Iran's group in 2nd stage World Cup qualifiers

Iran has been grouped with the following teams in its campaign to reach Brazil's 2014 World Cup, where the top 2 teams advance directly for the final stage:
- Qatar
- Bahrain
- Indonesia

Given the rules of advancement from this group the final stage of the Asian qualifiers, I dont see it a very difficult task. However, we must be aware of a couple of issues.

1- The away games to both Persian Gulf nations would not be without its usual characteristics and antics, even if we put aside the weather factors such as humidity and heat.

And even the away game to Indonesia is nothing to ignore as the Indonesians have proven to be quite formidable at home. Case in point their 4-3 qualification victory against Turkmenistan where more than 80,000 of its fans packed their stadium.

2- The second issue is the scheduling of the games, particularly the two games scheduled for November 2011, where we have to travel to Bahrain and play our away game on 11th of November an then traverse the whole continent to Indonesia to play them on 15th of November. Meaning 2 away games in a span of 4 days with a cross-continental journey involved.

Going by the IFF's dismal record in travel arrangements, I'd venture even if they prepare a chartered plane for the team to travel, the team would still be under tremendous strain and tough conditions for the 15th game. Factors such as humidity and travel fatigue will be compounded by shortage of recovery period between the two games.

So I would caution any fan over thinking this as an easy group where we walk over the opponents.

The complete schedule of our group games is as follows:
2 September 2011
Iran v Indonesia
Bahrain v Qatar

6 September 2011
Qatar v Iran
Indonesia v Bahrain

11 October 2011
Iran v Bahrain
Indonesia v Qatar

11 November 2011
Qatar v Indonesia
Bahrain v Iran

15 November 2011
Qatar v Bahrain
Indonesia v Iran

29 February 2012
Iran v Qatar
Bahrain v Indonesia


The overall Asian groupings:

(click to see larger view)

A wake up call for Quieroz or a warning sign for Iran?

Iran got through the preliminary round of World Cup qualifiers for Brazil 2014 by brushing Maldives aside with a home 4-0 and an 1-0 away win. I would have been a fool to expect a repeat of 17-0 or even the 9-0 games of a decade ago as Maldives has shown great improvement from those days. Testament to this is their 2008 championship trophy of South Asian region and the runner-up prize in 2010 in the same tournament.

(Khalatbari scores the only goal of the game)

But the source of my disappointment was the quality shown by Team Melli. Quieroz came to Iran on the strength and promise of rejuvenating and bringing a new age for our football. So far, after the Austria camp, a friendly against Madagascar and two games against the Asian minnows, Maldives, I am yet to see any rejuvenation or even rise in quality of the team's performance.

In my opinion, he needs more time to implement his ideas and theories. But that does not distract me from noticing how he picked the roster for these games and more importantly, how forgiving he was towards some very doubtful and weak performances by some of the players. The only ray of light on this issue is perhaps with the start of the league and passage of a couple of months he will have a better idea which players are useful and what they would be capable of, therefore paving the way for more sensible rosters and line ups. That's why I will not go over each and every pick when by jove, there are some rather amusing and questionable picks in the line up. However, I will attend to one particular player in a very key position.

Ali Karimi -
Are we going to see an aging Ali Karimi in the World Cup squad in 2013? He would be 34-35 by then. Given Persepolis' league games, Asian Champions league, Hazfi games and the occasional Team Melli games, I fear this schedule would take its toll on far younger players, let alone on the aging Karimi.

Wouldnt it have been a better idea to start grooming other youngsters for this position from early on and initiating them against weaker opponents so by 2013 and the final stage of World Cup qualifiers against Asia's top teams, we would have a young, energetic and in form playmaker who fits well into the squad?

Thankfully, we do have quite a handful or promising players who can slip into this position very comfortably and deliver the goods in aplomb. Players such as Ghasem Hadadifar, the Zob Ahan maestro, who, at the moment stands out from the rest in his amazing work rate, vision, passing ability and leadership. Iman Mobali is another candidate for the post. And there are others such as Ahmad Jamshidian (Sepahan), Mojtaba Jabbari (Esteghlal) - if he stays healthy and injury free, Mohamad Nouri (Persepolis), even the young Bakhtiar Rahmani (Foolad).

I hope Quieroz will have a second look at his squad picks and line ups and does the much needed fine tuning as soon as possible.

Quieroz starts with a stutter in his first showing

There's nothing much to write about, except that this wasnt exactly the kind of start a new coach would wish for. Facing a team ranked at 138th place in Fifa ranking, with many of its main players missing (mostly in the French leagues), at home with all your players available to you and still winning on a throw-in and a defender's header doesnt exactly inspire confidence in the football fans.

It is no wonder despite the game being announced as free, a mere 8 thousand fans gathered to witness Quieroz's debut. Having said all that, I have to add this game should not be the basis for any theories or judgments. As Iranian players have been notorious in taking some games far too lightly when facing a smaller team. I shall keep my assessment of Quieroz's ability to cope with Iranian football for a later date when we actually meet with a decent opponent.