere to this mindset, Skocic must follow too. If a player is selected to play, he must deliver.

If a player continues playing weakly and yet he is still picked up for matches, there will be a sense of injustice and disappointment in the team the consequences of which is unimaginable.

Players must feel that bad performances will have consequences and hence give it 100% effort. Players in Team Melli must understand that there are at least two if not more players that can take their place if they do not deliver. This is missing in Skocic team.

Professional players of this generation will develop a false sense of security and believe in their own vitalness. Only a good professional coach can change that.

Disciplinary acts.

Then there was another disturbing part. The disciplinary record of Team Melli is absolutely dismal. There are far too many yellow and red cards awarded to them. It is an indication of lack of guile, professionalism, and most probably negligence.  There are certain Team Melli players that one feels could be dismissed anytime due to a wild or mistimed tackle, pure negligence, and lack of maturity. leading to suspensions and negative effects on the team. Whatever it takes, Skocic and his coaching staff must strengthen the mental agility and emotional control of the players. The World Cup is too valuable of a place for the Team to lose players through suspensions because of loss of concentration.

Game Plan

While there were some nice touches and inter-passing, despite the lack of continuity, the game plan against the UAE was not clear specifically at the forward end. There were few crosses on the flanks while Iran has the best players who could cross. There was also a lack of aerial firepower up front where the like of Taremi can excel, the direction and control of the midfield were lost mainly due to the failure of the Team Melli midfielders in keeping the ball and timely distribution. Game plans normally do not cater for players’ dismissal and that could have been a reason for the bewilderment of the team, however, even with one player short, Team Melli still managed to miss at least two certain goals!

Creativity and flexibility.

Team Melli is struggling to break down compact defense teams. Even if that is successfully done, the rate of conversion against the chances created is poor. There has been an embarrassing number of easy scoring chances missed

The problems stem from the heart of midfield. The sight of Team Melli probing from side to side, with a painful lack of incision, has left some critics lacking in confidence in the team. Flanks that feed the tall attackers seem to go missing in action. Apart from Jahanbakhsh, no other midfield player seems to have the vision and the creativity that is required at the top-level competition. The generations of Khodadad Aziz, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Ali Karimi, Nekounam which then continued with Mojtaba Jabbari, Ando Teymourian, and Ashkan Dejagah have served the Team well through the years, now such creativity is simply lacking.

The root cause is the standard of the domestic league in Iran which is feeble and has failed to produce the quality required at the international level. The solution at Skocic’s hand. Somehow he must address this complicated issue.

Syria Match review: The most challenging is the enemy within

Team Melli players under Dragan Skocic, will be meeting Syria tomorrow with all eyes on the three points and widening the gap at the top of the table of Group A of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers.

While on-field, this match like the rest of them in this group, is far from a forgone conclusion despite the fact that Syria is at the bottom of the table. It is going to be the same story for Team Melli. The object is to translate the superiority of the team into goals while keeping the defense tight.

However, the biggest battle for Team Melli seems to be occurring outside of the field of play and the enemy within. There seems to be an agenda to undermine the coach, Skocic. That enemy within, people working behind the curtains, have a systematic means of ruining the squad to serve their own interests. The target is Dragan Skocic.

The Croat has been criticized left, right, and center by many so-called Iranian football personalities who are perhaps blinded by self-interest or serving some agenda. These people conveniently ignore facts and figures such as playing 12 games, winning 11, and drawing 1 under the resume of Skocic, while denying the Croat coach any credit, by attributing the team’s immaculate results to individual players’ performance !!

Their objective is to force FFIRI to replace Skocic with one of their own.

Even a personality like Ali Daei, who is a living legend, has been dragged into this battle, In defense of Skocic-Taremi , Ali Daei who has been out of work in football since he left Saipa in 2019, took a side and supported Taremi but he also made some statements against Skocic which was indeed in poor taste and not appropriate for the character of Daei. Many other ex-footballers went on similar rhetorics.

Whether FFIRI will succumb to pressure to replace Skocic at some stage, is another tale for another day but suffice to say that the Croat has held his heads high, performed marvelously for Team Melli, and put Iran on the brink of qualification to the World Cup with a few games to spare.

On the field, Syria with a few key players missing will hardly deviate from their usual game plan. Tight defenses, pressure of opposition players, and hope of a goal on counterattacks. Heaven forbids if the Syrians score, as the repeat of the Lebanese Black Art of time-wasting, cheating, and faking injury, will be the tale of the day.

With Jahanbakhsh missing, Skocic will have several options available. He has Hajsafy, Torabi, and Sarlak as replacements. Last time out, Ghoddos was used from the start but it was a disappointing performance from the Brentford midfield player alongside Azmoun. Ansarifard or Rezaei are two options for Skocic while Ghoddos , if used again, would be operating behind the two strikers.

Goalkeeping was far from assuring against Lebanon. It will not be a great surprise if Beiranvand is benched and either Abedzadeh or Niazmand start instead.

The defense was solid and Vahid Amiri excelled in his left-back role.

Under the circumstances, Syria’s job to improve their record against Iran looks like a mammoth task, But football is a strange game, and surprises can happen. Skocic, however, is a Wiley coach and has prepared well for worst-case scenario.

Cracks in the dressing room!!

While Team Melli is comfortably sitting at the top of the table in FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers with a two-point cushion against the closest rival South Korea and 5 points margin against 3rd rank Team, Lebanon, signs of discord and possible conflict are appearing in the squad.

There are always distractors or saboteurs lurking around in Iranian football circles to create controversy with the aim to dictate their agenda by someone stirring up troubles and following the great tradition of creating ” Hashiya”. This time it seems that Skocic is the target while Taremi and Ghoddos are part of the whole episode.

The core of the matter is that Dragan Skocic expressed his opinion about the Iranian footballer’s quality to which Mehdi Taremi took an exception. What Skocic said was nothing far from the truth, as we have witnessed these attributes for decades. Skocic said what accounts to that Iranian players lack technical abilities but physically are the best and capable.
Taremi did not like that and he tweeted against his national team coach perhaps dragging other players into it creating a toxic atmosphere in the dressing room of Team Melli.

Ghoddis’s case is about not being given playing time in the last two matches and his possible absence from the squad for the next match against Lebanon and Syria.

We can all take sides in an argument as people are free to express their opinions however before such decision making one has to look at facts and circumstances when parting judgment.
Taremi is a clear-cut case. He is being silly and as usual, lacks discipline and professionalism, regardless of how many goals he scores. He has undoubted abilities in scoring, his physique is of a great classical forward,  and no one can deny that, however, he is far from a technically accomplished player, yet he is still of great value for Team Melli.

Ghoddos case is more complicated  He is the only Iranian player who plays in the English Premier League and that is no mean feat. He is creative with vision and quality. Ghoddos is the very player that Skocic complains that Iranian teams lack. Yet this skillful creative midfielder that can make an impact on a game is warming the bench!
Whatever the reasons Skocic has for benching Ghoddos, it conflicts with his statement about lack of skill in Iranian footballers. The player has also the right to say that if you don’t want me and I do not get playing time, I might as well stay in London and practice with my club to get better opportunities with Brentford. It is only fair.

Our verdict is with Ghoddos on this despite not knowing the exact details of the reason Goddos left the Azadi without even informing his coach.

One thing that Skocic needs to realize is that needs to keep his words to the absolute minimum. He definitely knows that there are many packs of wolves after him and his job. Despite his immaculate record with Team Melli so far, his name is not Carlos Queiroz so he is not the real charismatic coach that some want. It’s a ridiculous thought, but its is all real with many.

Iranian players sulk if they are criticized and seem to be least comfortable with criticism. They accept and expect nothing short of praise as soon as they turn up. That is a reality that Skocic needs to skillfully deal with. In a football league where coaches blame the earth and the sky and anything in between for their team losses, the management/organization of football is close to comical, a partisan media & fans and lack of strong leadership,  under these circumstances, the Croatian head coach needs to be wise when selecting his word, and wiser in dealing with the players. unfortunately, he can little to change their mentality in a few days where he meets his player.

The improvement of players’ mentality, technical abilities, professionalism, self-discipline, and respect for peers starts at the grassroots level in any country. Iran is no exception. There were the problems lies

So, if Skocic needs to act wisely if he wants to prevail and continue with Team Melli.

Team Melli starts on the right track: Iran 1 0 Syria

Azadi Stadium.

Team Melli grabbed all the three points of matchday 1 of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 third round qualifiers after beating Syria with a goal to nil scored by the skipper Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

It was from the pretty or solid performance from the Iranian side, but considering lack of preparation, no friendly matches, and a camp of 3 days with both the Head Coach and his assistance missing due to Covid19, not much was expected.

Team Melli started with the lineup consisting of Alireza Biranvand, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Mohammad Hossein Kananizadegan,  Jafar Salmani, Vahid Amiri,  Ahmad Noorollahi, Milad Sarlak, Ali Gholizadeh, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Saman Ghoddos, and Mehdi Taremi.

The match went on as per the script, Iranian on the offensive while Syria defending en masse and waiting for the right opportunity for the counter.  However, despite ta massive difference in ball possession for Iran, the players in white failed to create any meaningful threat on Syria’s keeper.

In the first half a serious-looking injury in a form of a concussion to Milad Sarlak, forced the coach Marjio Toth on an unexpected substitution where Saeid Ezatollahi came in for the dazed Sarlak.

The second-half substitution must have raised a few eyebrows as Saman Ghoddos was substituted out.  He was by far the most creative of the Team Melli players. And what was even stranger is the introduction of a debutant in Saleh Hardani. Only the coaches can decipher that strategy. Introducing a rookie player in an important International match has never been the wisest of moves, not when the score is so close.

In the second half, perhaps the most beautiful of the Team Melli moves resulted in the ball reaching Taremi who squared it to Jahanbakhsh. The Feyenoord winger hit the ball purposely goalward but it was deflected by a Syrian defender to announce Iran’s only goal,

Nizar Mahroos, the Syrian coach failed to act on the weak points of team Melli, which were plenty. Insisting to pile up the defense, which deprived the Syrian attackers manned by two good attackers in the form of Mahmood AlMawas and Omer Khirbin, to form a serious threat. Both players found themselves isolated in attack and lacked support else their speed and tricky could have troubled Beiranvand. Instead, Iran’s keeper had a pretty comfortable day.

The biggest concern with Team Melli or this particular group of players in the serious lack of personal and tactical discipline. This match could have easily seen two red cards for Taremi and Khalizadeh. They were both lucky to escape being sent off by a weak Japanese referee who was constantly hustled by players without standing firm and giving a few cards. Iran received three cards and at this rate, there will be more suspension of players as the competition continues.

On the tactical discipline, despite the superiority of Iran in all departments, there was also a large number of lax passes, poor finishing, and some elementary mistakes by players especially towards the end of the match, which was most critical with only one goal margin.

 

Earlier today, Iraq forced a goalless draw on the hosts South Korea . At the time of writing this report, UAE vs Lebanon is goalless too, THis means Iran is setting at the top of the table on Matchday one with 3 points.

Team Melli next match will be against Iraq on Tuesday in Doha, Qatar.

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Team Melli might be without Saman Ghoddos!

Saman Ghoddos may not be able to accompany Team Melli for the upcoming two matches of World Cup qualifiers due to the recent changes announced by the English Football League.

The Team Melli camp begins with a group of domestic league players and in few days, the legionnaires will arrive in Tehran to join for the match against Syria. Among the about 20 legionnaires invited to the national team, Saman Ghoddos may not be able to accompany the team against Syria and Iraq due to Iran’s health regulations associated with covid19 and the new English Premier League restrictions on players.

The Premier League said in a statement yesterday: “The Premier League clubs today, despite their reluctance, unanimously decided not to allow players to travel to countries on the red list. The decision of these clubs is supported by the Premier League. And about 60 players from the 19 Premier League clubs who are set to travel to 26 countries on the red list for the September national games will be negotiated with the Football Association and the government to find a solution. But due to concerns, there is no exemption for travelers from entering the Red List countries.”

As a result of this new restriction, Liverpool was the first EPL Club that has not allowed the departure of several of its national team players, including Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho, Alison Becker, because Egypt and Brazil are on the Red List.

Considering the Covid19 situation in Iran and the daily cases exceeding 40,000 people infected with death figures of 700 patients in recent times, it seems that the restriction will apply to Brentford Midfielder, Saman Ghoddos.

If that is the case, Skocic will be without the services of one of the best legionnaires.  Ghoddos is the only Iranian player to play in four major leagues in the world. In the last Team Melli games in Bahrain, Ghoddos showed his excellent technical qualities and sharp eyes for creating scoring chances for his forwards. with defense-splitting passes.  Apparently, it seems Skocic will be deprived of this player’s qualities.

Skocic had previously lost Morteza PouraliGanji and Aref Gholami due to a cruciate ligament rupture, and Ehsan Hajsefi’s injury sparked speculation about the possible absence of the national team captain. It remains to be seen where the Football Federation’s consultations will go in the coming days, and if Ghoddos is not invited to the squad, it has certainly been imposed on players due to Premier League restrictions. Ghoddos recently had the opportunity to play for his club in the second week of EPL, and last night he played 90 minutes for Brentford in the Carabao Cup, in which he was his team’s best player Bretford winning 3-1.

What does it take to win?

The penultimate game of Group C of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will be played in less than 24 hours in Muharraq island in Bahrain between Iran and Iraq.

The objective for both teams is quite clear, Iran must win to top the group and avoid the complicated calculations for qualifying to the next round. Iraq will slip in with a draw which will assure it the top place and qualification.

The results and the stats favor Team Melli for the match on Tuesday, however, it is a cliche that fans have heard many times. Past Results means nothing at kick-off, the team that would win is the better team that has played according to its ability and gameplan.

Team Melli realistic chances.

Not only on paper but also on the last performances of Team Melli against the other group teams and friendly match versus Syria, Dragan Skocic has improved the team several folds. This team is incomparable to the one that the lackluster Belgian coach Wilomts fielded and lost to Bahrain and Iraq. The leadership and the marks of the Croat are quite vivid in a team that is basically the same players, minus a few veterans that have lost their places. The team is younger more confident and certainly capable of defeating Iraq with the same ease they have defeated Bahrain a few days ago.

In every department, Iran has the edge over Iraq, although Iraq’s coach Katanic has the upper edge on experience at the international level over Skocic.  Beiranvand was only really tested once in this series against Hong Kong which he unfortunately failed, but his experience and character should assure him a place in the starting lineup.

In defense, Moharrami has been solid, but not the same can be said about Milad Mohammadi. However, they seem to be the top best choices right now with a few other options available;e for Skocis. The Center of the defense is perhaps the most concerning. Khalizadeh and Kanani-Zadegan. The pair have played together well at club level and they formed a good understanding. They are solid defenders with the ability to support the offensive lines during dead ball situations. There is a question mark of the reliability of Kanani who lacks international experience and at times seems unsure of himself committing basic errors of judgments. Pouralganji is a better choice in many aspects, however, Skocic might opt to stick with the pair because of their good understanding.

IN Midfiled Ghoddos and Gholizadeh have been spotless and given the team the performance that forces the coach to start them in the match, Ezatollahi and Jahanbakhsh have many rough edges that might not be suitable for this critical match. ON the defensive side of the midfield, Nourallahi, and Hajsafy complete the midfield set that is well-balanced between defense and attack.

The forward line is without any argument belongs to Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi. There is little argument. against these two as starters.

Physically, Iran is stronger but what remains to be seen is if the coaching staff and counselors have instilled tactical discipline and strong mental agility in the players. The Iraqi’s are well known for play-acting and theatrics. The Iraqis will not miss any trick to distract the attention of Team Melli players even to the degree of intimidating them. There are several Iranian players who are vulnerable in this department and the Iraqis must have identified them. The solution is to ensure that these Team Melli players do not fall into the trap and continue playing their normal game which will be their tools to victory and qualifying for the next round.

Probable Line-Up

Alireza BEIRANVAND
Sadegh MOHARRAMI Hossein KANANI-ZADEGAN Shojaa KHALILZADEH Milad MOHAMMADI
Ehsan HAJSAFY Saman GHODDOS Ahmad NOUROLLAHI Ali GHOLIZADEH
Sardar AZMOUN Mehdi TAREMI

Skocic satisfied with his team but the focus is now on Cambodia game.

Dragan Skucic, the head coach of Iran, in the pre-match press conference before tomorrow’s (Friday) match against Cambodia said “I would like to express my satisfaction with the performance and the result of our match against Bahrain. While there was a lot of stress on the players in that game, we were able to get a satisfactory result.”

He added: “I ask my players to forget about the game against Bahrain. In football, you need to forget memories and past results. We do not want to underestimate Cambodia and we have a lot of respect for them. I watched their games and realized that their performance is much improved and they are better than their results imply, and I would like to ask my team to keep their focus on this game and show their quality. We are going for a win against Cambodia while we have a lot of respect for them. We came to Bahrain to get the maximum points and we have nothing to do with calculations and ifs and buts,” Skocic said.

Asked about the last result against Cambodia in Azadi stadium, and the impact of that game while facing them again on Friday ” All the players and the technical staff are focused this game against Cambodia, and I  have emphasized on them to forget about the game against Iraq and the ifs and buts for that game. We put everything we have to play against Cambodia and we are looking for maximum points.”

Dragan Skocic was accompanied by Saman Ghoddos in this press conference.

Team Melli is presently lying second after Iraq in Group C of the qualifying round of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar 2022.

Game review: Iran vs. Bahrain

Following the comprehensive 0 – 3 defeat against Iran in the return match of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers, Bahrain head coach Helio Sousa in his post-match statement said “the difference between the two sides was that Iran had the likes of Azmoun and Taremi.”

“The strength of Iran was their ability to launch attacks from the middle and we should have not given the space to do what they want,” said the Portuguese coach.

Sousa was accurate in his analysis but what he opted to mention was that he was outwitted by a less famous coach that hardly anyone has heard off beyond Iran and his homeland Croatia’s borders.

Dragan Skočić’s appointment as a head coach of Iran couldn’t have come at any worst time for himself and the team. The outbreak of the covid19 pandemic spoilt all his plans, in fact, he did not sit on the bench for his first match until 9 months after his 6th February 2020 appointment. His record now is a perfect 100%.

5 matches played 3 friendlies and 2 World Cup qualifiers so far. There is little doubt that he will make it 6 out of 6 comes Friday in the match against Cambodia.

There is no escaping the fact that Skočić is not a household name in Iran’s football as he coached lackluster or middle of the table teams before being appointed as Head Coach of Team Melli, however, in the few matches that he coached especially in the FIFA qualifiers, the 52 years old Croat has displayed a level of skill and vision that is unique. Give him the right players and this coach will bring glory to any team.

He rightly recognized that Jahanbakhsh despite his status is not delivering at the moment. He also rightly recognized that the team needs a skillful running player in the midfield who can supply quality balls to the forwards and hence Saman Ghoddos.

In the first half of the match against Bahrain, he recognized that Bahrain defensive plan is solid. It was a chapter from Carlos Queiroz’s book which his protégé Helios Sous has learned and implemented quite well in Bahrain National Team. Before the match against Iran, Bahrain conceded one goal only in six group matches. That proves how well their defensive plan is effective.

With that in mind, introducing a player such as Ghoddos, or Torabi was the best mean of beating such defenses. It worked quite well for Team Melli and Skočić was rightly delighted with his successful plan. The second goal scored by Azmoun had all the attributes and beauties of a great goal with amove started by Azmoun himself.

No plan will work unless you have the quality players. With Taremi and Azmoun, Skocic could not ask for more. At the end of the day, these two made the difference. Clearly, if they receive the services, they will deliver. In the case of Taremi, perhaps it is a question of focus and concentration as he seems to waste many scoring chances provided to him. Perhaps that is the ceiling of his abilities, but there might be some psychological work that Skocic and other coaches can work on increase his accuracy in front of the goal. He also needs to stop acting innocent and protesting whenever he misses the goal, or loses the ball and get on with the game.

Pouraliganji was an assuring figure when he came in. Although the pair Khalilzadeh and Kanai-Zadegan have performed well, they have not really been tested properly yet. The latter is a bit of a risk and lacks the experience of Pouraliganji. Shojaa Khalilzadeh is more solid but a player that could ignite at any time. Level heads and experience are really required in the center of defense.

The midfield of Team Melli must be credited for achieving the comprehensive victory against Bahrain. Their defensive and offensive roles were played quite efficiently. It was the midfield players who restricted Bahrain forwards and cut their supplies, although to be fair Bahrain midfield players were poor compared to their previous matches. Skocic bemoaned the loss of Amiri for the rest of the competition. Amiri had a very solid game against Bahrain. However, there are better players at the coach’s disposal, and Amiri’s absence against Iraq would not even be noticed.

Gholizadeh, Ezatollahi, Hajsafy, Torabi, Nourallahi, Jahanbakhsh are all available and do the job as well if not better than Amiri.

It was a good solid overall performance by Team Melli with some rough edges. The result was sweet and crucial. More of the same against Iraq will surely propel Iran to the next rounds of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.