Preview : Iran Vs South Korea

Persopress- For the fourth time in the last four Asian Cups Iran has to play South Korea in the quarter finals. In 1996 Iran crushed Korea 6-2 in an amazing match in which Ali Daei scored 4 goals. In 2000 Iran was defeated by the Koreans 2-1 in overtime and in 2004 Iran defeated Korea in a thrilling back to back goal match which ended 3-4 with Ali Karimi's hattrick. Now in 2007 Iran and Korea meet again to continue this very coincidental tradition and to delight every soccer fan in the world. This game is key as the winner of this match will play Iraq in the Semis which are seen as the minnows of the Asian Cup finals as the other Semifinals match will be played by Japan and the winner of the Saudi Arabia - Uzbekistan match.

Whatever Ghalenoi's tactical plan is for the Asian Cup it should be unleashed in this match as this match could cost Iran a lot. Korea is coming with a lot of new and young players unlike Iran which has a fairly average aged team. Korea's coach Pim Verbeek agrees that Iran is a better team and are the favorites but states that has young Korean team has a good chance of winning this intense game. “I think that they’re right because they are an experienced team, they have a lot of foreign-based players and so far they’ve played well. But although we may not have better players, we have a very strong team and I think we will win the game tomorrow.”

It has been announced and confirmed by many news sources that this will be the formation tommorow (3-5-2) for the Iran - South Korea match.

----------------------------Roudbarian---------------------
-----------------------------Nosrati------------------------
------------------Hosseini----------Rezaei-----------------
--------------------------Nekounam-----------------------
----------------Kia----------Ando---------Madanchi------
-----------------------------Karimi------------------------
------------------Hashemian-------Khatibi-----------------

Khatibi has replaced Enayati, Nosrati and Madanchi replace Mobali and Zandi. Fereydoon Zandi is a very good player as we saw in the China match but he has not been put in his own position and has been playing Left Back under performing of what has been expected of him. Mobali did not do so well against China and that is whiy he will be replaced by Madanchi. Kazemian will probably be used as a sub and maybe Kaebi or Mobali will also be subbed in depending on what the score is and how we are playing.

The times of the Iran vs Korea game are listed below!
Sunday 22 July 2007
18.20 Local Time
Iran vs. Korea Republic at National Stadium Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

*Different Time Zones
18.20 Malaysia Time
13.50 Tehran Time
14.20 Dubai Time
12.20 CET (Berlin, Amsterdam)
11.20 London Time
06.20 AM Eastern Time
05.20 AM Central Time
03.20 AM Pacific Time
20.20 Melbourne Time

Cant watch the game on Iranian Sattelite? Watch the game online at www.glwiz.com . Register at Glwiz and watch it on Tapesh !

Iran tops the group after defeating Malaysia

Persopress- Iran went to their last game in the group stages only needing a draw to book their spot in the quarterfinal, but they wanted to become 1st in their group because they wanted to stay in Malaysia and avoid playing Saudi Arabia and winner of Japan-Australia. They went into the game wanting to score a lot because China's goal difference was better and if Iran and China had tied then, China would have had the advantage. Iran's starting line-up was the same as the line-up we used in the beginning of the 2nd half against China, except Karimi was in instead of Kazemian. It was obvious from the beginning of the game that Iran was going to attack, while Malaysia had all their players packed in their own field, and were defending with all their capabilities. At the Beginning of the game Iran had 3 clear chances, which ended up hitting the post. Hashemian hit the post twice after his shot was saved by the goalie and Enayati also hit the post after he had hit the ball past the goalie. Iran kept attacking and it finally paid off after Karimi was taken down in the box and the referee awarded Iran a penalty. Javad Nekounam picked up the ball and placed on the spot and he drilled the ball in the top right hand corner. The score was 1-0, but Iran was not convinced as they started their attack again. Malaysia's best chance in the game came right before halftime as one of their players chipped the ball and it was going over Roudbarian and into the goal, but Roudbarian made a magnificent save. The score stayed 1-0 going into the half.

Iran made one sub at the beginning of the 2nd half and it was Khatibi replacing Enayati, who didn't get too many goal scoring opportunities. Iran started out the game the same way they had been playing, attacking with full force. Karimi started to pick up his game as he played better than the previous two games. He started creating chances with his dribbling and nice passes, he almost scored after he dribbled a player in the box, but his shot was deflected. Iran made 2 more subs, as they brought in Kazemian for Mobali and Rajabzadeh for Hashemian, who didn't have a good performance at all. These subs made some impact as Kazemian with his speed created some chances. And one of them turned into a goal as he passed the ball to Teymourian, who had three defenders on him, but he faked a shot and dribbled the player and put the ball past the keeper. After this goal, Malaysia became a little hopeless, while Iran gained confidence and continued on attacking. They had another great chance after Karimi shot the ball and the goalie saved it, but the ball bounced up and it hit the post, Karimi couldn't believe it as he fell onto the ground, wondering where his luck has gone. Karimi played much better and it seems like he has gained a little confidence from his performance, but Iran's best player today was Javad Nekounam, who was rewarded the Man of the Match again. The game ended 2-0, but with the amount of chances Iran had it could have easily been 6-0. But the important thing is that Uzbekistan beat China, so Iran topped the group with 7 points in three games. Iran will play Korea in the quarterfinals in Malaysia, meaning they don't have to travel, which is definitely a positive. It seems like every time we go to the 2nd round, we have to play Korea. We have played Korea in the 2nd round in the last four Asian Cups. Hopefully, it will turn out to be the same way as it was last Asian Cup as we defeated Korea 4-3, in one of the best games in the last decade.

Quarter Finals:

1) Japan vs. Australia
2) Iraq vs. Vietnam
3)Iran vs. Korea Republic
4) Saudi Arabia vs. Uzbekistan

Preview : Iran Vs Malaysia

Persopress- The Iranian side will play group minnows Malaysia tomorrow to determine if they can come out of their group 1st place or not. Team Melli has had many rumors, problems, and successes in the past 2 days that many have been uninformed of. Iran has 5 yellow cards that could make a difference in Iran's game, Mahdavikia, Andranik, Nekounam, Rezaei and Madanchi all have been handed yellow cards and have to be cautious not to get another card against Malaysia. Team Melli fans were thinking that Ghalenoi would probably use most the subs as we do not want anyone to get injured or benched because of a red card in the quarters but it is not so. Iran will come out with full force to destroy Malaysia so we are insured a 1st place spot in our group. Becoming 1st place does not only guarantee a game with a possible Indonesia or Bahrain, and even in the Semis we will play the winner of Iraq and Vietnam, but also guarantees staying in Malaysia for the quarterfinals. Traveling would be very difficult for Iran as they have gotten used to the weather and hotel in Kuala Lampur. On the other hand if we become second we would play Saudi Arabia and if we win that game we would have player the winner of the Australia Japan game whihc would make things a lot harder for Team Melli putting besides that point that we would have to travel to different places for each game. It would be to Iran's benefit that Uzbekistan wins or ties China in case Iran is not able to score more than 5 goals against Malaysia to insure the 1st place spot.

There have been many rumors about Ali Karimi, about how mad he got since he had been subbed out at the half. The truth is he was mad and after the game he was the first one on the bus and the first one in the his hotel room not even staying with the players in the hotel lobby. Possible rumors that Karimi was even willing to come back to Tehran because of how he was treated was in the news. The whole team realized that Karimi was in a bad state and Ghalenoi decided to call on Jalali and Fazeli two close people to Karimi to talk to him about what had happened and try to calm him down. After this talk Karimi felt somewhat better and was now talking and playing with the team rather than listening to his Ipod. The game against Malaysia will be huge for Karimi as Karimi's game is built upon confidence in himself and if he can prove himself in the Malaysia game we can be sure that he will do great against the rest of our opponents.

In a press conference today Karimi was asked why he does not do dribbling and individual talent as much as before and he replied he wanted to be team player but he is willing to show his individual skills only when he has the opportunity, Ghalenoi also stated that Iran likes to play a team game but should allow individual skills to shine in our game against Malaysia.

Nosrati has been identified as an option for him to play against Malaysia as he has been injured for the Asian Cup but slowly he has come back and has trained with Team Melli but in case he is not capable of playing, Sadeghi is also available as news has came in that the rumors of him being kicked of the team was not true and he did practice with the team today. There won't be much pressure on Iran's defense as Malaysia's coach has announced they are going to play a very defensive game. “We have to expect that the Iran side will be going all out against us. Our approach will therefore have to be a defensive one tomorrow." Coach Norizan's plan is to allow the least goals so that they could leave the Asian Cup with a small amount of respect. “Everyone is expecting Iran to win, so we have to be realistic. They need a big win and so therefore we have to try and stop them doing that by limiting the number of goals they score.”
These ideas will only help Iran as we saw in the China match Iran scored two goals in the second half when China suddenly started playing a defensive game after they were up two.

So many options come for Ghalenoi that it will be hard to decide which player he can put in against Malaysia but one player that has given Ghalenoi a chance to take another look at is Mobali. After he was subbed in for Karimi in the China game he play very well. Efficient passing, nice crosses, and an amazing shot only to be deflected by the goalies hands gives Mobali the upper hand over some players in playing at tomorrow's game. Mobali does not have to be put in the game instead of Karimi since Ghalenoi will most probably play a 4 man midfield giving him the option to put Karimi and Mobali in at the same time.

Hashemian, Nekounam, Mahdavikia, and an impressive Zandi will probably play while there may be some doubts for Teymourian even though he is not suspended. Rezaie and Hosseini are as our defensive are a must as they are the top defensive players we have. We are uncertain if Kaebi will play but chances are very slim for start but he may be subbed. Kazemian's play against China was not so impressive and he may not be even played for the whole match as Iran will probably not need a speed boost in this match. Enayati on the other hand, noted by many fans as Ghalenoi's favorite from Esteghlal will probably play as a left forward again even though he not showed anything significant in any of our matches. He may though be effective in the match against Malaysia as he has known to be able to finish very well against weak teams, but if not then we hope that Ghalenoi will bench him for the rest of the Asian Cup unless Hashemian gets injured in which then Enayati can play his actual position for Team Melli. As for formations rumors have been in that Iran will play a possible 3-4-3 formation seeking a full attack against Malaysia. This will hopefully give the chance for Mahdavikia to shine as he has not been playing his best in a defensive role in which Ghalenoi has put him in.

Team Melli is due to play at 20.35 Local time on July18, 2007. The time converts are as listed:

Different Time Zones:
20.35 Local Time
16.05 Tehran Time
16.35 Dubai Time
14.35 CET (Berlin, Amsterdam)
13.35 London Time
08.35 AM Eastern Time
07.35 AM Central Time
05.35 AM Pacific Time
22.35 Melbourne Time

Iran ties with China

Persopress- Again the Iranians had a very bad first half like the Uzbekistan game but instead this time around, two goals were scored on Iran. The Chinese started the first half with a full attacking force not even allowing Iran to attack for the first 5 minutes. Constant pressure to Iran's defense finally was effective when Nekounam fouled a Chinese player a couple of meters in front of the box. The free kick was amazingly shot to the corner of Iran's net by Chao. Roudbarian showed some late reaction and it was too late as the ball was in the back of the net after he touched the ball. Only 25 minutes later was it when a Chinese player crossed the ball and an uncovered Jiayi hammered the ball in to the corner of our net. This goal was very stoppable as Roubarian dived the right way but the ball some how managed to roll past him and into the net. The Iranians had to realize what was wrong and that Iran's 3 man offense was coming back on China's attacking plays allowing the Chinese defense to play a midfield role while attacking. Around the 40th minute, Iran started to pick up their game and started attacking in bunches. The Chinese warred out really easily and Iran's attacking when to an ongoing onslaught. Iran received a free kick in the 46'th minute when Mahdavikia was taken out behind the box. Iran took full advantage of this opportunity as Mahdavikia gave a slow pass to Zandi and Zandi crushed the ball in the corner of the net, not giving the Chinese keeper a chance. Slowly Iran started attacking more and more but the half whistle was blown and so we went to the second half. The goal at the end of the half gave Iran a lot of confidence as they saw how easily they can come back in the game. They started the half really well after they had two very surprising subs, as they brought in Mobali for Karimi and Kazemian for Kaebi. Everyone was shocked as nobody ever thought that Karimi would be brought out of the game after half time in such an important game, but it was a good sub as Mobali did very good when he came on. The way Iran attacked and defended in this half should be remembered and used for later games as Iran had a major lead in possession, attacking, and getting the ball out of our half easily with the help of Jalal Hossieni and Rahman Rezaie. Minutes of constant attacking went by when suddenly Iman Mobali passed the ball to Mahdavikia, who gave an amazing cross to Nekounam and headed it in the corner of the net to tie up the score 2-2 at the 74th minute. Iran's attacks from this point on were ineffective as they were being misused. Mobali's kicks were going to high and Enayati and Hashemian were not setting up good plays on the Left. The game ended with the score of 2-2 while players like Karimi, Enayati, Hashemian, and even Kaebi showed very disappointing. Nekounam was named the player of the match as he scored a goal and just did everything perfectly, Zandi also performed well this game and also had the chance for Man of the Match with one goal. Iran will take on Malaysia on Wednesday July, 18th 2007. To become first place in our group, Iran would have to score more than 5 goals against Malaysia to win by goal difference unless a very possible tie or defeat by Uzbekistan takes place against China.