Tehran

IRIFF (Islamic Republic of Iran football Federation) has sent a letter of protest to FIFA against the venue of the final match of the group between Korea Republic and Iran.

The planned venue for the match by the Koreans is Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium, located in the industrial city of Ulsan.

Mohammad Mehdi Nabi , IRIFF spokesman said that his federation has sent a letter to FIFA underlining three major points in regard to the final match of Group A of Asian Zone FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifying match . The first was the importance of selecting a suitable referee for this vital match, the second point a demand for playing the other group match between Uzbekistan and Qatar at the same time as the Korea Rep vs. Iran match and finally a demand for change of the nominated venue by the host.

The IRIFF spokesman added that” fortunately, FIFA has agreed with our second demand and now both matches will kick of simultaneously.   “

On the subject of the venue, Nabi said that Iran’s objection to the venue is based on the fact of logistical difficulties. There are no direct flights from any point in the Middle East to the city of Ulsan. There are several means of getting to Ulsan but all involve 3 sectors for Team Melli and all involve flying to China first. He also noted the distance between the hotel accommodation and the Stadium in Ulsan which is a minimum of one hour and thirty minutes. Mehdi Nabi also highlighted the fact that in FIFA regulations, a venue for FIFA competition must have a category A airport allowing international and intercontinental flight , but Ulsan has a category B which does not allow such flights.

 Based on all these facts, the IRIFF has sent a letter of protest on Thursdays to FIFA. The response by the International football body on the change of venue has not been announced yet.

President of Iran’s Football Federation.

 The head of Iran’s football federation in a reaction to questions about the possibility of playing friendly games with Spain or Portugal during the proposed Team Melli camp in Europe , responded by saying that is is only a prelimiary talk and suggestion by Carlos Queiroz , There has benn no actin taken in this respect.”

  Ali Kaffashian , in an interview with sports reporter of Iranian Students News Agency ISNA was quoted saying that “At the present,  we must direct our attention and focus on Team Melli qualifying for the FIFA world cup, which is our top priority. The national team camp in Europe will be conducted in case our team makes the play-off or manages to qualify directly to the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil 2014.”

The Head of IRIFF added “Carlos Queiroz’s request has not been acted upon yet it is just a wish at this stage. Of course we will be analyzing the situation in due course when the  time is appropriate.” “We hope that our national team is one of the two teams that qualifies directly to the world cup but otherwise we will programs the National Team accordingly to the future fixtures and participation .”

Iran is currently third in the group and a play-off is a possibility if the team can achieve the third place in the group.

Iran’s next match in the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 is against Qatar in Doha, where a 3 point is vital for its progress.

Injured Team Melli & Fulham midfielder Ashkan Dejagah will miss the rest of the Barclays Premier League season, manager Martin Jol has confirmed.

Dejagah requires an operation to repair ankle ligament damage suffered when he collided with an advertising hoarding in Fulham’s 3-2 victory over QPR on April 1. The Iranian will go under the knife next week and he will not play again this campaign.

“Ashkan Dejagah needs an operation on his ankle ligament. That will be next week and I think he will be out for the rest of the season,” Jol said.

This is a major blow for Team Melli who is involved in the Qualifying rounds of the FIFA World Cup 2014. With the team struggling in the group currently lying third behind Uzbekistan and Korea Rep and with the same points as Qatar , Iran will find it tough going without their best midfielder with crucial matches coming thick and fast on June.

Team Melli will complete the qulifiers in June with three consecutive matches on the 4th , 11th and 18th against Qatar in Doha, Lebanon at Azadi and finally Korea in Seoul receptively. It seems that Dejagah will be out of those 3 matches and at best can re-join the team for the AC Asian Cup 2-15 qualifiers against Thailand in October 15th.

Tehran;

The head of Iran’s youth Committee announced that Team Melli U-17 will be actively taking part in 3 separate tournaments as part of the team’s preparation for FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Mirshad Majedi said that “Currently the team is under the total supervision of Ali Doustimeher and in a very good spirit and physical condition. However , the participation of the team at the highest level and that is the FIFA U-17 World Cup requires much more preparation and work in order for the team to be a good Representative of Iranian football.” The head of the youth committee also said that due to this commitment , the federation and the Technical cadre has decided to take part in 3 separate tournaments as part of the training program. We have been in contact with several federations in Africa , America and Europe and awaiting their responses , which will be announced to the public in due course.”

Asked if there is any positive responses from the associations, Majedi said that only the Asian representation for the FIFA U-17 World Cup are known, the rest of the qualified teams will be known by May of this year. Because of this , it will be slightly difficult to arrange these tournaments until the qualifications are clear.

The U-17 team last preparatory match was against the Naft Tehran which ended in a 2-0 defeat.

The 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be the fifteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. It will be held in the United Arab Emirates between 17 October and 8 November.

AFC.com

Kuwait City: Kuwait and Iran edged ahead of Lebanon in Group B of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers after the two sides played out a 1-1 draw at the Kuwait SC Stadium on Tuesday.

Despite being on the back foot for much of the first half, the visitors took the lead just before half-time when Mesoud Shojaei capitalised on some sloppy defending to put his side ahead.
But Kuwait stepped up the pressure in the second half and they rewarded when Fahad Awad kept his cool to convert from the penalty spot with 14 minutes left.
The result meant that both sides moved up to four points, one ahead of Lebanon, who downed Thailand 5-2 in their Group B match in Beirut last Friday. Iran lead the section on goal difference after they trounced Lebanon 5-0 in their opener while Kuwait only managed a 3-1 away win in Thailand.
Playing their first home game of the qualifiers, Kuwait began the match well and they had a number of chances to break the deadlock in the first half as Hamad Al Enezi and Bader Al Mutwas missed good opportunities.
Having failed to make the most of their chances, the hosts were stunned when Iran took the lead right at the end of the first half.
Ashkan Dejagah made a strong run down the right flank but his cut-back from the byline appeared to be too close to goalkeeper Nawaf Al Khaldi, who sprawled on the floor to gather the ball. However, it slipped loose from his grasp and defender Hussain Fadhel’s weak clearance only went as far as Mojtaba Jabari, who crashed his shot against the angle of post and crossbar.
The ball rebounded to Mesoud Shojaei who volleyed it back towards the Kuwait goal where Al Khaldi made a valiant effort to stop the effort but could not prevent it from crossing the goalline.
Iran tried to defend their lead after the interval and they frustrated the Kuwaitis until the home side were awarded a penalty in the 76th minute for a foul on Abdulhadi Khamee by captain Javad Nekounam.
Fahad Awad made no mistake from the spot, sending Iran goalkeeper Rahman Ahmadi the wrong way to ensure that honours were shared between the two sides.

Group B

#		Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	D	P	Last 5 matches
1		Iran	2	1	1	0	6	1	+5	4	D W
2		Kuwait	2	1	1	0	4	2	+2	4	D W
3		Lebanon	2	1	0	1	5	7	-2	3	W L
4		Thailand	2	0	0	2	3	8	-5	0	L L

AFC.com Published on Monday, 25 March 2013 14:56

Kuwait City: Kuwait will be missing a pair of key players when they face Iran on Tuesday in a top-of-the-table clash in Group B of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 qualifiers.

The two teams enter the match at the Kuwait Sports Club Stadium with three points each after they began their qualification campaigns with solid victories in their opening games last month. Iran trounced Lebanon 5-0 in Tehran while the Kuwaitis returned from Bangkok with a resounding 3-1 victory over Thailand.
They have been joined on three points by Lebanon, who beat Thailand 5-2 in Beirut last Saturday although the winners of Tuesday’s game will open up a three-point lead at the top of the section.
But all is not well in the Kuwaiti camp with Walied Ali and Fahad Al Enezi both set to miss the showdown with the Iranians. Veteran midfielder Walied has been ruled out by a hamstring injury while Al Enezi has been barred from playing by the Kuwait FA for disciplinary reasons.
Unhappy at being taken off in the second half during the match against Thailand last month, the mercurial 24-year-old Kuwait SC winger had an angry verbal exchange with coach Goran Tufegdzic and team manager Osama Abdullah and he was duly suspended for four domestic matches as well as the Asian Cup qualifier against Iran.
Despite the absence of the pair, Tufegdzic is quite happy with his team’s build-up to the game against Iran, which included a 2-1 win over Palestine in a friendly last Thursday.
“I’m satisfied with the preparations of our team,” said the Serbian, who has been in charge of Kuwait since 2009.

“We will be playing against a well-developed team but we managed to study their weaknesses and strengths and hopefully we can get a positive result tomorrow.
“We had a good start in the qualifiers and we want to continue with the same motivation in order to please our fans. I believe that the match will be entertaining but at the same time we will surprise our opponents with our tactics.”
Iran arrived in Kuwait on Sunday in confident mood with coach Carlos Queiroz keen to see his side build on their positive start against Lebanon.

“We prepared well for the match and we know that Kuwait are not an easy side but we will give our best to get a positive result although it will not be an easy task as Kuwait have home advantage and the fans on their side,” said the Portuguese coach.
“We respect all our opponents but we will try our best to win and remain at the top of the group especially after the perfect start that we had with a big win against Lebanon.
“We have good information about Kuwait and hopefully we can use this to our advantage.”

Doha

Team Melli U 23 won the 11^th Friendship Football Tournament in style after beating Turkey 3-2 in the final match of the tournament. Turkey and Qatar were second and third after drawing lots. Team Melli , finished at the top with maximum points after erlier beating  Morocco 1-0 and then Qatar 2-1.

In a continuation of their passing and slick football , Team Melli once again dominated the match against Turkey. The German-born striker of Turkey Cenk Tosun put his side in the lead when he rose to head a second minute goal. Despite the early goal from a header that Turkey scored, the answer was swift as Payam Sadeghian lobbed a beautiful goal past the Turkish Goalkeeper to make it 1-1 in the 5th minutes.

Sadeghian scored his second goal at the 26th Minute after a quick counter attack initiated from deep inside Iran’s own half by Bakhtiyar Rahmani , who released Sadeghian on the left flank, in turn Sadgehian played a one two with Jahanbakhsh that resulted in a stylish goal with the Turkish goalkeeper stranded and nowhere near the ball that passed him.

The first half ended 2-1 for Iran.

While Turkey needed to attack and win the match to lift the title, it was Iran that took the initiative in the second half with series of attacks. On the hour mark there were couple of glorious misses by Iranian players that could have sealed the match early. Jahanbakhsh , Mosallman and a clear header at open goal by Khanzadeh all went astray. The Turkish keeper was at top form when he successfully saved two more scoring opportunities from Iranian players.

Eventually Team Melli scored the third goal to ease the pressure. On Alireza Jahanbakhsh assit , Mohsen Mosallman received the ball and calmly slotted the ball far away from Turkish goalkeeper reach . With a 2 goal margin cushion and the team easing the pressure on the Turks and with Mansourian starting his  substitutions , the Turkish team pounced on the opportunity and managed to score their second late in the match. However , Team Melli steadfastly defended and no serious threat to the goal was attempted by the Turkish U 23 team which engaged in some rough and un-gentlemanly playing tactics.  The coach of the Turkish team was also involved in a fracas with an Iranian player on the touchline, which should have resulted in him being ejected from the game.

With 3 wins out of 3 Iran also enjoyed a clean sweep of the individual honors as Payam Sadeghian won the top scorer award, Piravand winning the best goalkeeper and finally the MVP of the tournament went to Iran’s Captain Mohsen Mosallman.

“I am a happy man today as we have won the trophy,” Iran coach Ali Reza Mansourian said. “It is a proud moment for me as all the individual awards were also won by my players,” added the former Iran player.

Match Details

IRAN vs. TURKEY  3-2

Half time (2-1)

Iran : Alireza  Piranvand ; Amin Hajmohammadi, , Mohammadreza Khanzadeh, Milad Gharibi, Saeid Lotfi ,  Vahid Esmarilbeigi [91′ Zendehrouh] , Shahab Karami, Mohsen Mosalman , Alireza Jahanbakhsh [81′ Kaveh Rezaei],  Bakhtiyar Rahmani [66′ Omid Alishah], Payam Sadeghian [72′ PouraliGanzj]

Scorers:  Payam Sadeghian (5′ , 26′), Mohsen Mosallman (81′)

Yellow Card: Payam Sadeghian

Kuwait City.

Team Melli football team arrived in Kuwait City on Sunday evening. The team has left Dubai camp earlier that day and as soon as they arrived in Kuwait’s Crown Plaza hotel, the team started its preparation for Tuesday’s match against host Kuwait by hitting the Gymnasium and the swimming pool.

In statements to the press, Javad Nekounam said that being involved with Team Melli in a camp during the Nowrooz holidays is not a new thing to him. “As a professional we should be ready for duty anytime to represent our country. Unfortunately sometime this coincides with our national holidays and I have been through such engagement several times in my career. It is not a serious issue to us.” The Captain of Team Melli said.

Mehrdad Ouladi , who is once again selected for Team Melli after long absence said that Team Melli should not take Kuwait lightly. “We had a very good camp and there was a fine spirit between the players. The practice sessions were serious and all the players are determined to succeed.” The Malavan player said. “We will not have a comfortable match in Kuwait, however , we are determined to play an attractive football and gain the required result.”

Kuwait Team has suffered a major blow as their Left winger Hamad Aman has limped off the training session after an injury. The skilful winger remains doubtful for the match. Iran will also miss Khalatbary due to strained muscle he suffered during the training in Dubai. Last minute tests might change the fortunes of those players on both sides.

In a post match news briefing, Kuwaiti FA official stated that the match entry will not be free as it is customary with the rest of the Persian Gulf Arab countries. Mr Al Sahoo said “The Kuwait Football federation cannot afford to run free matches while there are many expenses and bills to pay. Only a few number of the 12,000 tickets are available. We knew beforehand that this match will be popular and we expect a capacity stadium for the match against a strong rival.”

Al Sahoo has denied that the postponement of the match was a barter deal with Iranian Football Federation. It was alleged in the local press that Kuwait FA agreed on Iranian request to postpone the match for one week because of Nowrooz , in exchange of Iran voting for the Kuwaiti supported candidate of AFC presidency, Salman Bin Ibrahim AlKhalifa of Bahrain. Al Sahoo said that agreeing with Iran’s request was a friendly and courteous gesture to our neighbors and nothing more than that.

Team Melli will be playing against Kuwait in Al Kuwait team football stadium on Tuesday as part of the qualification rounds matches for the AFC Asian Cup 2015 In Australia. Iran leads group B after one match by goal difference.

Group B

#		Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	D	P
1		Iran	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5	3
2		Kuwait	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	3
3		Lebanon	2	1	0	1	5	7	-2	3
4		Thailand	2	0	0	2	3	8	-5	0