Iran maintained their winning start to the AFC U-22 Asian Cup qualifiers on Thursday with a thumping 7-0 win over Maldives.

Goals from Payam Sadeghian and Kaveh Rezaei put the Iranians two up inside 18 minutes, before Morteza Tabrizi grabbed another to give his side a commanding lead at the break.

Milad Gharibi then grabbed a second-half brace along with a second from Tabrizi, before Bahram Dabbagh fired home a seventh in injury-time to make it three wins from three for Iran.

In a one sided match , Iran U-22 team easily disposed of Maldives 7 -0 in the third match of AFC U-22 CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATION, Team Melli U22 team therefore maintained its perfect record and it verge of qualifying for the final tournaments in 2013.

Iran scored as early as the 7th minute when a foul by Maldives defender inside the boc resulted in a penalty which Payam Sadeghian converted with ease. Kaveh Rezaei  then scored on the 18th while Morteza Tabrizi  made it 3-0 on the 21st minutes. The first half ended 3-0 with Maldives using some rough tactics to stop the superiority of Iran’s players.

The win means they are currently top of Group C, three points clear of Qatar and Kuwait, who recorded 1-0 wins over Bahrain and Tajikistan respectively

AFC U-22 CHAMPIONSHIP 2013

QUALIFICATION

28-June-2012     17:00 MYT

Hang Jebat Stadium, Melaka, MALAYSIA               [Attendance]     100

MALDIVES                    IRAN

0                                 7

Scorers:  Payam Sadeghian (7 p) , Kaveh Rezaei (18) , Milad Gharibi (55, 82), Morteza Tabrizi (21,69), Bahram Dabbagh (90+1)

Maldives:  Abdulla Fayaz , Mohamed Thoriq , Amdhan Ali, Riley (c),Samdhooh Mohamed , Mohamed Thashmeen ( 46 Imaaz Ahmed) ,Ahmed Visam (73 Ahmad Ziaan Mohamed ), Mohamed Irufaan ,Guraish ,Moosa Yaamin, Hassan Wisaal(46 Abdulhannan Mohamed Sadin)

Head coach: Urbanyi Istvan Bela

Iran: Iman Sadeghi ,Vahid Esmaeilibeigi ,Shahryar Shirvand (c),Payam Sadeghian , Kaveh Rezaei (79  Bahram Dabbagh), Milad Gharibi , Ali Goudarzi ,Saeid Lotfi , Akbar Imani , Shahab Karami (86 Navid Khoshhava) ,Morteza Tabrizi (69 Saman Narimanjahan)

Head coach: Alireza Mansourian

Cautions: Hassan Wisaal (6) , Mohamed Thashmeen (28) , Moosa Yaamin (45+1), Shahab Karami  (49), Amdhan Ali (66), Guraish (88)

Iran’s National U-22 team defeated Qatar  2-1 in today’s match held in Meleka , Malaysia in the Group C qualifying matches for the AFC U-22 Asian Cup. Both Iranian goals were scored in the first half  by  minute 29 and MohammadReza Khanzadeh in 29^th  and two minutes , later in the 31st minutes Kaveh Rezaei made it 2-0. Qatar scored a consolation goal in the second half.

With this win , Iran lead the groups with 6 points

 Iran started the match playing calmly and spent most the initial 15 minutes probing the Qatari defenses.

The onslaught began in the latter stages with series of attacks from the flanks in order to open up the Qatari’s who were content to defend and

hope for a break in the counter attack. However , the sustained pressure by Iran did not allow the Qatari;s to advance much and during one of such Iranian offensives  and from a corner , Khanzadeh slotted the ball home to score Iran’s opener.

Qatar were on the brink of a quick plan change when Kaveh Rezaei robbed the ball from a Qatari defender and managed to create a one on one situation with Qatar’s goalkeeper. Rezaei made no mistake and scored Iran’s second less than 3 minutes from the first goal.

The referee from Hong Kong played on a suspicious penalty for Iran ans the rest of the match did not yield any more goals for Iran,

Qatar managed to score a consolation on the 92^nd minute.

Accordingly, Haj Amin Mohammadi has received his 2^nd yellow card and will suspended for the game against Maldives.

IRAN – QATAR

         2 – 1

AFC Asian Cup U22 Qualifications ,  Group C ,  Hang Tuah Stadium , Melaka

Scorers:  Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh  (29’) , Kaveh Rezaei   (31’)

Ali Reza Safarbeiranvand  ; Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh,  Mohammadamin HajMohammadi , Saeid Lotf , A

hmadreza  Zendehrooh  , Morteza Pouraliganji  (67’ Morteza Tabrizi ) , Yaghoub Karimi , Shahab Karami

, Farshad Ahmadzadeh (79’ Saman Narimanjahan) ,  Kaveh Rezaei  , Mohsen Mosalman (83’ Navid Khoshhava)

Coach : AliReza Mansourian

Yellow Cards:  , Mohsen Mosalman (15’) ,  Saeid Lotf (30’),  Mohammadamin HajMohammadi (71’)

Iran’s U-22 team began its campaign for the qualification to the final of Inaugural AFC Asian Cup U-22 by defeating Kuwait 1-0 in Melaka , Malaysia. The only goal of the match was scored by Amin Haj Mohammad on the 76th minute.

In a one sided match that saw Iranian players miss many scoring opportunity against rare Kuwaiti offensive moves , the match looked like another classic Iranian performance of sustain dominance without scoring  until Haj Mohammad broke the deadlock 14 minutes before the end from a immaculate free kick by Payam Sadeghian to the big relief of the team and the coaching staff.

In what was expected to be a comfortable match, especially after the brilliant result against the Italian counterparts just before the tournament started when Team Melli U22 won 6-2 , the outcomes was a familiar pattern of difficulty to finish the moves.

In the post-match Press conference , Alireza Mansourian , lamented at the fact that his team dominated and missed many scoring opportunities especially in the second half.

The Iranian coach said that he knew that Kuwait will be packing defense and depending on the counter attacks and he was ready to face such tactics. He admitted that the Kuwaitis executed their plan quite well and they were a touch opposition to break, Mansourian was satisfied with his own team performance and praised his players especially the defense line which kept a clean sheet and managed to contain the fast Kuwaiti counter attacks,

On the reasons why his team did not manage to score as freely as the lat game. Mansourian said the circumstances of the two matches were different. The Italy match was an open game where both teams were seeking to score , while in this competition , I expect most of the teams to tighten the defenses as their priority will be not to concede goals.

The Group C matches is currently taking place at a neutral venue in Melaka of Malaysia amongst Bahrain, Iran, Tajikistan, Qatar, Kuwait and the Maldives.

All the six countries were in action on the same day with Tajikistan losing to Bahrain 0-1 , Qatar defeating the Maldives 2-1.

Team Melli U-22 next game will be against Qatar on 25th June at Hang Tuah Stadium at 16:30 Local Time

Iran – Kuwait

1 – 0  (0-0)

Goal Amin Hajmohammad (76’)

Hang Jebat Stadium

Melaka of Malaysia

Iran: Piranvand ; Shirvand, Hajmohammad, Khanzadeh ,Esmaeilbeigi, Pouraliganji, Emani ( Karami 85’ ) ,Mosalman (c) ,Karimi ( Rezaei 63’ ) , Sadeghian , Gharibi ( Tabrizi 90’ )

The National Iranian U22  football team is undergoing training in its camp in Malaysia in preparation for the upcoming AFC U-22 Asian Cup qualification tournament to be held near Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

The team under the guidance of AliReza Mansourian and his coaching staff is one of the title contenders for the inaugural tournament which will be held next year. It contains a list of promising Iranian players who have represented the country in different age levels, including the senior level.

The competition schedule for Iran is as follows.

23 June 2012 19:30  IRAN-KUWAIT        Hang Jebat Stadium

25 June 2012 16:30  IRAN-QATAR         Hang Tuah Stadium

28 June 2012 16:30  MALDIVES-IRAN      Hang Jebat Stadium

01 July 2012 16:30  IRAN-TAJIKISTAN    Hang Jebat Stadium

03 July 2012 19:30  BAHRAIN- IRAN      Hang Jebat Stadium

Iran Team roster

Farshad Ahmadzadeh (Pars Tehran)
Ahmad Arabpour (Foulad Yazd)
Bahram Dabbagh (Tractorsazi)
Akbar Emani (Sepahan)
Vahid Esmaeil-Beigi (Mes Kerman)
Milad Gharibi(Saipa)
MohammadAmin Hajmohammadi(Malavan)
Seyed Hossein Hosseini
Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Damash)
Shahab     Karami (Shahrdari Yasuj)
Yaghoob Karimi (Naft Tehran)
Mohammadreza Khanzadeh(Rah Ahan )
Navid Khoshhava (Tractorsazi)
Baba Mohammadi (Peykan)
Mohsen Mosalman Malavan)
Saman Narimanjahan (Machine Sazi)
Alireza Piranvand (Naft )
Murteza Pouraliganji (Naft)
Bakhtiar Rahmani(Foolad)
Kaveh Rezaei(Foolad)
Payam Sadeeghian (Zob Ahan)
Iman Sadeghi (Malavan)
Eman Shirazi (Zob Ahan)
Shariar Shirvand (Machine Sazi)
Murteza Tabrizi (Pas Hamadan)
Ahmad Zendeh Rouh (Mes Kerman)

About AFC U-22 Asian Cup

The AFC U-22 Asian Cup was first proposed to the Organising Committee for Youth Competitions on 23 November 2007. It is planned for youth development and to solve the issue of insufficient FIFA match dates.

The AFC Competitions Committee held on 28 July 282008 has decided that the first edition of the Competition shall be in 2013 with the Qualification event in 2012.

The AFC U-22 Asian Cup is open to all AFC Member Associations. All participating teams will go through a qualification round with sixteen (16) teams advancing to the Final Championship which will be held in a host country to be determined.

The draw for the qualifiers was held on 14 February 2012 in AFC House. Similar to other age-limit national team competitions, the draw was conducted on Zoning Basis for West (West & Central / South Asia) and East (East & Asean). Since it is the first edition of the Competition, the rankings of AFC U-19 Championship 2010 was applied for the seeding of teams during the draw.

There are seven groups consisting of a total of 41 teams.Top two from each group and one best third placing of all groups (total 15) will qualify to the Finals of the competition.

The Host of the competition shall receive an automatic qualification to the final round of the competition.

The Competition will replace the Olympic Football Tournament Asian Qualifiers and as the second biggest national team competition after AFC Asian Cup, it is expected to attract a lot of attention from sponsors, fans, media and increase the overall value of AFC Competitions.

The Persian reign in the Asian Beach Games after edging the hosts in the final, as Palestine beats Lebanon for the bronze

21 Jun 2012

The Iran National team ended up as the gold medalists in this III Asian Beach Games. The Persian, edged China on their own home, in the final of a competition that has meant, above anything, a new and firm step forward in an Asian Beach Soccer which turns more and more competitive every tournament. The bigger experience of the Iranians, who had taken part in most of the FIFA Beach Soccer world Cups played so far -what becomes a real evidence about their outstanding role in the continent-, prevailed this time. Despite playing against such a spirited defense as the Chinese one, the Persian side managed to find the cracks in their resistance to unbalance things on their favour and edn up clinching a prize they had never had access to before.

First, it was the strong defender Abdollahi, whose long-range shot found the terrain’s collaboration to evade the Chinese goalie’s efforts past. With the score yet unleveled, although only slightly, it was Ongaro’s side the ones who needed to think, mainly, on the other end, something Iran took advantage of, getting more spaces and more seconds to decide what step to take next. With the match heading to its end, and China needing to run flat out into attack, another of the everyday-heroes in Iran, Ahmadzadeh, widened the distance and almost decided the game, as the two minutes remaining were not enough for the hosts to turn the score around. The silver medal, though, means the highest record for China in the competition, as well as their best continental result, quite a remarkable reward to share with the thousands of supporters cheering them from the beginning of the competition.

Goals: 0-1: Abdollahi, min. 3 (2); 0-2: Ahmadzadeh, min. 2 (3)

Tehran – Azadi Stadium.

Team Melli ended the match with Qatar in the Round 4 of FIFA World Cup Asian Zone Qualifiers with a goal-less draw at a capacity crowd in Azadi.

The vociferous crowed who packed the stadium were not enough to shake the Qatari resolve and the strictly defensive plans of the Brazilian coach of Qatar paid dividends for his team as they achieved their objective of coming out of this battle with a point in the bag.

On the other hand, Carlos Queiroz started this match with his strongest possible side which was a far cry from the Uzbekistan match. Team Melli easily controlled the proceeding and forced their style. The passing and some good running created several scoring opportunities for Team Melli. However , only one of those were serious enough to shake the Qatari’s and that was when Nekounam rattled the upright with a wonderful volley in the first half.

The strategy of Queiroz was based on crossing the balls from the right flank into the box. This scenario continued through the match. In the second half not a single cross from the flanks created any threat on the towering Qatar goalkeeper Mohammed Burhan , who had a n excellent match despite his usual time wasting antics. Karim Ansarifard seemed to be a lonely figure in the central forward role as the tight marking and poor deliveries of these crosses left him isolated and ineffective.

Team Melli insisted on that futile plan, despite its failure to yield any result or create serious threats. At no stage was there any alternative plan such as penetration from the center, or slicing defenses by one two exchanges, to break the solid Qatar defense.  Introducing the last gasp winner of Uzbakistan match, Mohammad Reza Khalatbari in the second half in place of HajSafy and then Ashkan Dejageh , scorer of 2 goals against Qatar in his debut , although strengthend the offensive power of Team Melli , it failed to yield result.

From onset of the match , Paulo Atouri plan was based on very tight defense and packing the midfield not allowing the Iranians to operate freely or create threats, while depending on the skilful Khalfan Ibrahim’s pace to creat counter attacks  The Qatari players executed that plan quite well, and apart from a few scares, they managed to hold tight and achieve their objectives. In the forst half , Rahmati was put to work for the fiorst and only time inthe match , when he parried a powerful header from a Qatari player.

After what many observers called a lucky win in Tashkent, this is the second consecutive match where the Portuguese coach has failed to impress. Although the performance has improved it was simply not good enough to break the defense of a team that was humiliated a few days ago by South Korea , Iran’s main opposition in the group. There is a gap developing already between the Koreans and the rest of the pack who are now leading the group with a perfect record from two wins.

For Team Melli , there is a period of 3 months to work out the faults and fill the gaps. What is quite clear at this stage is that Carlos Queiroz, despite his reputation and track record, is quite far off  building a solid and reliable team that can comfortably be considered as a contenders. This is a match of two points lost , rather than one gained and the road is not going to be easier.

The next opposition is the bottom team, Lebanon, but even playing this low ranked team , is a challenge for this team and full points are not assured.

Iran 0 – 0 Qatar

FIFA World Cup Qualification – Asian Zone – Round 4\Group A.

Azadi Staduim, Tehran

Starting line-up

Iran: 1 Seyed RAHMATI (GK); 2 Khosro HEYDARI , 13 Hossein MAHINI (-54′ 21 Ashkan DEJAGAH ), 23 Mehrdad POULADI, 3 Ehsan HAJI SAFI (46′ 9 Mohammad KHALATBARI), 4 Seyed HOSSEINI , 5 Hadi AGHILI , 6 Javad NEKONAM (C) , 8 Ali KARIMI , 10 Karim ANSARI (-90’+1 17 Mazyar ZARE ), 14 Andranik TIMOTIAN

Substitutes 7 Mohsen FOROOZAN , 9 Mohammad KHALATBARI ,11 Gholam REZAEI , 12 Shahabaldin GORDAN , 15 Pejman MONTAZERI , 16 Shojae KHALILZADEH, 17 Mazyar ZARE ,18 Pejman NOURI , 19 Abolghasem DEHNAVI, 20 Mohammad EBRAHIMI , 21 Ashkan DEJAGAH , 22 Alireza HAGHIGHI

Qatar: 1 Qasem BURHAN (GK) ,3 MOHAMMED Kasola , 6 Adel MOHAMMED (-45’+1 5 Majdi SIDDIQ), 7 Younes RAHMATI , 9 Junior MARCONE , 10 Ibrahim Khalfan , 11 FABIO CESAR (-90’+3 20 Yousef Ahmad Ali), 13 Ibrahim ABDULMAJED ,14 Ibrahim AL GHANIM (C), 15 Talal ALBLOUSHI, 23 Andres QUINTANA

Substitutes 2 Hamid KHALEEFA , 4 Khaled SALEH 5 Majdi SIDDIQ ,  8 Mesaad AL HAMAD,  12 Mohamed ABDELAZIZ , 16 Mohammed RAZARAK , 17 Hasan Al Haydos ,  18 Mohamed EL SAYED , 19 Khaled MUFTAH , 20 Yousef Ahmad Ali ,  21A hmed ABONORA ,  22 Baba MALEK

Officials Referee: GREEN Peter

Assistant Referee 1: HOBSON Brad

Assistant Referee 2: MAT DAUD Mohd

Fourth official: ABDUL WAHAB Mohd

Ali Kafashian says: “We will not always be lucky.”. The Head of Iran football federation has given this message to the players and coach of Team Melli. After the match against Uzbekistan national , many talked about Team Melli’s fortunate luck in winning all the 3 points. Kaffashian found it appropriate to respond to that. He emphasized that Team Melli must show grit and skills to win the match in Azadi on Tuesday. He also warns the players not to dream about the World Cup because too early to do so at this stage and the road is long and winding.

Iranian news agnecy , ISNA quoted the Ali Kafashian on the eve of the match in a brief interview.

* Mr. Kafashian Today we are playing Qatar and there are talks about you being under stress.

– (Laughter.) I am under stress before any Team Melli game, this one is no exception.

* Do you think we will we beat Qatar?

– God willing … We will certainly try our best. All the players realize the importance of this particular game and be rest assured that the players and the coaching staff will put their efforts in order to win this match.

* Before the match against Uzbekistan national team, you predicted a win for Team Melli. It sees that your predications are accurate nowadays.

Hopefully the same will happen this time as I predict a win for us. But who told you that I I’m good in predicting!? I never was good in predictions, but this time, I’m predicting our team will win. One thing is very important for me in today’s game. The team should play a good game and win convincingly at home ground. A good and solid performance coupled with a victory,  will give the squad a confidence boost. We must show our strength and this requires hard work and a strong performance, not just a win.

* After the first game there was the majority were critical of the team and the common belief was that the win was fortunate. However , Queiroz said that he wants to take the team to the World Cup, even by fortune and good luck. What is your opinion about this?

I always believe that good fortune is not always on the side of a team or a person. That is why we should not think that will always be lucky. Perhaps we should go forward with strength, just like the teams from Japan and South Korea. Look at these two teams, they are powerful , systematic and have good foundation without depending on luck or good fortune. These countries have invested in their football structure. We must admit that we have fallen quite short in investment in football and I do not see it forthcoming in Iran. In terms of human resources , we are not falling short from the East Asian countries , in fact I can proudly say that we have some better players than the Japanese and the Koreans , where we fall short is in investment and nourishing these talents the way those countries do.  If we manage to emulate them, we can be successful.

* You had a meeting with Carlos Queiroz. What is the status of the team ahead of the game today?

Yes, everything is fine. So far, whatever Mr. Queiroz has asked for the national team, we have provided it. Our goal is to fully support the team and ensure optimum preparation in order to continue its success. Hopefully . We  (IFF) will also meet the future demands whatever Mr. Queiroz. Let me tell you that the players are very confident and highly motivated for the match this evening.

* If you win the next two games, do you think that we have qualified for World Cup finals?

No, definitely No. There is a long way to the end of the competition. If you think that with three games won, we have qualified,  is a big mistake. I think we must fight until the last day of with all our strength and capability, the competition is over when we achieve the required points for qualification.

* It seems the team does not have future plan. Are there any plans for the national team before the game with Lebanon in Beirut? Is there a camp in Europe?

Everything has already been determined. We have already moved forward in the program. Mr. Queiroz has the final authority on the team planning including where the camp will be set up and he will announce it at due course.

* These days, Mr. Queiroz is highly sensitive about the team . A Perspolis Club representative took two of the club players from the camp to sign a contract , without consulting Queiroz.  He is reported to be furious , Are you aware of this subject? .

Queiroz has said nothing about this nor did he complain to me. However , I shall discus that matter with him in due time. So far I do not have any further information.

* Can we say that the days of the Federation running out of funds are over or not?

We have been actively pursuing the ministry of sports for them to provide funding in order to maintain our activities and seeking  operations budget. However, the team is currently in need of support and protection. The Sports minister said many times before, that they will support Queiroz program. I hope soon we get to your budget and move forward.

* Are you following the European Championship matches?

Yes, I’m more or less following them. If I have time, I watch the games on television.

* Which team do you support in the euro?

I am a a supporter of Team Melli.

* What about the Euro?

No, I’m totally in favor of Iranian football.

* Don’t you support Portugal?

I support teams which play good football. It sometimes happens that a team plays well and yet lose. Germany has invested in two or three decades and now their investment is paying off. They have a good team . Portugal has not lost against a poor team. Theywere also slightly lucky against Portugal.

Tehran:

In the pre-match press conference , Iran coach Carlos Queiroz was cautious in his statements while being wary of facing a Qatar side recovering from a heavy home defeat in the Tuesday’s 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier at Azadi Stadium .

Queiroz is not underestimating Qatar team , which drew with Iran twice in the last round of the same competetions

“We have full respect for their technical staff and the players. We are professional enough not to underestimate any rivals and Qatar wouldn’t be an exception. I am convinced they have brought along all their weapons to Tehran and we’re also fully prepared to face them,” said the Portuguese coach.

“I am sure you will see a different face of Qatar when we take on them on Wednesday. They’re here to make amends for the home loss they suffered and we’re quite wary of that.”

Team Melli will be without Mojtaba Jabari due to injury after the Esteghlal midfielder was withdrawn with 15 minutes remaining against Uzbekistan.

“We are pretty confident ahead of the game against Qatar. There’s been some talk and comments on how many attacks we devised against Uzbekistan and how many scoring chances we created, but when you finally seal your place in Brazil 2014, nobody cares about how many chances you created or missed during qualification,” added Queiroz, who has guided Iran on an eight match unbeaten streak during the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

“They played against Korea Republic and we rested, but we don’t know which players they are going to field tomorrow afternoon. If they name the same team, then you can say their players might be fatigued due to tight schedule they have had.”

Qater coach Paulo Autuori, meanwhile, insists his side have put Friday’s heavy defeat behind them and are out to make amends at Azadi Stadium.

“I’m aware it’s going to be tough, a tough match. Additionally, I know that Iran and Korea Republic are the favourites in Group A to qualify for the World Cup, but we’re here to astonish everyone by winning a slot in Brazil 2014,” said the Brazilian coach.

“Tomorrow will be difficult for us to play Iran, but different from the match against Korea. Fortunately, we’ve recovered well from the 4-1 defeat and are in good spirits and good physical condition to confront Iran at the Azadi stadium.”

“It is easy to talk about reasons for a defeat,” added Autuori. “We already analysed that match and conveyed our message to players.

“Tomorrow is a different arena for us and we have completely prepared ourselves to face a big team like Iran.”

In a surprise announcement, the Portuguese coach of Team Melli, Carlos Queiroz categorically denied any conversation occurring between himself and coach of Al Wasl club , Diego Maradona. The Argentine coach has claimed that Queiroz has verbally abused him and has been disrespectful towards him during a telephone conversation between them on the subject of release of Iranian player Mohammad Reza Khalatbari for a club match in Dubai.

Carlos Queiroz issued an official statement though the Iranian Football Federation in which he regretted the accusation that has been published in the media and denied any such conversation occurring between him and Maradona and furthermore, he had no discussion or conversation with any Al Wasl club officils regarding the player’s release or any other matters.

Queiroz was surprised by such claims circling in the media and insisted that he does not believe that Maradona would go on record claiming that such an conversation has occurred , which is far from truth.

Earlier press reports have claimed that Maradona was upset by Queiroz attitude towards him when Maradona asked for Khalabari’s release. Related post

Related post

Maradona claims Queiroz abuse.