Which Player Can Team Melli least Afford to Lose to Injury?

I am in a very accommodating mood today, so I am going to answer another one of Bob’s big questions today!

The answer is very simple, the way Coach Branko Ivankovic has NOT developed Team Melli bench these days any loss will be a big one for Iran. But if I had to name one single player it would Ali Karimi (already injured), Mehdi Mahdavikia, and Rahman Rezaei!

Okay, so I named three, but we already have starters Ali Karimi, Vahid Hashemian, and Freydoon Zandi on the inured list. Although all three are expected to be back, it will remain to be seen if they will be in game shape for the World Cup. We can not have anyone else injured at this time.

My blog pal Euler of Brazil says it would be Ronaldinho for Brazil. Dude, first of all, loosing Ronaldinho for this World Cup would be a loss for any football fan, except maybe the Argentines! … Just kidding my Argentine friends!

Second, let’s suppose the unthinkable happens and Rolandinho can not play, you guys would still make it to the semifinals. Such is your dept of footballing talent.

From here on, I do not want to hear you say anything that may suggest you worry about dept of the Seleção

Now back to Team Melli, we have many young players with raw talent in Iran, but because the quality of our League is not up to that of the European or South American leagues, they do not get world class matches unless they play for Team Melli. Therefore, it is very important that the coach, bring these guys along and give them playing time so that they can jump in and replace the injured starters. That has not been happening, and that is why we can not afford to lose anyone.