Argentina V Iran World Cup 2014

Argentina V Iran Fifa World Cup 2014

After match synopsis in red!!

Beers: Group F of Beer World Cup: http://thisdrinkinglife.com/world-cup-beer-group-f/

Who is set to win the battle of the beers? Quilmes V ? Unfortunately I couldn’t source any beer from Iran so this will be a one sided affair. Click on picture for a preview of the beer.

Win for Quilmes as I couldn’t source a beer from the dry Iran. Click on link below for full beer information and reviews

PreGame:

Argentina: Bosnia were a tough team for Argentina to get first up. They were hard to break down and for long periods it was Bosnia that looked the slightly better team in that game, without doing a whole lot either.

The first half was a snoozefest, nothing to note at all. Messi was getting a lot of criticism from the airwaves and from some in the press. With Argentina he plays much deeper, with forwards that are not as accommodating as what he plays alongside at the Camp Nou. So he always has to overachieve with his national team. A lot of pressure was answered with a classic goal.

Otherwise thought the Argentina goalkeeper, Romero, had some impressive moments, apart from the odd clanger or two.

Today Argentina have to play Iran, so its a chance to rest a few players. Also could give Messi the full game to get more goals, and shut up more of his critics.

Iran: The first game against Nigeria was truly woeful stuff. The game wasn’t a classic by any means.

Iran played to their strengths and hats off to them for that. They could have actually snatched a winner, but a draw is a good result for them. Iran’s no 16 Ghoochanneijhad had a lot to do on his own up front, did well, and can take some pride in his days work.

Iran, prior to this World Cup, haven’t played a top 40 national team in two years. This frightening statistic might be shown up today, when they go against one of the favourites for the World Cup.

Iran should enjoy the match and the chance to rub shoulders with one of the best teams on the world. They have the opportunity to marvel at Messi as he dribbles around their defence and score a few crackers.

A more detailed review on Argentina here and on Iran here

What a great team performance from Iran. No one would have expected them to have played so well against one of the hot favourite for this years World Cup. We all thought Argentina with Messi in attack would run rings around their team. Hats off to their coach, Carlos Queiroz, for molding one hell of a solid defensive unit. If they had only held out for another few minutes they would have made footballing history. A pity.

Argentina didn’t look smooth at all, and they don’t look good in defence. Even Iran caused them some serious questions here, troubling them from set pieces, corners and long balls into the box. If it wasn’t for Romero, Iran might have had a goal. Once again the Argentine goalkeeper saves his team from an embarrassing scoreline. His one handed save from a Ghoochannejhad shot was the save of the tournament so far for me.

Going forward they were not much better, with Gago particularly standing out for his inefficiency. Aguero and Higuain also offered very little up front. Imagine playing a 4-3-3 formation and yet Iran had the better chances of the game. Tells you a lot about the forwards of Argentina. Step up Lionel Messi, again, to save the day, with his magnificent 91st-minute winner. Must be getting sick of bailing the team out all the time.

But lets not take away from Iran and their game. They were brilliant and showed that a well drilled team can have a chance against the big boys of the footballing world. They also could have easily had a penalty. To be fair to the ref it didnt look like a penalty in real time, but on closer inspection it looked like Ghoochannejhad got clipped in the box. Unlucky.

The first 15 minutes was all Iran, and, apart from Messi’s winning goal, most of the second half was mostly about Iran too. Argentina only had one more shot on target than Iran.

Reza Ghoochannejhad was excellent all game. Brilliant at holding the ball up, was also prepared to take on the Argentina defence at times and bitterly unlucky not to score. I was also very impressed with Dejagah who more than once caused problems for the Argentinians with his dangerous in swinging crosses. He also was a solid rock containing the forward play of Argentina.

Would it be too harsh to criticise the Iran goalkeeper Haghighi for failing to catch the ball a minute from time? His punch directly let to the play that resulted in a goal. Top class football is all about the small percentages that win games. If he caught it he would have immediately calmed the game down and played the time out. He didn’t and the rest is history. Still, though, a good day for Iranian football, despite the final result.

Just a short mention, that I thought the Argentina fans were brilliant. Loud, signing throughout and creating an excellent atmosphere in the game. I’m loving this world cup. Can it be in South America every 4 years?

Music to get you in the mood

Pappo V ANGBAND