Asian Cup - Group Preview - Friendlies, Information and more..

[Z Joon]

Asian Cup - Group Preview - Friendlies, Information and more..

Japan's team is absolutely monstrous! 11 players STARTING in the Bundesliga. My gosh, the gap in quality between Japan and the rest of Asia grows day by day. Goes to show you how far superior planning can take you. I think JFA is one of the top federations in the world. They plan and they execute.

I would be satisfied if we made it to the 3rd place match, proud if we went to the final, and astonished if we could win it all. Japan is just a monster, they're going to piledrive everyone straight to the final.

I agree. They also truly showed it in the World Cup by steamrolling their opponents. #Beast #omagadsomanylegionnaires xoxo

[persianfire]

I think they were one of the biggest underachievers in Brazil. I mean, their squad was much stronger than their 2010 team that advanced to the round of 16.

TM should use the same defensive tactics like they did at the WC if they meet Japan.

[ramingeles2000]

I agree. They also truly showed it in the World Cup by steamrolling their opponents. #Beast #omagadsomanylegionnaires xoxo

They definitely underachieved at the world cup. but just because they didn't do well against top national teams doesn't mean they won't beat asian competition. How many times has Japan won the Asian Cup? Like 3 times in the last 5 tournaments? if being a European legionnaire doesn't matter that much to you, then why are you so upset that gucci and ashkan are playing in arab countries?

[Zamboor]

Exactly plus Honda was in bad shape back then right now he is on fire! They will win it all! Kagawa didn't get playing time back then to because of his idiot club now once again he is on fire to!

[Bi-honar]

Why is Reuters using A..... Gulf???

Unfortunately, that's the name of the league.

[Camran khan]

Lol, Japan is unbeatable, but Argentina wasn't?

[Abtin]

^ Iranian PFDC logic..

[AminGP]

We always play excellent against teams like Japan, Australia and South Korea. We almost beat Argentina what makes you guys think we can't beat Japan?

[Salar]

With CQ at helm, we could beat anybody. Let's just hope that we practice penalties well since we would definitely play fairly counter attacking football if we face Japan. When was the last time we won in penalties at a major tournament btw? I remember losing to Saudi in 96, China in 2004 and Korea in 2007..

[sarbaz]

reply

Iran always plays very tough vs. Japan
There is no question that they are better than us on paper and favorites to win it all b ut lets not forget Australia
they are playing at home and are also very good
Iran will have a hard time with both of those teams
but I sure hope it doesnt go to penalties becoz our boys are terrible at it

[Z Joon]

They definitely underachieved at the world cup. but just because they didn't do well against top national teams doesn't mean they won't beat asian competition. How many times has Japan won the Asian Cup? Like 3 times in the last 5 tournaments? if being a European legionnaire doesn't matter that much to you, then why are you so upset that gucci and ashkan are playing in arab countries?

The two subjects have nothing to do with each other, I judge by what I see, and what I see is that Japan couldn't beat 10 men Greece and got destroyed by the other 2 countries in the group, a group that was very mediocre and doable, on the other hand I saw that an Iranian league based team almost beat Argentina, and held the champions of Africa to a draw. Japan would have gotten their asses handed to them if they were in our group.
I don't care at all if they underachieved or overachieved, I look at the result and how they played, and I saw that their legionnaires are not worth much. "if being a European legionnaire doesn't matter that much to you" = again unfortunately no much sense into that as I never said that. Being a legionnaire is one thing, being a good player is another story. When Iranian players transfer to Europe, despite the sanctions, despite the lack of scouts full of prejudices, despite of the name of "Iran" and the political influences preventing its development, it means that they really are worth something and are talented to my eyes. But what I saw is that the cheap, fast transferred players from Japan and Korea to Europe couldn't do sh*t at all. To sum that up, I see Korean or Japanese legionnaires as massively overrated except few exceptional players of course.

I am more preoccupied by teams like UAE and Qatar than Japan TBH. I also see Australia as a much bigger threat, they are by far more impressive than Japan. We are very capable of outsmarting their one trick pony team, as good as they are individually/technically. As good as Japan's football development is, they are massively overrated, especially on this board.

Of course I am not expecting many to agree with me, as there are so many hardcore Japan fanboys

[PSGman#19]

The two subjects have nothing to do with each other, I judge by what I see, and what I see is that Japan couldn't beat 10 men Greece and got destroyed by the other 2 countries in the group, a group that was very mediocre and doable, on the other hand I saw that an Iranian league based team almost beat Argentina, and held the champions of Africa to a draw. Japan would have gotten their asses handed to them if they were in our group.
I don't care at all if they underachieved or overachieved, I look at the result and how they played, and I saw that their legionnaires are not worth much. "if being a European legionnaire doesn't matter that much to you" = again unfortunately no much sense into that as I never said that. Being a legionnaire is one thing, being a good player is another story. When Iranian players transfer to Europe, despite the sanctions, despite the lack of scouts with prejudices, despite of the name of "Iran" and the political influences preventing its development, it means that they really are worth something and are talented to my eyes. But what I saw is that the cheap, fast transferred players from Japan and Korea to Europe couldn't do sh*t at all. To sum that up, I see Korean or Japanese legionnaires as massively overrated except few exceptional players of course.

I am more preoccupied by teams like UAE and Qatar than Japan TBH. I also see Australia as a much bigger threat, they are by far more impressive than Japan. We are very capable of outsmarting their one trick pony team, as good as they are individually/technically. As good as Japan's football development is, they are massively overrated, especially on this board.

Of course I am not expecting many to agree with me, as there are so many hardcore Japan fanboys

Don't forget Korea qualify from a very similar group than Iran in the WC2010 (Argentina, Nigeria, and greece)

[Abtin]

Btw, are someone gonna make an Asian Cup "warm up, getting hyped, proud" video for Team Melli?

[ramingeles2000]

The two subjects have nothing to do with each other, I judge by what I see, and what I see is that Japan couldn't beat 10 men Greece and got destroyed by the other 2 countries in the group, a group that was very mediocre and doable, on the other hand I saw that an Iranian league based team almost beat Argentina, and held the champions of Africa to a draw. Japan would have gotten their asses handed to them if they were in our group.
I don't care at all if they underachieved or overachieved, I look at the result and how they played, and I saw that their legionnaires are not worth much. "if being a European legionnaire doesn't matter that much to you" = again unfortunately no much sense into that as I never said that. Being a legionnaire is one thing, being a good player is another story. When Iranian players transfer to Europe, despite the sanctions, despite the lack of scouts full of prejudices, despite of the name of "Iran" and the political influences preventing its development, it means that they really are worth something and are talented to my eyes. But what I saw is that the cheap, fast transferred players from Japan and Korea to Europe couldn't do sh*t at all. To sum that up, I see Korean or Japanese legionnaires as massively overrated except few exceptional players of course.
I am more preoccupied by teams like UAE and Qatar than Japan TBH. I also see Australia as a much bigger threat, they are by far more impressive than Japan. We are very capable of outsmarting their one trick pony team, as good as they are individually/technically. As good as Japan's football development is, they are massively overrated, especially on this board.
Of course I am not expecting many to agree with me, as there are so many hardcore Japan fanboys

Good post dude. Maybe if I saw things from your perspective, I'd be a bit more optimistic. Let me amend my statement - Japan definitely won't steamroll us (no team on earth can do that with our CQ lockdown defense), but my point was that Japan is really impressive. And I actually agree with your point about Iranian players being discriminated against by scouts and "out of fashion". There's just no market for them. If Iran's government was normal and had normal relations with the rest of the world, I'm sure we'd have many more players playing in europe.

There's actually a cool book called "soccernomics", you can actually google the PDF online. Its where these 2 economists used hard mathematical data to question many of the assumptions ppl make about world football, for example:

1) that hosting a WC helps your economy
2) that players are paid based on their talent levels.

This 2nd point ^ is interseting. He talks about how Brazilian players are considered "sexy" and are overvalued due to the perception that they're inherently talented. I think this same logic applies to iran, because like it or not, there are FEW countries less "sexy" than Iran. In fact, if you look at fan reactions every time one of our players goes to a new club, you always see sarcastic statements like "oh great, an IRANIAN player, what a great pickup", etc. I don't think our talent levels are reflected by our number of legionnaires.

But what I do believe is that playing in Europe day in and day out makes you sharper, gives you that extra 1-second that makes all the difference in a tight game like an Iran-Japan or Iran-SK. Think about Park Ji Sung's goal in 2010 that knocked us out of the WC, or South Korea's goal in extra time against us in 2011. The games were both decided by one moment of class, of brilliance, of speed that players at the highest levels can produce.

Iran has always faced big against Japan, SK, etc., but I still don't think this gives us the edge. I wouldn't bet my life on the outcome of an Iran-Japan match, but objectively they are the best team in the tournament and should win it all, with Australia a close 2nd.

My biggest hope is that we get a taste of Australia or Japan this asian cup - i'm SICK of playing South Korea.

[Z Joon]

Good post dude. Maybe if I saw things from your perspective, I'd be a bit more optimistic. Let me amend my statement - Japan definitely won't steamroll us (no team on earth can do that with our CQ lockdown defense), but my point was that Japan is really impressive. And I actually agree with your point about Iranian players being discriminated against by scouts and "out of fashion". There's just no market for them. If Iran's government was normal and had normal relations with the rest of the world, I'm sure we'd have many more players playing in europe.

There's actually a cool book called "soccernomics", you can actually google the PDF online. Its where these 2 economists used hard mathematical data to question many of the assumptions ppl make about world football, for example:

1) that hosting a WC helps your economy
2) that players are paid based on their talent levels.

This 2nd point ^ is interseting. He talks about how Brazilian players are considered "sexy" and are overvalued due to the perception that they're inherently talented. I think this same logic applies to iran, because like it or not, there are FEW countries less "sexy" than Iran. In fact, if you look at fan reactions every time one of our players goes to a new club, you always see sarcastic statements like "oh great, an IRANIAN player, what a great pickup", etc. I don't think our talent levels are reflected by our number of legionnaires.

But what I do believe is that playing in Europe day in and day out makes you sharper, gives you that extra 1-second that makes all the difference in a tight game like an Iran-Japan or Iran-SK. Think about Park Ji Sung's goal in 2010 that knocked us out of the WC, or South Korea's goal in extra time against us in 2011. The games were both decided by one moment of class, of brilliance, of speed that players at the highest levels can produce.

Iran has always faced big against Japan, SK, etc., but I still don't think this gives us the edge. I wouldn't bet my life on the outcome of an Iran-Japan match, but objectively they are the best team in the tournament and should win it all, with Australia a close 2nd.

My biggest hope is that we get a taste of Australia or Japan this asian cup - i'm SICK of playing South Korea.

Yep spot on. It's always the same reaction except if the player is already proven in Europe, that's why we won't see that reaction if a European team buys a player like Dejagah. However if he comes from Iran, even if the player is very talented the reactions are usually the same, while Korea or Jap players will never get those reaction, even if they happen to be weaker.

And I believe some legionnaires stand out, I consider them as exceptions and they surely can make the difference sometimes. Like your example of Park JS, or if we think about current times, players like Ki and Son for Korea, Kagawa and Honda for Japan. But football is a team sport and individuals cannot carry the whole weight of the team, you can see it with Japan/SK at the WC as well as other teams like Portugal.