Carlos Queiroz instilled and channeled self-belief of the highest quality in this Iranian team, as they gave it all that they had in order to keep their chances of qualification to the Round of 16 intact. However, Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo’s previous performances simply could not be overturned, though, Iran managed to drop them down to the second spot.
Portugal will now have to face Uruguay in the next round, as Iran stole a late penalty through a perceived handball by Cedric Soares.
The tables kept on turning throughout the night, as Iran pushed their limits to match that of Portugal by Fernando Santos’ endless defensive drills bore fruit as Portugal kept hold of their fort sans that single spot-kick. There were plenty of nervy moments in this game, with tides turning heavily on Iran’s favor.
However, Queiroz’s men failed to apply the finishing touch to their attacks, and Portugal countered well enough to thwart dangers. Here, I discuss five players who went through contrasting periods for the duration of 90 minutes:
5 Worst: Ehsan Hajsafi
Iran have been tirelessly churned to maintain defensive solidity by their manager. Regularly, they have proven to be tough nuts to be cracked and they always close down spaces near the final third. Moreover, a major part of their style of play is to block the passing lanes, closely follow the opposition’s creative outlet and to put their body in the line of the ball.
This has frustrated the opposition well enough in the past, but Portugal managed to carve out an opening in their backline. Left-back Ehsan Hajsafi was caught off-position regularly and was failing to stick to his positions. He did not even deliver decent deliveries into the box and resorted to committing stupid fouls whenever he didn’t get back to his actual positions.
4 Best: Pepe
At a time when Iran attacked with flair and strength, with brute force amalgamated with hopeful long punts, Portugal incessantly required the gutted, no-nonsense demeanor of Pepe by their ranks.
The former Real Madrid man refrained from anything nasty, but was colossal against Iran, as he won aerial balls, cleared out the ball and made some crunch tackles to ensure that they kept the Iranians at bay.
3 Average: Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano is the epitome of self-belief, mentality and sheer ruthless sense in terms of coming out on top and making a way for himself in the crowd. He has defied odds all through his career in order to avoid the average stamp next to his name, but tonight, he was hardly anything except that.
2 Worst: Raphael Guerreiro
Raphael has still managed to keep hold of his spot at left-back, despite the team having Ricardo Pereira on the bench. It is somewhat astounding of sorts, as the fullback has hardly been convincing with his performances in every group stage match.
Like Hajsafi, even Raphael always looks confused and unclear regarding his primary job on the field. Neither did he stretch the byline, nor was he well positioned to stop attacks coming from his wing.
1 Best: Ricardo Quaresma
Ricardo was drafted in the team and notched an instant impact by delivering a good performance against Iran. Starting from the right flank, he interchanges positions with Joao Mario to create unrest in the opposition’s backline and was regularly looking for holes and spaces in the opposition’s defensive line.
He made some dazzling runs, making good use of his footwork but repeatedly lacked the proficiency and effectiveness in front of the goal. Quaresma wasn’t crossing the ball properly and took wayward corner kicks too.