He has been labeled as predictable, conservative and cautious in his game plan and style of play, but no one can accuse Carlos Queiroz of being spineless after 3 matches of Asian Cup competition. His ill-prepared team has managed to beat all of its opponents without conceding a single goal, and with a relative ease without going into top gear. As such, it is truly difficult to suppress one’s admiration for the Portuguese cunning master and the way he approaches and reads the game..

Those results speak volumes for the man management of coach Querioz. Never mind the excellence and progressive style of the UAE team, the organization and efficiency of Qatar’s or the solid and tough style of Bahrain, Queiroz and his men , beat them all without too much difficulty.

The results must have something to do with efficiency of Team Melli , the excellent resource management of the coach and the winning mentality and the fighting spirit of the players.

Queiroz in his fourth year with Iran, obviously knows the strength of his team and  the weaknesses. This team of his lacks the firepower and the offensive capability to turn it into a free-flowing scoring machine. Instead, he has the ingredient of a solid, tight and aggressive defense which he feels much comfortable with and closer to his ideology. He feels at ease with a defense line that can stand pressure and then build upon that to start counter attacks.

Sure , Queiroz team game style is not exactly pleasing , neither it can be considered as entertaining. For the purist amongst Team Melli fans,  it could even be considered as dull. There is little margin for bragging or scream the “oohhs &  Aahhs” when the likes of Karimi used to run at defenders and dribble past them , or Ali Daei and Karim Bagheri score plenty of goals. This Team Melli’s football is rugged, industrial and efficient. The most important issue is that this style has delivered the goods and the points. There could be no argument against that.

One more significant aspect of Senhor Queiroz success is his player selection and his courage in giving playing time to new players at the premiere competition of Asia. Pouraliganji , Azmoun , Ghafoori, Rafei , Amiri and Jahanbaksh have played in the competition with some admirable results. The first two have been excellent while the others have not disappointed at all. Such vision and bravery has not been applied in Team Melli for decades. Queiroz himself has been regularly accused for sticking to the old guards in Team Melli. His preference to focus on a small group of players that he feels comfortable with and can control, his inclination to use expatriate Iranians has been rather than being proactive and  seek local talents across Iran , has been vastly publicized. Carlos Queiroz has finally responded to his critic and to a certain degree, silenced most of them by his clever and systematic use of new players.

Not since, Haji Mohammd Mayeli-Kohan back in Asian Cup 1996, has any Team Melli head coach dared to introduced so many young and promising players into the team. Mayeli-Kohan , despite his low experience and lack of exposure as a coach , had the guts and the instincts , now Queiroz has proven that he has the same attributes but with the added bonus of holding the experience , the knowledge and the pedigree of a high quality coach.

 The possibilities could be amazing.