I think in that sense the novelty of exchanging shirts with famous players has worn off among our players and they don't look up to those big names and get intimidated like they used to ...that taboo has been broken ,now we see our team give as good as they can without giving in due to the name of the opponent , now if they have the talent and ability to beat such teams is something else and most of the time won't happen but it's not going to be easy for any team to beat Iran either .
I agree with some of your post but I give Iran more than a 5% chance of qualifying to the 2nd round. First of all we don't know what group Iran is in yet. Second of all as for the not ready for big tournaments and intimidated by big teams and names, those days are in the past. Iran will no longer be intimidated by the Argentina's of the world and not be star struck, when they see someone like Messi. What I agree is sometimes they park the bus when it counts but I think this team has the experience and coaching to make it. Here is how I would think about it, expect Iran NOT to make it to the 2nd round so if they do, consider that a nice bonus.
If we get a favourable draw + we manage to get a good result in our first game (anything but a loss). Then i say we would stand a decent chance of making it to the second round.
Otherwise we wont. Reason i say this is because i don't think our players are emotionally or psychologically strong enough to bounce back from a bad start in the World Cup. Specially considering the young age of our players, i don't think that maturity is there to be honest to be able to mentally bounce back from a negative start.
Also, if we are lucky enough to end up in a group with only 1 heavy weight side, then again lets hope we face them either 1st game when the boys are hungry, or the last game when we have already been able to pick up some points. I think playing Argentina and loosing the way we did in the second game killed us heading to our last game against Bosnia. The team looked like they had already given up before the game even started...
Otherwise we wont. Reason i say this is because i don't think our players are emotionally or psychologically strong enough to bounce back from a bad start in the World Cup. Specially considering the young age of our players, i don't think that maturity is there to be honest to be able to mentally bounce back from a negative start.
Also, if we are lucky enough to end up in a group with only 1 heavy weight side, then again lets hope we face them either 1st game when the boys are hungry, or the last game when we have already been able to pick up some points. I think playing Argentina and loosing the way we did in the second game killed us heading to our last game against Bosnia. The team looked like they had already given up before the game even started...
I think the mind set should be ''Winning The First Match'' if it is not against heavy weight opponent as you have mentioned. I mean as example in 2014. They made a monster out of Nigeria, they are African Champion, etc. And as result we played a very defensive game and even in kind of system, Iran scoring chances was more than Nigeria. It is only three matches and you need to show some hunger from the start of tournament.
See? You know this yourself.
The thing is, CQ cannot make these guys show "hunger" in a matter of months. That hunger first needs to exist in order for CQ to harvest it. It unfortunately has never existed. Iran is a tourist nation in the World Cup.
The fact that CQ or IFF never push for high profile friendlies against giants is also an indicator of this "hunger" not existing.
When you're hungry, you go hunting. When was the last time Iran went hunting against non-Asian opponents? Never.
Compare Iran's attitude in the World Cup with Iran's demeanor in Asian Cups. In every Asian Cup Iran goes hunting and we often produce some insanely entertaining games. The level of the opponents is just one factor. The mentality with which the games are approached is the bigger factor.
The thing is, CQ cannot make these guys show "hunger" in a matter of months. That hunger first needs to exist in order for CQ to harvest it. It unfortunately has never existed. Iran is a tourist nation in the World Cup.
The fact that CQ or IFF never push for high profile friendlies against giants is also an indicator of this "hunger" not existing.
When you're hungry, you go hunting. When was the last time Iran went hunting against non-Asian opponents? Never.
Compare Iran's attitude in the World Cup with Iran's demeanor in Asian Cups. In every Asian Cup Iran goes hunting and we often produce some insanely entertaining games. The level of the opponents is just one factor. The mentality with which the games are approached is the bigger factor.
I am hoping to see that level of hunger this time, but don't forget the main reason of why CQ made them play so defensive(beside the inferior squad in 2014 compare to this time), is lack of friendly matches and quality opponents, so it is normal to build this fear, but when you play more matches, you start to believe we can beat bigger teams, U-17 was a good example, they just managed to beat France and Mexico by 4 and 3 goals week before the start of tournament and every single of players mentioned that was the main factor which made them believe they can beat anyone.
When was this?! 
Otherwise I kinda agree with you on the rest!
Otherwise I kinda agree with you on the rest!
Iran 6 - 2 South Korea
Iran 4 - 3 South Korea
Iran 4 - 2 Bahrain (very strong Bahrain)
Iran 3 - 0 UAE (strong UAE)
Iran 3 - 3 Iraq (We lost in penalties but it was a well fought match with 10 men)
The point is, Iranians believe Asian opponents are totally beatable. Once you replace those Asian opponents with anything unfamiliar, Iran is suddenly an underdog with an irritating level of respect for the opponent. It's somewhat understandable if you want to save face, but saving face is exactly what Iran has done in 4 World-Cups and it just isn't satisfying.
In truth, besides the top 10 teams, the rest of the teams could beat each other on their day. The difference is Iran has to step up and show that they are better !
The talent is there - now they just need the right physical and mental prep.
I think besides Iran, Egypt, Tunisia and Panama every team at the World Cup has made it pas the first round at least once.
The talent is there - now they just need the right physical and mental prep.
I think besides Iran, Egypt, Tunisia and Panama every team at the World Cup has made it pas the first round at least once.
Well those are max 1 or 2 games per AC! and quite entertaining (not insanely). I wouldn't say we often produce these kind of games though. I'd say it happens once in a while.
The only game in which I thought we played insanely entertaining, was when we played against UAE back in 2001. We won with only 1-0 (Bagheri's shitty goal) and Karimi couldn't convert his millions of chances but boy we dominated them completely! 50% of the game was played more or less in UAE's 18 box!
But yes.....I do get the point you are trying to make and I agree with you! It's all about believing in yourself and not making a god out of the opponents, which we seem to do in all our WC tournaments!
The only game in which I thought we played insanely entertaining, was when we played against UAE back in 2001. We won with only 1-0 (Bagheri's shitty goal) and Karimi couldn't convert his millions of chances but boy we dominated them completely! 50% of the game was played more or less in UAE's 18 box!
But yes.....I do get the point you are trying to make and I agree with you! It's all about believing in yourself and not making a god out of the opponents, which we seem to do in all our WC tournaments!