21st at 10:00 pm Group B 1st round contest
Kane Bertie expects England to win
Sticky Iran ‘Swamp Soccer’, aiming for surprises
England, the ‘head of football’, eager to recapture the World Cup after 56 years, embark on a long journey to Qatar, starting with the first A game against Iran.
England, ranked 5th in the FIFA rankings, and Iran, ranked 20th, will play the first round of Group B of the Qatar World Cup group stage at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar at 10:00 pm (Korea time) on the 21st. . The clash between the two teams is the first ‘match-up’ in the history of A-match, a clash between male adult national teams.
The point to watch is how to solve the 56-year-old world cup ‘thread scan’. After lifting the Jules Rimet Cup (old name of the World Cup) at the 1966 tournament held in England, England have not had a chance to win. However, the European qualifiers for this tournament were unbeaten in 10 games (8 wins, 2 draws) and 1st in the group, raising hopes of an upset.
▲ Harry Kane.
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It is not an exaggeration to say that Harry Kane, the main striker of Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League, who is familiar to us as the duo ‘Son (Heung-min)-Ke (In),’ carries the destiny of England. . Following the World Cup in Russia 4 years ago, when he scored 6 goals, he is aiming for 2 consecutive victories in the ‘Golden Boot’ (highest scorer) and his country’s championship. Of course, support must be supported by colleagues such as Phil Foden (Manchester City) and Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), who scored 19 goals in A games.
Iran, who overtook Korea in the Asian qualifiers and took first place in Group A and went straight to the finals, will be participating in its 6th World Cup, including the recent 3 in a row. For Iran, the Qatar World Cup is the first tournament in history to challenge the round of 16.
The strong defensive organization, expressed as ‘swamp football’, is seen as a strength, but the offensive power centered around European players such as Alireza Jahanbachsi (Feyenoord), Medi Taremi (Porto) cannot be underestimated ), and Sardar Azmoun (Leverkusen). . However, it is an unmistakable fact that they are one step below England in terms of objective strength. In addition to this, the recent uncomfortable situation outside the game can act as a variable for Iran’s first game.
Following the incident of a local woman who mysteriously died in Tehran because she was wearing a hijab, the global football world continues to demand that Iran be kicked out of the World Cup, so the key is how intense the Iranian team will be. Another point to watch is the contest between the coach Carlos Queiroz, who took the helm in Iran for the third time in September last year, and Gareth Southgate, the England coach, who was once in tough rumours. Coach Queiros is famous as the culprit of ‘fist and potatoes’ for Korean football fans.
Correspondent Choi Byeong-gyu
