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The Lead Iraq's journey to their first World Cup in 40 years was marked by significant challenges, including travel difficulties and a tough playoff against Bolivia. René Meulensteen, assistant to Iraq's coach Graham Arnold, shares insights into the team's journey and his experiences coaching the team. Iraq's World Cup Journey Iraq's path to the World Cup involved 20 qualifiers and a decisive playoff in Monterrey, Mexico. The team faced travel chaos due to the Middle East war and airspace closure, with players and staff traveling from different cities to Baghdad and then to Amman, Jordan, for occasional flights. Players traveled up to 8 hours by car or bus to Baghdad. From Baghdad, they traveled 15 hours to Amman, Jordan. Fifa arranged a private charter, but the squad faced a 9-hour delay. They had an 8-hour flight to Lisbon, a 2-hour stopover, and a 12-hour journey to Mexico. The Playoff and Qualification Despite the challenging preparation, Iraq beat Bolivia 2-1 to secure their World Cup spot. The match was played in Mexico, where local Mexicans and Iraqis based in the US showed significant support. The Impact on Iraq The qualification has brought a huge boost of energy and hope to Iraq, a country still recovering from the aftereffects of the second Gulf war. Meulensteen describes the scenes in Baghdad as 'absolute madness,' with a genuine feel-good factor and a sense of pride among the nation. Meulensteen's Coaching Experience Meulensteen, who worked with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United, shares his experiences coaching Ronaldo and his approach to helping players cope with doubts. He emphasizes the importance of setting goals and being unpredictable on the field. Meulensteen encouraged Ronaldo to focus on efficiency and vary his game. He helped Ronaldo set a target of 40 goals for the 2007-08 season, which Ronaldo achieved, scoring 42 goals. The Future Outlook Iraq has been drawn into a tough group with France, Senegal, and Norway. Despite the challenges, Meulensteen is optimistic, citing the element of surprise as their biggest strength, as seen in Australia's performance in the last World Cup.

The traditional No 9 striker, once a cornerstone of football, is becoming increasingly obsolete. The partnership of Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke at Manchester United in the late 1990s exemplifies a bygone era when strikers were the main goal-scoring threats. Today, the Premier League's leading scorers are more likely to be wingers, No 10s, or false 9s.Data from Opta shows that strikers scored 41.6% of the Premier League's goals two decades ago, compared to 25.9% this season. The decline of traditional center-forwards is further evidenced by the decrease in standout individual striker performances. Between 2007 and 2012, there were four seasons with 10 or more hat-tricks by center-forwards; in the past nine seasons, this threshold has been met only once.The England national team faces a significant challenge with Harry Kane, their all-time leading scorer, approaching retirement. Beyond Kane, the options are limited, with Dominic Solanke and Dominic Calvert-Lewin failing to impress. The lack of quality strikers raises concerns about England's future prospects.Experts attribute the decline of the No 9 to the redefinition of the role and the increased emphasis on possession-based football. Emile Heskey notes that the traditional striker's job has changed, with more focus on creating space for other players. René Meulensteen argues that specialized striker training is essential to develop No 9s, but such training has been neglected in favor of more generalized sessions.However, there is hope that a successful team utilizing a lethal strike partnership could revive demand for traditional No 9s. Dean Whitehouse believes that if a manager starts winning trophies with paired strikers, other teams will follow suit, and the demand for No 9s will return. The abundance of technically gifted players, fostered by initiatives like Gareth Southgate's push for smaller-sided games at youth level, may yet lead to a resurgence of the traditional No 9.