Tag: Bosnia and Herzegovina

30/03/2021

Third test for Dragan Skocic

Team Melli and will face Syria in an international friendly today (Tuesday) at 17:30 in Azadi Stadium as part of the preparation for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers.
In recent years, Iran and Syria have faced each other in various competitions. The matches between the two teams in the World Cup qualifier in Russia in both round-trip matches ended in a draw, but with the change of Iran’s training cadre and the arrival of Wilmots, Team Melli inflicted a heavy 5-0 defeat to the Syrians in a friendly match.
Since then, the coaches of both teams have changed and now Syria is in a much better position than Iran in the World Cup qualifiers.

Iranian national team
Dragan Skocic will have his third coaching experience with Team Melli against Syria. He has already managed to achieve a perfect record with two victories in two matches defeating Uzbekistan and Bosnia. The Croatian coach’s whole effort is to prepare a team of the best Iranian players to claim a place in the World Cup qualifiers next round and defeat both Iraq and Bahrain in order to clinch one of the places.
With the exception of a few players who were unable to accompany the national team due to injuries or travel restrictions during the spread of the Coronavirus, Skocic has invited most of the top players inside and outside Iran, although as always there have been criticisms in some posts.

However, the return of Taremi, Azmoun, Beiranvand, etc. to the national team in this camp compared to the earlier one is good news for the fans of Team Melli who always want to see a full-strength team in action. As in previous camps, the Croatian coach has invited several young and lesser-known players, and it remains to be seen what the consequences of their presence in the national team will be.

Given Bahrain hosting the third qualifying group for the World Cup in Asia, Skocic and his team are working very hard to advance to the next stage and must use the same friendly games to increase the quality and preparation of the national team.

Syrian national team
The Syrian national team recently played a friendly match against Bahrain, and lost 3-1, with some Syrian media and fans criticizing their coach. However, Nabil Maaloul, who has a track record of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup with the Tunisian national team, has achieved brilliant results in the first group of the World Cup together with Syria and is in first place above China.

Syria has almost reached the third round of the World Cup and is now preparing for the toughest stage of the tournament to complete the unfinished work of the previous round. They lost four years ago in their last World Cup qualifier against Uruguay and failed to qualify for the World Cup.
Omar Al-Suma (due to injury) and Omar Al-Kharbin (lifelong suspension from the national team) are not present in this match as two prominent strikers, but other main Syrian players have come to Tehran. This meeting is very important for Syria in terms of results and readiness.

09/11/2020

Iran vs. Bosnia: Historic lookback

The “A” national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina will play a friendly match with Iran national team in Sarajevo on 12^th November.

B&H and Iran have met 6 times so far. Five matches were friendly, while the only competitive match was played at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Iran is more successful in head-to-head matches, as it recorded 4 victories, while one match ended in a draw. The BH team achieved its only victory against Iran at the World Cup in Brazil.

These national teams met for the first time on 22^nd July 2001 in Bihać, when they played a tie 2:2. Goals for Bosnia and Herzegovina were scored by Sead Seferović in the 7^th, and Miroslav Dujmović in the 10^th, while Sirous Dinmohammadi in the 16^th and Iraj Fatemi in the 90^th minute scored for Iran.

In the next 4 matches, Iran won. First at the Azadi Sports Stadium in Tehran on 10.08.2001 with the result 4:0 (Hasheminasab 5^th and 90^th, Karimi 65^th, Daei 87^th minute), then on 02.02.2005 at the same venue with 2:1 (Daei 38^th, Borhani 74^th – Elvir Bolić 18^th minute).

The Azadi Sport Stadium hosted the fourth meeting between B&H and Iran on 31.05.2006. Iran won 5:2. The national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina had a 2:0 advantage in that match with goals scored by Zvjezdan Misimović in the 4^th and Sergej Barbarez in the 17^th minute, but the Iranians reversed the result through Mehrzad Madanchi (26^th), Rahman Rezaei (45^th), Vahid Hashemian 46^th), Reza Enayatia (89^th) and Rasoul Khatibi (90^th minute).

The fifth match was played at the Asim Ferhatović-Hase Stadium in Sarajevo on 12.08.2009. And then Bosnia and Herzegovina took the lead with 2:0 with scored goals by Edin Džeko in the 52^nd and 65^th minute, but in the end, they were defeated with 2:3. Goals for Iran were scored by Masoud Shojaei in the 79^th, Arash Borhani in the 86^th, and Andrenik ‘Ando’ Teymouriian in the 90^th minute.

The last match of these teams was played on 25.06.2014 at the Fonte Nova Arena in El Salvador (Brazil) in the 3^rd round of Group F of the World Cup. Bosnia and Herzegovina won 3:1, and the goals were scored by Edin Džeko in the 23^rd, Miralem Pjanić in the 59^th, and Avdija Vršajević in the 83^rd minute. The only goal for Iran was scored by Reza Ghoochannejad in the 82^nd minute.

The match will be played behind closed doors without the spectators at the Asim Ferhatović-Hase Stadium in Sarajevo on 12.11.2020.

Iran vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina Matches records

Venue	Matches	W	D	L	Goals	Goal Diff.
H	4	3	0	1	12 – 6	+6
A	2	1	1	0	5 – 4	+1
N	1	0	0	1	1 – 3	-2
Total	7	4	1	2	18 – 13	+5

Date	Comp.	H / A / N	Final score	Stadium	Attendance
25.06.2014	FIFA World Cup / Group F	N	1 – 3	Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador	48,011
12.08.2009	Friendly	A	3 – 2	Asim Ferhatovic Hase Stadium – Sarajevo	20,000
31.05.2006	Friendly	H	5 – 2	Azadi Stadium, Tehran	40,000
02.02.2005	Friendly	H	2 – 1	Azadi Stadium, Tehran	10,000
10.08.2001	Others / LG CUP	H	4 – 0	Azadi Stadium, Tehran	75,000
22.07.2001	Friendly	A	2 – 2	Stadion NK Jedinstvo podno Boriæa , Bihac	5,000
12.09.1993	Friendly	H	1 – 3	Azadi Stadium, Tehran

07/11/2020

Skočić invites 23 player for the friendly vs Bosnia-Herzegovina

Iran will play Bosnia-Herzegovina on Nov. 12 at the Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium in Sarajevo as part of the preparation for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, where Iran are currently third behind Iraq and Bahrain.

The ‘Persian Leopards’ defeated Uzbekistan in the last friendly international 2-1 on Oct. 8 in Tashkent. The 2022 World Cup qualifiers scheduled this year were postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The major absentees from the list are Sardar Azmoun, Mehdi Taremi, Saman Ghoddos, and Ashkan Dejagah.

Meanwhile, the captain of Bosnia and Herzegovina Edin Dzeko will miss the friendly against Iran after he tested positive for the coronavirus.

The AS Roma forward will miss coming matches against Iran on November 12 and the Netherlands on November 15. The 34-year-old player opened Iran’s goal in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where the Dragons beat Iran 3-1.

Team Melli Squad

Goalkeepers:
Amir Abedzadeh (Maritimo), Payam Niazmand (Sepahan), Rashid Mazaheri (Esteghlal)

Defenders:
Majid Hosseini (Trabzonspor), Hossein Kanaani-zadegan (Persepolis), Shoja Khalilzadeh (Al Rayyan), Aref Gholami (Esteghlal), Sadegh Moharami (Dinamo Zagreb), Milad Mohammadi (Gent), Mojtaba Najarian (Foolad), Morteza Pouraliganji (Shenzhen)

Midfielders:
Ehsan Haji Safi (Tractor), Ahmad Nourollahi (Persepolis), Omid Noorafkan (Sepahan), Ali Gholizadeh (Charleroi), Vahid Amiri (Persepolis), Siamak Nemati (Persepolis), Akbar Imani (Tractor), Saeid Ezatolahi (Vejle Boldklub)

Forwards:
Kaveh Rezaei (Charleroi), Mehdi Ghaedi (Esteghlal), Karim Ansarifard (AEK Athens), Sasan Ansari (Foolad)

26/10/2018

Rank 30 for Team Melli

Iran climbed 3 places to number 30 in the world in the latest ranking figures that was published by FIFA on the 25th October 2018.

While still maintaining the top title in the AFC Zone , Team Melli managed to add 3 extra points to its grand total. All other Asian teams maintained the same place in the AFC zone ranking.

FIFA Ranking Oct 2018

Rank	Team	Points	Previous	Change
28	Slovakia	1483	1491	-2
29	Venezuela	1479	1476	3
30	IR Iran	1478	1474	3
31	Paraguay	1477	1477	0
32	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1476	1468	2

AFC Zone

Asia Rank	World Rank	Positions	Total Points	Previous Points	+/-
1	30	IR Iran	1478	1474	3
2	42	Australia	1432	1431	1
3	50	Japan	1409	1398	4
4	53	Korea Republic	1401	1395	2
5	72	Saudi Arabia	1334	1337	-1

04/05/2017

Iran rules supreme at the top of FIFA Asian Ranking

Team Melli continued to rule the FIFA Asian Ranking for the month of May 2017.

Korea Rep, Japan and Australia follow Iran in the ranking

WORLD RANK

Rank	Team	Points
26	Northern Ireland	823
26	Republic of Ireland	823
28	Iran	820
29	Bosnia and Herzegovina	815
30	Senegal	805

Asian Rank	World Rank	Team	Previous Points
1	28	Iran	820
2	43	Korea Republic	700
3	44	Japan	685
4	50	Australia	661
5	52	Saudi Arabia	646
6	60	Uzbekistan	586
7	75	United Arab Emirates	453
8	80	Syria	426
9	81	China PR	425
10	89	Qatar	369
11	100	India	331
12	109	Jordan	311
13	115	Oman	290
14	116	Korea DPR	289
15	120	Iraq	278

09/07/2014

Safet Susic turns down Iran’s job

Sarajevo – The coach of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed today that the job of Iran’s football team Head coach was offered to him by two Iranian federations executives, but he has turned it down.

In today’s meeting of the Executive Committee of the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , in Sarajevo a decision will be reached whether the current national football team coach Safet Susic gets a new contract and stay in that position or not.

Susic contract expired last week, and after the team’s failure in the World Cup , the public’s opinion prevailed that he will leave the team. Even Dušan Bajević was mentioned as his successor, but the popular coach left the option open to remain at the forefront of BiH. Reportedly has the support of the leaders of the football federation.

” I never said no to go, or that I want to go, even though I am free and my contract has expired. First, I’ll see what happens in negotiations with the leadership of the federation. Everything will probably be known after the meeting. For two days I’m going to France because of personal obligations. Will I go as coach of BiH or not, I do not know ” Susic declared.

Safet Susic had an offer from Iran to take over the national team after the departure of the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz.

” It is true that the two executives called me and offered me Iran’s coaching job, but I told them I’m not interested. About other offers, I can not speak about them , because first I want to see what happens in negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina ” said Susic.

He achieved the greatest success in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup Qualifications rounds .Although the national team failed to qualify from the group stage. Susic said he was disappointed by the results in Brazil.

“Had it been otherwise, and we all lost the three games played , it would have been a disaster, I would probably chose to abandon everything. I think all in all we played bad, except for an encounter with Nigeria. After the victory over Iran, I think we left a good impression. The last game showed that we have a lot of young players with whom it would be nice to do in the future ” said Susic.

27/06/2014

Susic and Queiroz leave posts

fifa.com

26 Jun 2014

Bosnia and Herzegovina are set to begin a new era under a new coach after their FIFA World Cup™ campaign ended on Wednesday, while Iran will also begin their search for Carlos Queiroz’s replacement after not renewing his contract.

Coach of the Balkan team, Safet Susic, has announced he will step down now that the group stage has concluded. Bosnia and Herzegovina, without a chance of progressing before Wednesday’s game against Iran, won 3-1 at Salvador’s Arena Fonte Nova.

“This was my last game at the World Cup,” Susic said to Brazilian newspaper Lancenet. “Unfortunately there will not be another one. Sometimes it is a nice feeling to be free of obligations. I can decide my own fate and this is my answer.”

Susic, who played for Yugoslavia in the 1982 and 1990 World Cups, came under fire for his defensive-minded tactics in losses to Argentina and Nigeria in Group F.

Sometimes it is a nice feeling to be free of obligations. I can decide my own fate and this is my answer.

Safet Susic, outgoing Bosnia and Herzegovina coach

“The win against Iran is scant consolation,” the 59-year-old said. “But I congratulate my players for a display of commitment and passion against a team needing a win to keep alive their hopes of progressing.

Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko scored the Bosnians’ first goal against Iran, and said: “We could have done a better job in the World Cup.”

Despite being Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first appearance at a World Cup finals, much was expected of Susic’s side. The team scored 30 goals and conceded just six to finish top ahead of Greece in their qualifying campaign.

“I feel sorry for those we have disappointed,” Susic said. “We should have done better by the quality of our players but now is the time for this team to look forward to [UEFA] Euro 2016 qualifiers. We lacked experience and cool heads at crucial moments in the opening two games but I cannot complain about effort. That’s just football.”

It will not be much consolation but Susic and his team won the admiration of outgoing Iran coach Queiroz: “Congratulations to Bosnia,” he said. “With all due respect to Nigeria and Argentina, the best team in the group (Bosnia) didn’t qualify. They have great players and they played at another level to us. My players went to their physical and mental limits against Bosnia, but it wasn’t possible to get the result.”

Iran had held Nigeria to a goalless draw in their opening before falling 1-0 to Argentina. They still had a chance to progress to the Round of 16 heading into Wednesday’s match but they came up well short in their final game.

Queiroz, meanwhile, will seek a fresh challenge after coaching Iran for three years. “I’ve shown my commitment to this project, but I haven’t received any new contract offer,” the former Manchester United assistant coach said. “It’s been an honour for me to work for Iran, I’ve fallen in love with the country.

“But you can’t have a marriage when only one side wants to commit. I waited for them to make an offer, but I haven’t received anything, so I’ve come here to say ‘thank you’ to those who gave me the opportunity to do this job. I will always have Iranian football, my players and the fans in my heart.”

25/06/2014

World Cup 2014 Group’F’: How can the teams qualify?

Ahead of the final round of fixtures in Group F, we look at the various permutations.

Argentina – Qualified

Lionel Messi’s late goal over Iran last week booked a place for the Argentinians in the last 16. A draw over second place Nigeria will see them top Group F.

Nigeria – Must draw with Argentina

A draw between Nigeria and Argentina will work well for both teams as the South Americans will win the group with the Africans guaranteeing their place in the knock-out stages. A win for Nigeria over Argentina will see them top Group F, sending Argentina into second place.

Iran – Need to beat Bosnia-Hercegovina and require Argentine win over Algeria, with a superior goal difference

After losing to Argentina in the cruellest fashion last week, the Iranians now rely on them to triumph over Algeria whilst making sure they beat Bosnia-Herzegovina in the process. Even then, Iran will need a superior goal difference to advance.

Bosnia-Herzegovina – Out

With two losses from two games, Bosnia-Herzegovina are guaranteed to be spectators following the conclusion of the group matches.

25/06/2014

How Iran Will Line Up Against Bosnia

Iran continue to prepare for their decisive clash with Bosnia tomorrow, fully aware that three points will likely take them to the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time in the nation’s history.

Confidence is high in the Iran camp after the impressive performance against Argentina last weekend, and a tough stretch of luck for Bosnia has left them only playing for pride in the final match.

By Bobak Abdolmohammadi,

Featured Columnist Bleachers report

Jun 24, 2014

Forward/winger Ashkan Dejagah and striker Reza Ghoochannejhad will be relied upon to score for Iran, who are the only team to have failed to find the net so far.

Iran lined up in a 4-5-1 formation against Argentina as follows:

Position	Name	#
GK	Alireza Haghighi	12
RB	Jalal Hosseini	4
CB	Amirhossein Sadeghi	5
CB	Pejman Montazeri	15
LB	Mehrdad Pooladi	23
CDM	Andranik Teymourian	14
CDM	Javad Nekounam	6
RW	Ashkan Dejagah	21
LW	Ehsan Hajsafi	3
CAM	Masoud Shojaei	7
ST	Reza Ghoochannejhad	16

Here is how Iran will likely line up against Bosnia.

Goalkeeper

Alireza Haghighi will once again man the goalposts for Iran.

He was very solid and perhaps more confident after the Nigeria game and made a string of good saves against Argentina.

There was not much he could do against Lionel Messi’s world-class finish that gave Argentina the late, late victory.

Coach Carlos Queiroz has plenty of confidence in the Rubin Kazan-owned goalkeeper.

Defense

The defense is also unlikely to change much from the past two games, where Queiroz has started the same back four both times.

The defense has made a tournament-high 47 clearances out of 57 attempts, as per FIFA’s official statistics.

Right-back Hosseini, left-back Pooladi and center-backs Montazeri and Sadeghi played well against Argentina, very nearly keeping a clean sheet against one of the most talented front lines in the world.

Hosseini and Pooladi also played very well in a tracking sense, with Hosseini coming close on a first-half header and Pooladi bursting up the flank despite having to deal with Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Messi at differing times.

This group will remain the same against Bosnia’s potent attacking force, which will feature Edin Dzeko, Vedad Ibisevic, Zvjezdan Misimovic and Miralem Pjanic.

Midfield

Sergei Grits/Associated Press

Nekounam, as captain, and Teymourian are both automatic starters as the central midfield pair.

Hajsafi was also extremely impressive opposite the highly influential Dejagah. Both should continue to start as wingers given the attacking impetus and the general work-rate on offer.

Shojaei came in to start after coming on as a substitute in the Nigeria match. The former Osasuna star clearly has lost a step but remains a dangerous proposition when on the ball.

Despite his talent, he struggled to really impose himself on the game against Argentina.

Queiroz is likely to opt for a two-striker formation given that Iran absolutely must score to secure progression, leaving Shojaei as the odd man out.

Attack

Sergei Grits/Associated Press

Ghoochannejhad has been one of Iran’s primary attacking outlets, coming close against both Nigeria and Argentina multiple times.

He remains an undisputed starter under Queiroz.

Iran must win this game to advance, and given their struggles scoring so far, Queiroz may go for a strike partner to pair with Ghoochannejhad.

One of Alireza Jahanbakhsh or Karim Ansarifard will likely get the nod.

It is also possible that Khosro Heydari makes an appearance as an attacking winger, but the most likely starter opposite “Gucci” would be Jahanbakhsh.

24/06/201424/06/2014

Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Iran – Match Preview

By Jimmy Coverdale

Jun-24-2014

Onazi Ghoochannejhad Nigeria Iran Action Images John Sibley

Photo by Action Images/John Sibley

Match: Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Iran

Date and Time: Wednesday 26 June 13:00 Local Time, 18:00 GMT, 20:30 Tehran Time

Location: Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

Match Projection:

Match Preview:

Prior to the commencement of the World Cup, this fixture was earmarked as a potential round of 16 decider with one of these nations requiring Argentina to defeat Nigeria to aid the progression of the other. The expectancy was that Bosnia and Herzegovina would be the nation on the brink of the World Cup knockout stage with Iran heading home; however this is not the case.

Bosnia and Herzegovina can feel aggrieved at this point regarding its early World Cup exit given the performance of the officials during its defeat against Nigeria – so things could have been very different had Edin Dzeko’s first have goal had not been wrongly disallowed for offside. That said, Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and some poor finishing also contributed to Bosnia’s defeat and elimination.

The question is how Safet Susic approaches this match. Will he revert to the 4-1-3-2 that worked so well during qualification or continue to use the 4-2-3-1 with a more defensive approach? Will he play other members of his squad now that Bosnia have been eliminated? In either scenario, it could mean that Vedad Ibisevic starts for Bosnia, scorer of Bosnia’s only goal of the competition so far. However, the early exit does not mean that players have not impressed; Miralem Pjanic, who is expected to be fit after missing training on Monday, has been the creative influence in the side with 10 shot assists – with everything going through the Roma midfielder – while Muhamed Besic has been a workhorse in the midfield, covering 23.5 km between the two matches while leading the side in passes (65.0 per 90), passing accuracy (91.5%), interceptions (6) as well as providing 2 shot assists.

The story here, however, is Iran’s potential progression to the World Cup knockout stage. While a 1-0 win may well be enough, it does need Argentina to beat Nigeria – and if both matches end up with 1-0 score lines in Iran’s favour it will come down to drawing lots for the first time in the History of the World Cup (and some people claim that penalties are a lottery!).

Iran were moments away from creating one of the shocks of this World Cup and having a wider margin for error entering this contest in the process; however Lionel Messi’s incredible late winner has resulted in Carlos Queiroz’s side requiring the Iran win/Nigeria lose combination of results in order to progress. However, for a national team that failed to play a single game for 119 days following its qualification due to sanctions placed against the nation at a political level, the fact that it enters its final group stage match with a chance of qualifying for the round of 16 is an achievement in itself.

Like Nigeria and Argentina before them, Bosnia and Herzegovina are going to find it tough to break through Queiroz’s hard-working, well-disciplined side set up with men behind the ball in a 4-2-3-1 formation that is more like a 4-5-1. The two defensive midfielders, Andranik Teymourian and Javad Nekounam embody its hard-working nature, covering distances of 21.9 km and 21.8 km respectively as the Iranians spend a lot of time without possession – averaging just 27.4% over its first two matches, the lowest average possession in the World Cup so far. Teymourian and Nekounam are the only players in the Iranian squad to have surpassed 40 pass attempts between the first two matches – with all but four players attempting less than 30.

Still, Iran probably had the best opportunities to score against both Nigeria and Argentina, as well as looking more likely to score during an impressive second half against the South American nation before Messi’s moment of brilliance. While Iran had one good chance against Nigeria – a Reza Ghoochanneijhad header from an Ashkan Dejagah corner – both players had strong opportunities against Argentina as Iran had a number of opportunities in the central zone of the box:

Ghoochanneijhad and Dejagah are Iran’s main attacking threats but Queiroz may field a more attacking line-up against Bosnia. The Charlton striker embodies Iran’s hard-working nature (21.4 km covered so far) while attempting a team-leading seven shots, but the creative force in the side is Dejagah (five shot assists as 17.9% of his passes have created opportunities). If Iran are going to score at this World Cup, one of these two players will be involved regardless of who else joins them in the Iranian attack – and potentially both. Queiroz knows that his side’s finishing will need to improve.

”My major concern is to keep players focused,” Queiroz told reporters. ”And, they’ll need to convert those chances.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina are the favourites according to the BSports Match Analysis tool, which really is unsurprising given the players available to Safet Susic – so Iran will continue in its underdog role in a match in which it can qualify for the World Cup round of 16.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Injuries & Suspensions: Miralem Pjanic (Probable)

Iran Injuries & Suspensions: None

Other Match Analysis Forecasts: