The journey to Qatar 2022 began on 10 September and Iran scored a 2-0 win over Hong Kong. And just like four years ago, this qualification campaign also started with a goal from Sardar Azmoun.
I am sure some Iranian football fans were expecting more goals but Iran was not playing against a Hong Kong team from ten years ago.
No matter how overconfident we want to be, even the weaker teams in Asia have shown improvement and are not in the mood to be pummeled.
I like what I saw from Team Melli and of course I liked the goals from Sardar Azmoun and Karim Ansarifard.
Karim looked good against Hong Kong and he almost scored with a bicycle kick!
Overall, it was a good team effort with the win but if I had to look for a player to criticize, it would have to be Hossein Kanaani.
At time Kanaani looked unorganized and lacked poise. And of course we can’t forget his blunders that nearly led to goals for Hong Kong.
We all know it is early in qualification and changes will be made with the lineup. But if I were to have a say in deciding the lineups, I definitely would not have Kanaani starting as one of the center backs.
Morteza Pouraliganji is a much better center back and he needs to be starting next to Majid Hosseini.
Anyway, glad Iran won and Azmoun was easily the man of the match as he continues to add to his goal tally for Team Melli.