Just finished watching Mexico-Iran again...

[faraz]

well, i finally mustered up enough courage to watch the game again...and now i'm pissed off all over again.

the key point was that we can't continue running and hustling for more than 45 minutes. people ask "how come Rezaei was tired? how come Kia was tired?"...it is because we don't run COLLECTIVELY. At any given moment in time, there were players simply walking around which brings down the whole team.

other players like Kia, like Rezaei, like Karimi and so forth had to run for them (mainly IPL players) which produced a cycle of tiredness over and over again.

it was sad: with better conditioning, we could have easily gotten by this Mexican team.

[KasraKhan]

I will not punish myself like that.

[zzgloo]

well, i finally mustered up enough courage to watch the game again...and now i'm pissed off all over again.
the key point was that we can't continue running and hustling for more than 45 minutes. people ask "how come Rezaei was tired? how come Kia was tired?"...it is because we don't run COLLECTIVELY. At any given moment in time, there were players simply walking around which brings down the whole team.
other players like Kia, like Rezaei, like Karimi and so forth had to run for them (mainly IPL players) which produced a cycle of tiredness over and over again.
it was sad: with better conditioning, we could have easily gotten by this Mexican team.

faraz jan ,salam....long time !!
I do not know if you remember,....about a mounth before the WC ,I initiated a thread,by the topic of : " We can not run out of steem,or Ideas ! ".....
I remmember, I wrote that thread,right after watching the friendly game between saudi's and czhech republic....in which,the saudi's played well during the first half,but resigned on the secound half....
This phenamena accures for many reasons....
1- the stronger team is evaluating the weaker team during the first half,hence give them some freedom of movements.
2-Lack of profesionality by weaker teams,as they run out of motivation.
3- Lack of cohesiveness,as the weaker team,like Iran, is not realy a team yet,and just collection of individual efforts,as what coach wants,has not realy sank in-to player's head.
4-Lack of diversity of the weaker team, as once,on the secound half,the stronger team finds thier game plan, they can not show streangth in any other way.
...................
hence, the result is, that most of the time....the contenders, will find the way, to beat the protenders.....which in this case....Iran vs mexico.

[faraz]

faraz jan ,salam....long time !!
I do not know if you remember,....about a mounth before the WC ,I initiated a thread,by the topic of : " We can not run out of steem,or Ideas ! ".....
I remmember, I wrote that thread,right after watching the friendly game between saudi's and czhech republic....in which,the saudi's played well during the first half,but resigned on the secound half....
This phenamena accures for many reasons....
1- the stronger team is evaluating the weaker team during the first half,hence give them some freedom of movements.
2-Lack of profesionality by weaker teams,as they run out of motivation.
3- Lack of cohesiveness,as the weaker team,like Iran, is not realy a team yet,and just collection of individual efforts,as what coach wants,has not realy sank in-to player's head.
4-Lack of diversity of the weaker team, as once,on the secound half,the stronger team finds thier game plan, they can not show streangth in any other way.
...................
hence, the result is, that most of the time....the contenders, will find the way, to beat the protenders.....which in this case....Iran vs mexico.

salam zz jan, i haven't been away for too long...i sort of stayed away from the forums a lil bit to take a small break, but i could never stay away for thaat long...

i completely agree with your points. but it seems i just can't get over that ONE game. i keep thinking about the "what ifs"...for example, what if we had been scheduled to play ANGOLA first, and not Mexico?

an obvious "what if": what if kaebi didn't pass the ball back from our own half-way line which caused a wave of mistakes.

"what if" nekounam and rezaei had stood in front of deco's shot rather than turning their backs and making space for one of the most accurate kicks in the WC?

it just hurts...no matter what the reasons are...i can't get over it

[zzgloo]

salam zz jan, i haven't been away for too long...i sort of stayed away from the forums a lil bit to take a small break, but i could never stay away for thaat long...
i completely agree with your points. but it seems i just can't get over that ONE game. i keep thinking about the "what ifs"...for example, what if we had been scheduled to play ANGOLA first, and not Mexico?
an obvious "what if": what if kaebi didn't pass the ball back from our own half-way line which caused a wave of mistakes.
"what if" nekounam and rezaei had stood in front of deco's shot rather than turning their backs and making space for one of the most accurate kicks in the WC?
it just hurts...no matter what the reasons are...i can't get over it

I have lots of " ifs ", myself !
South Korea,had the Ideal permutation.as they played the TOGO first.so did Saudi's playing Tunesia,and also japan played australia.....they all played the weakest team first !! which could have been a good psyco booster.
But,regarding all bad lucks ,and here and there shots or blocks.......
I always remember what " Tom landry " the head coach of Dallas cowboys, used to say.........he said......" Luck, is the residue of design "

[Paradigm]

well, i finally mustered up enough courage to watch the game again...and now i'm pissed off all over again.
the key point was that we can't continue running and hustling for more than 45 minutes. people ask "how come Rezaei was tired? how come Kia was tired?"...it is because we don't run COLLECTIVELY. At any given moment in time, there were players simply walking around which brings down the whole team.
other players like Kia, like Rezaei, like Karimi and so forth had to run for them (mainly IPL players) which produced a cycle of tiredness over and over again.
it was sad: with better conditioning, we could have easily gotten by this Mexican team.

Several of the fixed players were unfit to play. Branko should have started a few fresh legs from his bench but he did not. Anyways, glad to see the saga is over and let's move on. Hopefully we learnt something from this experience.

[Doctor DOOM]

a brilliant quote by zz jan : "LUCK IS THE RESIDUE OF DESIGN"

Says a lot about cases like ours.

unless you have done all you could, taken care of all you shd, you have no right to say luck was not on your side.
in more simple words:
without studying day and night, for months, you have no right to expect to pass . and upon failing, say you were unlucky !
that's pathetic.

exactly how branko and dadkan and ... were.


what did they do to ensure our success?

did we have a sound team managment ?
did we have proficient staff?
did we have appropriate prepartory games?
did we have a knowledgable leader?
did we .... etc.

luck?
luck is what holland didnt have against portugal.
luck is what Italy had, against australia.

------------

speaking of "what if"s :

it can be as mundane as what if VH had tried a simple tap in off kia's cross in mexico game, instead of a showy back-heal attempt.

or it can be deeper like:
what if we had guts to put the team up against more friendlies, so the players gained more experience against good teams?

what if we had used some alternatives instead of the same old favorite players in each and every game, so when the time came to substitute players like karimi, kia, daei, mirza, ..., we wouldnt get stuck like idiots ?

what if we had at least an average staff behind the coach, who at least had an average collective intelligence and efficiency ?

what if we had a coach who was at least "near" the WC standards, and not one who showed his inferiority every time he spoke, by reciting meaningless "numbers" that never referred to quality ?

what if the coach wasnt insecure, or stubborn and laj baaz, so he would accept where he had failed and would change?

what if our head of IFF had an ounce of nationalism and instead of putting his own insecurities as priority, he had put TM's and Iran's good ?

what if .... .


yes, it is indeed true that "luck is the residue of design" , and it just shows how our design was absolutely wrong and incorrect from 2 years back.

we were bound to fail.
so ppl coming and expressing shock as to why and how we were defeated so easily by all 3 teams ( yes, a draw against the angolans IS a defeat , all things considered) , they obviously have closed their eyes to the downward TREND in TM that existed throughout the past 2 years.

ppl who stubbornly ... or rather, with an exaggerated sense of optimism, denied, refuted, and refused to acknowledge all ( and boy, there were MANY ) the signs of the impending failure, ........... just so they .... umm... errr.... I dont know ..... so they could persist with their original views? .... or lest they had to admit to wrong ideals ? ... or .... who knows.

the trend & the signs were there for ALL to see.
how some ppl "chose" not to and why , is now up to them , to come to terms with.


but we can hope to, at least, "LEARN" from such failures and mistakes ... SO WE WOULDNT REPEAT THEM AGAIN.
so , there IS something to gain , even from such disasterous experiences.

[faraz]

Peyman jan,

i can't say i disagree with your post, but I think THE MOST IMPORTANT factor is that we ran out of steam. Simply that, and nothing more. We showed we CAN compete with Mexico for ONE HALF...with Portugal for ONE HALF (although, no matter what, there was nothing we could do in that game), and against Angola...well who really cares.