Tag: Ali KArimi

Glorious days for Iranian strikers in Europe.

Team Melli strikers in Europe, are rewriting the history and reaching feats that their predecessors did not manage or was unthinkable. 

Reza Ghoochannejad, Sardar Azmoun , Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Karim Ansarifard the four players who happened to be all playing up front in their teams have done Iran’s football pride by consistently scoring goals in the most competitive of leagues.

Reza “Gucci” Ghoochannejad , who had a torrid couple of season in the lower English League and Persian Gulf countries, gradually found his form after transferring  to SC Heereneveen in the Eredivisie. Gucci scored his 14th goal of the season yesterday in a 3-0 win against Roda JC Kerkrade .

Sardar Azmoun, the golden boy of Iran has scored 7 goals for his team in various competitions, including 4 goals in one season of the UEFA Champions League. He is the only the second Iranian player to score in this competition after Ali Daei who scored 6 goals in two seasons for Hertha Berlin in the UEFA Champions League.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh who has been playing professional in the Eredivisie for 4 seasons now although he is only 23, has enjoyed a good run with his club AZ Alkaamar. He has already doubled his tally from last season scoring 6 goals so far for the Dutch club.

Karim Ansarifard whose football career was seriously being undermined while warming the bench at segunda Division Osasuna in Spain, made it good after transferring to the Greek league. With Panionios he scored 14 goals in one a half season before being grabbed by the league leader Olympiakos Piraeus in the winter transfer window. Karim already opened his account with Olympiakos by scoring a brace in UEFA Europa league against Turkish side Osmanlispor.

.It has never been so good for Iranian players in European leagues. Household names such as Ali  Daei, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Ali Karimi , Vahid Hashemian, Karim Bagheri and host of other Iranian players played in Europe especially after that famous FIFA 1998 World Cup. However, despite the relative success , it is definitely not comparable to the success that the current group is enjoying in Europe despite Team Melli lack of success or achievement.

 

Iran opens Rio Olympics 2016 qualifiers with victory.

Iran Omid team started the AFC Asian U-23 Championship 2016 on the right track by defeating Syria 2-0 in Doha, Qatar.

In the match that was played on Tuesday at Al Sadd stadium, which finished goalless in the first half, Amir Arsalan Motahari opened the scoring in the 63rd minute with a fine individual goal , while Mehrdad Mohammadi (71 minutes)  made it 2-0 with an excellent finish beating the Syrian keeper with a shot on the far end of his right.

Omid’s team performance, however, was from convincing. With 5 Team Melli players and along preparation including several camps and tournaments, the expectation from this team was much higher against a team that lacked preparation coming from a country which is war ravaged.

Knowing their limitation, It was clear that Syria was in the match for damage limitation. Their piling of the defense , sometimes as much as 8 players on two layers in front of their keepers, was meant to not to concede any goals and then hit Iran on the break. Iran’s Omid team midfield was far superior than the opposition and controlled the match at will, however, tension, lack of confidence and some poor passing spoiled any chance of Omid team translating this supremacy into goals that they deserved.

Failure to set up a string of 3 or more passes marred Iran Omid’s team game despite the poor standard of the opposition.

The second half goal scored by Motahari , beautifully slicing through the Syrian defense before hitting the keeper with a close range shot, augmented the team confidence. The passes started to flow much efficiently between the players. Mehdi Torabi was magnificent on the left flank majestically controlling , dribbling and with his burst of speed, passing the Syrians with ease.

It was only a matter of time before the second goal and more would be coming. Mehrdad Mohammadi was at the end of a beautiful diagonal pass from Karimi The Rah Ahan midfielder switched legs , control ed the ball and sent a powerful unstoppable shot to the far right end of Syrian keeper.

Iran could have easily scored another two in the last 15 minutes, but combination of complacency and poor concentration prevented a rout of the uninspiring Syrian team.

Despite the win, and the boost in the confidence, the teamwork needs much improvement against the much stronger next opposition; host Qatar on Friday. For the team to have a genuine chance of qualifying from this group, much work is needed. There was some fine individual performances by Omid Team  players, especially Mehdi Torabi, Mehrdad Mohammadi and Amir Arsalan Motahari, however , Khakpour has much work left to convert these talented players into a force to be reckoned with.

Nekounam turns down assistant coach role in Team Melli

Javad Nekounam , the recently retired Team Melli Captain, expressed his gratitude towards Team Melli coach , Carlos Queiroz for offering him the job of assistant coach and said “He rather continue playing football”.

Nekounam who is signing for Saipa Alborz team , has recently moved back to Iran after a unsuccessful stint with Osasuna in the second division of the Spanish La Liga.  Nekounam had much praise for his present coach Majeed Jalali and considered him one of the best in the country and Saipa as a club that many Iranian players think of quite highly.

Nekounam signing for Saipa Alborz

The appointment of Nekounam as assistant coach was announced a few months back without the player himself being properly consulted. Nekounam made no public comment on the appointment and never reported to Team Melli signalling his refusal to accept the job. This is the first time that the ex-Team Melli captain has spoken publicly about the appointment.

No assistant coach has survived working under Queiroz. Omid Namazi , then Majeed Salih and Ali Karimi have all been working with the Portuguese coach and did not last the distance. Karimi’s stint was the shortest. Nekounam must have taken a cue and despite his admiration and good working relationship with Queiroz , has turned down the job.

Truce prevails between Kaffashian and Queiroz.

The anticipated meeting between Ali Kaffashian and Carlos Queiroz on Saturday in which the former has announced that it will be about the future of the latter in Team Melli was completed uneventful.

 The details of the meeting remains a secret with neither of the parties willing to disclose what has been discussed and what agreement , if any , was made following what sounded like and emergency discussion perhaps initiated by Queiroz , in the aftermath of the Minister of Youth and Sports scathing verbal attack of Kaffashian and Queiroz.

Speaking to the reporters on Saturday, Quieroz limited his statements to Team Melli’s immediate training schedule and plans and the announcement of the Uzbekistan friendly match.  The Portuguese coach refused to comment on the questions about his views on Goudarzi’s statements condemning him and his employer, The FFIRI. “I have nothing to say on that subject. You can direct your questions to the President of the federation”  Queiroz’s responded against the persistent questioning on the subject.

Training program

Carlos Queiroz, however, went on in fine details on the Team Melli training schedules and plans.

“We will be starting the training schedule as soon as the league is over. Teams involved in the Hazfi Cup finals or Asian Competitions will be allowed to keep their players and join us at a later stage”

“We will set up two mini camps in Tehran and another one in Istanbul as part of the program to meet Turkmenistan. The squad will include the best players include young players who had made their presence felt in the league. We will also have a few surprises for you as far as new players’ selections.”

 A reporter asked him , what surprises does he have up his sleeve if he is not even watching the Football league to check the suitability of players ? Carlos Queiroz  said “I have a capable team of technical assistance who continually monitor the league and report to me. I trust their work. I also have a good analyst .”

Nekounam’s role. 

 Queiroz also reiterated his desire to include Javad Nekounam as a member of the coaching staff while insisting that Markar Aghajanian will remain as is and the ex Team Melli Captain will not be replacing the long serving Aghajanian in the coaching team.  The Portuguese coach did not specify in which capacity Nekounam will join his team. The recently retired Captain is actively playing professional football with Osasuna and is under contract with the Spanish Segunda Division side. 

A previous attempt to include a marquee name in Team Melli coaching staff , ended in bitter failure.  Ali Karimi , was included in the coaching team , without a specific role and with no coaching experience . After a few months, Karimi jumped ship and refused to fly to Australia with the Asian Cup 2015 squad without providing any reasons or submitting his resignation. He left Team Melli unceremoniously leaving Queiroz quite upset and disappointed. 

Queiroz also mentioned a proposal for a friendly international against Japan in October 2015 but the match date is not finalized yet.

Another Iranian young star bites the dust.

In the last few years of Iranian football,  a few promising talents emerged from the land that has abundant talented young kids. Amongst this group, a unique skilled player who seemed to possess a multiple of skills made the headlines and the media was quick to declare the emergence of the next Ali Karimi and even the Iranian Maradona.

Payam Sadeghian

A star is born

His name is Payam Sadeghian, and to be plainly truthful, the kid had talent, plenty of it, in fact.

From the youth teams in Zob Ahan until he ended up in Persepolis, Sadeghian consistently showed his skills, his courage, passion and zest. He can dribble all right but also has a venomous shoot. His dead ball skills are second to none. There isn’t much that Sadeghian cannot excel in while on the pitch.  For such talent, Sadeghian was selected for every national team age group that existed, from the U14 in 2005 all the way to the senior Team Melli in 2012.

But the kid had one major shortfall. With the praises bestowed upon him, left , right and center, he developed an unwelcome ego and lack of discipline bordering delinquency. Time and again, on and off the field, Sadeghian was involved in unruly, disruptive and troublemaking scenes. He had several disputes with coaches and managers.

mohsen-mosalman-and-payam-sadeghian-7681

NAVAD V show interview

In an interview with TV Show Navad, Ferdowsipour asked him about this side of his “ugly” football and why does he seem to be in the news for the wrong reasons? Payam Sadeghian’s  answer was evident of a  young man is living in denial and has no real clue how his misbehavior is slowly destroying what looks like a promising career , regardless to his inherit and undeniable talents . Sadeghian accused some people of exaggeration and said that he is not the evil person that some of his enemies portray him! Obviously, Payam Sadeghian believed that he is doing fine and there is no sense in addressing his character or behavior.

However, the biggest failure in Sadeghian case is the fact that his club managers and coaches have failed to truly address his trouble case and deal with it by providing the proper solution. His poor disciplinary record was even defended by some of his peers. Even Ali Daei, who always portrays himself as a strict disciplinarian and law abiding person, miserably failed in tackling Sadeghian while he was the head coach of Persepolis. Daei is famous for being very quick in finding faults in others!

Daei was sacked , then Derakhshan came and gone and now one Branko Ivankovic , a household name in Iranian football, has taken the helm at the most popular club in Asia. Ivankovic, a disciplinarian but one of the most approachable and likable characters, has had enough of Payam Sadeghian only few weeks of working with him. The Croat head coach of Persepolis announced that he will not allow Sadeghian in his team. Asked if Sadeghian will be in Persepolis team next year, he simply said “NO.”

 Bleak future

Payam Sadeghian is a regretful case of a young footballer failure. Of course, there is a long road to recovery if he wishes, but the signs are there to assume that he has not repented. It is a personal failure and the responsibility is upon his own shoulder.  He went astray and off-course somewhere along the line regardless to the reasons. It is also another failure for Iranian football management which consistently fails to handle indiscipline players. This Persepolis team alone has half a dozen players or more in the same category, but Sadeghian is the most regrettable because the kid has talents that might never materialize and blossom the way it deserves to.

One think is taken for granted. Carlos Queiroz has no time for such delinquency. The chances of Sadeghian ever making one of Queiroz squads is quite remote knowing the Portuguese coach strict requirement by his player for disciplinary compliance.

Omid team rout Nepal 5-0

Iran’s U23 team (Omid Team)  defeated Nepal U23 5-0 in Group C of the AFC U-23 Championship match held at Azadi today. The first half ended 2-0 for Iran U23.

Iran’s goal were scored by Arsalan Motahari  minute 15 [1-0]  , Behnam Barzay from the penalty spot in the 28th minute [2-0]  , Sardar Azmoun on the 54th [3-0] , Ali Karimi on the 67th minute [4-0] and Shahin Saghebi on 88th minute [5-0].

IRN-NEPAL P4

Unfortunately, the match was played in front of empty Azadi Stadium bar a few hundred that turned up to cheer the Omid players. Nowrooz Holidays is one of the reasons for lack of interest by the fans.

The match was a one sided affair where Iran’s Omid controlled from the beginning not allowing the Nepalese team any time on the ball. Nepal, despite having a few good players, lacked in confidence and ambition and seemed to focus on conceding the least number of goals.

Despite the supremacy of Omid Team , the result does not truly reflect the game as the Iranian players wasted a handful of scoring chances. Considering the opportunities missed, the result could have been easily in double figure by minute 75 of the match. Some slack finishing, lack of vision, complacency and inaccuracy in the last shoot by the Iranian forwards, saved the blushes of the Nepalese team. Credit must also be given to the Nepalese goalkeeper , who was their best player by far, who executed some heroics to keep the powerful Iranians at bay.

 

Alireza Jahanbakhsh was given a rest day after his long journey from Holland where he played his last game in the league by winning promotion for NEC some 10 weeks before the league conclusion.

Azmoun played with finesse and style however, he was found wanting on several easy balls that he should have scored. One of the more beautiful scenes of the match was his close range powerful header that was spectacularly saved by Nepal keeper.

IRN-NEPAL P18

Despite the emphatic result and the supremacy of the Omid Team against what was a weak opponent whose priority was damage limitation and time wasting, the overall shape of the team was lacking in several areas. The team looked and played like 11 individual talented players each with his own excellent skills.  What blemished the display, however, was the poor teamwork especially in the finishing.

Improved and more efficient Teamwork is needed against the better oppositions. With more games ahead and practice sessions, it is hoped that weakness areas are covered , although none was apparent against a weak team. The are enough talented players in this current Omid team for Iran to stand a very good chance on making it to the Olympics. The onus is on the coaching staff to maintain discipline and good standard in the long road to qualification.

For the first official match , the team gave the few hundred fans in Azadi , quite a lot of hope and by the time Saudi Arabia meets Iran in the last match , the team should have jelled together much better and understanding between the players improved.

IRN-NEPAL P8

 

 

 

the-afc.com

Tehran: Iran took the early initiative in Group C of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers as the Group C hosts ran out comfortable 5-0 winners over Nepal in Monday’s later match at the PAS Stadium following Palestine’s 2-0 defeat of Afghanistan.

Arsalan Motahhari, who came off the bench to score in Naft Tehran’s 2-1 come-from-behind win over Al Shabab in last week’s AFC Champions League, put the home side one up after 14 minutes before a 27th minute penalty from skipper Behnam Barzay gave Iran a 2-0 lead to take into the interval at the PAS Stadium.

Sardar Azmoun, scorer of two goals for the senior side at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, made it 3-0 ten minutes into the second half and after Ali Karimi added to the Russia-based winger’s strike with Iran’s fourth in the 67th minute, Shahin Saghebi rounded off the victory three minutes from full time, with the substitute getting his name on the score sheet ten minutes after coming on to replace captain Barzay.

Iran are not in action again until Friday when they take on Palestine who will be looking to go into the meeting with the Group C hosts having recorded their second win of the campaign when they face Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams from all groups will join hosts Qatar at the AFC U-23 Championship 2016, with January’s 16-team competition also serving as Asia’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Rio.

Is there a shift in Iranian fans’ mentality ?

An intriguing enigma has developed lately in Iran’s football that might be the beginning of a new era, at least from the fans side of the, if not with the whole of the system.

Iran has the largest football fan base in Asia, even more that China that has several folds more population. People just love football in this country and if you have ever missed it , you should look at the attendance of the local derby between Perpsolis and Esteghlal , the two highest fanbase teams in Iran and beyond. It is always one of the biggest match attendance in the world.

Persepolis and Esteghlal are the two most popular teams in Iran.

lebanon-fans-543

Like many other countries, football fans in Iran have more loyalty to their clubs than the national team. For decades these two teams had a monopoly on the number of players in Team Melli. It was unthinkable of announcing a squad without any player from the reds of Persepolis or the blues of Esteghlal.

Not anymore. The original squad for AFC Asian Cup 2015 did not have a single player from Persepolis. That was a historic first. The trend of breaking the monopoly if the 2 top teams on Team Melli started way back during Branko Ivankovic days and reached its peak a decade or so later during Carlos Queiroz. Former Team Melli managers will deny it, but it is a common knowledge that pressure was excreted upon them to include as many as Persepolis and Esteghlal players in the team to assure the federation of fans attendance and support in the 100,000 capacity Azadi Stadium.

After the elimination of Team Melli from the Asian Cup, Queiroz embarked on a vicious ward of words against Amir Ghalenoei and Hamid Derakhshan accusing them of treachery, amongst many other allegations. Team Melli head coach war of attrition with local club coaches has started sometimes ago, but his conflict with Persepolis and Esteghlal coach seemed to have hit the peak after the failing of the Asian Cup.

Queiroz in a feeble attempt to justify the team’s elimination pointed the fingers at Ghalenoei and Derakhshan as contributory factors to the team’s failure!

Essentially , Queiroz was telling them “You are getting a taste of your own medicine!”

Aside from the others reactions to Queiroz tongue–lashing, many Persepolis and Esteghlal fans took exception to it and defended their club coaches, some in fact even marched with banners and had to be restrained by security personnel at the two clubs respective training grounds.

Up to here, the plot is progressing normally as expected under such circumstances but the shock that has awaken everyone was in NAVAD TV show. The popularity of Carlos Queiroz when a poll was conducted in Navad TV reached an overwhelming 88%!

Iran Fans in Doha

Let us carefully run through some facts.

Fact 1) the absolute majority (greater than 80%) of Iranian football fans polled before the Asian Cup, believed that Team Melli will win the title or be in the final match at least. Less than 10% thought Iran will not make it past the quarter finals. So, we assume that 80% of the fans are quite disappointed by the result.

Fact 2) Team Melli has failed to progress beyond the group matches in the World Cup , ranked by FIFA as 31 out of 32 teams with some embarrassing performance figure. It has failed to win any championship or titles, even the good old WAFF championship, failed in Asian Cup , and very miserably so in the Asian Games( U 23 team).

Fact 3) Team Melli has not been displaying a pretty or entertaining football with a stern defensive style and mostly sticking to the same faces and names.

Fact 4) Carlos Queiroz has made more enemies in Iran that anyone can think of. From Omid Namazi , Rahmati , Aghili , Salih etc and all the way to Ali Karimi who abandoned ship in the last hours.

The above mentioned are facts, not speculations or rumors. So, how on earth one can explain the popularity of such a character?

Iran vs nigeria greeting the fans (35 of 36)-3

Is there a shift in mentality in Iranians fans? are they sick of the archaic Iranian establishment ? Are they tired of Iranian coaches and their antics? Are they sending some kind of a message to the hierarchies? Are they “Blue eyes worshippers” as Ghalanoei alleged ?

In Europe and certainly some of the Persian Gulf Countries, National Team Managers that have achieved much better than Queiroz have lost their jobs, yet Iran is an exception. It defies the common logic for a coach to have such popularity without being able to win anything.

Not that Carlos Queiroz is to be blamed for the whole of Iran’s football deficiencies, but in essence, he is part of the system that has disappointed and failed the fans and an important one for that matter. It is criminal to shield him from criticism while blame the failing on the rest of the establishment.

In any case despite the fact that Queiroz has not won anything for Iran, he managed to win the heart of the fans.

NOW..

Go Figure.

The daring senhor Carlos.

He has been labeled as predictable, conservative and cautious in his game plan and style of play, but no one can accuse Carlos Queiroz of being spineless after 3 matches of Asian Cup competition. His ill-prepared team has managed to beat all of its opponents without conceding a single goal, and with a relative ease without going into top gear. As such, it is truly difficult to suppress one’s admiration for the Portuguese cunning master and the way he approaches and reads the game..

Those results speak volumes for the man management of coach Querioz. Never mind the excellence and progressive style of the UAE team, the organization and efficiency of Qatar’s or the solid and tough style of Bahrain, Queiroz and his men , beat them all without too much difficulty.

The results must have something to do with efficiency of Team Melli , the excellent resource management of the coach and the winning mentality and the fighting spirit of the players.

Queiroz in his fourth year with Iran, obviously knows the strength of his team and  the weaknesses. This team of his lacks the firepower and the offensive capability to turn it into a free-flowing scoring machine. Instead, he has the ingredient of a solid, tight and aggressive defense which he feels much comfortable with and closer to his ideology. He feels at ease with a defense line that can stand pressure and then build upon that to start counter attacks.

Sure , Queiroz team game style is not exactly pleasing , neither it can be considered as entertaining. For the purist amongst Team Melli fans,  it could even be considered as dull. There is little margin for bragging or scream the “oohhs &  Aahhs” when the likes of Karimi used to run at defenders and dribble past them , or Ali Daei and Karim Bagheri score plenty of goals. This Team Melli’s football is rugged, industrial and efficient. The most important issue is that this style has delivered the goods and the points. There could be no argument against that.

One more significant aspect of Senhor Queiroz success is his player selection and his courage in giving playing time to new players at the premiere competition of Asia. Pouraliganji , Azmoun , Ghafoori, Rafei , Amiri and Jahanbaksh have played in the competition with some admirable results. The first two have been excellent while the others have not disappointed at all. Such vision and bravery has not been applied in Team Melli for decades. Queiroz himself has been regularly accused for sticking to the old guards in Team Melli. His preference to focus on a small group of players that he feels comfortable with and can control, his inclination to use expatriate Iranians has been rather than being proactive and  seek local talents across Iran , has been vastly publicized. Carlos Queiroz has finally responded to his critic and to a certain degree, silenced most of them by his clever and systematic use of new players.

Not since, Haji Mohammd Mayeli-Kohan back in Asian Cup 1996, has any Team Melli head coach dared to introduced so many young and promising players into the team. Mayeli-Kohan , despite his low experience and lack of exposure as a coach , had the guts and the instincts , now Queiroz has proven that he has the same attributes but with the added bonus of holding the experience , the knowledge and the pedigree of a high quality coach.

 The possibilities could be amazing.

Javad Nekounam breaks the record of Team Melli all time appearnces

Finally , the current Captain of Team Melli, Javad Nekounam , broke Ali Daei’s record for the most number of matches while playing his 150th match against Qatar in Sydney.

Javad Nekounam , who started his international career in 2000 while a midfield player at Pas Tehran , has been consistently playing for Team Melli in the last 14 years in which he played in 2 World Cups (2006 , 2014) and 5 AFC Asian Cup ( 2000, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2015).

Nekounam is also the 4th highest scorer in Team Melli history , behind Ali Daei, Karim Bagheri and Ali Karimi , the 3 legendary stars of Iranian football. Nekounam has accumulated 37 goals , one less than Ali Karimi who is the third on the list.

Our sincere congratulation to Nekounam on this achievement.

Messi-Nekounam

 

 

 

Season Openin. Subst. Goals Yellows Reds
2000 1 5 0 0 0
2001 6 4 0 1 0
2002 11 1 0 1 0
2003 13 0 1 2 0
2004 18 0 7 3 0
2005 11 0 4 2 0
2006 11 0 2 2 0
2007 8 0 4 3 0
2008 8 0 4 1 0
2009 8 0 2 3 0
2010 6 0 1 1 1
2011 10 0 5 0 0
2012 8 1 1 1 0
2013 8 0 6 0 0
2014 8 1 0 3 0
2015 2 1 0 0 0
Total 137 13 37 23 1
By season | In opening squad | Substituted in | Goals | Yellow cards | Red cards

 

 

Iran vs. Qatar : “keep it tight at the back”

14th January 2015

In addition to being the match that could decide Team Melli qualification, the match against Qatar on Thursday, will also be another test of Carlos Queiroz’s defensive game plan. A win by Team Melli will take it to the sixth consecutive quarter finals appearance of the Asian Cup. Iran’s proud record started in 1996 edition , in which Team Melli played in 5 consecutive tournament and never losing a match in regulation time.

Iran will be facing a wounded Qatar, and that could be a two edged sword. The multi-National team of Qatar could have already conceded although publically they are putting up a brave face and a defiant attitude. On the other hand, they still believe that there is nothing to lose, they still stand a chance for qualifying and end up playing their best football, the one that we have seen they can excel in, in front of Team Melli.

Ismaeel Abdulatif batteling with Morteza Pouraliganji

Djamal Belmadhi has assembled a decent team including many new faces. He dispensed with the Latin American contingents as they were failing to deliver and instead he picked a few North Africans and players from his native Algeria to replace the likes of Fabio Cesar, Andrés Sebastián Soria. Neutralizing foreign players is a fundamental standard procedure in Qatar sport including the National Football team.

The result against UAE was hardly an indication of Qatar weakness neither was it in any way and sign of the might of the UAE team. The difference between these two Gulf nation teams are minimal hence a 4-1 result was a freak result that should not be read too much into.

The reality remains that Qatar is strong opponent for any team and still stands a chance in the tournament. The Qataris will be hoping that Thursday’s match will be the turnaround point in their fortunes.

On the other hand, Iran is placed comfortably in the table. A win will be a perfect result, but a draw is not going to be a disaster either. No Team Melli fan should hold his breath hoping that Team Melli will be going to the jugular either. Carlos Queiroz will stick, and religiously so , to his strong defensive ideology regardless to the opposition.

 Since the World Cup and the term parking the bus was associated with Team Melli , even the offensive minded Iranians are becoming convinced with the Queiroz ideology in a classic bandwagon effect. The reality is that Team Melli does not have the ingredients of an lethal offensive team , so why play some tactics that the coach does not have the right resources for it? It makes sense to everyone even with a stronger position and a few field advantages over Qatar, for Team Melli to play the same old game plan hoping for a low margin win.

If you do not have the players like Khalatbary to run havoc on defenders , or a schemer such as Mojtaba Jabbari or Ali Karimi to masterfully orchestrate the midfield and feed your forwards, then offensive plans have to be shelved and Queiroz stick to “keep it tight at the back” approach.

Carlos Queiroz has to be credited with introducing the new players in the defense line, hopefully he would give more playing time to Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh instead of the inert Shojae, whose selection remains an enigma with his pathetic and lethargic performances.

also It will be a tight match but surprises in football can be expected. We hope those would be in the shape of a handsome victory for Team Melli.

Reza Ghoochannejad chased by Hussain Ali Baba of Bahrain

[divider]

Head 2 Head

This will be only the second time that Iran and Qatar meet in the Asian Cup. The first was in Doha in 1988 edition when Team Melli beat the host nation Qatar 2-0 with goals from Karim Bavi and Farshad Peyous. That match was also the first official game between the two teams.

H / A / N Matches W D L Goals + / –
Home 6 4 2 0 16 – 4 +12
Away 13 7 3 3 15 – 11 +4
Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 +0
Total 19 11 5 3 31 – 15 +16
Date Comp. H / A / N Final score Stadium Attendance
04.06.2013 World Cup Qualifier A 1 – 0 AlSadd Stadium , Doha 11872
12.06.2012 World Cup Qualifier / Round 4 H 0 – 0 Azadi Stadium , Tehran 80000
29.02.2012 World Cup Qualifier / Round 3 – Group E H 2 – 2 Azadi Stadium , Tehran 55000
06.09.2011 World Cup Qualifier / Round 3 – Group E A 1 – 1 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium , Doha 8125
28.12.2010 Friendly A 0 – 0 Khalifa Stadium , Doha 3000
28.12.2009 Friendly / Qatar Intl. Friendly Tournament A 2 – 3 Suhaim Bin Hamad-Doha Qatar Stadium 3000
09.11.2008 Friendly A 1 – 0 Al Saad Stadium , Doha 5000
11.08.2008 WAFF H 6 – 1 Takhti Stadium , Tehran 5000
10.01.2008 Friendly A 0 – 0 Al Saad Stadium , Doha 2000
24.03.2007 Friendly / Friendly A 1 – 0 AlGharafah Stadium , Doha 7000
13.10.2004 World Cup Qualifier / WCQ A 3 – 2 Doha 3000
18.02.2004 World Cup Qualifier / WCQ H 3 – 1 Azadi – Tehran 0
01.08.2001 Friendly / Friendly A 1 – 2 Doha 0
27.09.2000 Friendly A 2 – 1 Al Sadd Stadium , Doha 5000
07.11.1997 World Cup Qualifier / WCQ A 0 – 2 Doha 20000
03.10.1997 World Cup Qualifier / WCQ H 3 – 0 Azadi – Tehran 70000
01.06.1996 Friendly / Friendly A 1 – 0 Khalifa Stadium , Doha 10000
17.05.1996 Friendly H 2 – 0 Takhti Stadium , Tabriz 30000
02.12.1988 Asian Cup / Group 1 A 2 – 0 AlAhli FC Stadium , Doha 20000