Iran’s display against former champions Spain – one of the top teams – was commendable, but not unexpected. Australia might have pipped Iran in the latest FIFA rankings but Iran have been Asia’s best-ranked side for some time now, and justifiably so.
ALSO READ: Spain beat Iran 1-0 with Costa’s third goal of FIFA World Cup 2018 . Despite Iran being placed in a group alongside Spain and Portugal, experts felt that if there was one Asian side (there are five) which could progress from the group stage, it was Team Melli. They got lucky in the first match and are alive till the last round of matches; they will go through if they manage to put it across Portugal on June 25 – a huge improvement on their bottom-place finish in Brazil.
Former Real Madrid boss Carlos Queiroz, who has guided Iran to consecutive World Cups for the first time in their history, is an expert at organizing a compact defence. It was seen at the last edition in Brazil when they almost held Argentina before a Lionel Messi gem sealed the deal. It was also evident in the qualification process this time as they cantered through unbeaten to become the second team after Brazil to book their berth. In the entire campaign of 18 games, which also included games against India, Iran had 12 clean sheets and let in just five goals.
However, what has made the team more competitive and better prepared than last time? They have more players who play overseas and healthier attacking options. Since his appointment in 2011, Queiroz has drafted in a few players of Iranian diaspora into the national team. Only nine of the 23 who travelled to Brazil were based overseas and mostly in West Asia. That number has increased to 14 and, more importantly, these are players who are plying their trade in top-division clubs in European countries like the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Greece and Russia. “With the experience of Brazil 2014 under our belts and with several players having since moved to Europe, we have become more solid and competitive,” Queiroz told FIFA.com in February. Alireza Jahanbakhsh, playing for AZ Alkmaar, was top scorer in the 2017–18 Eredivisie, Olympiacos’ Karim Ansarifard was second highest-scorer in Superleague Greece while Saman Ghoddos has done well for Ostersund FK. That has allowed Queiroz to be more flexible in his approach. While he mostly had a deep-lying backline in Brazil, the Portuguese fielded a 3-4-3 line-up against Morocco while going for a more conservative 4-2-3-1 against Spain.