Coach-less Iran takes on Russia in this friendly. Dick Advocaat will try and find his best 11 for the Euro 2012 qualifiers.
Iran won all their matches in the group stages of the Asian Cup, including a win over Iraq. Their hopes of progressing to the semi-finals must have been high when they met South Korea in the quarter-final stage. However, South Korea scored in extra time to leave Iran reeling.
Iran doesn’t have a permanent coach yet. Their interim coach, Alireza Mansourian selected the same 23 players who had traveled to Qatar for the Asian Cup. Only two members of the Iranian squad ply their trade outside the continent of Asia. Javad Nekounam and Masoud Shojaei both play for Osasuna in the Spanish La Liga.
For Russia, the hopes of a bright future for the national side, following the 2008 European Championships, have somewhat gone away. Their failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup dampened the spirits of the nation. Guus Hiddink left his post as the manager of the national side and Dick Advocaat took over.
Russia has done well in their qualification campaign for Euro 2012 so far. They top Group B with nine points from four games. In their last competitive international match, Russia beat Macedonia, 0-1, thanks to a goal from Aleksandr Kerzhakhov.
These are the squads:
Iran:
Goalkeepers: Mehdi Rahmati, Shahab Gordan, Ebrahim Mirzapour.
Defenders: Khosro Heydari , Mohammad Nosrati, Jalal Hosseini, Hadi Aghily, Farshid Talebi, Mohsen Bengar, Ehsan Hajsafi.
Midfielders: Javad Nekounam, Andranik Teymourian, Teraktorsazi Tabriz, Pejman Nouri, Iman Mobali, Mohammad Nouri, Ghasem Hadadifar
Strikers:Masoud Shojaei, Gholamreza Rezaei, Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari, Arash Afshin, Mohammad Gholami, Karim Ansarifard, Reza Norouzi.
Russia:
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev, Vyacheslav Malafeyev
Defenders: Alexander Anyukov, Alexei Berezutsky, Vasily Berezutsky, Sergei Ignashevich, Roman Shishkin.
Midfielders: Vladimir Bystrov, Igor Denisov, Konstantin Zyryanov, Roman Shirokov, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Alan Dzagoev, Pavel Mamaev , Dmitry Torbinsky , Igor Semshov.
Forwards: Andrei Arshavin, Alexander Kerzhakov, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Pavel Pogrebnyak.
The Russian squad is filled with very strong players as shown. Russia has grown stronger as a football nation due to the increase in quality of club football. CSKA Moscow recently impressed in the Champions League not too long ago, reaching the quarter-finals. CSKA and Zenit both boast UEFA Cups.
Plenty of the players in the squad come from these clubs. With the additions of Pavel Pogrebnyak from Stuttgart, Bilyaletdinov from Everton, Pavlyuchenko from Tottenham and Arshavin from Arsenal comes some added experience due to playing in the world’s best leagues.
Russia is expected to beat Iran. Iran, though, will definitely want to win on home soil.
Prediction: Russia 3-1 Iran.
Iran doesn’t have a permanent coach yet. Their interim coach, Alireza Mansourian selected the same 23 players who had traveled to Qatar for the Asian Cup. Only two members of the Iranian squad ply their trade outside the continent of Asia. Javad Nekounam and Masoud Shojaei both play for Osasuna in the Spanish La Liga.
For Russia, the hopes of a bright future for the national side, following the 2008 European Championships, have somewhat gone away. Their failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup dampened the spirits of the nation. Guus Hiddink left his post as the manager of the national side and Dick Advocaat took over.
Russia has done well in their qualification campaign for Euro 2012 so far. They top Group B with nine points from four games. In their last competitive international match, Russia beat Macedonia, 0-1, thanks to a goal from Aleksandr Kerzhakhov.
These are the squads:
Iran:
Goalkeepers: Mehdi Rahmati, Shahab Gordan, Ebrahim Mirzapour.
Defenders: Khosro Heydari , Mohammad Nosrati, Jalal Hosseini, Hadi Aghily, Farshid Talebi, Mohsen Bengar, Ehsan Hajsafi.
Midfielders: Javad Nekounam, Andranik Teymourian, Teraktorsazi Tabriz, Pejman Nouri, Iman Mobali, Mohammad Nouri, Ghasem Hadadifar
Strikers:Masoud Shojaei, Gholamreza Rezaei, Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari, Arash Afshin, Mohammad Gholami, Karim Ansarifard, Reza Norouzi.
Russia:
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev, Vyacheslav Malafeyev
Defenders: Alexander Anyukov, Alexei Berezutsky, Vasily Berezutsky, Sergei Ignashevich, Roman Shishkin.
Midfielders: Vladimir Bystrov, Igor Denisov, Konstantin Zyryanov, Roman Shirokov, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Alan Dzagoev, Pavel Mamaev , Dmitry Torbinsky , Igor Semshov.
Forwards: Andrei Arshavin, Alexander Kerzhakov, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Pavel Pogrebnyak.
The Russian squad is filled with very strong players as shown. Russia has grown stronger as a football nation due to the increase in quality of club football. CSKA Moscow recently impressed in the Champions League not too long ago, reaching the quarter-finals. CSKA and Zenit both boast UEFA Cups.
Plenty of the players in the squad come from these clubs. With the additions of Pavel Pogrebnyak from Stuttgart, Bilyaletdinov from Everton, Pavlyuchenko from Tottenham and Arshavin from Arsenal comes some added experience due to playing in the world’s best leagues.
Russia is expected to beat Iran. Iran, though, will definitely want to win on home soil.
Prediction: Russia 3-1 Iran.
