In the second game of Group F, Iran face Nigeria at the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba and it promises to be a fiery affair with two very experienced managers at the helm of each squad. Iran have a very experienced campaigner in Carlos Queiroz, having managed his native Portugal, South Africa and Real Madrid, and not forgetting that he had a long spell as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Manchester United. Stephen Keshi for his part has managed Togo, Mali and Nigeria and will be relying on a very youthful team this evening as he seeks to outdo his vastly experienced counterpart.

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Keshi was educated in coaching in the USA and many other managers could be forgiven for seeing him as relatively wet behind the ears. Keshi however, is not one to be detracted by such things and is very confident in his team having stuffed four goals past Ethiopia in qualification. On the team sheet for Iran is Charlton Athletic’s Ghoochannejhad, and it is anticipated that he will have his work cut out for him as he runs at his opposite number, Nigerian captain Joseph Yobo of Fenerbahce.

This is expected to be a game made up mainly of end-to-end countering, with a youthful Iranian squad expected to outrun the slightly older Nigeria. However, Iran should be aware that there is youth in the Nigerian squad, and should be keeping an eye on Chelsea starlet Kenneth Omeruo who currently plies his trade on loan at Middlesbrough. Keshi has placed an emphasis on enjoyment of the event for his squad, and has been working on improving confidence and focus, knowing that tonight’s game may be the best chance his side has of bagging three points.

Important for Iran is that Nigeria have lost six and drawn two of their last eight World Cup encounters, which is the longest stretch of bad luck among the entire thirty two world cup campaigners. Players expected to make the difference for Nigeria this evening and break that barren spell will probably include Peter Odemwingie, Victor Moses and Jon Obi Mikel as well as experienced ‘keeper Enyeama.

The Iranians will want to field their strongest eleven tonight to try and prolong Nigerian misery further with Dejagah, Pooladi, Ghoochannejhad and Shojaei likely to start. Nigeria have a weakness defending set pieces, having conceded eleven of twenty one goals against them in this way. Strangely, the three goals they have actually scored have also come from set pieces. Iran will probably try to exploit this weakness by running at the back four of Ambrose, Oshaniwa, Omeruo and Oboabona, who have proved quite a porous back line in recent games.

Carlos Vera of Ecuador, the referee this evening, may well have his work cut out for him, with this encounter sure to provide plenty of big, flying tackles and not a few crunches among the midfield as both teams seek to wrest control of an extremely important game. With many pundits writing this encounter off as the battle for third place, with Argentina off to a winning start at the top of the group.

Odds Comparison:

Iran	4.50	4.15	4.40	4.15	4.50	4.33
Draw	3.40	3.50	3.40	3.50	3.40	3.25
Nigeria	1.91	1.91	1.83	1.91	1.91	1.83

All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update