Armenia - Iran player ratings

[Martin-Reza]

Rahmati 9 - Almost Perfect game, apart from the conceded goal, where he wasn't really on fault, but on a perfect day he would have saved that one as well
Heydari 3 - Disappointing performance, not closing down his defensive side on Armenia's lucky goal and causing a penalty, barely any decisive offensive contribution although playing with "gheyrat"
Aghily 7 - Defensively ok, apart from one bad blunder leading to the penalty, but deserves a good rating being the matchwinner with two goals
J. Hosseini 7 - Defensively stable, making up for several mistakes of others
Ashjari 3 - One major blunder in defense and even less offensive contribution than Heydari, a day to forget
Ashoubi 4 - Little impact, logically subbed out at halftime
Nekounam 2 - One of his worst national team performances ever, stupid red card, yet his areal strength helped him assist the important equalizer
P. Nouri 6 - Acceptable performance in the center of the field, covered much space and also helped well in offense
Rezaei 4 - Not as dangerous as usual, barely involved in goalmouth action, trying hard though
Ansarifard 5 - Like in almost every game, he had a great scene and was unlucky not to score, very versatile
Hadadifar 4 - Looked uncomfortable on the left wing
Nosrati 5 - Didn't add much stability to the defense, but had a solid performance and scored a lucky but important goal
Mobali 6 - One good shot, good setpieces, no mistakes, could have been redcarded for pushing an opponent after having been booked shortly before though
Zanidpour 6 - Revived Iran's left offensive side, the most dangerous offensive player after coming on

M. Hosseini, Aliasgar, Norouzi 0 - came too late to be rated, although Norouzi had a noteable contribution by winning the penalty

[maij]

I can't see much difference in my rating except for Ansarifard , whom I would rate higher. The young striker had a poor service from the midfield and when on the rare occasion that he got serviced, he did fine.

Else , very good rating in my opinion.

[dvader6]

I agree with martin-reza's ratings, except ansarifard.
like maij, I think the poor kid wasnt supplied enough balls to do his thing and that goes back to qotbi's extremely defensive line up. with a more imaginative midfield, ansarifard would have got more chances.

but in defense of neku and mobali for the 2 yellows they got after the penalty call, I must say nekunam had the right to object to that call as this was clearly not a penalty and it is the captain's duty to protest to the ref. but since the ref was extremely biased and perhaps too excited, immediately issued the yellow. mobali looked like all he said was he's our captain and the ref riding high on his excitement, issued one at him too. lol. that was very funny. I am sure if there were any more iranian players merely standing there, would have got yellow carded too.
engar bacheh (ref ) hol shodeh bood

[Martin-Reza]

^ I agree that both of the first bookings were rather undeserved, but regardless of how deserved a booking was, the players knowing that they are already booked simply must be more careful, especially with unnecessary things like complaining or shoving opponents.

[maij]

but in defense of neku and mobali for the 2 yellows they got after the penalty call, I must say nekunam had the right to object to that call as this was clearly not a penalty and it is the captain's duty to protest to the ref. but since the ref was extremely biased and perhaps too excited, immediately issued the yellow. mobali looked like all he said was he's our captain and the ref riding high on his excitement, issued one at him too. lol. that was very funny. I am sure if there were any more iranian players merely standing there, would have got yellow carded too.
engar bacheh (ref ) hol shodeh bood

Davoud Jan...

I believe that there is a fine line between questioning a referee call by the Captain of the team and protesting. It is my belief that Nekounam was protesting and aggressively for that matter.

That was a very obvious case for a Yellow card , regardless if the initial offense was justified or not, which is a matter of opinion and we all know that it is one person's opinion that really counts and that is the referee.

My gripe with Nekounam is his distinct lack of professionalism in which he should have been a role model. This was not the first time in the match that he showed indiscretion and poor attitude towards the referee and the opposition players. A player like him from the La Liga , arguably one o the best in the world should not have acted in such a manner.

To top that , only one day ago , this same Javad Nekounam was complaining and moaning about the lack of professionalism in Iran........HUH.... I be damned.....


Let us forget about the colorful cards he got in a friendly match......His performance was nothing short of a disgrace in that match.

I seriously hope that this performance is an odd one and is NEVER repeated again. on the other hand , track record shows that many Iranian legionnaires grow a chip on their shoulders , suffer from egotistic tendencies , think they are in a different class than the rest , become complacent and subsequently under perform.

[dvader6]

^ oh, I completely agree with your observation on neku's mental state. he was, I think, disturbed by something that made him act out of character. during the whole game, he was protesting way too much and too aggressively. no doubt about that.
why was he in such an aggressive mood, perhaps, needs to be looked into. definitely not neku's normal behavior.

but the penalty incident and the two yellow cards whipped out was just too funny and ridiculous in my opinion.



could it be his club, osasuna's happenings that affected him? could it be the karimi incident? could it be some other matter that bothered him? we can only guess, but may never know