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Xinhua - An ambitious Uzbekistan will threaten
Iran, one of the tournament favorites, when the two sides meet at their
first group match here on Wednesday.
The central Asian outfit's power should not be underestimated as they boast
a squad with quality players and cunning tactics.
Up front Uzbekistan have a dangerous pair of Dynamo Kiev's Maksim Shatskikh
and young goal-hunter Alexander Geynrikh.
Shatskikh has long been a noticeable striker in the UEFA Champions League, a
case in point is his brace against Real Madrid, which nearly sank the
"Galaxticos".
Torpedo Moscow hit man Geynrikh displayed his finishing flair during last
year's Doha Asian Games, after scoring five goals most coming from
individual show, to become the top scorer.
Behind the duo is playmaker Server Djeparov. The Pakhtakor central
midfielder will provide plenty of cannonballs to the shinning forward pair,
and especially for the counter attacks.
The Uzbeks have shown pretty performance in their last few tune-ups for the
tournament. They beat Iraq 2-0, and then lost to the South Koreans 1-2, but
still showed some good form. They have the power to shock Iran.
The Iranians have improved a lot since their awkward 4-0 defeat by Mexico.
After calling back Europe-based stars like Bayern Munich's Ali Karimi,
Frankfort's Mehdi Mahdavikia, Hannover 96's Vahid Hashemian, Bolton's
Andranik Teymourian, Livorno's Rahman Rezaei and Osasuna's Javad Nekounam,
Iran took consecutive wins. They beat Iraq 2-1, Ghana 4-2 and Jamaica 8-1.
But Amir Ghalenoei's side just haven't met real challenge as these warm-up
rivals did not dispatch their first team. Iranian media has been criticizing
Ghalenoei's lack of international experience and his tactics, which led to
the Team Melli's slump technically.
When facing the Uzbeks, The seemingly strong Iran squad are likely to be
pressurized by the high-efficient counter-attacks, and should try their best
to avoid dropping points.
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