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Iran 2:2 Croatia

May 28th, 2006 | By: Afshin Afshar | 9 Comments »

Okay, so we tied with Croatia. I saw the second half live in its entirety, and the first half (recorded) after the game was over!

This is certainly a good result for Team Melli. But let us not get too carried away for two reasons:

1. We did not play a convincing game for the first 20 or so minutes. Croatia missed many chances
2. Iran’s second goal was a gift made possible by a bad Croatian error.

However, after the butterflies went away, Team Melli played a lot better. I was happy to see Karimi and Hashemian, although neither one of them looked 100%.

Kaebi was suspect, but it was partially because with Mahdavikia out, he was not getting enough defensive support from the midfield. Teymourian could not get back and help him as much as Mahdavikia does.

Borhani looked good.

I wish Shojaei and Kazemian got more playing time and I wanted to see Enayati in there too. Daei was on more than necessary.

All and all they played okay, but nothing close to their potential. This performance was far below their performance against Germany in Azadi Stadium.

Tags: Angola, Croatia, Friendly, Iran, Iranian Football Federation, IRIFF, Mexico, Portugal, Team Melli

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Comments

By Kevin | May 28th, 2006 at 2:08 pm

Iran deserved to lead 3-1 on two different occasions. Borhani’s escape was NOT offside, and neither was Zandi’s in the first half.

Also Nekounam missed a pretty much open goal

Iran played the entire game without Mahdavikia (one of the stars) and both teams subbed out the main players second half.

Croatia were overall the better team but this is usually expected of the host teams. Our defense proved weak at times.

I think the world is still ignorant on Iran’s abilities and are very biased and misinformed in their opinions. I just hope this ignorance continue until after we shock the hell out of everyone.

Peace

By Stuart | May 28th, 2006 at 2:10 pm

Sounds like a fair assessment. Gotta pick it up a level, I have Iran winning their group.

Posted from United States

By Sunday’s World Cup Friendlies Rewind - FIFA World Cup 2006 - World Cup 2006 Blog | May 28th, 2006 at 2:15 pm

[...] Croatia 2 - Iran 2 Thanks to the marvels of Chinese bootleg pirates (God bless you China, all one billion of you!), I watched a bit of this one. The game was more physical than you would expect for a friendly, but quite entertaining for a neutral observer. Iran took a 2-1 lead in the 83rd minute in part because of some horrific defense by Croatia. The hosts managed to salvage the tie thanks to a penalty converted by Marko Babic in the 90th minute. I still say Croatia is a dangerous team heading into the tournament. Their opener against Brazil should be a real cracker. I also maintain that Iran will go through to the second round despite all the comments and emails from Mexico fans telling me to stop smoking crack. I’ll continue to smoke my crack until Team Melli is eliminated, thank you. [...]

Posted from United States

By Ahmad | May 28th, 2006 at 2:27 pm

I think Iran did an amazing job today and if they played better they are ready to advance to the second round very easily. Iran could ve won the game but a draw is a good result because I think Croatia is one of the best teams in the competition. I thought before the game that even if Iran lost by goal difference then it has what it takes to win group D. Go Team Melli and dont forget Croatia is a very strong team this year !

Posted from Lebanon

By Arash | May 28th, 2006 at 2:36 pm

hey thanks Ahmad, don’t worry we will advance from this group if we don’t suffer injuries or fall victim to ref bias like today.

I believe everyone will still underestimate us even after seeing today’s performance. This can greatly play in our favor.

By kia | May 28th, 2006 at 2:54 pm

Afshin, to comment on your point #2, Croatia’s second goal was also a “gift made possible” by a bad error by Mirzapour!!!

Also, Borhani’s escape was definitely not an offside.

Considering these points, I think Iran did pretty good and that with mostly reserves in 2nd half. Of course, Croatia was not playing full force either. In fact, I belive, Croatia did not display its full potential in this game!

Posted from United States

By Afshin Afshar | May 28th, 2006 at 3:00 pm

Hi Kia,

Yes, the linesman in this game was not good. There was another offside call on Zandi which did not look like a good call.

Mirzapour’s error was forced by a bad defensive play. The defender should not have touched the ball so that Mirzapour could pick it up.

Although Mirzapour should have slapped the ball away or something.

So I think as far as gifts go we are even.

I read a few comments about the time of posession. Iran is NOT a posession team; they have never been unless they play very weak teams. So I do not worry about that too much.

All in all, a good game for Team Melli.

By GoodGuy | May 28th, 2006 at 4:54 pm

Kevin(or Koveh?) is right!

By DAVOR SUKER | May 29th, 2006 at 11:39 am

CROATIA TEAM IS ALL ALMOST SUBS

THAT PLAY IN DIFFERNT LLEAGUES AROULD THE WORLD

simic tudor tomas tokic

ALL OF THOSES GUY i would take out that dFENCE IS A JOKE

GOALIE PLETIKOSA IS AJOKE I LOST FAITH IN HIM BUTINA done broke hes leg

OTHER GUY DEDLUICA IS A OTHER BIGGER JOKE!!!!!!!

kovac kranjar babic vrajes

the mid is a joke