Bosnia vs Iran Match Preview, Team News, Prediction, Probable Line Ups

Bosnia and Iran face off in another potential dead rubber as Bosnia and Herzegovina blew their chances against Nigeria and Iran depend on Nigerians to lose to Argentina so that if they win against Bosnia in this fixture then they would have hopes of qualification to the next round. Bosnians on the other hand would rather want to spoil the party and grab a win against the solid Iranians, and earn a victory in their debut World Cup campaign.

Bosnia Team News: Key Players and Strategy

Bosnia would want to put their best foot forward if they would want to etch a victory out of this match. Iran are a defensively solid team and can hurt their opponents if they are allowed space to counter attack. Bosnia would not be too confident after the dry loss to Nigeria but they should place their hunger for victory in a systematic manner when they face Iran as it is expected to be a match that is well fought and balanced on paper.

Bosnia and Herzegovina would expect their goalkeeper Asmir Begovic to start and perform better than his usual good performances. Begovic is one of the better goalkeepers in the Premier League but has failed to stop crucial goals albeit good finishes, but he would need to stop those goals and lift his team. Bosnia would surely want a solid back four, but they are most likely to retain the same one that played against Nigeria with the likes of Mujdza, Sunjic, Spahic and Medunjanin retaining their positions in defence.

Bosnia usually play with 5 midfielders supporting Edin Dzeko playing up front, establishing an attack minded 4-5-1 formation. Something remarkable will be expected out of Miralem Pjanic who is the team’s best playmaker, whose main duty would be to find Dzeko with attacking passes using his sharp vision. With his playmaking , Bosnia would expect some great key passes that he has actually failed to produce so far in the tournament.

Finally striker Edin Dzeko will need to show the world his true talent as he needs a goal in this tournament to mark the debut campaign of his country. The Manchester City start would do a world of good to his confidence going into the next season if he scores in the World Cup.

Iran Team News: Key Players and Strategy

The Iranians have a great chance to advance with a victory over Bosnia and a potential defeat of Nigeria against Argentina which is quite possible considering the pedigree of Messi’s Argentina. Iran will look to score some goals as they are yet to score goals in the tournament.

The Iranian back four is performing admirably as they have managed to concede only one goal in two matches, and that too because of a brilliant strike from arguably the best player in the world in Leo Messi. The Iranians are expected to play Haghighi on goal whereas Montazeri, Hosseini, Sadeghi and Pooladi are expected to retain their defensive positions. The defence will have another of the threats to deal with, Edin Dzeko this time, and they would need to be wary of the striker’s varied style of play when they face the tall and brawny finisher in him.

Iranian midfield’s major talisman is Ashkan Dejagah of Fulham who would be expected to drive the side with his skills and technique. He would be the one bearing the responsibility of the team’s attacking duties and creating of chances. He would have to link up well with the other midfielders and would have to provide service to striker Ghoochannejhad, who would act as a lone striker in a 4-5-1 attacking formation.

Iranians would obviously want Ghoochannejhad to start scoring in the tournament and with their requirement of scoring a couple of goals to have hopes of qualification, they would want their star man upfront to add goals to his game. Of course Iran would also love to have Dejagah contribute to their scoreline too, but altogether they want someone to score goals for their team as it is something they require desperately to move on further in the competition. Iran are yet to score in the tournament and would definitely play an attack minded game, and we can surely expect end to end stuff.

Author’s Predictions: Line Ups and Scoreline

Iran: Haghighi; Montazeri, Hosseini, Sadeghi, Pooladi; Timotian, Nekonam, Dejagah, Shojaei, Haji Safi, Ghoochannejhad

Bosnia: Begovic; Mujdza, Sunjic, Spahic, Medunjanin; Pjanic, Besic, Hajrovic, Misimovic, Lulic; Dzeko

Scoreline: Iran 1-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina

This would be an exciting match between the minnows of the tournament but with each team having similar quality in their teams, there is no way one team would even dream of backing off. And with some good talented attackers in both the teams, we can expect a few goals but it is hard to go beyond a draw for both teams as they are yet to step up with promising attacking displays.