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Iran One Step Away From 2018 World Cup

March 29, 2017
6 min read
Iran's national team was victorious against Qatar on March 23
Iran's national team was victorious against Qatar on March 23
Iran's national team was victorious against Qatar on March 23
Iran's national team was victorious against Qatar on March 23
Iran's national team was victorious against Qatar on March 23
Iran's national team was victorious against Qatar on March 23
Iran's national team was victorious against Qatar on March 23
Iran's national team was victorious against Qatar on March 23
Iran's national team was victorious against Qatar on March 23
Iran's national team was victorious against Qatar on March 23
The manager of the Iranian national team, Carlos Queiroz
The manager of the Iranian national team, Carlos Queiroz
Iran played and beat China on March 28
Iran played and beat China on March 28
Iran played and beat China on March 28
Iran played and beat China on March 28
Iran played and beat China on March 28
Iran played and beat China on March 28
Iran played and beat China on March 28
Iran played and beat China on March 28
Iran played and beat China on March 28
Iran played and beat China on March 28
Iran played and beat China on March 28
Iran played and beat China on March 28

With the start of the Persian new year on March 20, there were hopes that Iranian football would also have a fresh start. 

First there was hope for an end to the old quarrel between two of its prominent coaches — Carlos Queiroz, head coach of the national team, and Branko Ivanković of Persepolis football club.

Persepolis’ coach had criticized Queiroz, accusing him of setting up useless practice camps for the national team. For his part, an angry Queiroz responded by saying that he would not allow any Persepolis footballer to play for the national team. But after pressure from Iran’s Football Federation, the Sports Ministry and domestic media, Queiroz relented, and reversed his decision. But soon after, he expelled all his Iranian assistants.

As the new year got underway, Iran’s first opponent was Qatar — which will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022. The teams faced one another on March 23, with Iran sitting at the top of its group for qualifying games for the World Cup. For Qatar, the game was a question of life and death. Losing to Iran would mean Qatar would miss its chance to compete at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. If this happened, Qatar would become the first team in the history of world football to host a World Cup without having competed in the previous competition.

Iran wanted to avoid becoming a launchpad for Qatar to make it to Russia. Perhaps that’s why Iranian national team manager and head coach Carlos Queiroz carried out a campaign of psychological warfare against the Qatari national team, dwelling on the fact that 16 of its players were not really Qataris. They were not born in Qatar, nor did they have a Qatari parent, he said, and yet they were given Qatari passports so they could play for the team.

“This is not Qatar’s national team,” said Queiroz. “You must call them a world selection.” Jorge Fossati, the head coach of Qatar’s national team, retaliated: “What if Queiroz talks about multi-national footballers playing for Portugal?” he asked, referring to Queiroz’s home country. “Fossati can say whatever he wants,” Queiroz responded prior to the match. “No need to answer him.”

“Today we Win”

The exchange proved that things were not going to be simple or straightforward. Before the Iran-Qatar game got underway, two unexpected events took place among the teams competing in the Asian A group. First South Korea lost to China, and then Syria beat Uzbekistan. This meant that Iran would stay at its top position of the table even if it lost to Qatar. But when Queiroz learned this, he chose not to become complacent. “The match is not over,” he told his players. “No team has won. No team has lost. We don’t care about the results of other competitions. Today we play, and we win.”

Queiroz got what he wanted, after dispatching a lineup that nobody had expected. For defense, he kept Jalal Hosseini and Ramin Rezaian on the bench and sent Vouria Ghafouri, Pejman Montazeri, Morteza Pouraliganji and Milad Mohammadi out in their place; he put Alireza Biranvand in goal. He assigned Saeed Ezatolahi, normally a central midfielder, to play midfield. Further out, he deployed Ehsan Hajsafi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh as attacking midfielders and three strikers: Karim Ansarifard, Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi.

It was with these strikers in place that Iran scored its only goal, near the middle of the second half. Karim Ansarifard passed the ball to Mehdi Taremi, who was behind Qatar’s defenders — and Iran’s “Mr. Goal” did not lose his opportunity to shoot. Iran had other chances to score, but Sardar Azmoun, Mehdi Taremi, Ehsan Hajsafi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh all missed their chances.

In the end, Iran won with Taremi’s single goal, increased its lead over South Korea by four points and solidified its place at the top of the rankings. 

But then five days later, Iran faced China. In 2006, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics had named the team’s manager, Marcello Lippi, as the world's best international coach. Lippi is the only coach in football history to claim such a remarkable record: he led the Italian football team Juventus to victory in the European Cup; the Chinese team Guangzhou to the championship stage of the Asian Champions League; the Italian national football team to the FIFA World Cup; and Juventus to the championship at Intercontinental Cup competitions.

An Unexpectedly Polite Queiroz

Under Lippi, China had defeated South Korea. So potentially China could present a significant danger to Iran. The China manager refused to participate in the pre-game news conference, giving the excuse that it was his belief that the football field provided to the Chinese team for practice was defective and bumpy. In this way, he attempted to punish the Iranian side. Somewhat out of character, Carlos Queiroz maintained a very polite approach toward Lippi. Lippi, he said, had “put his stamp on the Chinese team, and we can see that with Marcello Lippi as its coach, China succeeded in scoring a victory over South Korea for the second time in its football history.”

Never before had the Portuguese head coach of the Iranian national football team spoken so politely about a coach of a competing team. His verbal clashes with the coaches of South Korea, Uzbekistan, Qatar and even Syria have left their mark on people’s memories. But now he was praising Lippi. And Lippi was not dismissive of Queiroz, either. “When I was in Europe,” he told Chinese reporters, “I heard of him a few times. Yes, I think he is a good coach.”

And, on March 28, this “good coach” was victorious again — witnessed by more than a 100,000 spectators. His lineup, which excluded Sardar Azmoun and Karim Ansarifard, must have caught Lippi by surprise.

In the game’s 46th minute, Iran staged a wide attack and three rapid kicks from Jahanbakhsh, Ezatolahi and Ghoochannejhad gave Taremi what he needed to score the single winning goal. Neither the Chinese defense nor the goalkeeper were able to deflect his kick.   

“The credit and the praise for this [victory] must above all go to the Iranian players who have performed well over the past six years,” said Carlos Queiroz after the game. “This is not the time to talk about problems, though we did have a lot of difficulties.”

The Best Performance in Defense

Marcello Lippi also praised the Iranian footballers. The results, he said, “shows that [Iran] is a well-formed and good team. So far this team has not lost a game.”

In Group A of the Asian teams competing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, Iran now ranks first with 17 points. South Korea is second with 13 and Uzbekistan ranks third with 12 points. Then come the national teams of Syria, China and Qatar with, respectively, 8, 5 and 4 points. Iran has played seven games and its goal has not been breached even once. This means that Iran’s defensive line has had the best performance internationally, not just in Asia. England, with five matches and no loss, comes next.

To make it to the 2018 World Cup, Iran needs to score just three points in the three upcoming games. This means that when Uzbekistan arrives in Tehran to play against Iran, a victory for Iran’s nation football team will secure its place in the World Cup Games in Russia in 2018. 

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