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Football, bloody hell!
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.
Hajsafi was targeted by Portugal regularly, with Cristiano Ronaldo shifting to the right for a considerable period to churn out something productive from that flank.
However, it was Ricardo Quaresma who cut in and played a one-two from that very wing, leaving Hajsafi flabbergasted and scored a beautiful goal to give Portugal a lead at the brink of halftime.
#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.
Pepe followed his adversary and stayed close to the opposition, often forcing them to lose the ball by applying high pressure and good marking skills. He sensed the aerial balls brilliantly, often jumping the highest to thwart away the crosses.
Pepe also delivered some crucial, accurate long balls to the other half, and looked to push higher up the pitch at times to look for another goal.
He was a true leader in that regard, marshaling the backline, shielding the custodian, passing the ball out from the back, and also playing it hard yet safe enough to make it past the game without any serious warnings from the referee.
Pepe was a brilliant rock at the back, and almost made Portugal’s defence impenetrable.
#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.
Ronaldo dropped to the midway line at times to collect the ball and thrive in the half spaces around the attacking half in the initial period of the game. There were some good glimpses when he formed passing triangles due to his tendency to move back of the field.
His touches were deft and allowed Portugal to adopt a slick momentum in their counter-attacks. However, we did not see the same level of ruthlessness in front of the goal that we have seen in the past 12 days. Cristiano took a good shot from distance, but it did not ooze the required level of pace and trajectory to trouble the keeper.
Then, his missed penalty further messed up things as Portugal had the opportunity to double their lead and gain an untenable advantage over there.
Iran pegged a goal back later and Portugal had to be content with finishing second, something that they could have bettered by finishing first had Cristiano leathered the ball inside the net.
#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.
Guerreiro was stuck in somewhat of a middle position regularly, failing to get into the groove of the game and constantly being found way ahead of ideal defensive positions whenever the opposition transitioned into attacking moves.
His inability to get into good crossing positions meant that a lot of offensive work fell on Cristiano’s shoulders from the left wing.
Currently, Raphael looks clueless on the field and was booked for putting in a dangerous, from-the-behind tackle to stop the opponent as Guerreiro couldn’t return to the required position on time. Sigh!
#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.
However, there came a moment when he was desperately wanting the ball just into the halftime. Quaresma received the ball, and played a slick one-two, before cutting in from the flank. However, rather than taking a curled left-footed effort, he struck the shot from the outside of his right foot, absolutely nonchalantly hammering it at the top left corner.
It was good game-awareness, as primarily, Iran’s stocked defence could only have been broken down by set-pieces or an individual moment of brilliance. Secondly, Quaresma chose to attack from the right flank, which was guarded by Hajsafi, who was undoubtedly the weakest link in the Iranian defence.
The accuracy and timing of his shot, combined with the patience in the passing before it further enhances the experience and big game mentality that Ricardo radiates on the field.
Bring on the knockouts, eh?
