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Saturday June 21st - 10:00AM | ||
| vs | IRAN | ||
| FIFA RANKING 7 | FIFA RANKING 37 | ||
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| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
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| ARGENTINA After a 4-1 win against Chile to begin their FIFA World Cup™ qualifying campaign, Argentina then stumbled against Venezuela and drew 1-1 at home to Bolivia, which raised doubts as to whether coach Alejandro Sabella, who took over after Copa America 2011, was up to the task. La Albiceleste, however,got back on track with 2-1 win over Colombia in Barranquilla, which began Argentina's 14-match unbeaten run through the remainder of qualifying, where they finished atop the South American table. Argentina tallied 35 goals while only surrendering 15 on the way to winning the preliminary competition for the third time. The rest of South America could only chase Argentina throughout the final qualifying fixtures. IRAN Under former Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz’s watch, Iran opened the preliminary competition brightly, scoring five unanswered goals past Maldives to progress. And Team Melli were met with little challenge in the next phase, maintaining their undefeated run as they finished section winners with three wins and three draws. However, despite logging an average of nearly three goals per match in the previous round,the fourth round proved to be more difficult for the strongly favoured Iranians. They found the net just twice in the opening five matches during which they lost twice and drew once to see their campaign in jeopardy. With so much at stake, Queiroz’s side rose to the occasion to see off both Qatar and Lebanon, before overcoming hosts Korea Republic 1-0 in the round’s final match to seal their return to the FIFA World Cup. |
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RECENT RESULTS |
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| ARGENTINA | IRAN | ||
| 15/11/13 - ARGENTINA 0-0 COLUMBIA 11/11/13 - BOLIVIA 1-2 ARGENTINA 15/10/13 - URUGUAY 3-2 ARGENTINA |
18/06/13 - KOREA REP 0-1 IRAN 11/06/13 - IRAN 4-0 LEBANON 04/06/13 - QATAR 0-1 IRAN |
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| PLAYERS TO WATCH | |||
| ARGENTINA With the landmark achievement of claiming four consecutive FIFA Ballon d'Ors (2009-2012), Lionel Messi in the undisputed leader of the Argentina national team and a multiple-trophy winner with Barcelona. Breaking all kind of goal-records, La Pulga is now looking to achieve greatness with his country after failing, somewhat surprisingly, to find the back of the net at South Africa 2010. Supporting him will be an all-star cast featuring Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano and Angel Di Maria, all of them on top of their game with some of Europe’s leading clubs. |
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| IRAN Filling the void left by Mahdavikia is captain Javad Nekounam, who has quickly established his place as the team's talisman. Aside from providing leadership, the skipper provides creativity alongside former Osasuna team-mate Masoud Shojaei. Belgium-based striker Reza Ghoochannejhad stands out among the emerging generation, while Fulham man Ashkan Dejagah shores up the midfield alongside Andranik Teymourian. |
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