What a match that was. Even the 1-0 matches in this tournament are great.

Argentina were very slow and frustrating going forward but a lot of credit for that has to go to Iran for their remarkable resilience and they could well have won it. In the end, it took a piece of genius from one of the best ever to beat them.

Was always gonna be too good to be true. Hope the stupid ass Argie coach gets his comeuppance for not taking Tevez though. Insane descision.

Exactly. It takes one moment of magic to win a game.

But that's what you need to be one of the best teams in the world. That's what most have them have got.

That game could be very dour because Iran are very defensive and Bosnia lack cutting edge. It could be a big game though cause I expect Bosnia to beat Nigeria.

It'll probably be 3-3 now...

They may feel gutted (after all they had a stone cold penalty denied them) but no one can take away from the fact they frustrated Argentina for near 90 minutes. Not only that, but they didn't do it by simply parking the bus, but made some good attacks.

All in all, an entertaining game, and well done to Iran for making it so!.

Really? That goal was brilliant but his all-round performances in both opening games has been underwhelming - there have been goal scorers so far in the tournament who I'd say have performed better tbh - I dislike him, but Suarez for example.

And as for Argentina, well - they've been a bit underwhelming for a team who are favourites to win the WC; defensively quite wobbly, and a midfield which isn't good enough. Aguero doesn't look fit at all, and I've never really rated Higuain. They'll meet teams who are far better than Iran as they go further in the competition, and they may well find that Messi moments won't be enough to win the WC.

Hasn't Tevez not been picked because he did what he always does and falls out with everyone? Hardly getting his comeuppance by winning the match either.

Well.....at least it was a quality goal and not the result of mistake at the back. If you're going to lose, that the way to do it I guess.

Amazing effort by Iran. I've read that the manager is leaving after this World Cup due to lack of financial support from the Iranian Government. After that performance surely they could throw him a couple of quid.

It does matter how poorly he plays over the course of the match if people want to put him on a pedestal and call him the greatest player in the world. Jordan Henderson could have scored a goal like we've just seen yet if he put in the performance Messi did over the course of the match, he'd still be criticised.

I wouldn't call Messi an impact player. That makes him sound like a super sub when in reality, he's meant to be the star man; he leads and others follow. He didn't do that against Bosnia and he didn't do it again today.

Now that is true.
Their defending has been excellent.

And whilst Iran did park the bus for bits that bus did turn into an exocet from time to time.

Bit difficult for them because the country is suffocated by US-led economic sanctions.

Argentina need to have more movement and pace in their build-up play. I think Lavezzi should be in the team going forward and Higuain hits the bench. I'm not sure if Aguero is fully fit either.

I wish Chiles would give over about England.

England could have easily parked the bus for 90 minutes and aimed for a point in both games. Any team could.

Although supporting them today, I can't feel sorry for Iran.

If they had played like this against Nigeria, they would have beaten them easily.

This is the World Cup, after all - if you get there, you try ... and they were woeful against Nigeria

Iran arguably had just as good chances today as England had against Uruguay.

And Costa Rica are no bus-parkers.

Yes, I guessed that the economy would limit their football setup, and rightly so I imagine, there's far more important things in life.


Agreed. We're out, ITV. Get over it.

Get gerard out now and soon and liverpool and Tranmere and Bolton and Prestoin., Gerard...go to hell

I find it interesting that ask any non English pundit about England and they have a totally different outlook and angle to things. We're obsessed with the same old tick box exercise.

Try again in English.

Gerard must go

Probably not. We had several good chances, Rooney had 4 alone. Although parking the bus does tend to lead to the occasional chance on the counter attack as the opposition overcommit to try and break you down.

Pre-season training already?

100% disagree. I don't see why his position is even under question.