To All TM "fans" with Doom and Gloom attitudes heading into AC 2015

[persiangodfather]

I think if Heydari doesnt play we can beat any team in Asia.. the biggest problem for me is if they can play 6 games at a high level like they did vs Argentina, we saw VS Bosnia they were dead tired

[O-ZoNe]

^ Adesor Vafaseya jan.

We showed to be a decent opponent vs Argentina and we were very close to beating them. So, why would we not win against Japan? I have been following them closely and for instance I know they struggle badly against defensive teams. They could not get past a 10-men Greece during the World Cup. I believe though, a Japan match would be very unpredictable because we haven't played them in an offical game since 2005.

All pressure is on Japan to win the cup, they failed miserably at the World Cup so everyone is expecting them to make up this time. Odds are in our favor.

And I think if they figure Iran will finish 2nd in the group, they will also prefer to end 2nd in their own group for obvious reasons. Lol

The Argentina match showed one thing and one thing only. You cannot win a match against any team by showing up for 15 minutes out of the 90. That's why TM cannot compete with Argentina, Japan, or any world class team because we can't string a full 90 minutes of decent football. Watch the Argentina match, we had no more than 10-15 minutes of play that was in our hands, and close is not enough.

[ali alipour]

10-15 minutes is all you need if you can score a goal

[onebloodfool]

I had a dream tonight (new year) that Iran met Australia in the final, and we won 2-0.
However, in the dream Robert Redford (the actor) was one of the players for the Australian team. So Im not sure the dream means anything.

[Leopard]

Some of you guys are quite correct about shrugging off the three words "lack of Preparations"
Here are my reasons:
1. The coach has been with the team for a long time and he has been able to identify the talent and a friendly to test a player became less necessary after so many years.
2. TM just had world cup participation and that was the best that could have happened. The skeleton of the team has not been altered anyway.
3. TM is grouped with three teams, and here is what we know about them
A. none is world class
B. None has ever won or gone to final
C. none has a coach eual to or better than CQ
D. none participated in the 2014 world cup
E. None is expected to reach the final
F. none ranks better than Japan, Korea or Australia
4. in view of 3. above, we can consider the first three matches as preparation to meet S.korea, Japan and Australia. If TM had to face them first then we could say we have been poorly prepared. But for the first three matches against these Arab teams the S Africa camp and Iraq friendly and what was done few months ago is more than adequate.

[xerexes]

The Argentina match showed one thing and one thing only. You cannot win a match against any team by showing up for 15 minutes out of the 90. That's why TM cannot compete with Argentina, Japan, or any world class team because we can't string a full 90 minutes of decent football. Watch the Argentina match, we had no more than 10-15 minutes of play that was in our hands, and close is not enough.

Creating 3 good chances and a stolen penalty in a tied game is more than enough to take the lead. If anything let us down it was our finishing and the dumb ref... not our tactics. And if that game showed ONE thing, it's that all the possession in the world doesn't mean jack if you can't create chances -- unless you have the world's greatest player to bail your ass out in the 93rd minute.

[Darloc]

Neither optimistic or pessimistic.. just being realist. Quarter final exit or with some luck semi finals.

[KC McElroy]

Some of you guys are quite correct about shrugging off the three words "lack of Preparations"
Here are my reasons:
1. The coach has been with the team for a long time and he has been able to identify the talent and a friendly to test a player became less necessary after so many years.
2. TM just had world cup participation and that was the best that could have happened. The skeleton of the team has not been altered anyway.
3. TM is grouped with three teams, and here is what we know about them
A. none is world class
B. None has ever won or gone to final
C. none has a coach eual to or better than CQ
D. none participated in the 2014 world cup
E. None is expected to reach the final
F. none ranks better than Japan, Korea or Australia
4. in view of 3. above, we can consider the first three matches as preparation to meet S.korea, Japan and Australia. If TM had to face them first then we could say we have been poorly prepared. But for the first three matches against these Arab teams the S Africa camp and Iraq friendly and what was done few months ago is more than adequate.

UAE has been to the final.

[xerexes]

In my view we have the talent AND the coach to make the final. But is it guaranteed? Absolutely not. Not when you have Australia with home field advantage; Japan with a coach equally as good as ours and a squad with players in some of the top leagues in Europe; South Korea with their talent and pedigree, and even the Saudis with their track record and AFC connections.

Who would have thought Italy as world champs would crash out of the first round in 2010? Or that Spain would do the same in such an embarrassing manner in 2014? I personally expect us to go deep in the tournament. I think we can even win it. But when you look at what Japan brings to the table, when you consider the side issues and bs that Arab teams bring to every match against us, that they're not above ganging up against us to make sure we don't advance, that the gap between us and them is not as big as some pretend especially when you factor in their financial and logistical support... it's not all that cut and dry. South Korea has been an undeniable Asian powerhouse for decades and they've made every World Cup since 1986. Yet they haven't won the Asian Cup since 1960 and haven't even made the final since 1988. We can win the whole thing or go out in the first round. And neither would shock me.

[Zamboor]

Nothing is ever garanuteed just look at spains performance at the world cup

[Leopard]

^ ok Thanks.
Probably with the help of arab referees or petrodollar-powered linesmen.
Also perhaps during the 8 year arab-imposed war. Or perhaps the time S. Koreans were so poor and used to fight on street to catch a dog for....
(note: I know they have restaurants now that serve dog=keh gogi and don't confuse that with dak-gogi=chicken if you go there)

[KC McElroy]

^ ok Thanks.
Probably with the help of arab referees or petrodollar-powered linesmen.
Also perhaps during the 8 year arab-imposed war. Or perhaps the time S. Koreans were so poor and used to fight on street to catch a dog for....
(note: I know they have restaurants now that serve dog=keh gogi and don't confuse that with dak-gogi=chicken if you go there)

It was after the war, the 1996 AC.

[Omids]

Some of you guys are quite correct about shrugging off the three words "lack of Preparations"
Here are my reasons:
1. The coach has been with the team for a long time and he has been able to identify the talent and a friendly to test a player became less necessary after so many years.
2. TM just had world cup participation and that was the best that could have happened. The skeleton of the team has not been altered anyway.
3. TM is grouped with three teams, and here is what we know about them
A. none is world class
B. None has ever won or gone to final
C. none has a coach eual to or better than CQ
D. none participated in the 2014 world cup
E. None is expected to reach the final
F. none ranks better than Japan, Korea or Australia
4. in view of 3. above, we can consider the first three matches as preparation to meet S.korea, Japan and Australia. If TM had to face them first then we could say we have been poorly prepared. But for the first three matches against these Arab teams the S Africa camp and Iraq friendly and what was done few months ago is more than adequate.

you are underestimating our group opponents, Qatar and UAE are going to be formidable opponents. i think these games are going to be tougher than the quarter finals. Qatar has a good team, and UAE is building up potentially its golden generation. Expect a lot of possession by these teams when they play us. For sure its not going to be easy and the top two might not be clear in the group until the last group game.

[hzv]

no matter how we approach this there is no denying we are the favorites in this group and one of the 4 favorites to win the cup not to mention that historically we only have lost a couple of games in regulation in the asian cup and are ranked first or second in asia, to add we ve had a very good preparation campaign comparing to our own standards. when did our tm ever have two camps before a tournament? when did we ever close the league for 2 months for any tournament? when have we ever played so many games in the past 6 months? people dont even count our world cup appearance but truth is once you make the world cup your football advances leaps and bounds comparing to those that didnt.

[hzv]

^^ not to mention that we have never lost against any of these teams in asian cup and have only lost maybe once (at the most) to these teams in all our history of official matches.