Great overall performance by TM. The good thing about this game was that TM players got it that this tournament is not going to be a cakewalk. I rather get the message in a 2-0 win than a tie or a loss. Iraq game will be a whole different story. Iraqis will not part the boss like Vietnam and there will be more opportunities. Great positive of this game was that Saman started and shined.
BTW, the 52nd chance for Vietnam to equalize was at least half a meter in offside. Shaky refereeing a couple of uncalled for yellows for our boys.
Go TM!
In a nutshell:
1. The 1st half resembled Iran - Spain, except this time we were the team on offense. I think this is where mental fortitude and patience are incredibly important so kudos to the team for hanging in there until they scored the fantastic goal.
2. The 2nd half was as expected (from a gameplay perspective). Vietnam had to open up so that they could attack. On our end, there was too much complacency and we gave Vietnam 1-2 decent chances. On a positive note, our passing was still relatively crisp; this shouldn't be taken for granted given the high energy level of the Vietnamese players and their constant pressing. Once the second goal was scored, the players completely zoned out. As mentioned, this needs to be addressed.
3. The substitutes were all justified in my opinion. Taremi's substitution was to prevent a second yellow card with an all-too-card-happy referee while Sardar's substitution was to preserve him for the future matches. Yes, I understand that he wanted his hat trick but that's a short-sighted goal in the overall scheme of things. Nourollahi's substitution also made sense as CQ wanted to add an additional defensive dimension but the problem is that Nourollahi is quite possibly the worst player on this squad. Undoubtedly, Ezatolahi and Karimi are both ahead of him in the pecking order.
4. Like mentioned by many of you, my biggest concern is Hajsafi in the LB position; we keep telling ourselves that CQ is perhaps saving Mohammadi for the latter stages but I'm not so sure anymore. In the absence of Ezatolahi, I think Hajsafi can do a world of good partnering with Ebrahimi while Mohammadi takes the LB role. This way, Hajsafi can play more to his distribution skills without have to be the last line of defense. He's good enough to provide defensive cover but not good enough to be the 'defender'.
5. Most important thing is that we got the three points and have a very large GD with Iraq (unless they go on a riot today). While it's nice to win every match, I really don't mind a draw in the final match if it means that we can rest some players and not over-expend energy.
30 goals in 44 appearances for Sardar! Simply Amazing...
Fans: 10/10. Nice chants, none of those stupid vuvuzelas we heard at the World Cup.
iraq has to win, because our goal difference is much better now
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We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented
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The other reason CQ used this line up against Vietnam is that the turnaround time for the next match is literally 3 off days. If he went in guns blazing with all his starters today, fatigue/injury/yellow cards would certainly have hampered our game against Iraq on Wednesday. The King is clearly in control and is 3 steps ahead in his chess game.
CQ should’ve kept Azmoun in. Silly substitution.
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