Iran drop important points in world cup 2010 qualifier

Persianmirror - Iran got off to a poor start in their world cup 2010 qualifying campaign drawing 0-0 with Syria at home in front of 60,000 spectators at Tehran's Azadi stadium. A draw in Tehran was a good result for Syria ranked 104th in FIFA world ranking. Twenty months of mismanagement in the Iranian Football Federation (IRIFF) is now showing the harm it has inflicted on the national team.

Team Melli has not had a coach since the dismissal of Amir Ghalenoei in July 2007 thanks to infighting in IRIFF and the struggle to elect a president for the federation inline with FIFA regulations of no government interference in the sport, Mr Kafashian was finally elected as the president of IRIFF last month, however, the sought after Spanish head coach Javier Clemente is yet to finalise his contract with IRIFF, this left interim coach Mansour Ebrahimzadeh in charge of Iran against Syria.

The match was pretty even on all fronts, Syria had as many shots on Iran's goal as Iran did on Syria's, both keepers were on top form and blocked powerful goal-bound shots, Iran's best player on the day was the goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati who kept the Syrians out with a number of vital saves including a sharp reflex save from close range.

This was a poor show by Iran, European based players Mahdavikia, Teymourian and Kaebi were below their best, upfront Samereh, Karimi, Khalili, Madanchi and Kazemian failed to score, Mobali replaced Mahdavikia with 7 minutes left and was unable to break the deadlock. Iran's defence was shaky to say the least, Syria penetrated Iran's defence line on several occasions with the number 6 Jehad Al Hussein of Al Karama FC the danger man. Based on the balance of play neither side could complain with the draw, both sides had good chances to score but two on-form keepers kept the score to 0-0, the only consolation for Iran was not to have conceded an away goal which will be a telling factor when two teams finish on the same point in the table (head-to-head results).

Earlier this week Mr Clemente stated that he would make his final decision whether to accept the head coach position with Iran by Sunday February 10th. Iran's next WC2010 qualifier is against Kuwait on March 26th, in the other Group 5 match UAE beat Kuwait 2-0 to take the lead in the table. Anything but a win against Kuwait next month and Iran will find themselves in danger zone. The top two teams will proceed to next and final round qualifiers.
Iran's lineup against Syria: Rahmati - Kaebi, Hosseini, Aghili, Nikbakht - Teymourian - Mahdavikia (83' Mobali), Karimi, Rajabzadeh, Madanchi (76' Kazemian) - Samereh (57' Khalili)

By Afshin Dastafshan
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