Team Melli’s match against Syria, was one of those matches that really needs to be buried and what is left of it, to be shredded and erased from memory.
A combination of factors has accumulated to make this statement but nothing more than the decision to play a match in such atrocious conditions. This was the worst advertisement for Asian football and once again highlights the failure of the AFC’s organization and due diligence.
It seems that AFC’s idiocy has no bounds and whoever agreed to play the game in mud, must be sued for putting the good name of football in disrepute. One has to seriously question the intelligence of the person who planned and the one who approved of playing in Malaysia during the height of the rainy season where normal life is frequently disrupted because of torrential downpour.
It does not take a lot of intelligence to know about the climate and the weather pattern in Malaysia, the question then is who is accountable for this mess? The Syrians, no doubt, but the real culprit is AFC and to certain extent FIFA for consenting to it!
Team Melli was not equipped to play in these conditions, neither were the Syrians for that matter, but the latter was the much happier side parking their double-decker in front of their goal against a futile and dysfunctional Iranian forwards. In truth, Team Melli has not been exactly firing on all cylinders in the offensive line in the best of conditions. A mere 4 goals from 5 matches is rather embarrassing for any team that has ambition to make it with the elite in Russia’s World Cup.
But then again, Queiroz has always been a believer in solid defense and builds his game plan around that. Anything else is a bonus. It has worked for Team Melli and they are leading the group without conceding a single goal in 5 matches. That is quite an achievement by any means, perhaps not idealistic and lacking in style and finesse but nevertheless it seems to reap results
Results are what counts for the majority.
The Syrian team, a product of a war-torn nation with huge lack of resources, can be excused for being what they are. They have withstood a lot of pressures on and of the field and stopping the top Asian team from scoring must be an accolade for them. They do play ugly, uninspiring and boring to death football. But when it comes to frustrating the opponents, they are the best.
It was quite disappointing for Team Melli to end the first half of the competition for FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers in such style and result, but leading the table with a slim one point , is not a bad place to be for the second half.
