Carlos Queiroz was the federation’s favorite option to replace the Croatian coach and they said the Portuguese coach knows Iran football very well and so he would help the team qualify for the next stage for the first time ever.

Queiroz had led Iran in the 2014 and 2018 World Cups and had performed well, especially in the latter but he has failed to end Iran’s group stage qualification drought after three editions in charge.

The football experts had previously said Queiroz was facing shortage of time and it could be harmful but Iran football president Mehdi Taj didn’t take care about the criticisms and appointed him as Team Melli coach.

In the match against England, Queiroz showed that he is unfamiliar with the lineup and Team Melli suffered their worst ever result in the history of World Cups.

Iran football team earned a win over Wales but were edged by the U.S., while even a draw would see them qualify for the next stage.

In my opinion, Queiroz should not be blamed for what he has done. It’s federation’s fault.

Skocic was the best coach for the National Team since he knew his team very well and, without a doubt, Iran had a chance to make history under leadership of him in Qatar.

Iran have competed six times in the World Cup but have never advanced to the knockout stage.

In comparison to the Asian teams, Team Melli had been drawn in an easy group but missed a golden chance to make history.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/479224/Changing-coach-ahead-of-2022-World-Cup-not-good-decision

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Let us remind you that the scorers for the European runners-up were Jude Bellingham (35), Bukayo Saka (43, 62), Raheem Sterling (45+1), Marcus Rashford (71) and Jack Grealish (89), while the goals for Iran were the work of Mehdi Taremi ( 65, 90+13-11m).

But what hurts many Iranian fans is the fact that it was the Croatian expert Dragan Skočić who led the national team to the World Cup with a record number of points, only to be suddenly fired two months before the World Cup.

tportal.hr

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Porto striker Taremi scored in the 48th minute from inside the penalty box on a pass from midfield Ali Reza Jahanbakhsh at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran to secure World Cup qualification for the sixth time.

They extended their unbeaten run since Croatian head coach Dragan Skocic took over in February 2020, with 11 wins and one draw.

Iran have 19 points from seven games in Group A, two ahead of South Korea, who are within touching distance of a 10th successive World Cup appearance after a 1-0 win over Lebanon.

With Tottenham forward Son Heung-min out injured, replacement forward Cho Gue-song scored from close range in Sidon just before halftime. South Korea can secure qualification with a win against Syria on Tuesday.

The UAE stayed eight points behind in third with a 2-0 win over Syria. The top two teams from each group qualify automatically. The third-place teams advance to a playoff.

Both Iran and Iraq teams were hit by the absence of players following positive tests for Covid-19. Bayer Leverkusen’s Sardar Azmoun was among five Iranian players missing, along with eight Iraqi players.

Iran have played in the World Cup finals five times in the past – in 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014 and 2018 – while Iraq’s last and only participation was in Mexico 1986.

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Skocic is on the verge of leading Iran to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

He did a fantastic job in the current year, earning several consecutive victories with Iran.

Roberto Mancini, Lionel Scaloni, Roberto Martinez,Djamel Belmadi, Didier Deschampsare are also candidates for the Award 2021.

Mehdi Taremi and Sardar Azmoun had been previously nominated for the IFFHS World Best Forward, while Amir Abedzadeh is also shortlisted for the IFFHS World Best Goalkeeper.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/466696/Dragan-Skocic-shortlisted-for-2021-IFFHS-World-Best-National

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