Friendly: Iran vs. Benfica @ Lisboa, 14-10-2014

[O-ZoNe]

He has got everything he asked for and he's already laying down the foundation for all the excuses he'll be using if we fail in the AC!

And like I said earlier, only 3 players from Benfica's main team and that was in the 1st half! The 2nd half was pretty much against their U-21 team.
Vaghan cheghadr badbakht shodeem. Eslowly, eslowly we will be playing Portugal's Special Olympics football team with CQ proclaiming after the match that IPL games are slow so that's how he needs to prepare us for fast paced games.

Be careful. CQ lovers are going to go on the offensive. Man o man this is WC prep all over again. We played Benfica C...the article on the front page is way too kind. This camp is and will be a bust.

are we seriously now criticizing CQ preparation plan? really?????

We were 1 minute away from tying Argentina in a "home game" for Argentina. How come none of you that are critical today said anything critical about CQ after the Argentina game?

There is a very good movie quote in response to such a post...

It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile winnings winning...(Fast and Furious) Like wise, it doesn't matter if you lose by 1 or a million, losing is losing

[Afat11]

So nobody wants to play us but Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru desperately want to play teams like Iraq, Oman, China?

The "nobody wants to play us" is classed as an individual assumption in my book, it's an opinion, not a fact. I would say the reason we don't play decent teams is either IFF or CQ's well known philosophy of friendlies.

Even during the World Cup though, most commentators agreed that Iran was a team that most in the world did not want to play against in friendlies. They didn't give any specific reason other than "the effects of sanctions" but it is not just me making an assumption.

Iraq, Oman, and China are not international pariah's at the moment. Hopefully things will change soon, but as of now, we have neither the money, nor have we received the interest to play Paraguay, Uruguay, or Peru in friendlies.

Oman and China are easy to explain because they have the $ to pay these teams. Iraq for some reason has been surprisingly garnering many decent friendlies recently, and I attribute that to the Western influence in their nation at the moment. Outside donors are probably supporting this to help rebuild their nation.

We on the other hand have nothing to offer. Yes, the money is probably going into some akhund's pocket, but nonetheless, there is no money. This is not CQ or IFF's fault. I don't see Kafashian with all the money in his pocket, and it seems he is trying, but without funds, nobody can do anything. Iran is Iran, and there is a reason nobody wants to play us unless it's out of pity. We have nothing to offer.

Paraguay, Uruguay, and Peru also never desperately wanted to play us. Even when we were more moderate in the early 2000's, we usually played teams like Bosnia and Croatia.

[Z Joon]

I really can't complain at CQ too much. Would you rather we return to the TM A vs. TM B friendlies we had under Daei and Ghotbi? Many are making it seem as if great talented teams were tripping over themselves to play us in the past. From 1998 to 2006, we got decent (still not great) friendlies based solely on the fact that our greatest players of all time were together on one team. Teams wanted to play us.
Since then, we have been playing, at best, teams like Iceland and Armenia, and even those were rare. Don't blame it on CQ. Benfica's B is better than no friendly. At the moment, nobody wants to play us. Don't pin it solely on one person. In general, our football has been in a down period for many years, and teams can see that. We were okay in Brazil, but most teams saw that we play a very Asian game. Unless they are preparing to play an Asian team competitively, don't wait for them to come asking Iran to play a friendly.
If we have one or two stars emerge in Europe (*cough Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh *cough), mark my words, we will be playing friendlies against better teams more frequently.

So nobody wants to play us but Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru desperately want to play teams like Iraq, Oman, China?

The "nobody wants to play us" is classed as an individual assumption in my book, it's an opinion, not a fact. I would say the reason we don't play decent teams is either IFF or CQ's well known philosophy of friendlies.

[OFFSIDE_1]

are we seriously now criticizing CQ preparation plan? really?????

We were 1 minute away from tying Argentina in a "home game" for Argentina. How come none of you that are critical today said anything critical about CQ after the Argentina game?

[Afat11]

He has got everything he asked for and he's already laying down the foundation for all the excuses he'll be using if we fail in the AC!

And like I said earlier, only 3 players from Benfica's main team and that was in the 1st half! The 2nd half was pretty much against their U-21 team.

Vaghan cheghadr badbakht shodeem. Eslowly, eslowly we will be playing Portugal's Special Olympics football team with CQ proclaiming after the match that IPL games are slow so that's how he needs to prepare us for fast paced games.

I really can't complain at CQ too much. Would you rather we return to the TM A vs. TM B friendlies we had under Daei and Ghotbi? Many are making it seem as if great talented teams were tripping over themselves to play us in the past. From 1998 to 2006, we got decent (still not great) friendlies based solely on the fact that our greatest players of all time were together on one team. Teams wanted to play us.

Since then, we have been playing, at best, teams like Iceland and Armenia, and even those were rare. Don't blame it on CQ. Benfica's B is better than no friendly. At the moment, nobody wants to play us. Don't pin it solely on one person. In general, our football has been in a down period for many years, and teams can see that. We were okay in Brazil, but most teams saw that we play a very Asian game. Unless they are preparing to play an Asian team competitively, don't wait for them to come asking Iran to play a friendly.

If we have one or two stars emerge in Europe (*cough Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh *cough), mark my words, we will be playing friendlies against better teams more frequently.

[KeonKish]

Shojaei is a quality player, but he needs to be used only in certain situations, not games in which he gets closed down in. Against stronger teams he can actually be a greater help as they will not play compact against him. At this point he is one of the very few players who can deliver good through balls and crosses. Unfortunately is seems he never gained consistency after injury.

[Bi-honar]

here are some highlights.

http://video.varzesh3.com/video-clips/margins/گزارشی-از-بازی-ایران-بنفیکا/

It is more reporting than highlights.

He has got everything he asked for and he's already laying down the foundation for all the excuses he'll be using if we fail in the AC!

And like I said earlier, only 3 players from Benfica's main team and that was in the 1st half! The 2nd half was pretty much against their U-21 team.

Vaghan cheghadr badbakht shodeem. Eslowly, eslowly we will be playing Portugal's Special Olympics football team with CQ proclaiming after the match that IPL games are slow so that's how he needs to prepare us for fast paced games.

[Z Joon]

I highly doubt that Queiroz will change his 4-2-3-1 formation at least until the end of the Asian Cup. Otherwise I agree with playing Masoud against open defenses

[rezabmehr]

here are some highlights.

http://video.varzesh3.com/video-clips/margins/%DA%AF%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B4%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%DB%8C-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%86%D9%81%DB%8C%DA%A9%D8%A7/

It is more reporting than highlights.

[Afat11]

Shojaei is the type of player that plays well in the European style. When given space, he can be creative and think about his next moves. He played well against Argentina who gave him space on his runs.

On the other hand, he gets very anxious and makes many mistakes when playing against packed defenses. When he has 2 or 3 defenders closing in on him, he makes bad passes, or loses the ball dribbling. Khalatbari is another player like this. They are dangerous if given space, but can be ineffective if marked closely with 2-3 men. The reason we play so poorly against packed Arab defenses is the same reason Argentina played poorly against us. Other than Messi's moment of brilliance, he was fairly impotent for the majority of the match, and according to my Argentinian friend was frustrating to watch. Same with Di Maria and Aguero.

Shojaei is frustrating, but he has his purpose. In my opinion, he is a good super-sub off the bench to attempt to dribble tired legs. When he is tired himself, he is ineffective. I would bring him 100% for Asian Cup, but sub him in in the group stages, and start him against more open defenses like South Korea, Japan, or Australia.

The starting line-up should be:

------------Haghighi----------------
Pouladi-Hosseini-Montazeri-Hajsafi
-----Nekounam-Teymourian-------
Jahanbakhsh---------------Dejagah
-----Azmoun-Ghoochannejhad-----

[Kiarash]

We will stick to shojaei?!?! FML.
Why CQ why?!

Dadash, I think he may play his final tournament. After Asian Cup 2015 we probably won't see him around anymore.

[04041374]

loool at the end of the video
"Goftan ke nabayad dast bezanid, nabayad ax begirid, nabayad daad bezanid"

[Clockwork]

Although im not the biggest fan of Shojaei, I like that he is a additional wild card for our attack. We will be needing him in the Asian cup more so than in the World Cup because we have to transition into a more offensive team. Don't forget the assists and nice goals he has scored against other Asian sides such as South Korea and Saudi Arabia (Actually his goal cap ratio isn't great). He is also great at getting fouled which can make us threatening on set pieces.

[persian8iran]

We will stick to shojaei?!?! FML.
Why CQ why?!

Masoud is my friend, now he is not so good in national team but I see with my eyes... he is the last to leave the training, is practiced the shot, doing pushups etc.. He seems like a hard worker

[Abtin]

We will stick to shojaei?!?! FML.
Why CQ why?!

When you find the answer for that, please also find the one for why we don't play national teams instead of clubs, and maybe why he reject friendlies with national teams.. theres so much we dont know about him and donkey IFF..