{"id":47603,"date":"2022-11-28T10:53:41","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T18:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/?p=47603"},"modified":"2022-11-28T10:53:41","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T18:53:41","slug":"sports-mole-iran-vs-usa-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2022\/11\/28\/sports-mole-iran-vs-usa-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports Mole: Iran vs USA [Preview]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sports Mole – DOHA, After keeping their\u00a0World Cup\u00a0hopes alive by defeating Wales dramatically on Friday,\u00a0Iran\u00a0face an impressive\u00a0USA\u00a0side at the Al Thumama Stadium on Tuesday, with three points enough to take either team through to the knockout stages.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team Melli looked like a different team against\u00a0Rob Page’s men to the one that was thrashed by England in their opening game, whereas the Stars and Stripes will be rueing missed chances that forced them to share the points with the Three Lions last time out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran seemed to be back to the performance levels that earned them a place at the World Cup during the 2-0 victory over Wales, with any ideas of Team Melli being the whipping boys of the group after a heavy defeat to England swiftly banished thanks to late goals from\u00a0Roozbeh Cheshmi\u00a0and\u00a0Ramin Rezaeian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The availability from the start of Bayer Leverkusen forward\u00a0Sardar Azmoun\u00a0against Wales gave\u00a0Carlos Queiroz’s side more attacking threat, with the 27-year-old combining well with talisman\u00a0Mehdi Taremi\u00a0who unlike the first match of the group had a capable partner in crime at the top end of the pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Azmoun has been sidelined for his club side since early October with a calf injury and was down receiving treatment on three separate occasions before miraculously rising to his feet to continue, with the 40-goal international eventually being forced off after 68 minutes as his side chased a winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now sitting second in\u00a0Group B\u00a0with three points from two matches, Iran know a win against USA secures passage to the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time in their history – although even a draw on Tuesday would be enough if Wales fail to beat England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fellow Asian qualifiers Japan and Saudi Arabia have caused significant upsets within the first week of this World Cup, and Iran could add to the success stories from that region by advancing past the group stages for the first time on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite not being able to return maximum points from any of their two opening games at this tournament,\u00a0Gregg Berhalter’s USA side have shown they are set to be a new prospect in international football with a young crop of energetic and athletic stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After decades of Americans competing at the top level in Europe being a rare sight, 10 such players donned the stars and stripes on Friday night and overran England for large parts of the encounter, with only poor finishing preventing Berhalter’s men from earning their first World Cup win over the Three Lions since 1950.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weston McKennie\u00a0blasted a strike over from inside the box after evading the attention of\u00a0Bukayo Saka, whilst shortly after\u00a0Christian Pulisic\u00a0struck the bar with a ferocious effort which had\u00a0Jordan Pickford\u00a0scrambling to deflect the ball away from goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What really stood out for USA was their athleticism and sharpness compared to their English counterparts, with full-backs\u00a0Sergino Dest\u00a0and Fulham’s\u00a0Antonee Robinson\u00a0providing pace on the wings whilst\u00a0Tyler Adams\u00a0kept\u00a0Jude Bellingham\u00a0and\u00a0Mason Mount\u00a0under wraps in the midfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A knockout tie with either Netherlands, Ecuador or Senegal awaits Berhalter’s side should they defeat Iran on Tuesday, and if the Stars and Stripes can find their ruthlessness in front of goal they could be a real threat to the elite nations in the latter stages of this competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran form (all competitions):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n