Author: admin

Shameful loss to Myanmar , by way of deception.

In what is one of the darkest hours of Iran’s football history, the Olympic Team (Omid) lost to lowly Myanmar in the final match of Group F of the Asian Games 2018. The loss was in full intention and for unashamed purpose.

Myanmar, who had 1 point from a draw with North Korea, scored 2 goals against Iran in the second half and was so close to qualifying if they would have scored a third.

It is not the loss that was alarming, but a performance by 11 footballers full of deception, dishonestly, lack of sportsmanship and fraud. Not a single player in Iran team gave his best, while one of the young men, Mehdi Ghayedi thought he was Lionel Messi for the day by the way he was playing!

This was a profligate, wasteful .and complacent performance by Iran’s football. It was an insult to a nation which adores football and considers the players as heroes.

In this competition, the Asian Games , where Olympic Spirit and values are upheld, athletes should participate and try their best. Olympics seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.

Iran football team displayed none of those by purposely seeking to drop the match in order for a better chance of qualification.

It the worst performance in every department, ethics, principles, skills, and effort(complete  lack of it)

In a gamble and orchestrated act by Team Manager Estili and Coach Kranjcar, both of them deserve to be stripped from their titles, the objective was to be lead the team for the ideal result which was to be second and hence avoid the South Korean team in the next round.

As Karma and justice would have it, not only Iran ashamedly lost to Myanmar by deception and cheating , the results of the other game, 3-0 win for North Korea over Saudi Arabia, meant Iran still lead the group while  Estili , Kranjcar and all other player who contributed to this fallacy and purposely lost the match, have be men enough and Face South Korea.

If they lose, they have t to pack their bags with head drops and leave the games and let true Iranian athletes like the wrestlers, weightlifters and the heroes of other sports , win medals with pride.

The Hypocrisy of Hamid Estili ,  describing the result of the North Koreans Saudi match as a collusion and conspiracy, was nothing short of comical and duplicity.

A black day in Iran’s football, indeed

Iran & Saudi Arabia; battle not to win the group in Asian Games 2018!

Saudi Arabia and Iran’s Olympic teams will be playing their final games on Monday on the hope of NOT topping their group in Asian games 2018. Both teams with identical results will not be too keen to fight to death to win Monday’s matches.

Iran’s Olympics National Team will meet with Myanmar’s in the third and final  match of the group in the Asian Games Men football competition. Zlatcko Krancjar’s boys have already won four points and are assured of qualifications with just 1 point. Iran is seeking to win that point against Myanmar, but to top the group , it needs a comprehensive win.

Nevertheless, the conditions at the knockout stage of the tournament are such that the Iranian national team does not have a good path to the finals, as the group’s top team should face the second ranked team of Group E South Korea. Even a win against the powerful Koreans will result in Iran Olympics team more that likely to face Uzbekistan. The Uzbeks are leading the group comfortably and in the group stage they have scored six goals against Qatar, one of the best national teams in this age level in Asia.

Even Hamid Estilli, the Team Manager , in a recent interview emphasized that it would be better if the Iranian national team did not win the group and qualify second instead.

Saudi Arabia and Iran are currently in the first and second places because of the same points and goal differences. The Saudi’s ranked based on disciplinary counts that FIFA has introduced in the last World Cup. Saudi  yellow cards counts is lower than Iran.

Saudi Arabia will meet with North Korea with only one point against Myanmar, in their next match,

Because of the six grouping of the tournament, in addition to the leaders of the group, the top four  third place teams in the groups, will also qualify to the next round.

However, if the Iran Olympic team qualifies as second in their group, they will face one of the three teams in Thailand, Qatar or Bangladesh. That is a far cry from facing South Korea who has Heung-Min Son in the squad and are strong contender for the gold medal.

 

Iran Squad

Number Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club
1 GK Mehdi Amini(Captain) 16 May 1996 (22) Iran Paykan
2 DF Mohammad Aghajanpour 20 Apr 1997 (21) Iran Padideh
3 DF Mohammad Moslemipour 25 May 1997 (21) Iran Tractor Sazi
4 DF Mehdi Rahimi 02 May 1999 (19) Iran Sepahan
5 DF Alireza Arta 04 Feb 1997 (21) Iran Mes Kerman
6 MF Mohammad Soltani Mehr 04 Feb 1999 (19) Iran Saipa
7 FW Younes Delfi 02 Oct 2000 (17) Iran Esteghlal Khuzestan
8 FW Mohammad Amin Asadi 24 Dec 1998 (19) Iran Persepolis
9 FW Mohammad Mehdi Mehdikhani 26 Jul 1997 (21) Iran Padideh
10 FW Mohammad Reza Azadi 07 Dec 1999 (18) Iran Tractor Sazi
11 FW Mehdi Ghaedi 05 Dec 1998 (19) Iran Esteghlal
12 GK Shahab Adeli 19 Jan 1997 (21) Iran Sepahan
13 DF Abolfazl Razzaghpour 17 Sep 1997 (20) Iran Paykan
14 FW Reza Jabireh 07 Jul 1997 (21) Iran Sanat Naft Abadan
15 FW Ahmadreza Ahmadvand 02 Jun 1999 (19) Iran Esteghlal
16 FW Amir Roostaei 5 Aug 1997 (21) Iran Paykan
17 FW Sina Zamehran 10 Mar 1997 (21) Iran Padideh
18 DF Shahin Abbasian 16 Jun 1997 (21) Iran Persepolis
19 MF Mohammad Khodabandelou 07 Sep 1999 (18) Iran Paykan
20 DF Aref Aghasi 02 Jan 1997 (21) Iran Foolad

Iran regains top Asian team FIFA Ranking

France have climbed to the summit of a much-changed FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking in the first edition of the global ladder since a new ranking formula took effect and Les Bleus became world champions.

Iran, regained its top ranking in Asia after a two months break while climbing 4 ranks up in the world at 32.

The formula, which was approved by the FIFA Council in June after a lengthy period of testing, relies on adding/subtracting points won or lost for a game to/from the previous point totals rather than averaging game points over a given time period as in the previous version of the Ranking. The changes, of which there are several, include the fact that inactive teams now preserve their point totals, with no devaluation of older games. Points are dropped, however, from losing or drawing against weaker opposition, with the only exception to this rule matches in knockout rounds of major competitions such as the FIFA World Cup™.

The most important thing about the new method is, of course, the table it yields, and in that respect August’s Ranking makes for spectacular reading. France (1st, up 6) provide the headline news, as they have reclaimed pole position for the first time in over 16 years, returning to a spot they last held in May 2002. Just three points, however, separate Les Bleus from Russia 2018 semi-finalists Belgium (2nd, up 1), while World Cup runners-up Croatia (4th, up 16) have equalled their record Ranking position, last reached in June 2013. Other big movers include Uruguay (5th, up 9), England (6th, up 6), Sweden (13th, up 11), and World Cup hosts Russia (49th, up 21).

Naturally, there are losses as well as gains, with previous leaders Germany (15th, down 14) among several sides to suffer for group-stage elimination in Russia. Poland (18th, down 10), Peru (20th, down 9) and Costa Rica and Iceland (joint-32nd, down 9 and 10 respectively) also slipped down the table on the back of disappointing World Cup campaigns.

 

 

AFC Top 10 Teams

FIFA Ranking August 2018

 

Asia World Team Total Points Previous Points Change
1 32 IRNIR Iran 1471(1471.19) 708 5
2 43 AUSAustralia 1431(1430.71) 718 -7
3 55 JPNJapan 1392(1392.1) 521 6
4 57 KORKorea Republic 1387(1387.3) 544 0
5 70 KSASaudi Arabia 1336(1336.16) 465 -3
6 73 SYRSyria 1328(1328) 440 0
7 75 CHNChina PR 1320(1320) 423 0
8 77 UAEUnited Arab Emirates 1312(1312) 418 0
9 79 LIBLebanon 1304(1304) 411 0
10 84 OMAOman 1288(1288) 391 0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asian Games 2018: Iran defeats DPR Korea

Iran took a huge step towards qualifying for the Round of 16 with a 3-0 win over 2014 silver medallists DPR Korea.

Iran started brightly against DPR Korea but Mohammad Khodabandehlo and Amir Roustaei had their opportunities saved by goalkeeper Kang Ju-Hyok inside the first 18 minutes.

DPR Korea were also chasing their first win after settling for a 1-1 stalemate with Myanmar on Wednesday and went close to scoring in the 19th minute but Ri Un-Chol’s strike was saved by IR Iran goalkeeper Mahdi Amini Zazerani.

However, Roustaei put Iran in the lead following his strike in the 27th minute and the goal pushed DPR Korea forward in search of an equaliser but Song-il Ju’s men couldn’t find the target as they trailed by a goal at halftime.

 

Iran, four-time Asian Games champions, kept the momentum going in the second half as they looked to extend their advantage over the East Asians.

DPR Korea suffered a blow when they went down to 10 men after Song Kum-Song was shown his marching orders in the 52nd minute.

Iran used the one-man advantage to double their lead through Mehdi Ghayedi’s strike in the 68th minute and despite DPR Korea’s best efforts, the Central Asians made it 3-0 after Aref Aghasi Kolahsorkhi converted a penalty in added time.

With top spot still up for grabs, IR Iran will face Myanmar in their final group match on Monday while DPR Korea will entertain Saudi Arabia.

PSV scouting for top Iranian talent: Younes Delfi

With pen and paper in hand and dozens of scouts gasping in the neck, Voetbalzone scours the international fields every week. Who are the stars of the future, which talents should absolutely be watched? Our next target: Younes Delfi, who will join PSV within the foreseeable future.

By Tim Siekman

The Iran’s Under-17 team started well  on the bright side in October 2017 at the  FIFA U-17 World Cup by defeating Guinea 3-1. A great achievement, but also factored in. The Asian talents in the group phase would give a much heavier blow to the might of Germany, whom with  their star forward Jann-Fiete Arp had a well-coveted diamond in the making . The top striker of Hamburger SV scored five times in five matches at the final tournament in India and took his team to the quarter finals of the World Championship.

An interesting clash was therefore expected in advance, again with a possible leading role for Arp, who is on the radar of Bayern Munich.  however It went differently. In the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi, Germany was outclassed by Iran. The 4-0 loss of that Mannschaft meant the breakthrough of Younes Delfi on the international podium. The seventeen-year-old right winger took his team by the hand and after six minutes broke through the doctrine, via defender Jan Boller, by placing the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Luca Plogmann.

Plogmann then faced a barrage of attacks. Just before halftime, Delfi again struck: the fast winger hit the spot with the help of Mohammad Sharifi’s assist. After the break, the top talented boy from Khuzestan produced an assist for Allahyar Sayyad,  and later Vahid Namdari sealed the match with the fourth goal for Iran and the final score ended 4-0 to Team Melli. With that impressive win over Germany, the name of Delfi was definitively established. Several clubs in Europe have lauded scouting reports of the Iranian in the drawer, including Besiktas, but it was PSV that has taken the initiative.

PSV

Delfi is on his way to the PSV Eindhoven, as recently confirmed by director Amir Soltani. The seventeen-year-old attacker is plucked for a fee of 550,000 euros from Esteghlal Khuzestan, which also stipulated a sale percentage of 20 percent. Soltani recently said that the deal is as good as done and that ‘the last details’ still have to be discussed. From mid-August, Delfi will try to repeat his excellent form and shine with the Under-23 team of Iran at the Asian Games  2018 in Indonesia, and the youngster will later officially join PSV, probably in January.

Last March, Delfi, who incidentally also can play as an attacking midfielder, were planned to join Eindhoven training camp together with Taha Shariati. The two youth internationals would train with the Under-19 team, which at the time was led by Mark van Bommel, currently head coach of the national champion. Delfi, however, was not allowed to travel to the Netherlands, but now he  can make the step. He can sign a professional contract with PSV on his birthday on 2 October.

Younes Delfi with his teammates from the Under-23 of Iran in a friendly game with Iraq.

Delfi’s excellent performance at the Youth World Cup against Germany, according to him, was partly due to a close preparation that he carried out together with his offensive partner and roommate Sayyad. “We watched a lot of videos from the U17  team of Germany and knew what they had to offer. We have analyzed them down to the smallest detail and from this we drew our conclusions “, says Delfi, who ended up in the loosing side in the quarter finals with a defeat against Spain, in an interview with New Indian Express .

Cristiano Ronaldo

In Iran, people are convinced that the youth can handle top football in Europe in the future. “Being a regular player in Persian Gulf Pro League is a blessing for the team,” said team manager Amir Sedighi last October. “He is a valuable addition, both for his club and country.” Since his debut for Esteghlal Khuzestan, Delfi has been labeled by various media as ‘prodigy’. After ‘only’ six appearances in the 2016/17 season, the winger was awarded almost every game of play minutes the following year. In total, the dribbler has 32 appearances in the club so far, with 7 goals and 1 assist under his name.

Delfi is determined to once again draw attention to the Asian Games. The talented player remains ambitious, despite all the praise that has already been awarded to him. “My goals are not based on my performance. I expect more from myself, “Delfi said recently in an interview with varzesh3 . Delfi has had a good time at the club where he played since his early youth, but acknowledges that the move to Europe is very tempting. “My ambitions are very big: I want to exchange Esteghlal Khuzestan for Europe to eventually play for top clubs.”

The attacker is praised for his speed, his technique, his dribbles and his urge to constantly look for one-to-one situations. Delfi does not turn his hand around for the dirty work and is willing to make runs for his teammates. The 17-year-old gem considers Cristiano Ronaldo as his idol. The five-time winner of the Ballon d’Or often says that hard work is the basis for success and that opinion is also attributed to Delfi: “To be even in the shadow of Ronaldo, I have to work very hard, I know that. But my goal is to become better than Ronaldo. one  of theses days. “

Name: Younes Delfi
Date of birth: 2 October 2000
Club: Esteghlal Khuzestan
Position: right winger, attacking midfielder
Strengths: speed, dribbling qualities, insight

Daniel Arzani signed by PL Champions Manchester City

Much like they will probably do in the majority of their Premier League games this season, Man City have struck first – they have confirmed the signing of Daniel Arzani from Melbourne City.

Arzani , an Australian national of Iranian origin, was so close to play for Team Melli after Carlos Queiroz efforts to attract him. However, Australia picked Arzani for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2018, and Arzani responded to the call.

Despite the deal, it is not expected that Arzani would be playing a major role in the star-studded Man City squad lead by Guardiola. It is also possible that Arzani will be loaned to a lower tier club to get more playing tim , rather than be a peripheral  player in Manchester City.

This season English Premier League will have a  lone Team Melli player as well. Alireza Jahanbakhsh  wil be playing for Brighton. The season begins tomorrow when Manchester United host Leicester City.

The Sense of injustice. Mohsen Mosalman & Hossein Kaebi

The crocked FFIRI.

Mohsen Mosalman was considered as one of the brightest young footballers in Iran, destined to stardom in the European leagues in the footpath of Daei , Mahdavikia and Bagheri. Some even regarded him to be a much better talent than Ali Karimi in his senior years

He was the youngest professional players in Iran history at 16 years old in Zob Ahan.  By that time, he has already played for Team Melli U16 and in the following years , he represented his country in all the age group teams all the way to the Omid Team (U23).

Mosalman was and still is , a gifted player and naturally he was picked for Team Melli, but made limited appearances, and scored one goal in his 5 caps.

This player however, had issues on and off the field , enough to irritate the hierarchy and ruffle some feathers. The disciplinary actions against him and some self-inflicted problems, harmed his progress and relegated him from a star in the making to just about, better than average league player.

His misdemeanors varied from being filmed smoking in coffee shops, to attending parties or pictures in social media with girls..

Another wonderkid was Hossein Kaebi. The boy from Khuzestan was an absolute delight to watch as a youngster growing up to become a definite star. He made his debut for Team Melli at 18 years and unlike Mosalman, Hossein Kaebi played for an extended period of time including in the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006. He also played in the Asian Cup 2007.

There was nothing controversial about Kaebi, except for his passion to look good including having Tattoo all over his body or fixing his eyebrows, for which he faced disciplinary action by the ethics and behavior committee of FFIRI

Mosalman conduct is nothing close to controversial, so is Kaebi’s. If it was in Free World, those two would not attract much, if any attention. On field violations would have been dealt with professionally and objectively, as there is no malice, ill intent or violent conducts in their actions. But in a system controlled by religious fundamentalism with absolutely minimal respect to personal freedom and a big brother approach, these two are considered as villains.

A committee for virtue and righteous, has just suspended the two players from all football activities for reasons that are not published and only known to those who penalized the players. There is no appeal. No transparency no rights!.

Hossein kaebi

And if you think that is injustice, have a thought for Mohsen Mosalman who helped Persepolis win the League title last season. In the ceremony by the FFIRI to honor winners and the achievers, in the category of top assists , Mohsen Mosalman was the clear winner with 14 assists for the season. Shockingly, the FFIRI announced that Server Djabarov, the Uzbek player who had a total of 6 assists for Esteghlal, has won the title.!!!

The writing was on the wall to suspend and punish Mosalman.

It is testament to the resolve of the nation that football actually thrives under such injustice.

Masoud Shojaei and Ashkan Dejagah, join Tractorsazi

Both Captains of Team Melli , have joined Tractorsazi Tabriz, in the surprise transfer of the season.

While both have been playing in Europe and could have continued doing so, yet in a strange turn of event, they turned up in Tabriz with a lot of question marks on the motives of the move. Masoud Shojaei and Ashkan Dejagah, two well-known and influential players of the Iranian national team who participated in the 21st World Cup recently in Russia, reached peculiar decision to join Tractorsazi team.

Though it will be very good news for the Tabrizi team, it will raise questions about the reasons for the decision made by Shojaei and Dejagah and wheter it hase been either coordinated or orchestrated, especially since the two players have signed up to a three-year contract with Tractorsazi, which is questionable and ambiguous.

Shojaei and Dejagah have joined a team whose owner has been a tremendous support for Team Melli in recent years and has even provided the squad with a special chartered Jet for the squad travels.

The two captains were expected to join Foreign teams with better prospective after the World Cup. Or, even if they did not do well in the European teams, they could have easily continued to play in the neighboring countries League, in particular Qatar.

The main question is why Massoud Shojaei and Ashkan Dejagah have decided on the domestic league in the year leading up to the Asian Cup? The two joined the Tractorsazi while Queiroz always preferred and emphasized on the presence of players in international teams for greater readiness.

It is not clear if Shojaei and Dejagah, who have a close relationship with Queiroz – as national team captains – have consulted the Portuguese coach for their next season’s team selection?

It seems that reasons other than a simple choice in the transfer of Massoud Shojaee and Ashkan Dejagah have been influential.

Branco Ivankovic, who has won the Premier League for two consecutive seasons and has gained a lot of popularity among Persepolis fans, and even considered as a strong candidate to replace Queiroz  in the national team, now sees his opposition much stronger than before.

What’s clear is that Tractorsazi has built a strong team under John Toshack and will form a challenge to Persepolis and Esteghlal with the recruitment of Shojaei and Dejagah

A new law, threatens even more chaos in Iran football adminstration

The parliament in Iran passed a new law that it has been debating for years preventing those who receive pension from Social Security Organization seeking  paying jobs at other organizations including NGOs.

With the passing of this law, the majority of Iranian Sport Federations managers and heads will need to leave their jobs , including those in the Football Federation, FFIRI where the top administrators, including the President of FFIRI fall under this category.

The initial reaction of Mahdi Taj, an ex-civil servant , on learning that his name is among those who are impacted by this law , like many heads of federations, was rational, with emphasis on compliance.

” surely other football directors would inevitably come along as the result of this new law, but the question is if this law is enforced, and all of these people will be excluded from football management, can the successors of these directors manage and direct football affairs and management in the country?”

It seems now that the Football Federation is a federation is full of old and the frustrated personnel, while football itself always tries to be youthful, energetic and progressive. Unfortunately in Iran, it is the other way round. A group of older men running a youthful game.

It seems that a solution to this problem has to be found so that the implementation of a law will not create the potential  vacuum and future problems.

The FFIRI administrators who are affected by this law are as follow:

Mahdi Taj (President of the Football Federation), Ali Kafashian (vice President), Heydar Bahavand (chairman of the league organization  committee and  second vice-President), Abdul Kazem Taleghani (board member), Mohammad Reza Saket (General Secretary), and Mahmoud Islamiyan (member of the Football Federation Council) are senior managers of the federation who are retired and will be forced to leave their jobs after the new law is implemented.

Asian Games squad announced

On the eve of the farewell ceremony of Iran’s Asian Games teams , Zlatko Kranjcar, spoke about the team preparations and recent developments.

The Asian Games ceremony was held on Tuesday at the Olympic Hotel in Tehran. Kranjcar  remarked that holding such a ceremony is good for all the disciplines. These rituals are motivating.

“Using the youth and the motive that is there, we can do our best to be successful,” he said. “Of course, we want to make these great game experiences because our primary goal is the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The head coach of the football team said: “The situation is very good. We chose 20 players to make sure these high-spirited players go to China, and we’ll go to Indonesia after a match against China to prepare for the tournament.

“All the league clubs cooperated with us, except for Nasiji who refused to release their player,” he said, noting that some teams did not give their players a chance. The resolution that the Board of Governors welcomed was welcomed by all the clubs and caused us no problems.

In the answer to the question from the reporter on the absence of Reza Shakari and Omid Noroufokan in the Omid list, Krancjar said that the lack of two quality players will certainly be a loss to the team, but the players we have chosen have a very high quality and I hope we will be able to compete with the players who have high motivation We shall achieve good results.”

“We had two very good preparations matches against the Iraqi team, which included some senior players,” he told AFP. We played very well in the second game and we are now ready to play Asian games.

The Croat coach, Zlatco  Kranjcar has earlier named 20 players who will be representing Iran in the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta starting this August. Iran Olympics Football team is actually a mix but mostly consists of  U19 players.  The regulation restricts the age of players to be under 23 with 2 senior players can be included.

Iran Asian Games Squad

  1. Ahmad Reza Ahmadvand
  2. Alireza Orta
  3. Amir ROUSTAEI
  4. Aref AGHASI
  5. Mehdi Amini
  6. Mehdi GHAYEDI
  7. Mehdi Rahimi
  8. Mohamad AGHAJANPOUR
  9. Mohammad Amin Asadi
  10. Mohammad Khodabandeh
  11. Mohammad Mehdi MEHDIKHANI
  12. Mohammad Moslempour
  13. Mohammad Reza Azadi
  14. Mohammad SOLTANIMEHR
  15. Reza Jabireh
  16. Seyyed Abolfazl RAZZAGHPOUR
  17. Shahab ADELI
  18. Shahin Abbasian
  19. Sina Zamehran
  20. YOUNES DELFI