AC2011 Draw

[BrankoWasTheBEST]

Group D: Iran, Iraq, North Korea, UAE.

Nekounam did not want North Korea lol

[zagros]

good group for Iran
the only problem will be IRAQ for us due to political issue...
government will push the team not to win, just like 4 years ago...players decided to looooose to S.Korea rather than to Iraq....
they were told, if we play against Iraq, you shall looooooooooooooooooose 
Amir GN was the coach and he thought since he listened to them, he will staty as a coach
we all saw what happened.
If Qotbi wants to win or at least be in the final, he needs to grow his balls
he needs to have guts
he needs to be firm
he should have learned by now that you cannot deal with players, staff and media, the same way you deal outside Iran or USA...he should have learned this by now
good luck to him

[BrankoWasTheBEST]

Its not just Qotbi who needs to have balls, the players and the agents within the camp will destroy the team spirit. Its some of the players that are agents of IRI like we saw in WC2006. They are the ones to watch and are only chosen because of IRI.

[Afshin]

It would be tough for Iran no matter what group we were in, but this is tough also, UAE won't be easy, they are one reason we didn't qualify for WC2010, North Korea won't be easy either, they are the other reason why we are not in WC2010, Iraq will always be difficult due to local rivaly and the 8 year war.

on top of all that we don't have a good team, it would not surprise me if we were knocked out at the group stage

[BrankoWasTheBEST]

But Qotbi has promised the cup 

[007]

But Qotbi has promised the cup 

No chance, and its not Ghotbi's fault, Australia, Japan and South Korea with WC2010 experience under their belts will be firm favourites to win Asia 2011, my bet is on Australia.  Iran would do well to get to the knock-out stage.

[Afshin]

Having had a better look at the draw I think Iran is in one of the easier groups, check it out, South Korea and Australia are in the same group, Japan and Saudi Arabia are in one group, Iran has it easy actually.

Group A:

A1. Qatar
A2. Kuwait
A3. China
A4. Uzbekistan

Qatar, hosts for the second time after putting on the ninth edition of the tournament in 1988, were seeded first but at this level of competition it offered no real advantage for Bruno Metsu’s side.

The Qataris will open their continental campaign against Uzbekistan, who along with Syria were the first side to book their place in the finals through the qualifying tournament, while the other Match Day 1 fixture sees Qatar’s Gulf Cup rivals take on China, hosts and runners-up at the 2004 AFC Asian Cup

Match Day 1

Qatar v Uzbekistan, Kuwait v China

Match Day 2

Uzbekistan v Kuwait, China v Qatar

Match Day 3

Qatar v Kuwait, China v Uzbekistan

Group B

B1. Saudi Arabia
B2. Japan
B3. Jordan
B4. Syria

Group B offers what could be the match of the group stage as the draw sets up a clash between two Asian football titans in the form of last tournament runners-up Saudi Arabia and Japan, both three-time AFC Asian Cup champions.

The epic East-West showdown – a repeat of the 2000 final which ended in victory for the Japanese – doesn’t take place until Match Day 3, by which time the two other teams in the group, Jordan and Syria, will have also staked their claim for a place in the quarter-finals

Match Day 1

Saudi Arabia v Syria, Japan v Jordan

Match Day 2

Syria v Japan, Jordan v Saudi Arabia

Match Day 3

Saudi Arabia v Japan, Jordan v Syria

Group C

C1. Korea Republic
C2. India
C3. Australia
C4. Bahrain

India, who made Asian football history by becoming the first nation to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup finals by winning the AFC Challenge in 2008, have been handed an extremely tough draw as the South Asian nation returns to the continental finals for the first time since 1984.

Bob Houghton’s side begin their campaign against Australia, who are taking part in the continental finals for the second time as a member of the Asian Football Confederation following their tournament debut in 2007, in a group that also includes the always-dangerous Bahrain and Korea Republic, who are appearing at the AFC Asian Cup for a record equalling 12th time.

Match Day 1

Korea Republic v Bahrain, India v Australia

Match Day 2

Bahrain v India, Australia v Korea Republic

Match Day 3

Korea Republic v India, Australia v Bahrain

Group D

D1. Iraq
D2. DPR Korea
D3. UAE
D4. Iran

AFC Asian Cup holders Iraq, who made headlines all over the world by overcoming the upheaval back in their homeland to defeat Saudi Arabia in a memorable final in Jakarta in 2007, couldn’t have had tougher start to the defence of their title, with the draw seeing them take on three-time champions Iran in the Group D curtain raiser.

In addition to Iran, who share the record for AFC Asian Cup appearances having participated at 12 tournaments, Group D also consists of experienced campaigners the UAE, making their eighth appearance at the finals, and DPR Korea, 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the second team to qualify by winning the AFC Challenge Cup following their penalty shootout win over Turkmenistan in the 2010 final.

Match Day 1

Iraq v Iran, DPR Korea v UAE

Match Day 2

Iran v DPR Korea, UAE v Iraq

Match Day 3

Iraq v DPR Korea, UAE v Iran

[dashali]

I kind of agree and disagree with what has said...
we will beat UAE, I am willing to put money down, unless we get a ref. who will just call for them and disregard us...we all know about arabs and ref.
N.Korea...they never beat us...and won't do it again..
our only problem is Iraq.... we will have problem with tem..
Got to go...write more later

[dashali]

ok...now I have more time...

Iran is in the great group...
we could not ask for a better group...
1st of all....if we want to win and show who we are....who cares which group and which team is in our section....but, let's say, we want an easy group to warm up and get better later on...that's ok.. this is a nice and easy group...
History is a great thing to know...
History shows....we did well against N.Korea, so far
very well against UAE....
and poorly against IRAQ
That is the only team we need to be worried about
Y?
because as we all know....players like Emad Reza, Jasem Kerar, Havar Mohammad and another one that I cannot recall his name, play in IPL....know a lot about our weakness and strength...thay can help their team a lot.
Emad Reza knows exactly how to score against Rahmati....that is scary
and like I said before....Political deals under the table will put our team one step behind.

we all know that IRI does not care for soccer team....they care more what will Iraqi people do and their soccer team does.....this might give IRI more leverage in Iraq...
recently about 20-25 people that I know, from Bazar....the rug dealers....went to Iraq. You know why? they went to help and work at the SHRINE of one of the IMAMS, cannot remember which one.... but, it seems like there is not enough people in Iraq to do that and Iranians have to go and do it.... political deals will kill us in that game, Unless players play harder and Qotbi get that LION HEART out

You might say....hey if we had beaten N.Korea, we would have made it to WC 2010, but that was another story, another time, another team. Javad Nekounam might have said that he does not like playing N.Korea but no one asked him which team or teams he wants to play against....does he rather play japan, or S.Korea....maybe Australia??

Iran chie karesh miekoneh?

SOORAKH
SOORAKHESH
MIEKONEH

[BrankoWasTheBEST]

I agree with many points made by Dashali.

[dashali]

ma chakeriem BWTB jan

I think qotbi has gotten the point...he knows that he is watched now

PERSIAN GULF