If you name one national football team's biggest sufferer in Asian football, it must be South Korea. After all, "Koreanphobia" is not called for nothing.
But if we talk about one more...it must be Iran!
Although it is not as exaggerated as saying "Islamophobia", looking back at the past history of the two sides, it is not difficult to see that the Iranian team is definitely another big sufferer of the national football team.
In the past journey of the World Cup preliminaries, the Dragon Football Team and the Iranian team had a total of 5 encounters. The Dragon Football Team's results were 1 win, 1 draw and 3 losses, and the only victory dates back to July 1989. On March 15, the Long Guo team defeated its opponent 2-0 at home with goals from Liu Haiguang and Zhang Xiaowen.
However, in comparison, the most unforgettable game for the Chinese people was the home and away game against Iran in the top ten in 1997. Especially in the first round at the Golden State Stadium, the opponent was reversed 4-2 with a two-goal lead. .
In fact, looking at the entire history of the two teams' battles, it is not difficult to find that the mutual results of the two sides in the World Cup preliminaries can almost be regarded as a microcosm of the overall competition.
In a total of 24 battles in the past, the Dragon Kingdom team faced the Iranian team 24 times and only achieved a disadvantageous record of 6 wins, 6 draws and 12 losses. It can be said that it has a clear disadvantage.
In official international competitions, except for the 2004 Asian Cup held at home, which was finally defeated by a penalty kick, the Dragons only defeated the Iranian team twice. The remaining three victories all came in friendly matches.
To a certain extent, after Longguo football began to become professional, it was more like a watershed in the battle records between the Chinese and Iranian teams.
If the two sides were basically in a balanced position before, then it will be difficult for the national football team to take advantage of the Iranian team after that.
The last time the Dragon Country team won against them was in a friendly match on June 1, 2009. At that time, with Gao Lin scoring the only goal of the game, the Dragon Country men's football team finally defeated their opponent 1-0 in QHD. .
Speaking of the most recent experience between the two sides, it was of course the second round of the Asian Top 12 of this World Cup.
At that time, the Dragon National Men's Football Team, playing at home, drew a goalless draw with the visiting Iranian team 0-0.
Although the Long National Football Team scored its first point in the top 12 in that game, it also paid the price of main goalkeeper Zeng Cheng being injured and absent for a long time. Subsequently, the team lost to Syria and Uzbekistan. The prospects for the national team to enter the World Cup in Russia have dimmed.
Now, with the high morale of defeating Qatar and South Korea 3-0 in two consecutive home games, the Dragon Country men's football team led by Lippi and Pan Yi will challenge the powerful Iranian team away from home. Despite the difficulties, this time Full of hopes and dreams.
Compared with Japan and South Korea, although the Iranian team also has many players playing in European leagues, there are none from the five major leagues.
Among them, forward Azmoun, who plays for Rostov, is the most eye-catching new star. The 22-year-old has already established a foothold in the Russian Super League and is known as the "Iranian Messi".
And now the more famous one is Jahanbakhsh, who is also Zhang Yuning's old rival. He is currently playing for Alkmaar in the Eredivisie and has scored 10 goals - in fact, he will still play in the future. Won the Eredivisie Golden Boot for next season!
In addition, the Iranian team also includes Ansari from Olympiacos, Guchinejad from Heerenveen, Haji Safi from Olympiacos, Shaujai from AEK Athens, Dejaga from Nottingham Forest... and so on overseas. players.
Domestic players cannot be ignored, such as Taremi, who is still playing in Iran. He will move to Porto in the future and become the main shooter, helping the team win the Portuguese Super League championship.
Although they are not as famous as the stars from Japan and South Korea, they are still capable. Otherwise, they would not have achieved 4 wins, 2 draws and not conceded a goal in this fiercely competitive Group A, leading the group. group.
In addition, the resume of the Iranian national team coach Queiroz is also stronger than that of the South Korean coach Stillik.
His coaching career started with Sporting CP, and later he coached for national teams such as the United Arab Emirates and South Africa. It was in early July 2002 that he began to attract attention around the world when he accepted the invitation of Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson to serve as a Manchester United assistant. coach.
In Queiroz's first year at Manchester United, together with Ferguson, he led Manchester United to win the Premier League title by overpowering Arsenal, which had always been the leader.
His success at Manchester United attracted the attention of Real Madrid, and eventually he entered the Galacticos and became the head coach of the world's top giants.
He then returned to Manchester United as an assistant coach, then went to the Portuguese national team as the head coach, and finally came to the Iranian national team, where he has stayed for six years.
Four years ago, he also led the Iranian national team to successfully enter the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. This time, he still hopes to lead the team to continue to participate in the 2018 World Cup!
Although Queiroz's wealthy career was not particularly successful, his battle with the Dragons this time still attracted the attention of FIFA.
After all, the Dragon Kingdom also has world-class coaches like Lippi and Pan Yi!
On the official website, FIFA conducted a preview report on the seventh round of the Asian Qualifiers Top 12, focusing on the contest between Lippi and Queiroz.
FIFA said that in a recent focus game, the Dragon Kingdom defeated the South Korean team with a historic score of 3:0 and played a perfect game.
This victory greatly boosted the morale and confidence of the Dragon Kingdom players. Lippi also showed the technical and tactical level of the world's top coaches. Pan Yi's role is also beyond doubt.
However, the Dragon Country team should also be wary of Iran's strength.
"The Iranian team seems to be inferior to South Korea in terms of paper strength, but its actual combat ability is higher than South Korea. In front of the Persian cavalry, it will be difficult for any team in Asia to resist its offensive."
FIFA also stated that although Iran is stronger, the Dragons team is not without a chance.
"The Iranian team has the best record in Group A, but it has not actually shown complete dominance."
"When they defeated South Korea, Qatar, and Uzbekistan, they all won 1:0, and when they faced Syria, they were also tied 0:0."
"Of course, what's more important is that Iran failed to take advantage of the head-to-head confrontation with Dragon Kingdom in the first round, and it ended in a 0:0 draw."
"This shows that their offensive line, which is dominated by overseas players, is actually average in efficiency. On the contrary, their defense line, which is dominated by domestic league players, is extremely stable. They have not conceded a goal in six games so far."
"After Lippi and Pan Yi entered the Dragon Country national team, the Dragon Country team's defensive counterattack was also very sharp. They did not concede a goal in two consecutive games and scored a total of six goals. This must attract the attention of the Iranian team."
FIFA finally said that this game will be a battle between several famous coaches.
"Quiroz has coached at giant clubs like Real Madrid and Manchester United, not to mention the achievements of Lippi and Pan Yi. The battle of wits and courage between them will become the biggest highlight of this game."
"Judging from the recent rounds of games, the changes that world-class coaches have brought to the team are obvious. In the hands of Lippi and Pan Yi, the Dragon Country team has won two games, even South Korea, which has not beaten many in decades. They all fell at the feet of the Dragon Kingdom team."
"Quiroz also brought huge changes to Iran. He made Iran the strongest team in Asia, at least the strongest in Group A."
"This makes all of us have to look forward to the next World Cup qualifying match. I wonder if the overwhelming Queiroz can lead his Persian army to defeat the combination of Lippi and Pan Yi?"
——
At the pre-match press conference, after reporters mentioned FIFA’s forward-looking report, Queiroz first jokingly said:
"It's unfair for me to face two world-class coaches in Lippi and Pan Yi alone. No team in the world can succeed with either one of them, but the Dragon Country team can't." Having two at the same time is so enviable.”
Then he said that both Lippi and Pan Yi respect him very much.
"They are both world champions. Lippi has the World Cup and Pan Yi has the Club World Cup. These are heights that many people cannot reach."
"And their joint efforts have also brought about earth-shaking changes to the Dragon Kingdom team, especially the victory over the South Korean team three days ago, which surprised all of us."
"We also focused on studying the game videos of the Dragon Country team, especially the two games after they took over. I think their work on the Dragon Country team gave me a lot of impressions."
"Lippi and his coaching team have proven that they are top-notch in both the Italian national team and Changzhou Hengtai, and Pan Yilong's identity as a Chinese also gives him greater room to perform as a coach in the world."
"From the broadcast footage, you can see that Pan Yi often gives on-the-spot instructions on the sidelines. This is an advantage that foreign teachers like us do not have - yes, I can't speak Persian now."
"Under such direct communication and command, the Dragon Kingdom team became a very, very tenacious team. They focused on the game and were very fast in offense and defense."
"They were able to defeat South Korea 3-0 at home, which is very, very difficult. Don't forget, the South Korean team only lost one goal in the last World Cup even against a strong team like Belgium."
"What I want to say is that the current Long Guo team is a team with excellent technical and tactical skills and strong mental strength. Their rigorous overall football will make us feel the pressure during the game, especially their tenacity The defense will make tomorrow’s game very difficult.”
"In addition, the Dragon Country team also has many talented players. Wu Lei once won the Champions League, and Zhang Yuning also played very well in the Eredivisie, including 19-year-old Lin Liangming. Of course, their old captain Zheng Zhi is the The core of the team, we have to pay attention to that as well.”
As for his expectations for the game, Queiroz did not give a direct answer, but tactfully said that judging from the current situation, the Iranian team can continue to lead the group as long as it remains undefeated.
"I led the team to the last Asian Top 12, and I think every point is very important. Currently we have 14 points, while Uzbekistan, which is currently third, has 9 points, and we are still 5 points ahead."
"It would be great if we can get all three points, but if we get a draw, I won't think it's the end of the world. After all, we will still have the initiative to qualify from the group."
"Honestly, I think it's still very difficult to beat this Dragon Country team now. We have all seen how good they are on the court now."
"Of course, even though I say this, I still hope that in tomorrow's game, we can be the better side."
Finally, Queiroz also said that he also hopes that in addition to the Iranian team, the other team that can qualify in Group A will be the Dragon Country team.
——
At the Dragon Country pre-match press conference held later, head coach Lippi was also polite and kept giving Queiroz high hats.
He believes that it is precisely because of Queiroz's arrival that the Iranian team has become the most European-style Asian team now, and it has not fallen behind against world-class teams.
The most typical game was against Argentina in the last round of the last World Cup group stage. Faced with an attacking group led by Messi, the Iranian team resisted tenaciously for the entire game.
If it weren't for Messi's flash of inspiration at the last moment, the Iranian team would probably be able to escape from Argentina.
"The Iranian team's technical, tactical style and physical fitness are very close to those of European teams. There is no doubt that our current strength is not as good as our opponents."
"We must face this point squarely. We need to avoid making mistakes during the game, work hard, and patiently look for our opponents' loopholes and mistakes."
"Of course, football is round, so even if we are playing away from home, even if we have to face the cheers of 100,000 Iranian fans, we will do our best to do our best and strive to achieve a good result in Tehran!"
Pan Yi also accepted interviews from reporters.
Regarding the upcoming game, Pan Yi also said:
"No matter which game it is, no matter who the opponent is, our goal has always been one, and that is to try our best to win. This is our tireless pursuit, and we will go into every game with the belief that we must win."
"Of course, Iran is the top team in Asia. Facing such an opponent, the game will be extremely difficult. This requires us to work hard to control every detail of the game. We must be extremely focused and play our best. Condition and the best mental outlook.”
Regarding Queiroz's remarks about hoping that the Dragons National Team hopes to enter the World Cup, Pan Yi said with a smile:
"Thank you for his blessing. Of course I hope to achieve this goal."
"But as he said, every point in the group is very important and we are still far behind them."
"If you want to qualify, you have to fight hard one after another. Otherwise, you won't get into the World Cup just by shouting slogans."
"So I'm sorry, we have to win against Iran, otherwise the initiative will always be in the hands of others."
“With our current level of strength, we can only get valuable points by playing every game step by step, down-to-earth, and treating every game as a final, and then quietly wait for others to make mistakes. "
“Only when we do our best so that when an opportunity arises, we can truly seize it and make it happen!”
What Pan Yi said is very realistic.
Now the Dragon Country team is only ranked fifth and is the lagging side. The top two currently are Iran and South Korea.
In an extreme case, if the Dragons can defeat Iran and win the next game, they will only be able to reach 19 points in the end;
Assuming that after losing to Dragon Kingdom, Iran only needs to draw with South Korea and then defeat the other two teams. The points can still reach 21 points and they can still beat Dragon Kingdom steadily.
As for South Korea, it tied with Iran and also beat the others. In the end, the points reached 20, which was still better than the Dragon Kingdom!
In other words, if this script is followed, Long Guo will still be squeezed to third place in the group and participate in the more uncertain and continuous play-offs.
So this is what Pan Yi said, you still need to wait for others to make mistakes, otherwise everything will be in vain.
Of course, football matches are not mathematical calculations. Otherwise, if you want to win the league, don't you have to win all of them?
The problem is that other teams are not just decorations, they will also score and lose points, so the actual points do not need to be that many.
When it comes to the top 12, it's the same. Syria, Qatar, and Uzbekistan are not the ones to be slaughtered. They still have the right to qualify, and they can still score points against South Korea and Iran.
So this kind of imaginary script is difficult to actually stage.
But the Dragon Kingdom team must first show their best side, and then when others lose points, they can take the opportunity to catch up in the rankings.
Otherwise, if you lose to Iran today and Syria tomorrow, it will be useless even if others keep losing points.
Even if I give you a chance, you won’t use it!
Finally Pan Yi said:
"Since the 2002 World Cup, we have been away from this big stage for a long time. So I still hope that a big eastern country like us can appear in the World Cup and bring real happiness to hundreds of millions of fans across the country!"
——
On the afternoon of March 28, 2017, Iran, Tehran, Azadi Stadium.
The match between Iran and Dragon Kingdom is about to start, and hundreds of thousands of Iranian fans are also flocking to this stadium.
In order to create better momentum to shock the Dragons, the Iranian Football Association announced before the game that tickets for this game were free, which also made this super stadium that can accommodate 100,000 people full of seats and buzzing with people.
The Azadi Stadium is obviously the real devil's home stadium in Asian football.
In addition to the large number of people accommodated and the amazing momentum, the Iranian team's horrific record here is an important key to its reputation as a devil throughout the world.
Since 2010, the Iranian team has played a total of 25 games at Azadi Stadium. The results are 19 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses, scoring 69 goals and conceding 9 goals. The record can be said to be extremely brilliant.
And if we only count official matches, only Uzbekistan has taken away three points from here in the 2014 Brazil World Cup qualifiers.
If we look specifically at the Dragon Kingdom team...
They have been guests here five times in the past five times and suffered losses in all five games!
It is precisely because of this that Iran is full of confidence in the China-Iran battle at Azadi Stadium, and their fans are even more so.
There are still a few hours before the game and the Azadi Stadium is already packed with people.
Consider that not only the seats and aisles of the stadium stands are packed with people, but even the walls are covered with Iranian fans. There are definitely more than 100,000 fans inside...
And at night, the stadium was even more crowded!
At this time, the two warring parties have also entered their respective locker rooms and begun the final pre-war mobilization.
In the Dragon Kingdom team's locker room, Pan Yi didn't say much this time.
He first played a video of the last game against South Korea for a moment.
It mainly includes some video clips of defensive steals, goals after cooperation, post-game celebrations, interactions with fans, etc.
After the players finished watching, Pan Yi said:
"I have nothing else to say. Watching these videos, I just hope you can recall your performance and mental outlook against South Korea, and continue this spirit into today's game."
"Similar to the last game, the pressure on the Iranian team is actually greater than on us. What pressure do we have? Our lovely fans actually have very low requirements for us, as long as we try our best on the court."
"Do you know why fans used to scold the national football team? It's not because we lost, but because we didn't feel hopeful on the field."
"But why don't you scold me now? Is it because your level suddenly improved by leaps and bounds and became a top team in Asia? No, it's because you worked hard and they saw it."
"Don't think I'm doing it as an afterthought, or because we won. Most of you here participated in the 2:3 loss to the South Korean team. Did the fans scold you at that time? No."
"So it's very simple, don't think too much, just go out and fight and that's it! As long as we let go, perform to the fullest, and fight to the end, when we look back on today, we won't regret it, and the fans won't blame you!"
In the locker room, the international players nodded silently.
Pan Yi's words spoke to their hearts.
Their ability to defeat Qatar, especially South Korea, is really due to their determination to never give up!
The Koreans, who are known to have strong will and quality, were stunned!
The video they just watched brought back their memories from a few days ago, reminding them of their passion and hard work on the field!
"Everyone!"
At this time, captain Zheng Zhi stood up.
Before he could greet him, all the international players had already stood up and formed a circle.
Zheng Zhi said loudly:
"We're still far away from the World Cup, but it's not that far away either."
“Every game we win, we get one step closer to it!”
"This game is very important. I hope that each of you can go all out and don't give up any hope. Even if we fight until the last minute and second, we must do our best to get three points from the away game!"
"Tell me, can we do this?"
Following the captain's last question mark, all the national football players echoed loudly:
"Yes!" (End of this chapter)
