Tag: Austria

20/06/201620/06/2016

Team Melli Armenia and Austria training camps are called off.

Team Mell proposed training camps in Armenia and Austria has been called off after Branko Ivankovic and Amir Ghalenoei have refused to release their players to Team Melli according to Carlos Queiroz.

“If we fail to qualify for the World Cup, then you better go and ask Ivankovic and Ghalenoei” the Portuguese head coach of Team Melli told reporters.

Incidentally, after Portugal defeat against Portugal and elimination from World Cup 2010, Cristiano Ronaldo was asked about that loss, to which he replied: “Ask Queiroz.” Now Queiroz is borrowing Ronaldo punch line against his nemeses!!

The bulk of the problem seems to be the uncoordinated Team Melli plans that Queiroz decides unilaterally without reference and consent of the league clubs. While the Persian Gulf League is about to start in earnest and during the height of preparation, Queiroz training plans disrupts the clubs plans. On top of that, Team Melli camps seem to last weeks. Armenia and Austria camps would have lasted two weeks each, meaning the clubs would have lost the services of their players for a whole month at a critical time when most needed for league matches!

What inflamed Ivankovic further was Queiroz refusal to allow Team Melli players go through the mandatory pre-season medical examination.

Ghalenoei joined Ivankovic in refusing the Team Melli laid down plans and criticized the way his players are being manipulated and disruption to his own training program.

When asked to respond to Queiroz harsh words against him and Ghalenoei , Branko Ivankovic said “Persepolis is my team and I am responsible and accountable for its results. When I lose , I take responsibility and NOT blame others and that is the same way I operated for 5 years as Team Melli coach. I am responsible and no one else for the team results. My manner and upbringing does not allow me to respond to slanders.”

“There is no good national team without strong clubs and competitive league.” Ivankovic said.

09/07/2015

Iran leads AFC ranking .

Iran continued leading Asia in the FIFA Ranking table published today by the World football governing body in Zurich.

With a total of 716 points, Iran climbed to no 38 in the world , which is its highest ranking in 2015. This was a 3 step climb from last month at 41. Japan remains second with 621 points and 50th in the world. Korea Rep and Australia maintain their chase to catch up.

Iran’s last match was a disappointing 1-1 draw away to Turkmenistan in the FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers.

Argentina, which beat Iran in the last World Cup , climb at the top of the World Ranking ahead of Germany, while recently crowned Copa America Champions Chile climbed 8 places up to no 11. On March 26th, Team Melli beat Chile 2-0 with Javad Nkounam and Vahid Amiri goals in in NV Arena, St Pölten – Austria as part of the two teams’ preparations for their upcoming official matches.

AFC Rank	FIFA Rank	TEAM	Total Points	Previous Points	Positions	2015 AVG WGT	2015 Avg.
1	38	Iran	716(716.27)	717	3	437.18	437.18
2	50	Japan	621(620.98)	623	2	341.48	341.48
3	52	Korea Republic	608(607.70)	587	6	371.92	371.92
4	59	Australia	559(559.29)	532	4	364.41	364.41
5	69	United Arab Emirates	487(487.14)	496	4	245.05	245.05
6	75	Uzbekistan	453(452.76)	479	-1	181.07	181.07
7	77	China PR	436(436.43)	409	2	271.46	271.46
8	86	Iraq	382(381.99)	381	0	205.01	205.01
9	92	Jordan	355(354.72)	316	11	102.61	102.61
10	92	Saudi Arabia	355(354.52)	329	6	160.94	160.94

Iran RANKING DATA for 2015

Rank	Year	Month	MP	W	L	D
38	2015	July	2	1	0	1
41	2015	June	0	0	0	0
40	2015	May	0	0	0	0
40	2015	April	2	1	1	0
42	2015	March	0	0	0	0
41	2015	February	4	3	0	1
51	2015	January	0	0	0	0

OPPONENTS ranking in the FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers

AFC Rank	World Rank	TEAM	total Points	Previous Points	+/-
12	102	Oman	329	319	-1
25	152	Turkmenistan	167	99	21
27	154	Guam	163	119	20
28	156	India	161	161	-15

26/03/201527/03/2015

Team Melli downs Chile 2-0

Team Melli Captain Javad Nekounam scored in the first half while the excellent Vahid Amiri added another goal in the second half for Team Melli to register an important morale boosting win against the team that was ranked 4 in the FIFA World Cup 2015 and the host of Copa America 2015.

The friendly match was played in NV Arena in the small town of St. Poulten , Austra in front of a small but voicferious crowd.

The match was split equally in terms of control as Iran was the better team in the first apart from the last 10 minytes of the first half , while Chile was the team which had more ball posession in the second after the introdcution of Alxis Sanchez.

Iran first goal came from on the 21st minute with a perfect corner by Ando Teymourian who found his Captain in a telepathic style , Nekounam perfectly positioned with ample space just had to slot the ball past Oscar Bravo , the Barcelona keeper.

Team Melli was the better team in the first half playing a compact game mixed with pace and energy during offensive moves. Defensive orgnization was perfect with very few balls seriously bothering Haghighi.

Ashkan Dejagah was by far the best player on the pitch giving the Chilean defenders extra headache while providing several glorious balls to his teammates. Shojaei was guilty of wasting 3 certain scoring chances. Dejagah was finding his teammates in space and dribbling past the Chileans with ease even while double-teaming him.

Alireza Haghighi had to make one save in anger during the first half but it was an important one. in the last minute of the half Haghighi denied the Chilean forward Fernandez from scoring when he parried his powerful header from close range for an excellent save.

The First half ended IRAN 1-0 CHILE

In the second , Chile was out to wipe out Iran’s lead and score a few goals ahead of their encounter with Brazil on Sunday. The Introduction of Alexis Sanchez , the Arsenal star player , made a significant difference in the pace and organization of the Chileans.

Despite the initial substantial ball possession , it was Iran that scored from a text book counter attack move when Masoud Shojaei passed the ball to his right , where Ghoochannejad raced past the half back and then sent a diagonal perfectly weighted ball to the on rushing Vahid Amiri for the Naft player to score his first goal for Team Melli and Iran’s second of the game.

After the goal , a period of sustain pressure where Chile players gave it every thing to recover , but failed to score as the highly disciplined back four were more than a match for the powerful and skilful Latin Americans. Sanchez in particular was initiating most of the attacks by Chile and skillfully feeding his teammates but to no avail.

Iran , despite the lack of ball possession in the 2nd half , were still dangerous in the counter attack. Masoud Shojae was unfortunately the weak link and he could only drag his foot around till Queiroz realized he needed to be subbed for a fresh player.

Vahid Amiri and Ashkan Dejagah continued their excellent forms through the 2nd half which saw the introduction of Karim Ansarifard in place of Ghoochannejad.

The Osasuna forward had a nightmare of a match failing to complete any pass while nearly costing his team a goal while back defending a corner.

Chile had their own chances but their finishing was not up to scratch while the Iranian defense was at its best.

Line Up

IRAN: 1 A. Haghighi ; 4 J. Hosseini , 15 P. Montazeri , 19 H. Beikzadeh , 11 V. Ghafouri , 6 J. Nekounam , 7 M. Shojaei (O. Ebrahimi 70′) , 21 A. Dejagah , 14 A. Teymourian , 13 V. Amiri (R. Rezaeian 90′) , 16 R. Ghoochannejhad (K. Ansarifard 74′)

CHILE: 1 C. Bravo ; 18 G. Jara , 5 E. Roco (G. Medel 63′) , 13 J. Cornejo , 27 E. Pulgar (C. Aránguiz 46′) , 11 M. González (C.A. Gutiérrez 46′) , 14 M. Fernández , 19 F. Orellana (A. Sanchez 46′) , 24 J. Fuenzalida ( M. Isla 62′) , 15 R. Millar (D. Pizarro 63′) , 9 E. Vargas

22/03/201522/03/2015

Team Melli arrives in Austria.

Team Melli arrived in Austria and proceeded to Sankt Pölten to prepare for the friendly match against Chile on the 26th of March.

The squad that landed in Vienna on Saturday consisted of all the local players active in the Persian Gulf League. The 13 players will be gradually joined by 9 other Team Melli members playing abroad, mainly in Qatar’s QSL.

As reported earlier, Carlos Queiroz was not able to accompany the squad as he was stopped from boarding the flight and leaving Iran because of pending income Tax issues. The Portuguese coach has finally been given the go ahead after intervention by high profile Ministry of Finance clearance despite the fact that it was Nowrooz holidays. Queiroz left Tehran towards Austria on a Lufthansa flight in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Commenting on the latest developments, the 62 years old Portuguese coach said that he felt humiliated at being stopped at the airport and prevented from leaving Iran for reasons that is none of his fault. “It is the duty of the federation to sort out the taxes. They should have cleared the payment as it has nothing to do with me. I did not commit any wrongdoing. Their failure to conduct their job resulted in a very embarrassing and humiliating moments for me on top of preventing me from doing my own job. ” Querioz stated.

Queiroz refused to justify his insistence on holding on to Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh for Team Melli while Omid Team is embarking on a vital series of qualifying matches. “I don’t understand your question.” He told a reporter “ I have already been transparent enough about this issue and said what I needed to say. You are all aware what Kaffashian has done in this regard and as such there seems to be a big difference in opinion between us and therefore continuing under the circumstances is not conceivable.”

Queiroz denied that he had any prior plans to leave Iran or any job offers, thus refuting Kaffashian’s claims earlier that the Portuguese coach was being difficult and raising many issues and excuses. “It is the circumstances that were dictated on me in the corridors of the federation that made me take this decision. I was kind of forced to resign!” Queiroz said.

Kaffashian has made it quite clear that he and his administration had no issues with Queiroz’s performance and the renewal of his contract was agreed by the Executive and the Technical committees of the FFIRI.

“One day Kaffashian praises and commends my work while the next day, the Secretary-General says the complete opposite. How can one work under such circumstances?” Quieroz justifying his refusal to work with the federation.

19/03/2015

Chile announces squad for Iran and Brazil friendlies

(Reuters) – Fiorentina midfielders David Pizarro and Matias Fernandez have been recalled by Chile for their Copa America warm up friendlies against Iran and Brazil.

Chile play Iran in Sankt Poelten, Austria on March 26 and Brazil in London three days later in the teams’ first meeting since the Brazilians won their World Cup last-16 clash on penalties in June.

Pizarro and Fernandez missed out on a place in Chile’s squad at the World Cup in Brazil.

Coach Jorge Sampaoli, who is preparing his team to host the Copa America from June 11-July 4, is expected to add home-based players to his squad after this weekend’s domestic league matches.

Chile, who have never won South America’s top international competition, are in Group A with Mexico, Ecuador and Bolivia.

Squad:

Goalkeeper: Claudio Bravo (Barcelona)

Defenders: Eugenio Mena (Cruzeiro), Mauricio Isla (Queens Park Rangers), Gonzalo Jara (Mainz), Miiko Albornoz (Hanover 96), Gary Medel (Inter Milan), Enzo Roco (Elche), Igor Lichnovsky (Porto B)

Midfielders: Carlos Carmona (Atalanta), Arturo Vidal (Juventus), Charles Aranguiz (Internacional), David Pizarro, Matias Fernandez (both Fiorentina), Rodrigo Millar (Atlas), Jorge Valdivia (Palmeiras), Pedro Pablo Hernandez (Celta Vigo), Jose Fuenzalida (Boca Juniors)

Forwards: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Eduardo Vargas (Queens Park Rangers), Fabian Orellana (Celta Vigo) (Reporting by Felipe Iturrieta; Writing by Rex Gowar in Buenos Aires; editing by Justin Palmer)

10/03/201510/03/2015

What is behind the Chile game cancelation talk?

The Iranian football federation financial difficulties and failure to cover the activities of the national teams are old news. Under Kaffashian administration, the FFIRI has suffered chronic financial hardship, lack of resources and failure to create a proper marketing and sponsorship strategy to generate revenue for his federation.

The initial plan to play Sweden was a God send for the FFIRI as the Swedes have taken care of almost all the cost including transportation and accommodation for the Iranian squad and delegation. All that Iran needs to do is to turn up for the match.

A match agent who has a close working relationship with FIFA and Carlos Queiroz wisely proposed an extra match against Chile utilizing the South American’s team presence in Europe for a match against Brazil at the Emirates Stadium in London. Initially the date was agreed and Chile was to play against Iran in Sweden a few days before the Sweden match. As there was some fear by the Swedes that the proposed match with Chile and particularly the result might over shadow the main attraction, the Sweden-Iran match, they objected to the match venue being played in Sweden.

The agent then suggested Austria and presented another verbal proposal which would cost the FFIRI nothing while the agent would retain the match ticket sales income and TV broadcast rights. This proposal was agreed by the FFIRI verbally and a contract was to be sent for approval and signature.

On the presentation of the formal contract, there was a clause about a payment of 75,000 Euros outstanding from the previous camp in Austria that the FFIRI has to settle. On being alerted to the clause, Ali Kaffashian had a change of heart as he is reluctant to pay (!) , hence his quote that the Chile match is not confirmed yet.

The federation has no choice but to pay the bill outstanding for a long time. Unless this bill is settled, there would be no match against Chile in Austria anytime soon.

It is amazing how a football federation that cannot pay a 75,000 Euro bill has the audacity to file to host the most prestigious Asian football tournament and expect to win against the UAE !

21/02/2015

Chile confirms a friendly match vs. Iran

Jorge Sampaoli’s team will head to Austria for penultimate friendly before Copa América squad is announced

Chile have announced that they are to take on Iran in a friendly at the end of March. The match was supposed to be played in Sweden but the host nation’s FA objected to the venue as it claimed it will clash with the later match between Sweden and Iran on 31st of March.

Jorge Sampaoli’s men will travel to Austria for the match which will take place at the NV Arena in St Pölten on Thursday, March 26.

La Roja have played Iran twice previously in friendlies; winning a 1972 meeting 2-1, before drawing 1-1 in a match played in Hong Kong in 1998.

The forthcoming encounter forms part of a double-header of fixtures – the final international dates before Sampaoli names his squad for the Copa América.

Three days after facing Iran, La Roja will play South American rivals Brazil at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in London.

Chile will host this summer’s Copa América and have been drawn in Group A alongside Mexico, Ecuador and Bolivia.

11/02/2015

Chile friendly in doubt after Swedish FA objection!

Team Melli’s match against Chile has been put in doubt after the Swedish FA opposed the proposed match on Swedish territory.

Iran was schedule to play two football friendly internationals with Chile on 25th of March and Sweden on the 31st. Both matches would have been in Sweden. However , the Swedish FA thinks that the earlier arranged match between Iran and Chile might adversely effect the attendance of the Sweden vs. Iran match especially if Team Melli is handsomely beaten by the Latin Americans! Such result will diminish the interest in the match , according to Swedish FA.

So , for commercial reasons and in order to maximize the sales of match tickets , Swedish FA prefers to have full and exclusive attention on the match between Sweden and Iran and not divert focus on other Iranian football activities.

With this dilemma, the Iranian side is actively seeking an alternative venue against Chile. Austria is one of the proposed countries and a place where security clearance for the match can be issued without much hassle. The negotiations are still going on with the Austrian side for the Iran vs. Chile match to be switched to Vienna or other Austrian venues.

24/05/2014

Football instead of politics

Arian Faal

Iran national football team prepares for the World Cup in Stegersbach – a site inspection of the “Wiener Zeitung”.

Steger Bach. No one wants to talk about politics here, only about football, the World Cup in Brazil and the “honor of Persia”. The slogan that unites national pride and hope to bring the Iranian soccer team luck and will also be featured on the World Cup bus.

Information

Iranian national football Team (Team Melli)

(af) Team Melli is next to Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea one of the strongest Asian football teams. Qualified three times to the finale of AFC Asian Cup (1968, 1972, 1976), all of which were won and became champions. Five times (1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2004) in the semi-finals of Asian Cup , three games of them involved penalty shoot-out losses (1984, 1996, 2004). In addition to four World Cup participation (1978, 1998, 2006 and 2014), the national team qualified three times for the Olympic Summer Games (1964, 1972, 1976).

Even if the Islamic Republic was present in the past few years more by the nuclear issue news headline and the former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the European media, The Iranians wants their national football team (Team Melli), which has gathered in May for three weeks in Austria for training, to be in the news.

The daily routine of the 28 nominated players is minutely regulated. In addition to a strict diet and fixed workouts, there are always intermediate dates such as the FIFA doping test or one or the other interview. There are only a few who dare to speak to Western media. Tricky questions by reporters swarming around the camp automatically creates cautious and reserves responses. Apparently no one wants to be put into hot water by discussing controversial issues at home and answer questions by the authorities.

“Football has nothing to do with politics,” is what the 31-year-old regular player Andranik Teymourian believes when engaged in a scarce conversation with the “Wiener Zeitung” . “But football can create a bridge of friendship,” he adds.

That was a few days ago. About the lack of jerseys of the team that received much exposure by the world ptress and the shrinking after wash. “The issue with the jersey is finished. We have plenty of them here and hope that they will be of better quality in the future,” said Teymourian a key player in the World Cup qualifiers.

“It is difficult,”
“We have been training really hard in this one and a half months, and I believe there never was in the past few years as a national team as now. Nevertheless, we know that it is difficult,” admits the professional. Three friendlies are in those three weeks of the program, one of them being, namely Belarus, already took place and ended in a draw. In this match at Kapfenberg before 1500 spectators, the Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz almost used his entire squad. Only Daniel Davari and Ashkan Dejagah, who has previously played in the German Bundesliga were not used.

Several hundred of the approximately 30,000 people living in Austria Austro Persians traveled for the first game to support their team Melli. One of them was Arash K. “We have to be present at the games, so that the world sees that Iran has to offer other than the nuclear issue. Iranian national football team is one of the best and strongest teams in Asia. It is therefore self-evident that we qualified for the World Cup in Brazil. On the Fifa ranking of May 2014, we are ranked with 750 points 37th place, “he says with obvious pride. Why the training camp held in Austria, has several reasons. There are good relations between Vienna and Tehran, and it is a good opportunity to force the sports exchanges with Europe.

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18/05/2014

Team Melli to meet Belarus in Austria.

Team Melli’s will be meeting Belarus in its first friendly match of the Austrian camp conducted in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2014. The match will be held on Sunday Afternoon at 14:00 local time (16:30 Tehran times) in Franz Fekete Stadium .

This is the second international practice match of Team Melli since the first game against Guinea which Iran lost (1-2). That match was played 73 days ago in Azadi stadium.

Despite the low ranking of Belarus ( # 83 in the World), Iran players can expect a better and more appropriate experience as the result of the type of football that Belarus plays which is close enough to the Bosnian style of play. In general this type of football is played right across Eastern Europe.

The majority of Belarus national team players are home based playing in the domestic league with only a few making their living in Russia.
in Austria Team Melli will play two more games against Montenegro and Angola. The only international game in the South Africa camp was cancelled , however , Team Melli played against 4 club sides , which was far from ideal as the declared objective of Queiroz was to get familiarized with the way that Nigeria plays. Those South African Clubs offered nothing like the style of Nigeria national team.

Iran and Belarus have met twice before. In 2003, in Minsk Belarus won 2-1 while in 2007 the teams drew 2-2 in Tehran

Iran

Japan

Korea Republic

Australia

United Arab Emirates

Uzbekistan

China PR

Iraq

Jordan

Saudi Arabia

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