Scouting Iran

Iran qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the fourth time in their history, topping their qualifying group which contained South Korea, Uzbekistan, Lebanon and Qatar. In doing so they conceded just twice in their eight qualifying games. But surprise 1-0 defeats to Uzbekistan and Lebanon show they lack a real out-and-out goalscorer and focus more on defensive resilience than attractive, goalscoring football.

Ranked 1st in Asia and 37th in the world, Iran are in a tough group containing Argentina, Nigeria and Bosnia. With their own manager Carlos Queiroz publicly stating that “We will not make it to the next round” after a club-versus-country row erupted between Iran’s top clubs and the federation, expectations are low and if they obtain any points, their campaign will be viewed as a success.

The 30-Man Squad

Name                                                   Club
1    AHMADI, Rahman                  Sepahan

2    ALE NEMEH, Ahmad             Naft Tehran

3    ANSARIFARD, Karim            Tractorsazi

4    AZMOUN , Sardar                 Rubin Kazan

5    BEIGZADEH, Hashim            Esteghlal

6    BEITASHOUR, Steven          Vancouver Whitecaps

7    BIRANVAND , Alireza            Naft Tehran

8    DAVARI, Daniel                      Eintracht Braunschweig

9    DEJAGAH, Ashkan                Fulham

10    GHOOCHANNEJAD, Reza Charlton Athletic

11    HADDADIFAR, Ghassim      Zob Ahan

12    HAGHIGHI, Alireza              Sporting Covilhã

13    HAGHIGHI, Reza                Persepolis

14    HAJSAFY, Ehsan                Sepahan

15    HEYDARI, Khosrow            Esteghlal

16    HOSSEINI, Jalal                  Persepolis

17    JAHANBAKHSH, AliReza     NEC

18    KHALATBARY, Mohamad     Persepolis

19    KHANZADEH, Mohammad   Zob Ahan

20    MAHINI, Hossein                   Persepolis

21    MAKANI, Sousha                  Foolad Kuzestan

22    MONTAZERI, Pejman           Um Salal

23    NEKOUNAM, Javad              Al Kuwait

24    NOUROZI, Reza                   Naft Tehran

25    POOLADI, Mehrdad              Persepolis

26    RAHMANI, Bakhtiyar            Foolad Kuzestan

27    SADEGHI, AmirHossein       Esteghlal

28    SHARIFI , Mehdi                   Sepahan

29    SHOJAEI, Masoud                Las Palmas

30    TEYMOURIAN, Andranik     Esteghlal

The Predicted Lineup

———————Davari—————-
Beitashour – Hosseini – Sadeghi – Mahini
——-Nekounam (C) – Haghighi———
–Dejagah——-Shojaei—Jahanbakhsh
—————Ghoochannejad————–

Two players to look out for

Ashkan Dejagah

The Fulham attacking midfielder is easily Iran’s best, and most well known, player. Averaging a goal every four games this season for the Cottagers, Dejagah had an impressive season despite starting many games off the bench. Iran will look to him as their main attacking spark and he’s certain to be involved in many of the Iran attacks.

Reza Ghoochannejad

With seven goals in his last seven matches with the national team, Ghoochannejad is one of Iran’s most exciting players – and arguably their main goalscoring threat. He plays for Charlton Athletic but has just one goal from his 15 appearances for the Addicks, conveying that he hasn’t adapted well to the lower leagues of English football.

Conclusion

In my opinion, Iran will struggle to score at the World Cup, and clean sheets against the likes of Messi, Dzeko and Emineke seem almost impossible. In Fantasy terms, I’d avoid them altogether.