{"id":45694,"date":"2022-05-02T20:07:47","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T03:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/?p=45694"},"modified":"2022-05-02T20:07:47","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T03:07:47","slug":"world-cup-2022-iran-could-prove-key-matchup-for-usmnt-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2022\/05\/02\/world-cup-2022-iran-could-prove-key-matchup-for-usmnt-video\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2022: Iran could prove key matchup for USMNT [VIDEO]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fox Sports – LOS ANGELES, In almost exactly seven months, the\u00a0United States\u00a0and\u00a0Iran\u00a0will meet at the\u00a02022 FIFA World Cup\u00a0in Qatar in both teams\u2019 final \u2014 and potentially most important \u2014 match of the group stage.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After missing out on the 2018 World Cup, the Americans’ Nov. 21 opener against\u00a0Scotland,\u00a0 Ukraine\u00a0or\u00a0Wales\u00a0(TBD in June\u2019s European playoff) and the delicious contest against\u00a0England\u00a0four days later are probably more hotly anticipated. But for soccer reasons as much as political ones, USMNT-Iran might be the most fascinating of the young USMNT\u2019s three Group B games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the result could go either way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This generation of Iranian players is probably the best generation they\u2019ve had,” former Iran head coach Afshin Ghotbi told FOX Sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghotbi isn\u2019t a household name for most U.S. fans, but he\u2019s perhaps the second-most decorated American coach overseas, after\u00a0Leeds United\u00a0boss Jesse Marsch. And Ghotbi is uniquely qualified to talk about what will be the second meeting between Iran and the U.S. on the sport\u2019s grandest stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before helming Team Melli from 2009 to 2011, the Tehran-born, Southern California-raised 58-year-old was a member of Steve Sampson\u2019s USMNT coaching staff at the 1998 World Cup in France, where the Americans famously lost to Iran 2-1. (Ghotbi was also an assistant on Guus Hiddink\u2019s South Korean side that reached the World Cup semis in 2002, and he has led clubs in the top divisions in China, Japan and Iran.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The game in 1998 was very special for me,” he said. “Obviously, it had a political tone. Coming into the game, there was an enormous buildup of anxiety and pressure and stress, not so much on the American team but, I think, more on the Iranian players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was a very difficult loss for the USA, not only on the sporting side.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghotbi hasn\u2019t worked in the U.S. since 2005, when he was an assistant coach with the\u00a0L.A. Galaxy. But he retains close ties with the country \u2014 his parents and children still live stateside \u2014 and he has kept a keen eye on the growth of the sport and this talented, up-and-coming USMNT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He knows Team Melli\u2019s current squad every bit as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The thing that makes this Iranian team special are the three attacking players,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bayern Leverkusen\u00a0striker\u00a0Sardar Azmoun\u00a0is the headliner. The 27-year-old scored 10 times in 14 World Cup qualifiers and has 40 goals in 62 international appearances overall. “He has size, he has power, he can finish with both feet and in the air,” Ghotbi said of Azmoun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Porto\u2019s\u00a0Mehdi Taremi\u00a0has been almost as prolific. And shifty\u00a0Feyenoord\u00a0winger\u00a0Alireza Jahanbakhsh\u00a0rounds out the forward trio. He\u2019s a player the USMNT\u2019s brain trust knows well, too; U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart brought Jahanbakhsh to\u00a0AZ Alkmaar\u00a0when Stewart held the same role with the Dutch club.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What makes Jahanbakhsh interesting is he has the quality to come inside [or] outside,” Ghotbi said. “He has fantastic final passes, and he can score goals.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A stout and well-organized midfield and backline support the attackers; Iran conceded just four goals in their final 10 qualifiers. When the Iranian defense is breached, star goalkeeper\u00a0Alireza Beiranvand\u00a0\u2014 a club teammate of USMNT fullback\u00a0Reggie Cannon\u00a0at Portugal\u2019s\u00a0Boavista\u00a0\u2014 is often able to extinguish the fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He is by far the best goalkeeper in Asia,” Ghotbi said of Beiranvand, who memorably stopped a penalty kick from\u00a0Cristiano Ronaldo\u00a0at the previous World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beiranvand, Azmoun, Jahanbakhsh, Taremi and several other Iranian regulars are 2018 veterans. Given last cycle\u2019s failure and the historically young roster, the U.S. aren’t likely to have more than two players with previous World Cup experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the Americans will be the favorites \u2014 if not by much. The U.S. have advanced to the knockout stage in three of the four World Cups they’ve participated in since finishing last overall in 1998. Team Melli have never survived the first round in five attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet even an already eliminated Iranian side would pose a danger to the U.S. come November. Iran could lose their other two games and would still be welcomed home as heroes if they beat the Americans. That\u2019s what happened last time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There is such an incredible anxiety and excitement about this particular fixture,” Ghotbi said. “When they come to the U.S. game, I think they\u2019ll bring everything to the pitch.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S.-Iran figures to be a spectacle for that reason alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have two generations of fantastic football players meeting together,” Ghotbi said. “It\u2019s going to be a great game, and I hope everybody in America and everyone all over the world will watch it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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