Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Belo Horizonte: Carlos Queiroz brought a sense of perspective ahead of Iran's Group F clash with Argentina when the pragmatic Portuguese coach stated 'No match is won before being played' amidst suggestions that the superstars from South America will romp to a routine victory.
Queiroz, who is expected to step down as Iran manager after their involvement in the World Cup ends, is under no illusions about the interest in the match or what it means for his team to be involved in saying:
"No match is won before being played. That's the beauty of football. Our path up until now has been very tough. The qualification in Asia was very difficult but we have a great opportunity to play against these fantastic players (Argentina).
"It's the most eagerly anticipated match in the history of Iranian football. We've never played against a team like this before."
Led by mercurial Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, who scored his first World Cup goal in Argentina's 2-1 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, and with an embarrassment of footballing riches through their ranks, La Albiceleste go into the match as overwhelming favourites as Queiroz accepts.
"This game is between a team that is here to win the World Cup and another that is here to win its own World Cup, so to speak.
"I think our primary mission is to go beyond our limits, to put in an outstanding performance because we're up against a team of great quality. We can't play against Messi, we'll play with Messi, with a lot of concentration and discipline."
Having fended off media speculation of a rift in the Argentina camp following Messi's much publicised comments of the tactical formation in the game against Bosnia, Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella reflected on a return to the refurbished Estadio Mineirao.
"I have really good memories from here. I was thinking exactly about this when we were coming here today," Sabella said referring to the time he led Argentine club Estudiantes to their 2009 Copa Libertadores victory with a 2-1 second- leg win over Brazil's Cruzeiro.
"What I remembered is when the bus with our team arrived and my players started to sing, the Cruzeiro fans looked at them thinking they were crazy because my players came with a lot of self-confidence.
"Now I realised that the stadium has been remodelled and I was looking for the scoreboard which read 2-1 then. It's not here.
"But I think we will again be sitting on the left team bench like then."
Photo: AFP