Doha.

The Portuguese head coach of Iran national football team, Carlos Queiroz, says his side is ready to defeat Qatar in Doha. Tomorrow, Qatar will host Team Melli in Doha and both teams need to grab all three points of this match in order to increase their chances for getting qualified for Brazil’s 2014 FIFA World Cup.

“The team is fully prepared to defeat Qatar in upcoming match. Fortunately, all invited players are available to serve the team. I expect to get a good result from this match, because the points are really important for the destiny of Team Melli.” Carlos Queiroz addressed the pre-match press-conference in Qatar.

“This match is important for Iran, but it is far more important for Qataris. There are three more games left in the way of reaching 2014 FIFA World Cup, and we will try to do our best to get qualified for World Cup.” Queiroz added.

Carlos Queiroz also went on to criticize the behavior of Qatari Football Federation toward Team Melli. Qatari side didn’t provide any buses to Iranians for transferring the players from the airport to hotel. “It is disappointing. Qatar will host 2022 World Cup, and they must consider allocating all facilities to visitors.”

Javad Nekounam, the captain of Team Melli, also said that his fellows are looking to grab all three points from the upcoming match.

Singapore referee Abdul Malik Abdul Bashir, who will referee  the crucial match in Doha between Qatar and Iran , in the FIFA World Cup qualifier match , won the inaugural ASEAN Football Federation Referee of the Year Award. -TNP

David Lee of The New Paper, reports:

SINGAPORE – He was once the sort of player referees would hate to handle.

But in a curious twist of fate, Abdul Malik Abdul Bashir is now the one holding the whistle.

And on Wednesday, the former “bad boy” won the inaugural ASEAN Football Federation Referee of the Year Award.

Said the 45-year-old: “I played in the National Football League, and the only consistent thing I was known for was getting yellow and red cards.

“Then there was this one day when I seriously injured an opponent. The next day, I felt really down and I happened to see an advertisement looking for referees.

“I cannot explain what happened, but I went for it and got into the world of refereeing.”

If there is a more thankless job than being a goalkeeper, the match officials are probably it.

Assistant referee Tang Yew Mun, who picked up the Assistant Referee of the Year 2012 on Wednesday, said: “Nobody cheers the referees if we get a decision right.

“But if we get it wrong, you can be sure they will let us know what they think.”

Two-time S-League Referee of the Year Abdul Malik added: “For sure, there is pressure, especially in international games. If we make a mistake, they won’t say Abdul Malik is not good. They will say Singaporean referees are lousy.

“Everyone of us flies our country’s flag when we officiate a game and we know the importance of doing a good job.”

Yet, the appreciation of the crowd is not what spurs them on in this part-time career. Both referees insist it is their love for the sport.

Focus

Tang, a 37-year-old operation team leader at Singapore Flyer Pte Ltd, said: “There are no two ways about it. To be a good referee, you need to have passion and commitment.

“You must also be able to take criticism positively, stay focused and work hard.”

Abdul Malik, who is a referee executive with the Football Association of Singapore, added that in order to keep fit, he religiously goes for his runs, even if it is after midnight.

“It’s all about honesty and discipline,” he said.

But it is not all just work and no play.

Refereeing has allowed Abdul Malik and Tang, both Fifa-accredited referees who have officiated World Cup and Olympic qualifiers, to travel far and wide to countries they never dreamed of visiting.

Tang said: “The most memorable place I went to referee was Tajikistan.

“Not many people would know where this country is, and it is not somewhere most people would go for holiday. But I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to go to places like this.”

For history buff Abdul Malik, to be able to visit historical sites in Isfahan, Iran and Samarkand, Uzbekistan, was a dream come true.

However, in a few months’ time, he will have to call time on his international refereeing career as the retirement age for Fifa referees is 45.

Yet, Abdul Malik says he has no regrets about not officiating at a World Cup.

He does have one more refereeing dream though.

“I hope that with the two of us winning these awards, it will inspire more to explore refereeing as a career,” he said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -Carlos Queiroz and his Iran team came into qualifying for the 2014 World Cup as one of the favorites to advance. Now, with three group matches left, they’re in danger of missing out.

The Iranians will take on 101st-ranked Qatar at Doha on Tuesday in what both teams consider a must-win match, with each trailing Uzbekistan and South Korea for one of the two automatic qualifying spots from Group A.

On paper, Iran should be favored to win, but nothing can be taken for granted from a team whose injury-plagued attack has scored just two goals in the past five qualifiers.

“It’s a crucial, crucial match for both teams. We are running now out of time,” Queiroz told The Associated Press. “As you know, everybody can be in and everybody can be out. Even Lebanon still has a chance so these final three games are crucial for all the teams.”

Iran captain Javad Nekounam was even more blunt, insisting the match “probably will be one of the most important games of my career” and adding that he was hopeful the team could still reach the World Cup for a fourth time despite a qualification campaign he described as a “very difficult journey.”

Qatar, with only two group matches remaining, can still book a spot for Brazil despite a losing record against Iran. Iran has three victories to Qatar’s one in past World Cup qualifiers, but the teams have drawn the past three qualifiers, including a 2-2 draw that ensured the 2022 World Cup host reached this stage of the competition.

“We are ready for Iran,” Qatar national team director Abdulrahman al-Mahmoud said on the Qatar Football Association’s website. “It won’t be easy, but with the support of our fans our team can win this match …The players have a huge responsibility.”

The match with Qatar also has political overtones, since both countries have been flexing their muscle on the regional stage and often have been at odds – most recently over Syria. It is unlikely that Qatar – where political dissent is prohibited- will allow protests to spill into the stadium, but experts say a victory will carry extra weight due to the growing rivalry between the countries.

“As much as people try to say sport is neutral, you can never separate sports and politics,” said Mustafa Alani, an analyst at the Gulf Research Center in Geneva. “Athletes are representing a country. This is, by nature, a political act. The history of sports is full of political backstories: U.S. versus the Soviet Union, Israel being shunned by many Muslim countries and, to add to the list, Iran and its rivals in the Gulf.”

Amir Hosein Hoseini, a spokesman for the Football Federation of Iran, called the match with Qatar “very sensitive” and complained Iranian reporters had not yet been issued visas.

It isn’t the first time that politics has overshadowed a match between Iran, which has overwhelming Shiite population, and Persian Gulf nations ruled by Sunnis. The United Arab Emirates cancelled a friendly against Iran last year due to a simmering territorial dispute, while FIFA appointed a security expert to monitor an earlier World Cup qualifier between Iran and Bahrain due to fears of fan violence.

Queiroz and Nekounam insist politics will play no part in the match and that their only concern is winning for the football fans back home. The team hasn’t played in the World Cup since 2006.

“We will play with our heart and soul and give it 100 percent as we have done previously,” said Nekounam, who played seven seasons with Spanish side Osasuna and now plays for the Iranian club Esteghlal. “We know our people, our nation wants our team to be in the World Cup. This gives us double motivation.”

Queiroz, a former Portugal and Real Madrid manager, said he has “no doubt” the team will reach the World Cup. But he acknowledged it faces plenty of hurdles, including the loss several players to injury including Hadi Aghili, Mahdi Rahmati, Ali Karimi and star midfielder Ashkan Dejagah, who was hurt playing for Fulham.

Several other stars had not yet arrived by the weekend including Osasuna’s Masoud Shojaei – a problem that has plagued the team throughout the campaign.

“In Asia, there are a lot of circumstances sometimes outside the game that can influence the performance of the players like traveling, the distances, the weather,” Queiroz said. “We can only bring players 48 hours before a crucial game for the World Cup. Qatar has its team in camp and they are preparing all the players. It is unfair or an unbalanced situation.”

Qatar has injury woes of its own, announcing Monday that star striker Sebastian Soria won’t be available.

“We respect the Iranian team knowing they are better ranked than us,” Qatar coach Fahad Than said. “But football is game of small details and the match on the pitch will tell a different story to the form team. We will miss Sebastian Soria. However, we have quality replacements. Our team is made of players who are ready to work for each other.”