Asian WCQ Final Round Draw: Where to watch, updates, post draw discussion

[webmaster]

Skocic after the draw:

https://video.varzesh3.com/video/235074/%D8%B5%D8%AD%D8%A8%D8%AA-%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%B3%DA%A9%D9%88%DA%86%DB%8C%DA%86-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%B9%D9%87-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C

[oracle]

Excellent group:
Iran,S Korea, ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, Wahab
I love it ... Rahabar will be watching all of the qualifying games. It is like being at home!!

Hahahah too funny and sad at the same time! I agree with you its like IR and its entourage all together....

Things get too complicated for return matches
Defund them all is an option
Hopefully it wont get to that

[Shaz110]

Fair enough, i agree with that! Iraq and UAE are not as consistent as KSA. The only worry that i have is that at some point the Arab-Teams decide to help each other to let at least one Arab Team advance to the next stage in front of Iran or Korea.

But still our group should be slightly "easier" to advance to the next stage.

That is very possible! But I would say Iran needs to play as if all the Arab teams are united, the referee is on their side, AFC is accommodating them! We can have a look at last round! Despite all that we went out there and did the job!

Sure it will be challenging and on the day anything can happen but given the amount of quality players and the unity among players now we should all be hopeful.

I remember Alex Ferguson one time said: "you have to be good enough that even if the referee is biased on the day, you can still win the game"

Go TM

[AIrani]

Excellent group:
Iran,S Korea, ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, Wahab
I love it ... Rahabar will be watching all of the qualifying games. It is like being at home!!

Hahahah too funny and sad at the same time! I agree with you its like IR and its entourage all together....

Are you making a sport section political?
These countries (the majority of their people) have been mostly on our side.

[Shaz110]

Are you making a sport section political?

These countries (the majority of their people) have been mostly on our side.

Noted, you are right, their people and our people have more in common and considered friends, then us vs other Arab teams in the region. It is a bit sad that the current political issues have made things tricky and most of the time its the civilians that suffer on all sides.
I will keep my political comments and jokes to minimum as its all about sportsmanship and football.

[AMIRHOUSHANG]

I have a bad feeling about this draw. I have faith in TM but don’t like it. Here’s why:

Iran vs Syria - Syria always play us tough and have national pride and revenge on their mind when it comes to Iran.

Iraq vs Iran - Same as Syria. Gonna be a tough game.

UAE vs Iran - They always seem to make the games interesting and we definitely won’t get any calls our way.
Iran vs South Korea - Disciplined team that will always play us competitive and could win or draw any game against us.

Lebanon vs Iran - I remember them beating us in prior WCQ and almost eliminating us. Funny things happy between Iran and Lebanon.

Playing Australia would be motivating for us and bring back pride and memories from the 98 team.

China we always play tough for national pride. We always show for the games.

Saudi we would seek revenge and national pride. We would not fall asleep for those games.

Just saying our group has potential for upsets where we are tired, unorganized and not focused.
I could see us losing points to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, if we are not careful.

Go TM!

[Futbaldoost]

WARNING! PLEASE TAKE THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT SINCE IT HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED INDEPENDENTLY BY FIFA OR AFC!

Varzesh3 claims that a source from the FIFA matches committee has said that Iraq and Syria will not be allowed to host WC qualifying AFC round 3 matches. The article says that FIFA and AFC do not have any restrictions against Iran for hosting round 3 WC qualifying matches. If true, this means Iran can host them in Tehran while they have to pick a third country for their home matches.

https://www.varzesh3.com/news/1765333/%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82-%D9%88-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%87-%D8%AD%D9%82-%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B2%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%AF

Go TM!

[diz]

IS it just me, or do others feel the next round will actually be easier for TM than the last? We had everything stacked against us last round. AFC threw everything at us they could think of.

[AM_89]

WARNING! PLEASE TAKE THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT SINCE IT HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED INDEPENDENTLY BY FIFA OR AFC!
Varzesh3 claims that a source from the FIFA matches committee has said that Iraq and Syria will not be allowed to host WC qualifying AFC round 3 matches. The article says that FIFA and AFC do not have any restrictions against Iran for hosting round 3 WC qualifying matches. If true, this means Iran can host them in Tehran while they have to pick a third country for their home matches.

https://www.varzesh3.com/news/1765333/%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82-%D9%88-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%87-%D8%AD%D9%82-%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B2%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%AF

Go TM!

hopefully we can host, that would be amazing

for iraq, jordan is like home anyway. so same for them. syria using uae is same for them, tons of syrians

[Futbaldoost]

IS it just me, or do others feel the next round will actually be easier for TM than the last? We had everything stacked against us last round. AFC threw everything at us they could think of.

I don't know diz jaan. Iraq and Syria could still cause trouble in a third country. We lost to Iraq in Jordan (of course that was during Wilmotsaster) and Syria picked Malaysia with AFC's help in November of 2016 during monsoon season so that we had to literally battle them in mud for a 0-0 tie and then they even tied us 2-2 in Tehran (of course we had already qualified as the group leader by then). They could still be trouble. UAE and Lebanon are always motivated when playing Iran and South Korea wants to end its ten year no win drought. I still think it will be very difficult yet perhaps easier than group B. Let's see what Skocic and Azizi Khadem come up with in terms of preparations. Early signs are dates for camps, friendlies and preventive action on possible AFC shenanigans.

Go TM!

[Omids]

I have a bad feeling about this draw. I have faith in TM but don’t like it. Here’s why:
Iran vs Syria - Syria always play us tough and have national pride and revenge on their mind when it comes to Iran.
Iraq vs Iran - Same as Syria. Gonna be a tough game.
UAE vs Iran - They always seem to make the games interesting and we definitely won’t get any calls our way.
Iran vs South Korea - Disciplined team that will always play us competitive and could win or draw any game against us.
Lebanon vs Iran - I remember them beating us in prior WCQ and almost eliminating us. Funny things happy between Iran and Lebanon.
Playing Australia would be motivating for us and bring back pride and memories from the 98 team.
China we always play tough for national pride. We always show for the games.
Saudi we would seek revenge and national pride. We would not fall asleep for those games.
Just saying our group has potential for upsets where we are tired, unorganized and not focused.
I could see us losing points to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, if we are not careful.
Go TM!

Wanting to take revenge is one thing but having the ability to do so is another thing. In fact i hope they want to take revenge and open up rather than park the bus. I have been encouraged after seeing Iran play in hostile environment of Bahrain in last 4 games. If we were going to falter it would have been then. I think the Iranian coaching staff collectively will make the team focus and do the job. I am not saying its a forgone conclusion but my confident level is much higher than the last 4 games we had to play in Bahrain. Also we have the easier group in the draw no doubt.

[diz]

I don't know diz jaan. Iraq and Syria could still cause trouble in a third country. We lost to Iraq in Jordan (of course that was during Wilmotsaster) and Syria picked Malaysia with AFC's help in November of 2016 during monsoon season so that we had to literally battle them in mud for a 0-0 tie and then they even tied us 2-2 in Tehran (of course we had already qualified as the group leader by then). They could still be trouble. UAE and Lebanon are always motivated when playing Iran and South Korea wants to end its ten year no win drought. I still think it will be very difficult yet perhaps easier than group B. Let's see what Skocic and Azizi Khadem come up with in terms of preparations. Early signs are dates for camps, friendlies and preventive action on possible AFC shenanigans.
Go TM!

Your pragmatism is appreciated. I just have a good feeling about this next round. The boys are in good spirits, we have a trusted coach, and we've already beaten Iraq on foreign soil. That said, I know we need to prepare like every game is a final, which seems to be the life of TM and their fans =)

[oracle]

Since iraq and syria are not allowed to held hime games is officialy confirmed by fifa
Now this group just got alot alot better.

Iraq will take us to a town in jordan which is all the ex baci saddam supporters will be there
And syria most probably chooses uae.
If we can get 4pts out of these 2 matches it be great.

[orbicular]

One of the easiest group we could have. Korea will top the group (although the long travel might impact their performance), We will probably finish second.
Best part, we only have to travel to east Asia once.
Downside, they might use covid as an excuse to play some/all the games in UAE.

"Korea will top the group."
"We will probably finish second."

Based on what evidence? Are the Koreans really superior to Iran? If I'm not mistaken, Iran has consistently played well against them, even on their own soil, on one occasion beating them 1-0 to qualify for 2014 World Cup. Iran, in addition, boasts a growing number of outstanding players who are members of prominent European (and Russian) teams. The current team is in fact one of the best the country has assembled together in its football history.

Are we being somewhat self-deprecating here?

[orbicular]

YES. That was the dumb move of the century. WTF was he thinking???

I remember that game very well. One of the commentators said that the coach was trying to confuse (or unsettle) the opposition with that highly unsual substitution. Had that gamble paid off, though, he would have been considered a football genius. Of course, even before the disastrous result, it seemed like the kind of tactic concocted by someone who's totally divorced from the realities of the game. Talebloo, after all, was not ready for that humongous task ahead as he had played zero minutes that day. Undoubtedly a gutsy move, but one that was not based on any practical considerations.