Queiroz praises China’s Lippi ahead of Tehran showdown
Germany’s Ozil doubtful for Azerbaijan qualifier: Loew
BEIJING, March 25, (RTRS): Iran coach Carlos Queiroz has heaped praise on China counterpart Marcello Lippi ahead of their vital World Cup qualifier next week, the Portuguese saying the man who led Italy to the global title in 2006 is good for Asian soccer.
Lippi took over as China coach to revive their flagging fortunes last October and after drawing his first game in charge, the 68-year-old Italian led his side to a 1-0 home win over South Korea on Thursday to keep the side’s hopes alive.
The win lifted China on to five points, still four adrift of the third-place playoff spot with four games remaining, and table-topping Iran will not be taking them lightly in Tehran on Tuesday despite an unbeaten start to the final group campaign.
“Lippi has been everywhere in football and he will make China a stronger and more intelligent team,” Queiroz, whose side have yet to concede a goal in six matches and top the standings on 14 points, told the South China Morning Post.
“We know that China will be well-organised and will be compact in defence. We have to be patient to try and break them down but also be careful of their counter-attacking.”
After leaving Italy in 2010, Lippi had a successful two-andhalf-year spell in charge of Chinese powerhouse Guangzhou Evergrande before he was coaxed out of retirement last year and Queiroz is delighted to see the Italian back in the dugout.
Queiroz, who has been in charge of Iran for six years and led Team Melli to the 2014 World Cup, believes Iran will continue to improve and remains proud of his achievements so far. The top two sides in Asian Group A will advance to the finals in Russia next year while the third-place finishers qualify for a series of playoffs.
Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil is doubtful for Sunday’s World Cup 2018 qualifier at Azerbaijan after receiving treatment for a back injury, coach Joachim Loew said on Saturday. Ozil, who missed their 1-0 friendly win over England on Wednesday, skipped Friday’s training session before the team headed for Baku and will have to wait until later on Saturday for a final decision, the coach said.
“Yesterday Sami Khedira, Mario Gomez and Julian Draxler trained normally with no problems at all,” Loew told reporters in Baku. The three players were also sidelined for the England game.
“Everyone trained apart from Mesut,” Loew said. “He will have to wait until the last training (session). He had back problems and received treatment yesterday and today. We will train today and then decide.”
Loew said he was planning to start with
Benedikt Hoewedes as a partner to Mats Hummels in the central defence, replacing Antonio Ruediger, who had started against England.
England goalkeeper Joe Hart hailed the experimental 3-43 formation that manager Gareth Southgate adopted against Germany on Wednesday, saying that it was good to see them try “something new”.
Although England lost the game 1-0 in Dortmund, their performance was widely praised.
The same formation has been instrumental in the success of Premier League leaders Chelsea this season but is a departure from the 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1 favoured by Roy Hodgson at Euro 2016 or the 4-2-3-1 adopted by his successor Sam Allardyce, who lasted just 67 days in the England job.