Preview: Mexico vs. Iran

June 11th, 2006 | by: WC Bob |

GAME DETAILS
Mexico vs. Iran, Munich, 18:00 CET

The Big Picture
This could be the biggest, most important match of Group D. A win by Iran would put Mexico in a hole. A win by Mexico might lead to an early exit for Team Melli. Keep an eye out for who wins the battle of the midfield in this one. I’ve taken a lot of wrath the past few months from Mexico fans saying I’m crazy to pick Iran to come out of the group ahead of their team. Tonight we’ll see just how loco I am and how good or bad both teams are this World Cup.

Teams: Likely formation; shirt numbers; name, caps, goals, coach:

Mexico (5-3-2): 1-Oswaldo Sanchez (70-0); 3-Carlos Salcido (32-2), 14-Gonzalo Pineda (30-1), 4-Rafael Marquez (65-7), 5-Ricardo Osorio (35-1), 15-Jose Antonio Castro (12-0); 6-Gerardo Torrado (56-2), 7-Antonio Naelson (32-4), 8-Pavel Pardo (125-5); 9-Jared Borgetti (75-38), 10-Guillemro Franco (7-2). Coach: Ricardo Lavolpe

Iran: (4-2-3-1): 1-Ebrahim Mirzapour (64-0); 13-Hossein Kaebi (44-1), 5-Rahman Rezaei (43-3), 4-Yahya Golmohammadi (69-4), 20-Mohammad Nosrati (44-3); 2-Mehdi Mahdavikia (89-11), 6-Javan Nekonam (71-12); 14-Andranik Teymourian (7-1), 9-Vahid Hashemian (28-11), 8-Ali Karimi (90-33); 10-Ali Daei (147-109) Coach: Branko Ivankovic

THE BOTTOM LINE
Nick sez: Mexico 2-1
Pete sez: Iran 3-0
Bob sez : Iran 17-16
Sean sez: 2-2 Tie
Chris sez: Mexico 1-0

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LIVEBLOG
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IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS

Mexico

Mexican goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez returned to Mexico on Thursday following the death of his father but said he intends to return. If he does not return, Jesus Corona will replace him.

Mexico City is sinking 6-8 inches a year because the city was built on an underground reservoir that is drying up.

Mexico introduced Chocolate to the rest of the world.

The Poinsettia plant was named after Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to
Mexico.

Mexico Team Blog
Team roster
Buy a Mexico jersey to support the team

Iran

The teams have never met in a competitive match with their only encounter coming in 2000 in a friendly in the United States. Mexico won 2-1.

The earliest known windmills were in Iran (Persia at the time) and looked like large paddle wheels.

Iran defender Mehdi Mahdavikia was recently found to have two wives that did not know about each other.

Mt Damavand is Iran’s highest point at 5,604 m (18,386 ft)

Iran Team Blog
Team Roster
Buy an Iran jersey to support the team

TEAM BLOGS & DISCUSSIONS
Mexico Team Blog
Iran Team Blog

International Football News – World Cup Blog RSS Feed

Vachik

IRAN 3
Mexico 1
http://TAHERI.persianblog.com MEHDI TAHERI MEHR

MEXIC – IRAN = 1 VS 0
http://TAVAK.persianblog.com MOHAMMAD T

IRAN – MEXIC = 4 VS1
IMPOSSIBLE IS IMPOSSIBLE!!
BrendanLee

the iranians are good but their aged players will be the deciding factor for this match.
The mexicans need this win to avoid a much stronger side from group C…,The Tequila will be pouring non-stop..!!
http://sassan.blogspot.com Sassan

Iran 2 Mexico 1

Viva Iran ;)
http://www.strangerinegypt.com/blog Stranger

Can be a beautiful game as both side need to win this game. Iran is under dog but expect a good game from them.
Iran has a strong offense but weak defense. In contrast, Mexico is good in defense but not that good in offense so I don’t expect more than 1 goal in the game.
banamak855

iran-2
mexic-1
sooz

anyone know who the ref is in this game?
Kaveh

Rosseti from italy will be the ref
Tommy

I think Mexico will win a close battle 2-1
sooz

thx Kaveh. do you know of a master list of refs and their respective games? I have overgoogled this and found nothing.
zé

Mexico is coming strong. Their past few friendlies weren’t good, but they’ve always had a good team and they’ve had extra time to prepare for this WC. I’d predict a MEX victory, but I won’t, as I’m getting it all wrong so far.
Roland

Iran have some key injuries and the Mexicans are hungry. If the Iranians show they can hang with “El Tri,” I will be impressed. Nevertheless, I’m calling Mexico to win it 2 – 0.
ben

sooz just check worldcup.com
sooz

ben……have done that. ref list but no ref-game list. oh well, will know at each game anyway. enjoy this all. this game, as many others, is saturated with contraversy and irony. ignore and watch the talent I say.
USA

I am going to go against the tide and pick Iran, 2:1, over Mexico.
Roland

Smart of Iran to take those mid-distance shots early. Test Sanchez.
CHUEY

SI SE PUEDE, SI SE PUDO!!!!!!!!!!!