Iran will no longer be the #1 ranked AFC nation in the next FIFA rankings

[Taz]

we are the under dogs vs Japan

I don't think there'd be much in it if we were to face each other on a neutral venue. I'd imagine once the markets open, they will have us and Japan as joint favourites for the tournament and give us equal probability as a result.

[Damavand]

I did not see and have not heard of this analysis. Do you have a source for this?

There was a link in one of the threads that provided the source.

[teammelli8080]

CQ and his technical team spent many hours analyzing that play and they all came to the conclusion that the ball did not touch Azmoun's head and at the time of the cross Ezatollahi was onside.

I did not see and have not heard of this analysis. Do you have a source for this?

[Damavand]

I know you are passionate about TM, and me too, but that goal was not legitimate and was correctly called offsides.

CQ and his technical team spent many hours analyzing that play and they all came to the conclusion that the ball did not touch Azmoun's head and at the time of the cross Ezatollahi was onside.

[teammelli8080]

Considering how much more difficult our group was compared to Japan's(or any other Asian team for that matter) I am confident that had Iran advanced to the knockout stage(which we should have had Fifa not disallowed our legitimate goal against Spain), we would have given a much better fight to our opponent than Japan managed to do.

I know you are passionate about TM, and me too, but that goal was not legitimate and was correctly called offsides.

[Babak agha]

They were also far more exposed at the back. It cuts both ways.

Put a tall strong guy like Fellaini against our defense and have the other team put in cross after cross and see how long our defense can keep up with that(Remember tall Korean guy was giving us the hardest time and what Zlatan did against our defense).

[RaginG Inferno]

The amount of dangerous opportunities that Japan created against Belgium alone was more than the amount that we created in all of our three games.

They were also far more exposed at the back. It cuts both ways.

[persiangodfather]

we are the under dogs vs Japan

[Futbaldoost]

I liked this debate. Both Irandoust and Damavand have good points. Japan was the one who got the opportunity to show what they are made of in the knockout stage and they definitely made Asia proud against Belgium ... and they also showed that they didn't have the discipline to defend like Iran when they were up 2-0 against Belgium. Takeaway: anyone who thinks that Asian Championship in Dubai next year is a shoe-in for Iran is in La La Land I hope CQ stays and IFF comes through with a decent preparation so our Team Melli could fight hard and earn our fourth championship!

Go Team Melli!

[bbbsyd]

Irandoust thank you for speaking the truth mate!
I for one agree with you.

[Irandoust]

Quite the opposite. Its Your comments that are based on personnel assumptions and beliefs and are far from the reality. Its true Japan were better than IRAN in the past but not at the present. There is no way in hell they would have gotten 4 points had they been our group, let alone manage to qualify to the next round. The main reason they managed to squeak by from their easy group was because they played their first game against a 10 Men Colombia for virtually the entire game. Not to mention they were so toothless that they could not even muster anything against an already eliminated Poland team and ended up losing that game.
If you are not convinced, come Jan we will find out which team is better when we face them.

Since I am not Japanese, there is no point in continuing this discussion as our National team comes first no matter what.
We can go on about how our group compared to Japan's group was this and that.
But at this point, it will just be useless personnel opinions going back and forth.
So, this particular discussion as is described in the game of chess, has reached a stalemate.

[Damavand]

Your comments are based on personnel assumptions and beliefs and are far from the reality.
The truth is that since the 1998 world cup, Japan has managed to get into the knock out stage three times, where as we have yet to find ourselves in that stage even once.
Whether you like it or not, Japan deserves to be ahead of us as Asia's number one.

Quite the opposite. Its Your comments that are based on personal assumptions and beliefs and are far from the reality. Its true Japan were better than IRAN in the past but not at the present. There is no way in hell they would have gotten 4 points had they been in our group, let alone manage to qualify to the next round. The main reason they managed to squeak by from their easy group was because they played their first game against a 10 Men Colombia for virtually the entire game and steal a win. Not to mention they were so toothless that they could not even muster anything against an already eliminated Poland team and ended up losing that game.

If you are not convinced, come Jan we will find out which team is better when we face them.

[Irandoust]

Considering how much more difficult our group was compared to Japan's(or any other Asian team for that matter) I am confident that had Iran advanced to the knockout stage we would have given a much better fight to our opponent than Japan managed to do.

Your comments are based on personnel assumptions and beliefs and are far from the reality.
The amount of dangerous opportunities that Japan created against Belgium alone was more than the amount that we created in all of our three games.
The truth is that since the 1998 world cup, Japan has managed to get into the knock out stage three times, where as we have yet to find ourselves in that stage even once.
Whether you like it or not, Japan deserves to be ahead of us as Asia's number one.

[Damavand]

Considering how much more difficult our group was compared to Japan's(or any other Asian team for that matter) I am confident that had Iran advanced to the knockout stage(which we should have had Fifa not disallowed our legitimate goal against Spain), we would have given a much better fight to our opponent than Japan managed to do.

[Irandoust]

On what base and logic other than personnel pride and ego, can one put Iran as Asia's number one when it was Japan which was heroically eliminated in the stoppage time in the knock out stage after exhausting and pushing a star studded Belgium side to its limit?
We played well against both Spain and Portugal.
But compared to the way Japan performed against Belgium in the knock out stage where we yet have to reach, our performances are nothing more than a consolation prize.