While Argentina won their Group F World Cup opener against Bosnia-Herzegovina, it wasn’t a performance that is inspiring for their fans. Anything less than dominance against Iran on Saturday and the questions will start to get louder.
World Cup Odds: Argentina -850, Iran +2250, Draw +850
Why Argentina Can Win
It wasn’t until Argentina switched from a 5-3-2 formation to a 4-3-3 that they started to get the upper hand in their 2-1 win to open the World Cup, and it was a boost to Lionel Messi, who scored a great goal to put his team up 2-0. He and Sergio Aguero were cut off from Angel Di Maria in the midfield, and Messi was coming back way too deep to get the ball. Against Iran, manager Alejandro Sabella will likely start with the 4-3-3 and attack from the start, or else it’ll be a gross misuse of the talent at his disposal.
However, it is still up to the players to perform and perhaps it was because of the formation, but Argentina looked tight even after a third-minute own-goal gave them a lead, the players looked afraid to make a mistake. They also allowed a goal in the 84th minute as well, so Argentina has to maintain concentration at the back, even against Iran.
Why Iran Can Win
Manager Carlos Queiroz knows that his team can’t go toe-to-toe against the rest of Group F, so he set out his stall against Nigeria and his team performed the plan to a tee in a 0-0 draw. It wasn’t pretty to watch, but this team couldn’t afford to get blown out, especially in the first game of the tournament. The back end did well, while captain Javad Nekounam did his best to protect the defense while linking up with Reza Ghoochannejhad, who tried to challenge Nigeria’s defense whenever he got the ball, which was few and far between.
If Nigeria is going to win this game or even get a draw, they have to play like they did against Nigeria, probably even better when you consider the talent level on Argentina’s side. Keeper Alireza Haghighi played well enough to earn another start and he might need the game of his life to keep this even, while Ghoochannejhad has to run at Argentina’s defense. Honestly, this is a massive task for Iran, but they knew that coming into the World Cup.
Outlook
These two countries met back in 1977 with Iran earning a 1-1 draw, and if they can get a point in this game, the country would probably go into celebration mode while Argentina would be a sad and angry place. On paper, Iran has no business on the pitch with Argentina, but the favorites don’t look confident and Messi has never really grabbed a hold of the team the way he does at Barcelona. Argentina is going to win this game, but Iran won’t make it easy on them and things could get nervous for the South Americans.
Pick: Argentina
