Well I agree with your points I just don't put total emphasis on head to head meetings since they can be very misleading. I can give you many examples of club football teams (major ones) that have performed very badly about team x or y but when it came to performing in their respective leagues, CL, other European tournaments they outshined their bogey teams.
I am still of the opinion that Japan and South Korea are better when it matters the most and their performances in the biggest stages for Asian teams prove it. Such as World Cup and AFC performances. We have to wait and see how those 3 teams perform in the World Cup.
When it comes to history then I and most others regard trophies as the parameter of greatness. After all that is what matters. Those teams whether club or national teams that have proven that they have been able to win on a constant or very frequent basis and thus beat all others in sheer numbers when it comes to trophies won have the biggest claims of being the best teams in history.
So Nottingham Forrest as you mentioned are indeed a much greater club than let us say Crystal Palace that never won anything of worth despite them playing in the PL right now and being better.
EDIT: I am taking about performances on the biggest scene (World Cup & AFC) for Asian teams. In recent years. Not 10 years ago as you now write.
Look at the AFC in 2011. Japan won it and South Korea came third.
Look at the World Cup in 2010. Japan advanced from their group something that Iran has never done in a World Cup.
Those are the biggest football stage for any Asian country. So I am not ready to change my views until Iran proves me wrong in the World Cup and outperforms Japan and South Korea there.
Japan are definitely a better team then Iran. I never said otherwise. I was just showing FIFA rankings which are an important part of football wether you like it or not. In terms of success, Iran are the second best team in terms of Asian Cup with 3 wins. Just Japan with 4 wins are ahead.
My comparison was between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, not Crystal Palace. History also only matters as long as you are good in the modern day. There are many Champions League winners that are considered small clubs because they haven't had major success in recent years. Teams such as Celtic, Aston Villa, Hamburg, Steau Bucharest and Nottingham Forest are not considered part of Europe's elite clubs, even though they are all Champions League winners.
Japan are the defending AFC champions. North Korea came third. Iran was nowhere to be seen.
Japan advanced from their World Cup group in 2010 something that Iran has never done before. Iran did not even quality for the World Cup in 2010.
Head to head results are fine but as I already argued for and used plenty of examples of then it says very little in the bigger picture.
Performances on the two biggest stages for Asian teams in the World Cup and AFC on the other hand is what matters and here Japan and South Korea have proven, especially Japan, that they are above any other Asian team right now and have been that for a few years now.
Until Iran proves all this then I can say that they are better. Until then I don't agree with that at all and I am sure that Japan and South Korea will perform better in the World Cup too. At least if I did betting I would put my money on them rather than Iran to impress.
You as an Iranian don't have to agree with this but those results I mentioned don't lie.
Dude you can't compare form from 2 years ago to today. In 2 years many things can happen to change a football team. Players can retire, new players can come and shine. Coaches and managers can change. Tactics can change. All this affects the performances of a football team.