goal.com
Jordan shocked Iran on Sunday evening with a 1-0 win in Amman in a 2011 Asian Cup qualifier that has blasted Group E wide open.
Despite the defeat, Iran stay top with seven points from four games, Singapore have a point less, Thailand are in third with five while Jordan are on four points and back in contention.
Amer Deeb scored the only goal of the match at the King Abdullah International Stadium.
With 11 minutes remaining, Oday Al Saify crossed for Deeb to fire home from close range.
Iran were missing Spanish-based stars Javad Nekounam and Masoud Shojaei but had their chances with Iman Mobali and Fulham’s Andranik Teymourian going close.
Jordan grew stronger as the game progressed and their pressure was rewarded with Deeb’s late intervention.
The penultimate round of matches takes place on January 6 when Iran travel to Singapore and Thailand host Jordan.
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November 22nd, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Here’s a thought bubble: Khaak to sar-e Ghotbi.
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Ehsan jAn salAm, I was so pissed after the match that I got on the phone with my brother and vented for more than an hour; actually he did most of the talking and I just agreed (His gun was more loaded than mine!).
The problems are so many that one does not even want to know where to start. Let’s just say that we got what we deserved.
Under this system, we can have marginal improvements, but they will only result in occasional successes.
Did you read my earlier article here or in goal.com?
Goal.com Special: Iran’s Fundamental Football Flaws
Under this political and economical model do not hold your breath for continuous and sustained successes.
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Salam,
You are correct. Sporting success is the superstructure supported by economic, political and societal factors. Our failure at football is an example of deeper failures. Moreover, the management at IFF is really a joke.
Nevertheless, one cannot help feeling that Ghotbi is an incompetent who’s got lucky and for the few millions of USD’s that he had collected since he first arrived at Persepolis and now Team Melli, he has given very, very little value. His tactics are unsuitable and his team selection is uninspiring. I very much suspect that he doesn’t enjoy respect from the players either (they may not be the most educated of their own generation but they will spot a phoney who had little prior manageral experience and is given a job that is too big for him).
I think given the talent in the Iranian squad, even with Nekounam and Shojai absent (Shojai never shines for Team Melli anyway), our team should put on much better displays than this rubbish.
Ghotbi has been the managers for more than half a dozen games and they are going backwards very fast.
I’m not one for changing managers all the time, but this guy isn’t the genuine article and we are simply wasting time, money and prestige by keeping him on. I bet he has a fantastic contract too which would be expensive to cancel. He certainly looks after NUMBER ONE very well and by number 1, I don’t mean the goalkeeper!!
All the best,
Ehsan
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:46 pm
http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/pages/?cid=74162
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Hi Afshin how are you? I watched the game and despite the fact that we lost, I did see some positive points about our game. To start off, we had fresh players like Hajsafi, Heidary, Khalatbari and Ansarifard starting the game and later in second half we introduced Maydavoudi and Beikzadeh as substitudes. I aslo think that we did not play that bad, our biggest problem was playing with only one striker and the absence of a leader on the field. Losing 1-0 to Jordan in Jordan could also happen to Korea, saudi Arabia or even Australia. I just hope that we will keep Mr ghotbi so that he will fix our tactical problems in the heart of the defence and put on a more attacking formation such as 4-3-3 or 4-4-2. I strongly think that we should keep him until the end of the Asian cup. Now that Mr ghotbi has lost his first official match, we should give him the opportuity to respond to this loss.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:08 am
Hi Jimmy,
I hope you are doing well.
I think you are being the voice of reason here, but I am just fed up, and for once I have no solutions to offer. This house is built on a rotten foundation and it is now sinking.
Ehsan jAn,
I must say I am beginning to wonder if Ghotbi is the right man for this job. I am not ready to go as far as you have, but I did not understand Ghotbi’s decision to play Nekounam and Shojaei against Macedonia when he well knew that they would not be available for the Jordan match. He should have put his Jordan 11 on the field and let them get used to each other.
Oh well!
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:55 am
I totally understand your frustrations and I hear you Afshin. I mean lets face it, we have suffred so many defeats in the past few years and we did not qualify for the world cup. But we should all stay strong and have more patience. The reason why I still support Mr Ghotbi is because I do think that he has something to offer to our football and he truly believes that the current position of our football in Asia and in the world in general can be improved drmaticly and he is an optimist in general. As hard as it is I think we should give more time. Cheers Afshin.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:01 am
[...] Team Melli lost to Jordan 1-0 in Amman in their return leg of their Asian Cup Qualifier. They still lead the group with seven points, but things look bad real bad. I have been watching Team Melli for decades and this is the lowest I have ever seen them, and I am not only talking about the loss in this match, it is the direction to which Team Melli and Iranian football in general is heading. [...]