GOAL - The clock is ticking for one of Asia’s powerhouses: the kick off to the 2011 Asian Cup is around the corner and the Iran national team is on a quest to put an end to its 35 year-long title draught. But is it an impossible task?
Drawn in Group D, Iran is set to play against recent World Cup participant North Korea, UAE and defending champions Iraq. Iran head coach Afshin Ghotbi optimistic about winning the tournament for the fourth time in his country’s history, making headlines earlier in the summer when he promised to put to an end Iran’s long wait for silverware.
However, the perennially poor preparation of match schedules by the Iran Football Federation made the hopeful manager retract his earlier promise to a more conservative ambition, "When one promises something he has to have control on all the circumstances, but when I cannot control many of the circumstances I cannot promise the championship,” Ghotbi said.
It’s true that Iran qualified for the tournament with barely a hiccup. It’s a fact also that the team is on an unbeaten streak in all competitions this year. But throughout the preparation camps against some European clubs and a handful of weak friendly opponents, Iran has arguably not being challenged enough to say confidently they can defeat leading Asian teams such as Japan, South Korea and Australia when it matters most.
Ghotbi | No longer Iran's "sweetheart"
The truth is, the Iranian team still has a rather flawed defence with poor man-marking, vision and a lack of pace against opponents’ attacks. In general, the Iranian team has always suffered from poor individual defending. And the fact that throughout the past couple of years, the current flawed national team defenders have not being replaced by younger and more talented players raises huge doubts over Iran’s chances in this competition.
The strength of the team will rely on goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati, a central midfield guarded by Osasuna’s Javad Nekounam and promising attacking options such as Mohammad Gholami and Mohammad Khalatbari.
Pundits however argue that there is a lack of creativity in the team to create sufficient goal-scoring chances; something that has proved to be an asset for teams against defeat defensively stubborn Iraq and North Korea.
Despite all the concerns, Iran should be able to secure a top two finish in Group D but the real task will be presented when they face either South Korea or Australia in the knock-out stages.
Quite frankly, considering South Korea and Australia’s impressive showing at the 2010 World Cup with talented squads playing in top leagues in Europe and Asia, the Iranian team barely has any chance to bypass either one to reach semi-final.
Because at the end of the day, either of the two teams’ consistency, determination and planning over the years at all levels of the game by far surpass Iran’s.
Nekounam | Will need to have a big tournament
Contrastingly to other leading Asian teams, the number of Europe-based Iranian players has diminished to only two and the Iranian league suffers from poor management and a lack of healthy competition.
To make the matters worse this time around, the Iran manager barely commands a home fan-base and media support anymore. To the disappointment of 70 million football fans, despite early promises of definite qualification for South Africa by Ghobi, Team Meli failed to secure the wins they needed against South Korea and North Korea.
Formerly the nation’s sweetheart, the 46-year old did himself no favour when he attended Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s inauguration ceremony during widespread disputed election protests last year.
His political gesture led to an immediate backlash by Iranian youth in stadiums, social media and blogs and their hostility has endured.
So all things considered, Iran’s chances of winning the Asian Cup are rather bleak. With plenty of disappointment for Iran’s football fans in the recent past, their hopes are likely to be dampened again in January.