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The Granatkin Tournament got to the play off stage with Iran and Slovenia meeting to decide who finishes as the fifth-placed theam. Iran are here because they didn't have enough luck in the last game against Slovakia. The Slovenians are here because they managed to be better than the 'ridiculous' Estonia and Moldova in their group. Iran were one of the favorites for winning the title. Their record in the initial two games was spotless - two easy wins, a 8-0 goal difference, with possession over 60% on average, 20 shots on goal, and plenty of substitutions to prevent fatigue. They needed to get only one point against Slovakia for the first position, but conceded two goals early in the game. They couldn't get the point despite having 71% possession and 25 shots on goal. After the game, Slovakia's coach said his side's goal was not to be defending themselves for 90 minutes, but they just couldn't keep possession because the Iranians are both technically and physically superior. In the end, even the refereeing was a bit biased (a dubious penalty for Slovakia, two or three penalties were not awarded to Iran), which is what some see as a way of 'clearing' the draw for the host Russia. Slovenia played Estonia 1-1 in the beginning, with one of their players being sent off in the process. Russia destroyed them after that game (6-0), one of their players was sent off again, but the game was already settled at that point. Moldova, the team everyone is beating easily, proved to be a tough but to crack - the win was not easy. Slovenia's coach Gliha is constantly complaining about fatigue, refereeing, injuries...They are not looking good at all, they seem slow, which is why I think this game will go only one way. I expect Iran to have a possession of more than 60%, and at least 15-20 shots on goal. Hopefully, this game won't be filled with another string of misses for them. They showed they know how to play in the first two games (scored 8 goals). Iran did good in the last WC with this team, Slovenia failed to qualify for the EC. They didn't win a single point in their qualifying group (England, Russia, Portugal).