{"id":47615,"date":"2022-11-28T20:55:14","date_gmt":"2022-11-29T04:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/?p=47615"},"modified":"2022-11-28T20:55:15","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T04:55:15","slug":"a-coach-who-knows-both-teams-sizes-up-the-us-iran-world-cup-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2022\/11\/28\/a-coach-who-knows-both-teams-sizes-up-the-us-iran-world-cup-match\/","title":{"rendered":"A coach who knows both teams sizes up the US-Iran World Cup match"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Athletic – HARTFORD, Dan Gaspar has coached in the US national soccer team ranks and also has guided most of Iran\u2019s players in the World Cup as the team\u2019s top assistant from 2011-17. Yet neither the US nor Iran has requested Gaspar\u2019s input regarding Tuesday\u2019s match in Qatar.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaspar said he does not expect a call from either team, since \u201ctechnology in this day and age, they know each other better than they know themselves. There is absolutely nothing the US does not know about Iran and nothing Iran does not know about the US. There are no secrets any more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not everything Gaspar offers is related to data. As he said, \u201cI might have some insight computers don\u2019t know about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such as the video Gaspar received of Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, who was expected to be out with a broken nose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI suspect Ali will start in goal against the US,\u201d Gaspar said from his Hartford home. \u201cHe\u2019s not wearing a mask, he\u2019s passed concussion protocols, he\u2019s had a full training session.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beiranvand went down in a collision with a teammate in the opening minutes of Iran\u2019s 6-2 loss to England in their World Cup opener. Hossein Hosseini replaced Beiranvand and was in goal for Iran\u2019s 2-0 win over Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is huge for Iran,\u201d Gaspar said. \u201cHosseini is good but he doesn\u2019t have the same experience or range of coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaspar, 69, now an assistant coach for Hartford Athletic in the USL, was on the staff of Iran coach Carlos Queiroz with teams on four continents, including the 2010 World Cup with Portugal and the 2014 World Cup with Iran. They also teamed with the South Africa national team, the New York\/New Jersey MetroStars in MLS, Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan, and Sporting CP in Portugal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since a draw would clinch qualification from Group B for Iran, there is speculation that Queiroz will set up his team in lockdown mode. Gaspar thinks not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe adjusted the strategy to five backs against one of the very best teams in the world [England], and I would be very surprised if he did that,\u201d Gaspar said. \u201cI believe he will let the players loose, give them freedom to play. I don\u2019t believe he will constrain them as much as he typically does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a team that is battled-tested in the World Cup. Most of them are playing in their third World Cup and are at the peak of their career. They\u2019ve played against world-class teams \u2014 Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay, Senegal \u2014 and they are no longer intimidated by these teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[The US] is one of the youngest teams in the World Cup, and you can\u2019t duplicate the intensity of a World Cup, so they are being tested on the world stage for the first time. This World Cup will prepare them for 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaspar said Iran is vulnerable in central defense because of a lack of speed, and the US has the talent edge in most positions, except striker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe US should avoid the flanks, go to the center,\u201d Gaspar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran has the advantage in experience, plus sense of purpose. The US is approaching this as a win-or-go-home game. In elimination situations, countries such as Argentina use the term \u201cganar or morir<\/em>\u201d (\u201cwin or die\u201d), and Iran\u2019s mentality is similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one is more passionate about defending its culture than Iran,\u201d Gaspar said. \u201cWith sanctions and the sacrifices they have to make to get support, all the obstacles they have to fight, the players will crawl off the pitch as a result of the effort they give.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWill the US match that effort? I don\u2019t know, but I hope they will. The US team, everyone singing the national anthem, that tells me the culture has improved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the World Cup started, Gaspar thought Iran\u2019s experience would pay off in advancement to the second round. But Team Melli has been caught up with the turmoil in their country, many calling for them to boycott the World Cup. Voria Ghafori, a player Gaspar coached with the national team, was arrested recently for supporting protests against the Iran government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is so much pressure on them, knowing if they do speak out there could be consequences to them, their families,\u201d Gaspar said. \u201cThe government controls the Persian League, and they can make life miserable. That\u2019s why I feel for players having that sort of pressure. People know they can\u2019t speak out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Athletic – HARTFORD, Dan Gaspar has coached in the US national soccer team ranks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26307,"featured_media":47616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,92,91,86,110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c47-featured-news","category-c21-international-football-news","category-c20-other-news","category-c13-team-melli-news","category-world-cup"],"views":1655,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26307"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47615"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47617,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47615\/revisions\/47617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}