friendly matches

Playing friendly matches before the world cup is of utmost importance. It is not exactly clear how many friendly matches Iran would end up playing before the world cup.

In his first interview following Iran’s return from Korea, Branko Ivankovich suggested that Iran would play two friendly matches between now and June 2006. The opponents were to be Togo and El Salvador. This news was greeted with surprise and high level of criticism as earlier it was thought that Iran would play as many as 10 games. Later in an interview, Branko suggested that Iran would play six games and it was Paraguay and not El Salvador that would be faced.

By now, we know that Iran is scheduled to play Togo, Paraguay and possibly Croatia in a friendly tournament in November. This tournament is a very good start but it is just a start.

In this article, friendly matches and opponents selected of four countries, all representing Asia in the 2002 world cup, prior to the 2002 world cup are analyzed.

Prior to the Groupings for 2002 WC

Prior to the announcements of the groupings for the 2002 world cup, four teams studied had different levels of friendly matches. The period covered here is from the start of the summer of 2001 through the announcement of the pairings which is comparable to when Iran was qualified for 2006 world cup in June of 2005. Keep in mind that Japan and Korea had qualified as hosts and had more time to play friendly matches.

Japan and Korea each played 6 matches against counties from different continents prior to grouping announcements. Not knowing which countries they would be grouped with, they played with leading teams of four continents and were very active playing friendly matches.

Saudi Arabia and China on the other hand qualified late in the process and therefore didn’t play friendly matches prior to the grouping announcements.

Friendly Matches After 2002 World Cup Group Selections

In December of 2001, once the grouping selection was made, the friendly match landscape changed. The table below shows each country’s participated in friendly matches between December of 2001 and the start of 2002 World Cup.

Japan

Japan was grouped with Belgium, Russia and Tunisia. As such, Japan selected mostly European countries (5) for friendly matches and ended up playing 7 matches.

Among the European matches, we find Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine which presumably play more like Russia and we also find Sweden and Norway to bring the western European countries style of play.

All and all, in 12 months leading to the 2002 World Cup, Japan played in 13 friendly and friendly tournament matches and prepared herself well for the world cup.

Korea

Korea was very active and played in another 15 matches following the group parings. Korea was grouped with Poland, USA and Portugal. That grouping represented two European and 1 CONCACAF countries.

Interestingly, Korea played 7 North and Central America and Caribbean countries to prepare and play against the United States’ team in the 2002 World Cup. Two of the seven matches were in fact against USA herself. By playing USA twice, Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica, Korea learned the style of CONCACAF countries and prepared herself well for the United States.

Among the 5 European friendly matches Korea played, strong countries such as England, France, Turkey and Finland could be found.

In the 12 months leading to the 2002 World Cup, Korea played in 21 friendly and friendly tournament matches and prepared herself very well for the world cup. Korea played a brave and aggressive schedule and saw the fruits of her efforts in the summer of 2002.

Saudi Arabia

Like Japan, Saudi Arabia also played in 13 friendly matches. In this case, all 13 friendly matches were played after pairing announcements. Saudi Arabia was grouped with Germany, Ireland and Cameroon. Reviewing Saudis friendly selection process, one can see several problems and they are:

- Saudis played most of their friendly matches (7 games) against Asian and South American teams while they were not to play countries from either 2 continents in the group stage.

- European opponents Saudis faced, were not among the top European teams. Two of the three European opponents were Iceland and Estonia. If you play against weaker teams, you would not be as prepared.

- Between March 28th, 2002 and the start of World Cup, Saudis only played in one friendly match and that was against an African team.

With such inconsistent, incomplete and weak schedule, the embarrassing results of Saudis in 2002 World Cup were not that surprising.

China

China was grouped with Brazil, Turkey and Costa Rica. China, the weakest Asian team in the 2002 World Cup, played the least number of friendly matches and saw only action in 5 games in the 6 months leading to the world cup. It was as if the head coach of the team knew the team was not of the world cup caliber and was trying not to destroy the Chinese confidence prior to the games.

While paired with a CONCACAF team, China didn’t play a single match against a team from that region. Of the two European matches, one was against a weak Slovenia. As a result, Chinese’s disappointing 2002 tournament was not a surprise.

Last Words

It is clear that playing in friendly matches is essential for a good world cup showing. It is also clear that opponents have to be selected carefully to represent the world cup pairings and they must have the right level of strength.

In the months leading to 2002 world cup, Saudi Arabia and China chose a much simpler and less complex route than Japan and Korea did. They both looked conservative to the point of being scared with their schedules. Both suffered as a result. While one can argue that China was weak to begin with, the disastrous results of Saudi Arabia were unexpected.

It is not surprising to see Branko’s lack of desire for international friendly matches. In the six months leading to the 2002 world cup, Branko’s home country, Croatia played in just four friendly matches. They were all against Eastern European teams.

Similarly, when Branko was the assistant coach with his country in the 1998 World Cup, in the 6 months leading to the games, his team played in 4 matches. One of those four was against Iran.

In 2002, Croatia was eliminated in the first round but in 1998, Croatia got results. Iran is not the 1998 Croatia and is more comparable to the 2002 Japan and Korea.

We hear that Iran would play somewhere between 2 to 6 friendly matches prior to the world cup. If that in fact is the case, it is not enough. Playing in the 2007 Asian Cup qualifying matches, as it was stated by Branko, is a poor excuse to avoid the right level of matches against the right level of opponents. Matches against likes of Maldives, Syria and Kuwait in the 2007 Asian qualifying round would not make up for true preparation matches.

Iran’s Football Federation and the national team coaching staff would need to be daring and professional in selecting the right mix of opponents over the next 8 months. While there is no magical number for friendly games, 7 to 10 carefully selected matches following the group announcements seem to be in line with what the rest of the world is doing. Well, in line with the rest of the football world but apparently Croatia!

Note: www.eloratings.net was the source of friendly matches for this article.