Month: May 2012

Iran’s first loss under Queiroz in Albania friendly

Istanbul – BJK İnönü Stadium.

http://media.isna.ir/content/12-70.jpg/6

Team Melli Iran lost its first ever match under Carlos Queiroz  when they went down to Albania 1-0  in a friendly match held at BJK İnönü Stadium , the home of Besiktas football club in Istanbul. The match was in preparation for the upcoming clash with Uzbekistan on 3rd June and was carried out as part of the one week camp in Turkey set up by the Portuguese coach.

The first half was goal-less as Team Melli started the match in a disorganized style with mainly aimless ball distribution dominating the proceedings. However , the team performance improved as the match went on but without much offensive prowess.

Albania scored their goal against the run of play when the midfielder Emiljano Vila  pounced on a lose ball on the hour and shot to the far right of Alireza Haghighi in goal to score the only goal of the match.

Albania (84 in FIFA Ranking ) has already defeated another of  Iran’s (52 in FIFA Ranking)  group opponent , Qatar  in the same city 2-1 a few days back.

At the press conference , Carlos Queitroz was uncompromising about  about the match result and the fact that his players had 5 clear scoring opportunities 3 of which was one on one sitiution , yet they lost the match against an opponent who had only two scoring chances.

Queiroz  asserted that  it was a good game, and he will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the team from this match.

He continued “  I am happy with the team especially the defenders who had a good day behind the other player also demonstrated an acceptable performance on the ground and were able to match the opposing team under pressure to 90 minutes.

“From the technical point of view ,we have reached our objective and the match was useful but , but I was extremely upset for the loss.”

Asked about the new player Omid Nazari , Queiroz said that he was very enthusiastic about using the player in the line up to assess his performance , regrettably the IFF has failed to finalize his paperwork , hence he was not eligible to participate in the match as part of the team. Nazari holds a dual citizenship of Sweden and Iran and plays in the Swedish League.

Queiroz remarked that he was quite impressed  with the fighting spirit and the motivating of his players in this contest and hence he is satisfied.

The Team Melli coach said that he did not use the main players in this match because of the fatigue of those players and the pressure of playing in the league and AFC Champions league.

Iran continues its domination of Asian futsal with an Aussie drubbing.

Dubai – Maktoum bin Rashid Arena – Al Wasl Club..

Iran futsal team dominated their strongest group rival and scored 9 goals without return in what was dubbed as the battle for group leadership. At the end , it was just another practice session for the Persians as they run over Australia 9-0 in a one sided match.

Vahid Shamsaei , the ever green Iranian Captain was on the score sheet again as he lead his young teammates to an emphatic third victory on a row scoring an average of 10 goals a game ( Played 3 Won 3 Goals for 31 against 1). The first half ended 5-0 for Iran and despite some strong efforts by the Australians , they could not manage to penetrate the solid Iranian defense. On the rare occasion that they managed , Nazari , Iran’s goalkeeper was more than capable of handling any threats.

Iran , therefor concludes its group matches with an impressive record. Team Melli will be facing Uzbekistan in the Quarter Finals on Monday.

Team Melli is meeting Albania

Sunday 2t May 2012 – Istanbul – Besiktas Stadium :

Team Melli , currently undergoing a training camp in the preparation for their first match in the final rounds of Asian Zone FIFA World Cup qualifiers , will be meeting tha Albanian National football team in Istanbul. This friendly comes about a week prior to the opening match vs. Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

 

Albania , has already played another of Iran’s group opponents , Qatar and manged to beat them 2-1.

 

 

A whirlwind start for defending AFC Futsal Champions, Iran.

Iran Futsal teamThe defending AFC Futsal Champions, Iran has started their campaign in whirlwind style when they defeated their main rival in the group , Korea Republic by a whopping 14-1 score line.

The first match of the two powerful Asian opponents played in Al Shabab arena to a full capacity mostly Iranian fans who did not stop supporting their team from way before kickoff. Apparently, many fans were unable to gain entry due to the limited space and seats available at this venue.

The first half ended with a 6-0 score line for Team Melli , but the floodgates really opened a few minutes into the second half.  Iran displayed some fantastic  team world and wonderful goals to keep the crowd entertained through the match.

Midway through the second half, Iran’s coach played virtually the reserve team , but that did not stop the Iranians notching goals one after another.

The irony of this match was that the Korean were quite strong and opponents who did not give up at any stage. Perhaps the gamble taken by the coach in playing the goalkeeper as a field player was behind the large number of late goals conceded in the second half , but apart form that the Koreans were  simply overpowered  by their nemesis the Iranians who were excellent in individual skills and teamwork.

Another odd occurrence was the failure of the world’s top futsal scorer Vahid Shamsaei and the Captain of the team , to score.

Iran will play Qatar , who lost their first match 3-1 , on Saturday before finishing their group  matches against Australia on Sunday.

 

Lineups

I.R. IRAN

4              DF           MOHAMMAD KESHAVARZ NASRABADI 23

7              MF         ALI ASGHAR HASSANZADEH         12,  33

9              FW         SHAMSAEE VAHID (C)

10           FP           TAHERI MOHAMMAD    11

12           GK          MOSTAFA NAZARI

Substitutes

1              GK          ALI REZA SAMIMI

5              DF           HAMID AHMADI

6              MF         JAVAD ASGHARIMOGHADDAM                29,  39

11           DF           MAJID LATIFI

14           FW         MAHDI JAVID    15,  17  27

15           MF         HOSSEIN TAYEBI               31

17           MF         AHMAD ESMAEILPOUR                  7

 

ALI  SANEI ARANI (Head Coach)

Queiroz quest for World Cup qualification

Ando Teymourian

Team Melli is embarking on its ultimate stage in qualification for FIFA World Cup 2014 by playing Uzbekistan in Tashkent on June 3rd and then Qatar within a few days in Azadi. Carlos Queiroz has selected the best available players but as a matter of routine, he always has a surprise or two in his selection.

The Portuguese coach selection of a much unknown player playing in the Swedish League by the name of Omid Nazari (21 years) has risen more than a few eyebrows.  The young Malmo born midfield player is eligible to play for Sweden, Iran and Philippines, is of unknown quality as hardly anyone has seen him in action in Iran.  What has impressed Queiroz so much in Nazari remains a mystery but the fans and the experts hope that Nazari ‘s debut , if he manages some playing time , would be similar to the German-Iranian Ashkan Dejagah who scored a brace against Qatar in his debut.  However, Dejagah was a known quality playing in one of the best leagues in Europe while such cannot be said of Omid Nazari’s case.

Due to injuries, Queiroz has lost 3 key players including Dejagah who will not be available for the first two matches. Hadadifar who has been on and off the injury list, could not make the list. A late addition to the injury list was striker Mohammad Ghazi who was unfortunate to suffer an injury during a practice match against Iran’s U23 team a few days back.

The list however, has some very welcome additions. Teymourian and Jabbari who have fully recovered from their injuries are once again included in the squad, but perhaps the most interesting and refreshing addition is Fereydoon Zandi. The German born Iranian has been out of Team Melli squad for nearly two years. His stint with the Cypriot Club Omnia Nicosia and then his unsuccessful time in the doomed club Steel  Azin , discouraged Team Melli selectors from including in the previous squads. Zandi joined Esteghlal after the relegation of Steel Azin and quickly found his true form and imposed his class becoming one of the best Esteghlal players in this current season and convincing Carlos Queiroz to add his to the team.

There are also some fresh names like Shojaa Khalilzadeh , a young Mes Kerman defender who has played in many age levels for Iran , Dehnavi also from Mes Kerman and Ebrahimi of Tractorzasi. Although it is hardly unlikely that anyone of these players will make the starting 11 or even in the subs bench, Queiroz is smart enough to realize that some of the current players have already reached their peaks and alternatives should be looked at from the onset of the final qualifying round in order to build a strong team comes July 2014.

TM vs. Mozambique
Team Melli line up vs. Mozambique

The easily agitated and sometimes impulsive coach once again displayed his frustration with the football federation by complaining bitterly about the inability of Sepahan , Esteghlal and Perspolis Players from flying to Istanbul with the squad due to the commitments of these clubs in the Round 16 of the AFC Champions league. The 3 qualified Iranian clubs will be playing their knock out stage matches on the 22nd and 23rd May.

Iran will play Uzbekistan on 3rd of June, and Qatar at Azadi on 12th June. The squad flew to Istanbul on Monday 21st May and will be meeting Albania for a friendly international on the 27th May before flying directly to Tashkent 2 days before the match.

List of Team Melli players for Uzbekistan match announced.

Tehran Sunday :

The technical committee of Team Melli and team coach Carlos QUEIROZ has announced the list of 24 players who would be attending the training camp in Turkey in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifying  match vs. Uzbekistan to be held on 3rd June 2012 in Tashkent.

The squad will be flying to Istanbul on the 21st May to set up a camp in Turkey whic includes a friendly match against Albania. The squad will be missing 10 players from Sepahan , Esteghlal and Perspolis due to the three clubs upcoming match in the AFC Champions league to be played next Tuesday and Wednesday. The players will fly to Istanbul right after the match.

Team Melli will conclude the camp in Turkey on 1st June and will be flying directly to the Uzbek Capital Tashkent two days ahead of their first match in Round 4 of the World Cup qualifiers.

Ashkan DEJAGAH and Mohammad Ghazi NAJAFABADI will be the two main absentees from the squad due to injuries. None of the two are expected to recover for the next game against Qatar in Tehran.

The squad:

1 Hadi AGHILI
2 Karim ANSARIFARD
3 Abolghasim DEHNAVI
4 Mohammad EBRAHIMI
5 Mohsen FROUZAN
6 Shehab GORDAN
7 Alireza HAGHIGHI
8 Ehsan HAJSAFY
9 Khosrow HEYDARI
10 Jalal HOSSEINI
11 Mojtaba JABBARI
12 Ali KARIMI
13 MohamadReza KHALATBARY
14 Shojaa KHALILZADEH
15 Hossein MAHINI
16 Pejman MONTAZERI
17 Omid NAZARI
18 Javad NEKOUNAM
19 Pejman NOURI
20 Mehrdad POOLADI
21 Mehdi RAHMATI
22 Gholamreza REZAEI
23 Andranik TEYMOURIAN
24 Fereydoon ZANDI

Iran’s Futsal squad announced for the Asian Championship.

Friday – Tehran

The technical committee of Futsal Team , announced the name of 14 players who will form the squad for the upcoming Asian Championship in Dubai later this month.

The squad will begin its training camp starting next Friday , and will be carrying out their training until the start of the championship.

The Squad are:

Mostafa Nazari , Alireza Samimi , Mojtaba Nasirnia , Vahid Shamsaei ,

Mohammad Taheri , Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh , Javad Asghari , Mehdi Javeed ,

 Ahmad Ismaelpour , Hossein Tabibi , Mohammad Keshavarz , Majeed Latifi ,

 Qudrat Bahadori , Hameed Ahmadi.

 

Iran , the defending champion , is in group C along with Australia , Korea Republic and Qatar.

10 players to join Team Melli camp later than scheduled.

IFF have announced that 10 players from Sepaham , Esteghlal and Perspolis are selected for the Camp to be held in Turkey.

According to IFF Public Relations Manager ,  Khosrow Walizadeh, these 10 players will joining the camp a few days later than the rest and right after the completion of the knock out rounds of the AFC Champions League.

“We hope that these players fly to Turkey to join the camp as soon as they conclude their matches in the AFC Champions League.” Walizadeh said.

The players are:

Sepahan Esfahan.

Jalal Hosseini

Hashim Beighzadeh

 

Esteghlal Tehran

Mehdi Rahmati

Andranik Teymourian

Mojtaba Jabbari

Khosrow Heydary

Fereydoon Zandi

 

Perspolis

Ali Karimi

Mehrdad Pooladi

Gholamreza Rezaei

 

Carlos Queiroz concerns resurface again.

Tehran – ISNA:

The Portuguese coach of Team Melli , once again expressed his concern and deep regrets about the preparation of Team Melli after the three Iranian clubs participating in the AFC Asian Champions League withheld their players from Team Melli Training camp.

Queiroz sarcastically took a swipe at the federation and the clubs for their continual declaration that the priority is always with the national Teams including Team Melli. With all the 3 Iranian teams Sepahan , Esteghlal and Perspolis qualifying for the knock out round  of the AFC Champions League, those teams need to play their matches on 22nd of May right in the middle of the Training camp that  Queiroz has set up for the upcoming match against Uzbekistan. The Team Melli camp is scheduled to start on Monday 21st May.

A total of 11 players will be missing from the camp and that , according to Queiroz , will definitely upset his preparation plans and unbalance the training camp. When asked about the camp and the preparation by reporters, Queiroz said “Why are you asking this question?  Isn’t it obvious that you cannot work with 50% of you colleagues not attending to the job?”

“From now on, don’t claim that the priority is with Team Melli, because it isn’t the case” Queiroz said in bitterness.

Queiroz claimed that he has prepared for this camp since 8 months back in coordination with the IFF and being fully aware of the AFC schedules. The question that begs itself which Queiroz never answered is why would he choose this date fully knowing, according to his own admission, that there is one round of AFC Champions league scheduled to be played on the 22nd of May?

 

 

 

A friendly against North Korea is arranged.

Gholamreza Rezaei of Team Melli Against Lee of South Korea Tehran – 17th May 2012

The IFF and the Korea DPR football federation has provisionally agreed on a friendly match between the two teams to be held in Azadi Stadium on the 9th of October 2012.

According to Iranian News Agency IRNA reports , Mohammad Mehdi Nabi , IFF secretary has announced that he received a confirmation letter from his North Korean counterpart on the match date and venue. The match will be a very useful preparation for the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Iran’s main rival in the group , the powerful South Koreans.

The North Koreans , who were one of the Asian Representatives in World Cup 2010 in South Africa , failed to make the next round 4 of FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, however , they remain one of the stronger Asian teams. Despite having a poor record against Team Melli , the match will be a strong test for the Persians

Team Melli is scheduled to meet South Korea on 16th October in Azadi Stadium.