Iran vs South Korea Player Ratings | Post Match Discussion

[Lapayee]

Here is a report in NY Times with a funny subtitle

"They won the match and mourned."

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/12/world/middleeast/iran-south-korea-soccer-cheer.html?_r=0

[AminGP]

You know what'a a funny thing? People are no longer shocked when they see our captain and top players like Ashkan, Ando or AJ are benched. Everyone trusts CQ's judgement so the journalist are also not creating any hashieh for TM by asking benched players how they feel about being benched?

Can you imagine if another coach like Daie or GN would have benched our captain? Do you know the amount of Hashieh's that we had to deal with created by players and journalists?

[EZLN]

Glad to see this, I hope more coaches and football figures give CQ the credit he deserves..
-----------------------------------

Paatoop.com- Iranian legend Mehdi Pashazadeh had some words to share after Iran’s victory against South Korea.

After Iran’s excellent display of football against South Korea, former Team Melli defender and current Rah Ahan coach, Mehdi Pashazadeh expressed, “We played very organized, and in my opinion this is the best team Carlos Queiroz has put together. We were so good that we did whatever we wanted against South Korea. We defended well, we attacked well, and we created chances well. Whoever watched the game will agree that we didn’t allow South Korea to do anything. Perhaps, if Sardar Azmoun didn’t lose his chances, we could have scored two or three more goals.”

The former Esteghlal and Admira Wacker player added, “In an interview three years ago, I had said that we are not good offensively and that don’t defend in a logical way, but to be fair we were truly flawless (against S. Korea); we were at a European level. If you look at the stats, you can see that we didn’t give them a chance to do anything, although they have 15 legionnaires playing in top European clubs.”

http://paatoop.com/pashazadeh-european-level-south-korea/

[ramingeles2000]

You know what'a a funny thing? People are no longer shocked when they see our captain and top players like Ashkan, Ando or AJ are benched. Everyone trusts CQ's judgement so the journalist are also not creating any hashieh for TM by asking benched players how they feel about being benched?

Can you imagine if another coach like Daie or GN would have benched our captain? Do you know the amount of Hashieh's that we had to deal with created by players and journalists?

this is a very, very important point that no one is talking about. CQ has the support from fans and credibility with players to make the best decisions, free of pressure. Do you think CQ would have played 37 year old Daei at WC2006?

[Hosseini]

I'm going to second Martin Reza and others and say it:

This is the best team melli I've ever seen. I've watched probably 95% of matches since 1998 and just don't know how to describe this. It's an unfamiliar feeling. A disciplined, confident team that plays for 90 minutes, and most importantly and remarkably, play for each other and with joy. You can see from the celebrations that this is a cohesive unit that's bought into the team concept engineered by CQ and his staff. Are we forgetting the TM of past, that used to pull back and essentially take a nap any time we were one goal ahead? the team melli of the past where our defenders - at least 2 or 3 times a game - would cause us near-heart attacks with bone-headed plays? where our defensive organization would become swiss cheese at the first sign of pressure? Where every game was shrouded with controversy and rumors about locker room turmoil, players leaving training camps, and so on?

Perhaps the biggest benefit for this team is that we don't have a superstar - a diva who sees himself as above the team. We don't have a Daei, Azizi or Karimi. And we don't need one. Our most famous team member is CQ, and that works perfectly for TM. No one is above the team. CQ benches Ando, benches Ashkan, benches Shojaei - no one is immune. CQ's popularity allows him to make potentially unpopular decisions with confidence. Unlike Branko, who felt pressure to play a 37-year old Daei in WC2006, CQ's stature and rapport with the players and fanbase allows him to operate TM as a pure meritocracy where performance attitude and fitness matters above all else.

Truth be told, I thought Qatar was our toughest opponent to date. After the China game, I believed that we'd regret losing 3 points to what has turned out to be the minnow of the group. But in the last two games against Uzbekistan and Korea, our team has clearly "gelled". We have a true 18-man deep rotation, a perfect blend of youth and experience, and here's the exciting part:

Ezatollahi, Azmoun, MilMo and Jahanbakhsh will be blossoming, with another season of European action under their belts right in time for WC2018. In international football, timing is a critical factor. You can't go out and buy players, so you need your best talent to be in their prime at the same time. In this respect we have luck on our side. This is just the beginning - I see us playing a more confident, forward-facing football in WC2018, with the confidence to know we can beat anyone with some luck.

We're seeing also the benefit of continuity. CQ at this point must be the longest-tenured coach in recent TM history (I didn't watch in the 70s and 80s). He's had time to groom and select his own players, implement his strategy, and learn how to navigate the complexities of being the TM coach. It'll be a sad day when he hangs it up and I truly hope that he'll stick around at through AC2019. The longer he stays, the more young players go to Europe and the more our domestic coaches can absorb and learn.

What a time to be alive - true team melli fans, we deserve this joy SO much. savor this era. Because we'll be talking about it for decades to come!

Post of the year!!! Spot on!

[Messy]

Some thoughts:

South Korea has regressed. Look at how many players they brought that play in Qatar and China. Look at how many we have in Qatar. Any team with that many NT players in those leagues does not deserve to beat us.

Rezaeian had a great game. Like I was really impressed with him. I am still mad at him for not staying in Turkey, but after that game he could probably do better.

There was one more thing, but i forgot what it was :-( Regardless, that was an excellent showing and this victory pretty much locks us up for WC. We will for sure win 3 out of the next 5, giving us 19 total points with a home game at Syria left.

[babak_iran]

guys im so happy! I was feeling down in the morning today but after watching team melli's great performance, my day changed and I got more motivated to do things!

[Afat11]

I see some Koreans on the Big Soccer Forums who try so hard to say that the problem is that their coach is bad and their players are not playing well.

I find it so annoying that many Asian football fans cannot admit that Iran just has a lot of new talent and has grown stronger. Iran dominated this game partially on coaching, but a lot of outsiders looking in try to make it all about CQ. Don't get me wrong, he is very good, but people overlook the talent in our country and its annoying.

Sardar is better than any striker in Asia at the moment, and we have a lot of very good players. It's a vicious cycle of Iranian players not getting the respect they deserve.

If respect is not given like it is to Koreans and Japanese players, our players will take the respect. Today was one step closer. Our players deserve to be in Dortmund, Tottenham, etc. It's bs to be quite honest.

[saadat_abad]

from having such a shitty day breaking up with my gf, this game deff made my shitty day a little better.

[Ando Teymourian]

One of my favourite TM games that I ever watched, what an absolute beauty! Holy moly, the ball control, short passing, composed mentality was amazing to watch. What a massive 3 points and confidence boost for this squad. Brilliantly played match.

Beiranvand - Again, he was not tested too much. But he does seem confident in front of goal, and his throws are amazing. Let's see him get tested a bit.

Rezaeian- Wow, wow, wow, what a match from this lad. Like I said after the Uzbek game, if this is Rezaeian without playing for a club, then he is only going to get better. For all the flack he gets for his defensive game, the boy shut down one of the hottest players in the Premier League today. I think he played absolutely great. What a feathered pass to Azmoun for the goal..

PAG and Hosseini - Rock solid again, I don't even know what to say. Hosseini is the man, and PAG reminds me of AH Sadeghi (one of my favourite Iranian CB's)... Quietly does his job, doesn't make any errors, and just gets the job done. His ground passing is great, and a big plus when we are getting a play started from out own end. Both CB's won all the important aerial duels, KSW of Korea couldn't do anything. Just all around solid.

MiMo - Even better than his game against UZB. Has made a name for himself as our starting LB (and with Ehsan being so good in his new position, it is time to find a backup LB :P) . With regular play time in the Russian League , it will only help his strength and physical play. Great job by this kid.

Ezzatolahi and Hajsafi - I think we have found our new DM pairing?? These guys are like silk in the midfield man.... never make rash plays, always composed, always calm, always patient... its like 2 persian Pirlo's (of course not to the level of the Maestro ) in our midfield. Wonderful game by these 2 lads. Hajsafi's set pieces were also much better today than vs UZB

Jahanbaksh - Deserved man of the match, the guy is a bundle of energy. Had a great left foot shot that deflected over the net in the first half, and another long range rocket that was parried beautifully by the Korean keeper in the 2nd half. He was a handful for the Korean LB and went into all duels with no fear.

Amiri - Runs his heart out and is a headache for the opposing defenders. There were a couple of times that I wish he made a different decision with the ball, but the pressure he was putting on the RB was worth it. He is a great balanced choice for some width on the wings. The knock on him in his early TM days was his defensive play, and I think we can all say that he has immensely improved in that regard.

Dejagah - One of his best TM games IMO. He was being double teamed at some points of the game and still managed to get a nice ball to his teammates. I really like the combination and chemistry he has with Rezaeian and Jahanbakhsh. Those 3 were having some great short passing between themselves on the right side.

Azmoun- Class touch, class goal. That is what a true finisher will get us. Had a good game overall, but made some slightly curious decisions with the ball, the most memorable being holding onto the ball when he could have sent Ramin on a 1v1 with the keeper. The adjustments to that part of his game will come with time, nothing to worry about.

Fantastic game, great tactical play by CQ (what's new).

On to Syria, who should not be taken lightly by any means. This is a dangerous team and we should all be aware of that. We are still in a junction in this group where one loss on our side and one win on the other side will make this group very difficult.

On to the next one!

[DireStraits]

I see some Koreans on the Big Soccer Forums who try so hard to say that the problem is that their coach is bad and their players are not playing well.
I find it so annoying that many Asian football fans cannot admit that Iran just has a lot of new talent and has grown stronger. Iran dominated this game partially on coaching, but a lot of outsiders looking in try to make it all about CQ. Don't get me wrong, he is very good, but people overlook the talent in our country and its annoying.
Sardar is better than any striker in Asia at the moment, and we have a lot of very good players. It's a vicious cycle of Iranian players not getting the respect they deserve.
If respect is not given like it is to Koreans and Japanese players, our players will take the respect. Today was one step closer. Our players deserve to be in Dortmund, Tottenham, etc. It's bs to be quite honest.

No I actually read many comments on youtube that Iran was better team. There was a korean girl who wrote Iran is nr 1 in Asia. In each position we have two or three good players and I think
this has been done by CQ aand management. They have practiced many. CQ made qatar to fire his coach the same will haven to the south korean coach. Koreans are not blind they can at least
read what we write about CQ.

[Sly]

Once again, with Arab commentator 😂😂

https://youtu.be/gF5V3ZKyVjE

And just look again at un-selfish Rezaian, makes the pass instead of trying to go himself. Other players should open up their eyes and see his fantastic presence beside them.

What a goal that was! From the time Ezzatollahi made the pass until the goal! Pure brilliance!

Please do not forget to give credit to Jahanbakhsh in this scene either! That blinded pass to Rezaeian was pure magic!

[Sly]

Sardar is better than any striker in Asia at the moment,

He's got a great talent but beside that beauty of a goal yesterday, he had a very average game actually!

[Adesor Vafaseya]

It was the best performance by TM right after Iran Yugoslavia and Iran Argentina for me.... def. the best performance I ever remember in a WC quali by TM.
Defense: SOLID.
Midfield: ORGANIZED.
Forward: DANGEROUS.

Thank you Coach!

[Tehranto]

I see some Koreans on the Big Soccer Forums who try so hard to say that the problem is that their coach is bad and their players are not playing well.
I find it so annoying that many Asian football fans cannot admit that Iran just has a lot of new talent and has grown stronger. Iran dominated this game partially on coaching, but a lot of outsiders looking in try to make it all about CQ. Don't get me wrong, he is very good, but people overlook the talent in our country and its annoying.

Sardar is better than any striker in Asia at the moment, and we have a lot of very good players. It's a vicious cycle of Iranian players not getting the respect they deserve.

If respect is not given like it is to Koreans and Japanese players, our players will take the respect. Today was one step closer. Our players deserve to be in Dortmund, Tottenham, etc. It's bs to be quite honest.

I read the BigSoccer forums, Korean fans are very, very complimentary of Iranian players and team - saying how it's no longer a rivalry because we just keep beating them. I have great respect for their team and fans. Compare this with teams like Iraq, who we have beaten since like 2003 in a row (except penalty kick loss to them which doesn't officially count as a loss) and they think they are our rivals and same league as us lol. I wish we always play East Asian teams, so much more respectful and nuanced. Just read also the YouTube comments from the Japanese, calling us "Asia's best" etc. Very respectful and honest people.

They have a right to be upset with their coach. They had zero imagination in the offensive end and huge credit of that goes to CQ.