Iran 0 Portugal 2

[Rover4ever]

Iran Vs. Portugal, Saturday 17th June 2006, 1500 Local Time,

Stadium: Walstadion, Frankfurt

This is what I conjured up while watching Germany-Poland. I will expand on it sometime on Thursday

Where they stand: After a solid if unspectacular win over Angola, Portugal will be looking to almost guarantee qualification for the 2nd round with a win over Iran.

On the other hand, Iran has to win to have a chance of progressing. The defeat against Mexico was extremely demoralizing given that Iran matched them till the last 15 minutes when they ran out of stamina.

Formation:

Both teams adopt an almost identical 4-2-3-1, and both have keepers who don’t exactly inspire confidence.

Changes from Opening Game:

Daei is said to be injured a la Raul. And just as rumors abound that Raul’ injury reports were blown up to lessen the embarrassment at being dropped, similar stuff is being heard about Daei. To be honest, Daei was ineffective against Mexico, he is slow and many Iranian fans feel he should not be in the opening XI. However, Daei is immensely influential and gets picked on that basis alone.

As of Friday, its been confirmed that Daei will in the Subs Bench against Portugal. This should come as a relief and allow Iran to play a faster attacking game.

Many would also liked to have seen 2nd choice GK Roudbarian being brought in for 1st choice Mirzapour after his miskick allowed Mexico's 2nd goal, but is still not sure as to who will start

On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo completed only 15 minutes of training and is a doubt for the Iran match.

UPDATE

According to Branko, Daei will indeed start against Iran. I am not sure how many Iranian fans suffered heart attacks after hearing this news, but I do know Daei has to score or else..........

Prediction:

I just cant see Iran conceding less than 2 goals, however Daei's exclusion will mean their offence has more zing. If they can score off the chances they get, it will finish 2-2.

If they are wasteful (as is often the case when karimi plays in offence), it will be 2-1 to Portgual.

Group Situation:

Yesterday's surprise draw between Mexico and Angola means the group is closer than before and a Iran-Portugal draw today will mean all 4 sides will have a chance of qualifying going into the last round of games.

A portugal win takes them to the 2nd round and eliminates Iran

Lineups

Surprise, surprise, the week long saga ends with Daei dropping to the bench after a back injury

Ricardo,

Miguel, Meira, Carvalho, Nuno Valente,

Costinha, Maniche,

Figp Deco, Ronaldo,

Pauleta

Simao is dropped for Deco with Figo returning to his position as right winger. Costinha and Maniche are also both back replaing Tiago and Petit

Mirzapour,

Kaabi, Golmohammadi, Rezaei, Nosrati,

Nekounam Teymourian,

Mahdavikia, Karimi, Madanchi,

Hashemian

Edited June 17, 2006 by Rover4ever

[ihtd]

Iran 1

Portugal 0

If Portugal play like they did second half i can see that not so good Iran side beating them. Plus theres got to be a real shock in the tournament at some point.

[Ronin]

If Iran can survive an early onslaught from Portugal and if last the 90 mins without tiring out, I think they could hold on to a draw. Not that impressed with Portugal although Figo did look to have an extra spring in his step (unlike Zidane did against the Swiss)

[frosty]

Portugal nick it 2-1

[Sydney Rovers]

Say a little pray for me as I try to get decently priced tickets to this game.

[neekoy]

Portugal to come good, 3 nil Portugal

[Eddie]

2-0 Portugal

[Oklahoma]

Say a little pray for me as I try to get decently priced tickets to this game.

Boa sorte!

And try the portuguese community. Maybe they can get you something.

They are a lot in Germany and I'm sure they would help another Portugues

[Eddie]

Well Portugal seem to have a bit of the England syndrome at the moment, but they did what they had to do today and can now look forward to the next round and possibly the prospect of playing Argentina. That could be a great game, I have no doubt that with the attacking talent that Portugal have that they will come good and become more entertaining as the tournament goes on.

[Rovermatt]

I thought the Portuguese were appalling yesterday. They lacked any sort of cutting edge and, Deco's goal aside, they never looked like troubling the Iranian back-line. Holland or Argentina should deal with them easily enough.