Despite the team’s victory against South Korea, there is still a long way to go for the team to reach the optimal conditions for success. The everlasting concerns about team preparation, game plan and form of the players and eventually how it will reflect on Team Melli in the Asian Cup still bothering the fans and critics.

 In a rare opportunity to watch match Team Melli in action, the fans displayed their apathy towards the team by the very disappointing attendance figure. It was also disappointing for the opposition coach Uli Stielke who was excited to see 100,000 vociferous fans filling a stadium creating a fantastic atmosphere that he heard so much about. It was not to be for many reasons.

Neither the coach nor the players managed to obliterate the concerns of the majority of the fans who are apprehensive about Team Melli chances in the AFC Asian Cup. That the preparations are flawed, inadequate and even worst , no progress if any has been seen in the team since before the World Cup, was quite evident in the match against the Koreans. The only positive was the winning result by the smallest of margins, which might be a good psychological advantage over their archrivals, comes the day Iran meets the Koreans. This time however, they will not meet in the Quarter finals stages like the last 4 editions of the Asian Cup.

The prime concern lies in the fact that Queiroz has no intention of fundamentally changing anything in this team in any form. Sure, he will have some cosmetic changes here and there to silence some of the critics, but essentially, the core of the team , the principle style of play , the defensive mentality , and the parking of the bus does not seem to change anytime soon. Queiroz has already made it clear that his team “Does not need a revolution” hinting that the changes in the Asian Cup will be to the absolute minimum.

The other point of concern is that there is a huge gap between the expectations and definitions of success by the fans and critics on one side and the coach and Federation on the other side. Queiroz keeps talking about the excellent performance of the Team Melli in Brazil , while the majority of the fans in Iran were expecting their Team Melli to qualify to the next round. The polls at teammelli.com are one such reflection of the fans beliefs. There is quite a difference between qualifying to the next round and being the bottom of the group.

 If you are a fan of beautiful football, then watching Team Melli in action is not exactly your cup of tea. The lack of organization, poor ball distribution, poor finishing and many more shortcomings was evident in the performance against South Korea. Offensive play is perhaps an afterthought in Team Melli. Against Korea, there was a grand total of one shoot only on the Koreans goalkeeper that was saved, while on the other side Alireza Haghighi had to deal with several shoots from different angles.

 Another serious criticism of the way Carlos Queiroz arranges his team, is his insistence on selecting Masoud Shojaei.  A player who promised so much in his early years, but time and again has failed to deliver. These days, Shojaei is lucky to find an employer in the shape of a second division Qatari team that has just won promotion, and guaranteed for immediate relegation based on their results so far in QSL.  Shojaei , is simply not a player of international quality. On technical and character terms, he lacks what it takes to be a productive player in the midfield or the flanks. Whatever Queiroz tries, he simply cannot convince the average fans that Shojaei is worthy of selection even on the bench. Queiroz has put his faith is some players despite the criticism such as lack of match practice, a good example would be Alireza Haghighi. His trust in the Rubin Kazan bench warmer paid off. This was a case where his trust in the player was rewarded by a good performance in the 3 matches in Brazil. He simply cannot say the same of Shojaei, period.

While very few people see the technical merit of Shojaei’s selection, it is hoped that it is not one of those dogmatic, stubbornness and defiances of Queiroz which he is quite capable of.

 

Despite the win against South Korea, always a sweet feeling and matter of pride even in a meaningless match , the reality is that it was far from convincing , aspiring and hopeful display of football.

This year Iran played 10 games and scored 9 goals only. This is the worst figure for 24 years since 1990 to be precise when that team Goal per game was 0.78 per match compared to 0.9 for 2014.

Under Queiroz there is a marked and yet steady decline in figures that reflects the offensive capability of the team. Queiroz took over in 2011 after the Asian Cup in Doha, in 2012 and 2013 the team scored 19 goals  each years with average of 1.36 and  2.38 respectively.

 

 

 Last 5 years records

Year	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	GPM
2010	12	8	2	2	19	10	9	1.58
2011	15	12	2	1	36	5	31	2.40
2012	14	5	6	3	19	10	9	1.36
2013	8	6	1	1	19	6	13	2.38
2014	10	3	4	3	9	9	0	0.90

 

MP: Match played – W Won – D Drawn – L Loss – GF Goals For(Scored) – GA Goals Against (conceded) – GD Goal Difference – GPM Goals Scored Per Game

Note: Carlos Queiroz first game in charge was against Madagascar on July 2011