Seremban – Two days have passed since Iran’s world cup qualifier that ended in a scoreless draw with Syria in Malaysia. Team Melli fans are upset because it wasn’t the ideal result against one of the weakest teams in the group.
In all honesty the match shouldn’t have been played due to thunderstorms and the condition of the pitch. I had a bad feeling in my gut when I woke up early to watch the match and found out the start would be delayed.
When it comes to the Asian Football Confederation and making practical decisions in matches involving Iran, always remember that the AFC will do the exact opposite. This is the reality and nothing will change.
I definitely had to shake my head when I saw big splashes of water accompanied with players trying to clear the ball up the field.
TM were the better side as expected but it wasn’t easy to play football and make crisp passes when the ball would stop in puddles. The pitch was bad and it was possible to make passes only on certain parts of the field.
Iran are still sitting top of the group with eleven points after five matches played. For TM supporters it is easy to be angry after a scoreless draw against Syria after previously defeating South Korea in Tehran and Uzbekistan in Tashkent last month with 1-0 victories.
From my point of view I am not too bothered with the 0-0 result with Syria because I feared Iran losing by conceding a goal on a free kick or on an unlucky bounce. A loss against Syria in Malaysia would have been a disaster.
As mentioned earlier it is easy to complain and use the conditions of the pitch as an excuse but Alireza Jahanbakhsh had the perfect opportunity to seal the victory for Iran when his header off a cross from Milad Mohammadi went wide in the 85th minute.
Jahanbakhsh had a free header in the six-yard box but he couldn’t get the ball on target. It was frustrating because Alireza seems to be one of those players who performs better for club than for country.
The bottom line is that the match against Syria is over and it’s time for TM to focus their attention on getting three points at Doha in March 2017 when World Cup Qualifying resumes.
There are five matches left to be played and three of those matches for Iran will be played at the intimidating Azadi Stadium. Iran is in the driver seat at top of the group and they can beat the AFC by playing to their potential and booking a ticket to Russia 2018.