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A day after Qatar set an unwanted record in the becoming the first host nation to lose their opening match, Iran imploded against a rampant England side in falling to their heaviest World Cup defeat to continue Asia’s poor start to the tournament.
In 15 previous finals matches Iran had only conceded more than three goals in a single game just the once and that was a 4-1 defeat against Peru way back in their debut outing in 1978.
At the Khalifa Stadium in Doha it looked at points as though they were on track to double that previous mark, a result that perhaps mercifully ended at only 6–2.
Make no mistake, this was an impressive showing from a strong England side but Iran were poor throughout, both defensively and on the seldom occasions that they had the ball.
Things began on a silent note pre-match as the entire starting XI refused to sing the anthem and then got worse as goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand appeared to suffer a concussion but was allowed, after a lengthy break, to continue.
When play finally restarted he again went to the ground shortly afterwards before being replaced in a series of events that FIFA really needs to look at given the growing concern over brain injuries.
The replacement, Hossein Hosseini, then watched three goals fly past him before the break with England adding that number again in the second half; another dominant 45 minutes that was briefly pierced by a well-taken Mehdi Taremi goal and a late penalty from the same player to complete the heavy defeat.
The curious, and politically motivated, decision to change coaches so late in the campaign, we were told, was to give Iran the best chance to be competitive on the global stage.
On this evidence, it’s a move that’s backfired spectacularly.
To absolutely nobody’s surprise Iran set out with the intent of seemingly doing all they could to contain England with the mindset that perhaps a scoreless draw could be viewed as a positive outcome.
A flat block of five sat deep, with three central midfielders in front of them and two nominal forwards in Taremi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh, whose only involvement for much of the first half was to press and attempt to close down an England side who were patient in moving the ball and waiting for gaps to appear.
The more the goals flew in the more stretched and disjointed the defensive organisation became; players getting dragged out of position, not reading the triggers of where and when to press and then squabbling with each other every time that Hosseini picked the ball out of the back of the goal.
For a coach whose ideology is well established and a team that was supposed to be built on defensive structure and discipline this was a cutting result.
Perhaps, after all, changing coaches two months out from the World Cup was not the smartest move.
You also have to wonder what the deposed former coach Dragan Skocic is thinking as he watched Iran concede more goals in a single match than they did in the 14 competitive outings in which he was in charge.
As bad as things were defensively, they were arguably just as bad, if not worse, when they had the ball with aimless long punts from the back under little pressure, limited movement and runs off the ball and misplaced and mistimed passes.
This was a chastening opening performance from Iran and it will take all of Queiroz’s experience and guile to try and turn things around.
WHAT WE LEARNED
Mehdi Taremi deserves better: Given poor service by a defence and midfield that struggled to hold the ball for more than two to three passes, still Taremi scored a fine goal out of almost nothing and added a well-taken late penalty to go joint top of the Golden Boot race. As is the case with other AFC nations, the fear of being exposed limits the willingness to play to the attacking qualities that this team possesses.
There was no Plan B: Even with a triple substitution at the break and some positional shifting there was no fundamental change to the tactical approach even as the goals continued to rain down, this rigid and unyielding approach needs to be altered if Iran are to have any hope to progress.
Two months is not enough to prepare for a World Cup: The contrast from an England side that have been together for years under the same coach and have developed a fine understanding with each other to an Iran team that fell apart as each goal went in was stark. A couple of camps and a handful of warmup matches was clearly not enough to develop the chemistry, especially going forward, that Iran needed.
WHAT THEY SAID
Carlos Queiroz – Iran coach
“My view is simple and very pragmatic, the game finished in the first half when we conceded the goals. Our national team isn’t used to conceding. At 3-0 down the only goal for our team was to enjoy the game and try to play our football in the moments England allow us to do that.
“We are much better prepared now to play against Wales. It was a good training preparation for us at a high level of competition. Everything is open for us, we have six points to play for. That is what we’re going to try do to, try to win the next game and the game after that.
“Everyone knows the present circumstances of the environment of my players. It’s not the best environment in terms of commitment and concentration; they are human beings and kids. I’ve known them for a lot of years. They only have one dream, which is to follow the legends of the country, play for the country and play for the people, and enjoy playing for the people.
“And I’m very proud of them the way they stand up and keep fighting and two score goals against England, I am very proud.
“In (20)14-18 we had the full support of the fans and now, you saw what happened today. My duty it is probably to invite the fans of Iran that aren’t here to support the team, they should stay home. Why do you come here to be against the team? We don’t need them, it’s much better that they stay home… we don’t need them. It’s something the players feel when they are playing.”
WHAT COMES NEXT
Queiroz now has three days to prepare for the challenge of Wales in what looms as a match where not only a positive result is required but perhaps also some goals should the differential become a factor.
Perhaps more importantly though will be to restore the belief and mentality that was stripped bare by England before an even greater challenge awaits in the form of the USA in their final group match.
Photo: twitter/FIFAWorldCup
