Asian WCQs Group A vs Group B

[sarbaz]

It doesn't matter

I am confident that

The way TM is playing right now u dear the coaching of CQ ,we would have been on top of that other group by 2-3 points also.

[sarbaz]

We do not need any more freidlies with Asian teams except for Australia

[Kian Persepolis]

I just hope we qualify with either Uzbekistan or Syria getting the 2nd place

[Iran_19]

The other group is much tougher, no doubt about it, we always had issue against Saudi, and right now they are much better team compare to 4 years a go, Japan is always Japan and even if Aussie is not as good as before it still remains a power in Asia. Both UAE and Iraq are much stronger than like Qatar and Syria, and we all know Iraq just like Saudi play their best football against us, overall i am happy we are in this group.

[Shayan_91]

Group B is a lot tougher and we discussed this after the draw. I'm sure most of us would have NOT preferred...
... Japan over Korea
... Saudi over Uzbekistan
... UAE over China and
... Iraq over Qatar

Regarding Syria and Thailand: I would have actually preferred Thailand. But still, the other group is much tougher. Korea and Uzbekistan are much weaker compared to 4 years ago (compared to Japan and Saudi). UAE would have definitely been a bigger pain in the a$$ compared to China (although we didn't manage to beat them - hopefully tomorrow ) and we know how we do against Iraq...

[sarbaz]

I respectfully disagree
This Japan,Australia and Iraq teams are weaker than 4 years ago
Saudi Arabia and UAE are better than 4 years ago
Thailand is just a very weak team
So with our TM being much better than 4 years ago, I am sure we would have been in the exact position as we are now even if we were in group B
That's my 2 cents

[GoIran]

Group B is a lot tougher and we discussed this after the draw. I'm sure most of us would have NOT preferred...
... Japan over Korea
... Saudi over Uzbekistan
... UAE over China and
... Iraq over Qatar

Regarding Syria and Thailand: I would have actually preferred Thailand. But still, the other group is much tougher. Korea and Uzbekistan are much weaker compared to 4 years ago (compared to Japan and Saudi). UAE would have definitely been a bigger pain in the a$$ compared to China (although we didn't manage to beat them - hopefully tomorrow ) and we know how we do against Iraq...

I second that. We would still qualify without any problems, though.

[webmaster]

I totally remember the day we played against China in Tehran during the 98 world cup when Alireza Mansourian scored the first goal for TM in 3rd minute and paved the way for another thrashing of Chinese by our team melli as we defeated them in their home 2-4 in the first leg.

I am so looking forward to this game to see if we can perform as well as 98 with our new team and CQ at helm and after China's obvious improvement during the years and after 19 years, interesting to see what happens this time. I know we will not disappoint.

here is the video

[Iran_19]

Good old days, i watched this game in a sport bar packed with around 300 Iranians.

[PersianLegion]

I totally remember the day we played against China in Tehran during the 98 world cup when Alireza Mansourian scored the first goal for TM in 3rd minute and paved the way for another thrashing of Chinese by our team melli as we defeated them in their home 2-4 in the first leg.

I am so looking forward to this game to see if we can perform as well as 98 with our new team and CQ at helm and after China's obvious improvement during the years and after 19 years, interesting to see what happens this time. I know we will not disappoint.

here is the video

With all due respect, what do you expect from this team? While they had their previous coach we draw with them in China 0-0. That 98 team demolished China 4-2 in Beijing. Certainly our result won't be similar to our 4-1 victory in Azadi in 1998. I predict at best 2-0 for us. I am sure they play a very defensive style against us because that is the only time we struggle to score even against weak teams.

[webmaster]

^ I expect them to WIN.. and I WON'T SETTLE FOR LESS THAN THAT!

[toopchi]

I read an article somewhere about how group A is more physical and defensive minded, while group B is more about flair and attack. Just look at the goals conceded stats of the teams in both groups and you'll find that the two groups play a different brand of football. South Korea have been sucking in Group A because free flowing attacking teams get punished by physical defensive ones.

We can speculate as much as we want about how Iran would do against more attack-minded teams, but one thing for sure is that Iran is the best at its brand of football in Asia. None of the teams in Group B can say that about themselves.

[Nokhodi]

The other group is much tougher, no doubt about it, we always had issue against Saudi, and right now they are much better team compare to 4 years a go, Japan is always Japan and even if Aussie is not as good as before it still remains a power in Asia. Both UAE and Iraq are much stronger than like Qatar and Syria, and we all know Iraq just like Saudi play their best football against us, overall i am happy we are in this group.

I think this is a fair point.

For Iran specifically group B might have been worse because of all the rivalries, but on paper putting aside rivalries, group A is better.

[sarbaz]

Iran 2 China 0

[Doctor DOOM]

the most simple way to compare the two groups is to compare individual SEEDS (A, B, C, ...) with each other.
whichever fan says "their team ...", you gotta say replace their team with the CORRESPONDING SEED in our group. Not a random exchange of Thailand against SKorea for example. That doesnt make sense.

that is :
Iran vs Japan
SKorea vs Aussies
Uzbekistan vs KSA
Qatar vs UAE
China vs Iraq
Syria vs Thailand


I'd say on paper the other group looks stronger AS A WHOLE.
in reality, with uzbeks and qataris under-performing and syria doing well, still leaves our group behind the other group.
because if we match them up;
we'd perhaps get a draw vs Japan
Aussies would beat this weakened SKorea
KSA would beat the uzbeks
UAE would beat qatar
Iraq and china may get a draw
and Syria would beat the Thais.