Iran possible 3rd round draws for WCQ 2018

[PSGman#19]

The truth is, every Asian team wants to avoid Iran. That includes Australia, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Korea.

All four of them have recently said that they'd rather avoid Iran if possible.

At least Australia can sleep well now. The other three are still feeling uneasy until 12th april.

What have we done that the current Asian champions wants to avoid us?

[Bessos]

Head over to bigsoccer to see how all Koreans want to avoid us, if it was luck they would really want to play us. You can also see words from the head of Korean FA that said that they want to avoid only Iran in the final round few months back.

Luck happens 1 time. Once it happens 3, 4 times it isn't called luck anymore. Koreans lack in the finishing department much more than us and most of the time fail to match us physically.

The truth is, every Asian team wants to avoid Iran. That includes Australia, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Korea.

All four of them have recently said that they'd rather avoid Iran if possible.

At least Australia can sleep well now. The other three are still feeling uneasy until 12th april.

[Afat11]

You say Iran isn't a powerhouse in Asia but we beat the current South American champions last year.

We have a strong team, but your argument is flawed. USA beat Germany after the World Cup, does that mean that USA is better than all of Europe and the world because they won a test match? Many top tier teams do not try their hardest to win friendly games. They tend to win when it matters.

Otherwise, I do think Iran is a major player in world football and one of the top 30 teams in the world, despite the dumb FIFA rankings saying otherwise.

[tmfan]

I sincerely hope you are joking about this. Otherwise, please pass me whatever you are smoking. You do realize that South American is comprised of the likes of Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Venezuela... An asian powerhouse could not sniff a 2nd rated south american team.

You say Iran isn't a powerhouse in Asia but we beat the current South American champions last year.

[shahin2000]

A non-Asian powerhouse can beat South American champions. Asian football is so strong.

I sincerely hope you are joking about this. Otherwise, please pass me whatever you are smoking. You do realize that South American is comprised of the likes of Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Venezuela... An asian powerhouse could not sniff a 2nd rated south american team.

[Kian Persepolis]

You guys are such wussies. No wonder we are a country full of excuses. If you think Iran is such a good footballing country, why the hell do you care what teams we will face in the final round. Oh I don't want to play this team or that team... stop being a little baby... The reality is Iran has not been an Asian powerhouse since it last won the Asian Cup in 1978. It is rather arrogant of us to think we are such a power in asia since our best showing in the past 38 years was a third place finish in the 96 cup. If you think you are the best team, then you should welcome any challenge upon us wussies.

So? Korea is an Asian powerhouse and they haven't won the Asian Cup since 1960. That doesn't make them a weak team. Based on your logic, then Iraq is Asia's third best team since they've won the Asian Cup in 2007 and the only other ones to win after that were Japan and Australia.

[tmfan]

A non-Asian powerhouse can beat South American champions. Asian football is so strong.

[shahin2000]

You guys are such wussies. No wonder we are a country full of excuses. If you think Iran is such a good footballing country, why the hell do you care what teams we will face in the final round. Oh I don't want to play this team or that team... stop being a little baby... The reality is Iran has not been an Asian powerhouse since it last won the Asian Cup in 1978. It is rather arrogant of us to think we are such a power in asia since our best showing in the past 38 years was a third place finish in the 96 cup. If you think you are the best team, then you should welcome any challenge upon us wussies.

[Z Joon]

I've followed Asian players in Europe and Japan has more players in the top leagues than the rest of Asia combined. And most of them actually get playing time. As someone said on another thread, I think they are just still in the phase of experimenting and trying out different things under their new coach. Having said that, I want Japan instead of Korea. It may be difficult to extend our current winning streak against the Koreans to 4 or 5 games. Luck has been on our side when it comes to Iran vs Korea.

Head over to bigsoccer to see how all Koreans want to avoid us, if it was luck they would really want to play us. You can also see words from the head of Korean FA that said that they want to avoid only Iran in the final round few months back.

Luck happens 1 time. Once it happens 3, 4 times it isn't called luck anymore. Koreans lack in the finishing department much more than us and most of the time fail to match us physically.

[persianfire]

I've followed Asian players in Europe and Japan has more players in the top leagues than the rest of Asia combined. And most of them actually get playing time. As someone said on another thread, I think they are just still in the phase of experimenting and trying out different things under their new coach. Having said that, I want Japan instead of Korea. It may be difficult to extend our current winning streak against the Koreans to 4 or 5 games. Luck has been on our side when it comes to Iran vs Korea.

[Super Shojaei]

^
Actually we have won 4 out of 5 last matches against Korea:

2010 Friendly in Korea (1-0)
2011 Asian Cup in Qatar (0-1) a.e.t.
2012 WCQ in Tehran (1-0)
2013 WCQ in Korea (1-0)
2014 Friendly in Tehran (1-0)

We won in every home and away match during these last 5 encounters, but lost against them in a neutral venue.


As for Japan, our last 5 encounters were as follows:

2002 Asian Games in Korea (2-1)
2004 Asian Cup in China (0-0)
2005 WCQ in Tehran (2-1)
2005 WCQ in Tokyo (1-2)
2015 Friendly in Tehran (1-1)

We win at home, but lose away against Japan.

Japan have been struggling recently though it's a simple fact really, they are not as strong as they used to be and I feel their team is on the down but south korea still look very strong and will be looking for revenge

[Super Shojaei]

All the ppl who want Arab teams are just fooling themselves with the stereotypical Persian superiority complex. Fact is that playing against Arab teams ALWAYS (regardless of TM form/talent) bring an additional mental battle with them which has caused us problems at one point or another in every single final phase of WCQ we have gone through. Lebanon, Bahrain, KSA, etc. are all examples of that. Now, that being said, I will be hoping for as little Arab teams as possible in our group so we have less heart attacks and one less battle to worry about.

I give CQ credit for a lot, and mental preparation is one of them, but I'm still not completely sold that he can completely rid this aspect of our football.

The group I hope to see:

Iran
SK (our record against them is phenomenal especially in the last 4 years)
Uzbekistan
China
Iraq
Thailand



As much as I want to whoop KSA's koon I would rather not have to witness all the hashiyeh and bs that comes with it. Less headaches equal less problems for us. We all know their pitiful team won't even make it to even the play offs so let's not get carried away thinking we're the only ones who can prevent them from that they're probably the worst of the 12 teams after Thailand and Syria.

yeah I agree with you, against East Asian teams we bring fear but at the same time we don't really fear them. I don't think Thailand or China have players that can hurt TM, the more East Asian sides the better. We have an edge over them in terms of squad and won't have to do with the mental challenges that come with facing an Arab team.

[Ghermez Agha]

All the ppl who want Arab teams are just fooling themselves with the stereotypical Persian superiority complex. Fact is that playing against Arab teams ALWAYS (regardless of TM form/talent) bring an additional mental battle with them which has caused us problems at one point or another in every single final phase of WCQ we have gone through. Lebanon, Bahrain, KSA, etc. are all examples of that. Now, that being said, I will be hoping for as little Arab teams as possible in our group so we have less heart attacks and one less battle to worry about.

I give CQ credit for a lot, and mental preparation is one of them, but I'm still not completely sold that he can completely rid this aspect of our football.

The group I hope to see:

Iran
SK (our record against them is phenomenal especially in the last 4 years)
Uzbekistan
China
Iraq
Thailand



As much as I want to whoop KSA's koon I would rather not have to witness all the hashiyeh and bs that comes with it. Less headaches equal less problems for us. We all know their pitiful team won't even make it to even the play offs so let's not get carried away thinking we're the only ones who can prevent them from that they're probably the worst of the 12 teams after Thailand and Syria.

[Bessos]

^
Actually we have won 4 out of 5 last matches against Korea:

2010 Friendly in Korea (1-0)
2011 Asian Cup in Qatar (0-1) a.e.t.
2012 WCQ in Tehran (1-0)
2013 WCQ in Korea (1-0)
2014 Friendly in Tehran (1-0)

We won in every home and away match during these last 5 encounters, but lost against them in a neutral venue.


As for Japan, our last 5 encounters were as follows:

2002 Asian Games in Korea (2-1)
2004 Asian Cup in China (0-0)
2005 WCQ in Tehran (2-1)
2005 WCQ in Tokyo (1-2)
2015 Friendly in Tehran (1-1)

We win at home, but lose away against Japan.

[shahabGAOL]

Against Japan we played verywell at Azadi we won in march 2005 WCQ2006 2:1 by Vahid Hashemain 2× (helicopter). In Tokoy we lost 1:2 by goal of Ali Daei. In Asian Cup China in group 0:0 against Japan. We can playwell against Japan.

Even against South Korea we do always good and we won in the 2 games in WCQ2014 home and out