World Cup 2014 Team Spotlight – Iran
Qualifying out of Asia is not as tough as some other regions but Iran has only made three previous World Cup appearances.
IRAN
Group F: Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria
Odds to Win Group F: +3500
Odds to Win World Cup: +100000
Group Stage Schedule:
June 16 vs Nigeria
June 21 vs. Argentina
June 25 vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina
World Cup History
They have just a lone win over the years (against the US) and have never advanced past the group stage. In almost any group they would be a real long shot but especially in this medium grade group.
They are just hoping to be respectable and not too caught up in politics.
Strengths
This is not a strong team but through qualifying a couple of trends did emerge. The first was that they tend to score more often off of set pieces, not surprising for a club that just doesn’t have the creative talent of others in the tournament.
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Also, they do a good job paying attention on the defensive end, seldomly letting those backbreaking long goals. Again this makes a lot of sense as they need to play pretty close to mistake free futbol to win and they know it.
Their coach has been here before as the coach of Portugal.
Weaknesses
This team absolutely can not play from behind, they just don’t have the flare to open up a game and take chances – or the talent. Oddly, even though they are good offensively on set pieces they are not all that good at defending them.
Though they are reasonably strong in the middle of the field with their patient play once their opponents get in deep they are in trouble. A lot of their goals allowed are scored from in close.
Key Player – Reza Ghoochannejhad
I am going to call him Ghooch and he is definitely part of the next generation for Iran. He plays with Charlton in the EPL, one of only a handful of players playing in top leagues. He made his debut with the national team a splash by scoring 6 goals in 6 games.
If he could sneak one by one of their opponents early on they just might get their second win.
Prediction: 4th in Group
Iran is hoping for only their second win but that doesn’t look very likely to me. There is a reason they are huge underdogs and it wouldn’t surprise me to see that it looks like they are just hoping for 0-0 draws in every match.
They will probably call it a success if they ruin the chances for Nigeria or Bosnia-Herzegovina but that is about all they can look forward to.
