Tag: Carlos Queiroz

Iran vs Uruguay match preview.

Uruguay is a known quality Latin American team that depends on physical strength more than the finesse of the Brazilians.
Like the top footballing nations of South America, Uruguay has exported large numbers of footballers to Europe to enjoy the riches of the European leagues. Therefore, Head Coach Diego Alonso has a wealth of players at his disposal and can always field a strong side against any opponent.
However, Uruguay national team has recently suffered from aging players who tend to hang on despite their advancing ages. Players like Luis Suárez (35); Diego Godín (36) Edison Cavani (35) and Fernando Muslera (36) are still included in the squad.
Undoubtedly Alonso will use the match against Iran to give his younger players the chance to prove themselves as worthy of a place in the final list flying to Doha while putting them through their paces against a tough opponent. So, it is expected that Darwin Núñez (23), Federico Valverde (24), Matías Viña (24), Ronald Araújo (23) Lucas Torreira (26) to take the center stage.

As for Iran, it will interesting to see if Carlos Queiroz will stick to his old and trusted game plan and close all the gaps on the Uruguayans or perhaps be more adventurous with the likes of Azmoun and Taremi up front. Defense is one of the strong points of the Latin American team and the Iranians will it quite difficult to breach the defenses of Uruguay. With somehow a modest midfield that lacks creativity, most of the offensive moves by Iran are expected to be made from the half-backs with players Rezaeian, Moharrami, and Mohammadi doing the work.
Another interesting observation is whom will Queiroz pick for central defense, will he stay with the duo Khalilzadeh-Kananizadegan who were fundamental in Iran’s qualification to the FIFA World Cup and the two that Dragan Skocic religiously believed in, or will the Portuguese pick his own favorites from 2019 Majid Hosseini and Pouralganji?

Queiroz keeps the cards close to his heart and so far he has been following the same style. He is not going to reveal much to the press about his game plans and player selection either. However, it was interesting to notice some observers during Queiroz’s press conference that the Portuguese has slightly changed his attitude that he was well known in Iran. That venomous, tough-talking, and defying man has become a cooler and more settled character. Perhaps it is a sign of advancing age or it could be that Portugues no longer wants to open fronts against everyone and everybody, preferring to work quietly and avoid confrontations, especially with the press. Of course, officially he is only contracted to the bench of Team Melli until the World Cup with an option for extension.

For some players m this match is vital though. Saman Ghoddos needs to prove himself as this player has stagnated. He is one of the few players that can turn the team’s fortunes with his magical passes and vision. It is a crucial time for him and Team Melli.  Ansarifard‘s selection is because he is one of the Portuguese favorites but his performance has not been anything to shout about, the same can be said of Hajsafi. Both are capable players and can be useful for Team Melli but they really need to step up and be counted. There are more capable players who can claim a place in the team.

Beiranvand is another player on the edge. He had two bad seasons in Europe and Abedzadeh took the number one spot and showed quite a bit of class too. No doubt that Beiranvand is in the good books of the coach, but will he prove his worth against Uruguay?

Azmoun’s case is puzzling. The move to the Bundesliga so far has been a big-time flop. In European leagues, there is precious little time for a player to settle and Azmoun for one reason or another did not manage that with Bayer Leverkusen. He needs to play well against Uruguay and prove his worth for Team Melli at least.

Kick Off time is GMT +3
Iran Time: 20:30

Team Melli Austrian camp news

 – Legionnaires: Almost all the legionnaires’ players joined the camp in Vienna as Team Melli continues its preparation for the matches against Uruguay and Senegal.

 – New Arrivals: According to the FFIRI website, Ansarifard, Taremi and Jahanbaksh were the latest to join the camp. There is still no news about Noorafkan and Nourollahi yet. Saman Ghoddos and Sadegh Moharrami have been confirmed in Vienna.

 – The Plot is complete!  Interestingly, the three players were the main plotters against Dragan Skočić, and their influence helped bring back Queiroz to Team Melli once again. The Portuguese coach naturally reserved a warm welcome for the major trio plotters upon their arrival t the hotel.

 – Kanani’s never-ending problems: The disciplinary issue of Hossein Kananizadegan is still lingering as reports that he is still suspended by the FFIRI Disciplinary Committee have surfaced. There was no definite communication on this issue from FFIRI although ISNA has reported that his suspension is still ongoing and applies for both the matches. This will be very disappointing for Queiroz who counts on solid defense and would like to see his players perform against the likes of Saido Mane, Darwin Nunez, and Luis Suárez.

 – Physical Training: Queiroz is making the players work hard in the gym. His philosophy centers around tough and fit players and the hard work of physical training are one method of many in getting the player’s physical conditions to what is required at the highest level of competition.

 – Not again, Carlos! Queiroz is back to his old silly tricks again! No surprises here either. The Team Melli coach wants the match against Uruguay to be played behind closed doors and obviously not televised!!  This is a repeat of many attempts when he was last with Team Melli. Whatever secret weapons he has or had did not work for Team Melli in the 8 years of his reign but certainly, his secret training plans and strategies did not serve Colombia or Egypt either, why is he insisting on such measures is an act of selfishness. He is depriving the fans of watching a match of their beloved team playing against two of the best Teams in Latin America and Africa and that is an injustice to the fans. Not that he cares a lot about it.

 – Missing Man:  One key player of Senegal who will be missing against Team Melli is Keita Balde. The winger was banned for breaking doping protocols when he was playing for the Italian side Cagliari. Balde, currently with Russian outfit Spartak Moscow will also miss the FIFA World Cup.

– Senegal stars: Kalidou Koulibaly of Chelsea and Bayern Munich’s Saido Mane arguably the two top players in the Senegalese team will be available and definite starters against Iran barring any injuries. The two players have not enjoyed a good season start with their respective new teams.

 – Final List: with 26 players allowed in this edition of the World Cup, it seems that the current squad is the final list that will be traveling to Qatar for the World Cup. Queiroz does not have the luxury of time and these two matches in Austria are quite important to him for the assessment of the players. He has stuck to his old players and will not pick any new talents or future stars for his trip to Doha.

 – Injury list:  All the players seem to have exercised and trained normally. Vahid Amiri, who was on a six-month lay off still remains a doubt and is in a tight race to regain full fitness both physical and match fitness too.

Queiroz squad and expectations.

Carlos Queiroz’s squad was not much of a surprise for the people who have known his style in his 8 years reign with Team Melli. A coach that believes in brute defense, or parking the bus, if you wish, especially if the team he is coaching is facing powerful opposition. Queiroz is not much a fan of players with a special skill or technique as he much rather has a strong physical player who can tackle and defend no matter what outfield post they play. Physically strong opponents is exactly what Iran will be facing in the shape of England Wales and the United States.

Sixteen players from Team Melli’s last World Cup adventure are included in the latest selection of Queiroz. On the other hand, only 7 England players kept their place for World Cup 2022 from the previous one in Russia. Many things change in four years of football, and Team Melli has naturally changed too, however, with less than two months to go for the first match in the World Cup and 17 days in total where Queiroz can actually work with his players, the Portuguese coach will not risk trials and as predictable as he can be, the bets that he will stick to the players he knows best from 3 1/2 years ago. No place for Aref Gholami, Mehdi Gahyedi, Mohammad Mohebbi, or the future star of Irans football Yasin Salmani.

The future is repeating itself with Queiroz, hence his bland predictability. He left out Sardar Azmoun the rising starlet of Iran in World Cup 2014 and now doing the same with Yasin Salmani.

While all of these are not big risks, there is one drawback in his selection that could prove the downfall of Iran’s team in Qatar. Queiroz’s favorites are 4 years older, but even worst than that, all the player bar one are experiencing not-so-brilliant playing careers with their clubs in European leagues. Most are bench warmers with the exception of Mehdi Taremi.

The likes of Vahid Amiri, Omid Ebrahimi, Saeid Ezatollahi, and Saman Ghoddos, who are regarded as Team Melli’s aging ‘old guard’ can give experience to a game, but are not necessarily the weapons that are required to face the mighty teams. With some being fringe players in their clubs, there seems to be an acute shortage of skill and leadership in the midfield. Even though, only one additional player (Sarlak) has been added in a line that really needs strengthening. In fact, the midfield is probably the weakest link without a dynamic or creative player. The offensive plan that Queiroz would stick to is “route one” the style of play where the ball is sent forward from the back straight to the lone forward bypassing the midfield. Rezaeian, Mohammadi, Moharrami, and even Hardani can do the job for Queiroz in such plan. Midfield would be used more in bolstering the defense than any offensive duties.

9 players in Team Melli’s current squad are at or above 30 years old. In the demanding environment of Qatar, and oppositions that are runners with stamina, it is difficult to see how Queiroz will stand against the much fitter European and American players.  The average age of Iran’s squad is 27.6 years, however, if one considers the expected 11 starting players, then the average age will be significantly higher.

It is not expected that Queiroz will deviate much from this mindset of his and why should he take the risk? Fans who admire offensive and exciting football might very well be disappointed by Queiroz’s approach as we have all seen the FIFA World Cup 2018.

TEAM MELLI SQUAD 

Austrian Camp September 2022

Red denotes players not selected for WC208 Russia.

# Name Post Age Caps Goals
1 Abolfazl JALALI DF 24 1
2 Ahmad NOUROLLAHI MF 29 24 3
3 Ali GHOLIZADEH MF 26 `24 6
4 Alireza BEIRANVAND GK 29 50
5 AliReza JAHANBAKHSH FW 28 62 13
6 Amir ABEDZADEH GK 29 10
7 Ehsan HAJSAFI DF 32 117 7
8 Hossein HOSSEINI DF 30 4
9 Hossein KANANI-ZADEGAN DF 28 32 2
10 Karim ANSARIFARD FW 32 92 28
11 Majid HOSSEINI DF 26 17
12 Mehdi TAREMI FW 30 58 29
13 Mehdi TORABI FW 29 34 6
14 Milad MOHAMMADI DF 28 45 1
15 Milad Sarlak MF 27 9 0
16 Morteza POURALIGANJI DF 30 44 3
17 Omid EBRAHIMI MF 35 53
18 Omid NOORAFKAN DF 25 13
19 Payam Niazmand GK 27 1
20 Ramin REZAEIAN DF 32 45 2
21 Sadegh MOHARRAMI DF 26 18
22 Saeid EZZATOLLAHI MF 25 45 1
23 Saleh HARDANI DF 24 2
24 Saman GHODDOS MF 29 31 2
25 Sardar AZMOUN FW 27 63 40
26 Shojaa KHALILZADEH DF 33 23 1
27 Vahid AMIRI MF 34 66 3
Averages -> 27.6 26.8 8.9

Alireza Mansourian to be added to Team Melli coaching staff

Carlos Queiroz has provided the name of Alireza Mansourian for Team Melli staff instead of Javad Nekonam.

According to ISNA, Carlos Queiroz, the Portuguese head coach will arrive in Iran on Wednesday morning, and the team camp will begin on the same day. It will be the first presence of the Portuguese coach since he left Iran in February 2019. Queiroz will bring along several foreign assistants to Iran to start working in the training camp. From the previous staff, two people, Lopez and Mikael, will accompany him on his mission. Also, some new foreign faces will join the Portuguese coach, whose names have not yet been announced yet.

However, it seems that Javad Nekonam, who was Carlos Queiroz’s first choice to be his right hand man at Team Melli turned down the offer and does not intend to leave his post as Head Coach of Foolad Khuzestan, hence Queiroz named Alireza Mansourian as replacement.  On the other hand, the status of Vahid Hashemian is unclear. The former VfL Bochum 87 , Bayern Munich, Hannover 96 and Hamburger SV  player who also caoched in Germany has been quiet about his fate with the arrival of Queiroz.

It is rumored that  a meeting between Queiroz and Hashemian is scheduled to be held, and if there is an agreement, Hashemian will cooperate with the third consecutive head coach of Team Melli. Hashemian has also worked with Wilmots and Skocic with his best and most productive period being with the Croat.

Rogério Paulo Cesar de Sá confirmed as assistant to Queiroz

The South African coach Rogério Paulo Cesar de Sá has been confirmed as the first assistant to Carlos Queiroz in Team Melli coaching Team.

The former Orlando Pirates coach also acted as South Africa’s goalkeeping coach during Carlos Queiroz’s reign and, in September 2021, was recruited by Queiroz to join him as Assistant Coach to the Egyptian national football team.

de Sá, confirmed his presence in Team Melli in an interview today and said:” Team Melli will start work on Tuesday and then travel to Austria, where they will play a friendly match with Uruguay and Senegal. We will start training with the team on Wednesday and Thursday.  We will train again on Saturday and then we will fly to Austria where we will play against those two teams in a friendly international. Then we will return to Iran and continue working with the team there.”

The newly appointed coach of Iran’s national football team emphasized: “These two games will give us a good idea of the standard of the players. I might fly to Europe to watch some players with their clubs and we’ll probably train in Dubai a week before we go to the World Cup in Qatar.”

Rogério de Sá who was on the bench of the Egyptian national team when he first worked with Queiroz, referring to the problems and challenges ahead for the World Cup said “the heat and humidity of Qatar will be a challenge for many players in the tournament. We have a short time to prepare which is not ideal. Ideally, we should have been there in Iran for a year at least but Carlos knows the team well and the players know him too because he coached them in the last two World Cups.”

de Sá is looking forward to working with the Iranian players and getting to know them in the coming weeks. He stated: “When I became a coach, the number one priority was that I am human and so is the player. I think Carlos is the same. I think many coaches forget this. I might coach them for a year or two, but we can be friends until we die. ”

Roger announced that he will be with Iran’s national team for one or two years because the Football Federation has not confirmed its plans regarding Carlos Queiroz after the end of the World Cup. First, Mehdi Taj, the president of FFIRI announced in his press conference that the Federation’s plan is that Queiroz to become the Technical Manager of the national team after the World Cup and that the team will participate in the 2023 Asian Nations Cup under the head coach of Javad Nekonam. While Mehdi Mohammadnabi, the general secretary of the federation, said that Iran will probably be coached in AFC Asian Cup with Queiroz on the bench!

Take your pick on whom to believe.

Central defence partnership of Team Melli is under threat!

One of the main reasons for the success of Team Melli in winning all the matches in World Cup qualifiers in Bahrain was the solid fortress-style partnership in the heart of the defense.

Dragan Skočić opted for Shojaá Khalilzadeh and Hossein Kananizadegan and created a strong partnership between them, and the result was spectacular.  Iran conceded one fluke goal from Hong Kong and was solid against the rest. This partnership continued in the third round of the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers as only South Korea (3 goals) and Lebanon (1 goal) managed to score against Team Melli. It is a record that any team can be proud of in such a high level of competition.

 However, the return of Carlos Queiroz to Team Melli is threatening this partnership.

The Portuguese coach is fond of the duo Morteza Pouraliganji and Ramin Rezaiyan, both of whom were invited by FFIRI to submit their documents for the issue of visas for Austria. Pouraliganji’s return comes after more than a year of absence from the field due to a severe injury followed by operations. His decision to return to Iran domestic league football in the year of the 2022 World Cup is to be close to the selectors. He joined Persepolis and so far performed well in the three matches he played registereing good statistics. The sudden return of Queiroz will again put him as a favorite amongst the rest of the central defenders.

 Like Queiroz himself, Pouraliganji will benefit from the hard work of Shoja Khalilzadeh and Mohammad Hossein Kananizadegan, who were one of the main factors of early qualification of Team Melli to the Qatar World Cup,

There is no question about the technical abilities or performance of Khalilzadeh, but his place in Team Melli is threatened by the bad relationship with Queiroz. The issue came to the surface after the defender gave an interview that was critical. This defender’s opinion about how he can affect the future of the defensive composition of the Team did not set well with Queiroz and Khalilzadeh like many other players before was banished from Team Melli.

Queiroz, unlike his predecessor Dragan Skočić, has zero tolerance for any type of opposition. In that sense,  it is quite likely that will make Khalilzadeh will be watching the World Cup games on TV rather than defending the three colors jersey. The Portuguese man will most probably see the return of players such as Seyed Majid Hosseini, Morteza Pouraliganji, and even Roozbe Cheshmi.

Team Melli will leave for Austria next week to play two preparatory games against Uruguay and Senegal under Carlos Queiroz. While Uruguay has published the name of the squad for the match against Iran last week, FFIRI has not finalized its list.

Mehdi Taj on the defensive in the press conference

The beleaguered Head of FFIRI acknowledged that many in the country oppose his return to the FFIRI and many more oppose Querioz’s return as head coach of Team Melli.

In the press conference after his re-election, the head of FFIRI talked about various issues, including his legal cases with the chance of prosecution and the state of Team Melli.  According to press reports, after the departure of Skocic who was replaced by Carlos Queiroz,

Mehdi Taj, in the press conference on Thursday at the national teams camp, started by defending himself against accusations and pending cases in the courts, some of which are serious in nature, filed against him in the judiciary. “I have been in management work for about 40 years and I have worked in different capacities. Whenever the Wilmots case is mentioned, they immediately shout corruption! This case is similar to the case of Branco Ivankovic, Stramaccioni, and Calderon, but the case of Wilmots is called, corruption comes to people’s minds.”

He also defended himself about alleged fraud cases in the Foulad Mobarakeh company “I was retired from Foulad Mobarakeh. My wages were 20 million tomans per month for three years. If anyone has any claims with documents against me then let him go ahead and publish them. A question was asked to the judiciary about my legal status last week and suddenly all the media wrote that the judiciary published all the crimes of Mehdi Taj, all that remained was to accuse me of murders and kidnappings! The only letter that was in fact sent to the judiciary was from the Secretary General’s inquiry from the prosecutor, who asked how many open cases I have, and they announced these three cases.”

Regarding the statements of parliamentarians, especially Ghazizadeh Hashemi, who has taken a special interest in the wrongdoing and fraud cases in football, Taj said: “The representative’s concern should not be only football. He can speak 100 times, 200 times or any amount he wishes on any network. At the end, It is the judiciary that decides each case. We did not know that he and Mr. Rastineh are so interested in football, but if they care so much, they should focus on the football of their own province. The whole parliament is not just about these two people, but we will answer any question that any member wants to ask.”

Taj went on to say: “These people have not talked about broadcasting rights, not even once. I believe that IRIB cannot afford to pay for football broadcasting rights. Secondly, some of our teams receive money from the government. I have prepared a plan which is FIFA and AFC models. We hope that one day we will have a team in Khorramabad and Kermanshah, not only in cities that only have factories. We hope that deprived provinces including Sistan and Baluchistan will have teams.”

“Instead of being hostile, the IRIB can work with the football federation and have a codified plan and work with this plan for years. The football development model is not very difficult. We can borrow, learn and respect all the laws of the country.”

Referring to Team Melli, he said: “Mr. Skocic is a very respectable and honorable coach. It was very difficult for me. I swear to God that it was difficult for me to remove Skocic. The coach was very calm and gentle. In the most difficult conditions, he took charge of our national team and managed to qualify to the World Cup in the most difficult of circumstances. Please raise your hats in his honor. I saw that the conditions of the national team and players were not good. I don’t want these issues to be opened. We came to the conclusion that if we change the head coach now, it will be in the country’s interest. Now they say that no one can guarantee that if we bring in Queiroz, we will get better results, but the history of Mr. Queiroz in our national team, the results obtained in the past, and the games that he has led the national team as he has been with the team for eight years make us believe this is the right appointment. We are heading to the right direction and have started a good path. It was easy for me to let Skocic stay and not accept responsibility. I could say that I did not leave him, but I removed Skocic for the sake of the country.

The appointment of Queiroz is for the benefit of the country,

Taj claimed ” I know that some seniors and veterans are totally against the selection of Queiroz and also against my own appointment for whatever reasons. I really kiss everyone’s hand out of respect for the national team and the country and out of respect for our beloved flag, and I ask for the country to support the national team in the current situation.”

“I believe that this choice is in the interest of the country. We qualified for the World Cup with Queiroz two times in a row. Those who claim that I have abused my power, let them come forward with proof. During the presidency of Mr. Ahmadinejad, they use to give the president a car, which I did not get. In these 13 years in the federation, I did not receive a single rial in salary. Publish the facts if there is anything. It is not a fact when a parliamentarian claims there is corruption in football.

Taj added: “Who does not have a case in the courts? It was easy for me to do nothing and let the national team go to the World Cup. Mr. President announced several times that he supports the national team financially. We signed a provisional contract with Queiroz, he receives 50,000 euros per month. He has 5 assistants, each of whom receives 30,000 euros. This contract is until the end of the World Cup, and of course, there is a possibility of extending it until the AFC Asian Cup. I thank Queiroz. Mehdi Taj said, “When the government supports the national team, why should we ask for health?” He said: In any case, I think the choice of Skocic was right. If according to many loved ones, it is wrong, they should support the growth of the country’s national team.

“I thank Hamid Estili.” when he was asked about the Team Melli manager’s resignation from his post: “I have not seen Estili’s resignation. I would like to thank him for his efforts during the supervision of the national team. Regarding Foulad Club’s opposition to Nekonam’s activity in the national team, Taj said: I hope that the problem of Nekonam will be solved, and I myself will consult to have Nekonam as a good coach and an investment for the future in the national team. This is the German model, where they leave some people with the national team to become the head coach. God willing, this will happen

Skocic is sacked and replaced by Queiroz

Iran once again led this team. According to ISNA,

after about three years and 8 months away from Iranian football, Carlos Queiroz was once again weaseled his way and appointed as the new head coach of  Team Melli.

Mohammad Jamaat, the media manager of the Iranian national football team, wrote on Twitter: “The federation is grateful to Dragan Skocic for his continuous efforts and qualification for the World Cup, but with the approval of the board of directors, Carlos Queiroz has been chosen as the new head coach. We hope the national team repeats the same success as the previous two World Cups, under Queiroz, results that have satisfied the people and an honorable show is repeated. In his first term on the bench of the Iranian national team, Queiroz led the Iranian team for 8 years and was able to achieve the best result in the history of the Iranian national football team in the World Cup. He was in charge of the Iranian national team from April 4th, 2011 to January 28, 2019.

Mehdi Taj desperately seeking Queiroz !

Mehdi Taj once again succeeded in winning the majority votes (exactly the same number as his last election!) in the general assembly of the FFIRI to become The President in the 8th election and to manage the affairs of the country’s highest football institution for a period of two and a half years.

His selection fueled the rumor of the termination of Dragan Skocic’s contract as the head coach of the Team Melli once again leaving the Croatian coach in a state of stress and instability while the national team is preparing for the training camp in Austria including two much-needed friendly internationals against Uruguay and Senegal.

Skočić, who seems to take every opportunity to ensure his continuation on the bench of the best team of the Asian ranking and play in the FIFA 2022 World Cup, accommodates every request from the federation officials so that maybe the meeting with the hierarchy at the request of Hamid Estili can bring him closer and closer to this personal goal.


On the other hand, the opposition by some players in the squad such as Ehsan HajSafi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Karim Ansarifard, Mehdi Tarimi, etc., with the continuation of the Croat man on the bench, is still strong leading HajSafi to travel all the way from Athens to Tehran for just a few hours just to cast his vote for Mehdi taj in the elections. Hajsafy’s flight schedule was so tight that he took special permission to cast his vote even before the ballots were open as his return flight departure was tight. He stayed a few hours in Tehran only and that highlighted the desperation of this group against Skočić.

Taj has blatantly shown that he has no interest in Skocic staying. After taking office, the president who returned to the football federation initiated the project of Carlos Queiroz’s return to Iran as a top priority. To ensure all matters and contract details are ironed out, Mehdi Taj had a facetime meeting with the Portuguese coach.

Queiroz was fired from his last post in two managerial/coaching posts. After he left Iran, he took over Colombia in 2019.

In the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifications, Colombia’s performance slipped disastrously, with a 0–3 home loss to Uruguay (its worst ever home loss for 82 years) before being shockingly thrashed 1–6 by Ecuador, and this finally put the end of Carlos Queiroz’s reign as Colombia’s boss.

On 8 September 2021, Queiroz was employed by Egypt FA.

Egypt qualified for the third round of the World Cup qualifications to face Senegal for a spot in the World Cup in Qatar. However, after a 1–0 win in Cairo, and a 1–0 loss in Dakar, Egypt lost in penalties; hence, they failed to reach the final competition. He later agreed with the Egyptian Football Association to terminate his contract by mutual consent.

The failure of Egypt in qualifying for FIFA  World Cup 2022 occurred despite the availability of World Class players  Mohammed Salah of Liverpool in the squad,

In audio and video calls with Mehdi Taj, Queiroz put his demands, terms, and conditions on the table to Mehdi Taj who seems to have accepted Queiroz’s personal and financial terms outright in the same manner that he did the Wilmots contract. but Taj, this time needs not only the approval of the Football Federation’s Board of Directors but also the consent of the high-profile opponents of Portuguese man, and that includes personnel in the corridors of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Queiroz left with only a handful of friends in 2019 after Iran’s drubbing by the Japanese team in the semi-finals of the AFC Asian Cup. That 3-0 loss was the biggest in over thirty years. Many members of the parliament,  the Islamic Council, are not too keen on the return of the vindictive and confrontational coach who does tend to intimidate anyone who opposes him or his ideas.

To demonstrate how evidently anti-Skoci Mehdi Taj is, In the past week since he won the election, Taj has yet to hold any meeting with Dragan Skocic or Hamid Estili and to demonstrate for all that he is still not convinced and unwilling to see the Croat at the helm of Team Melli.

The new management team of the Football Federation is actively pursuing the dismissal of Skocic, while there is still some strong support for the Croat from other borad directors such as Mirshad Majdi. However, Taj lobby seems to be gaining ground but the number of his supporters is on the rise.

Taj needs the signature of five other members of the board of directors to formalize the contract with Carlos Queiroz. Mehr reporter has been informed that seven of the board members are completely in favor of Queiroz’s return in order to appease Mehdi Taj who has put this issue at the top of his priorities.

The struggle and the politics to determine the head coach of Iran’s national team continues while the 2022 World Cup starts in nearly 75 days. The FIFA Day games schedule also shows that there are only 17 days to hold national team camps in September and November.

Assuming All matters are sorted out, any coach needs to have divine power to turn the fortunes of Team Melli which is suffering from a serious loss of confidence, form, and mental stress from the infighting between the two groups of players within the camp.

Carlos Queiroz, if selected certainly does not have such divine power as he failed to demonstrate any in the 8 years at the helm of Tema Melli. What he has, however, are two vital elements, one of which is to his personal benefit and that is his professionalism in contract negotiation. He had learned the shortfalls of the previous contracts and how easily the FFIRI repeatedly fails to honor the financial terms of contracts.  Taking that into consideration, he is dictating all the terms on a desperate Mehdi taj and that includes contract payments in US dollars deposited in a foreign bank, most possibly in Dubai plus no promises of any success in the FIFA World Cup 2022. Time is too short for proper preparation, and no one can dispute that, can they?

The second attribute is the strong no-nonsense character that he has demonstrated time and time again. He will have no second thought about kicking sulky or indisciplined players such as Taremi out of the squad. There is no such thing as players’ powers in the Queiroz dictionary. The reality is, that Iran’s football needs a decisive character like Queiroz else some immature players will wreck the ship.

What does the election of Mehdi Taj means for Team Melli.

While the Iranian football circles are still stunned by the election of Mehdi Taj and many in the media believed he does not stand a chance of being approved due to legislation against him in courts and various other issues that deemed his candidacy as unlawful, Taj not only registered his name but also won. The ripples have already started.

As soon as he was announced as the new leader of FFIRI, Vahid Shamsaei resigned just a month before Iran’s Futsal Team Melli starts its defense of the title. Soon after Shamsaei, Mostafa Nazari, the goalkeepers’ coach also followed in resignation.

In Football’s Team Melli, Vahid Hashemian has been rumored to contemplate the same action, while Dragan Skocic is once again on his toes on Team Melli’s hot seat.

While Misrshad Majedi confirmed Skocic’s position as head coach and he is still one of the biggest supporters, Mehdi Taj was rumored to be instrumental in the agitation moves and calls for the return of Carlos Queiroz. During the polarization of Team Melli in the last few weeks, Taj remained inconspicuous and tight-lipped about any issues related to the FFIRI, but it was no secret that he was active behind the scenes in driving the demands of Carlos Queiroz’s to return to Team Melli.

Mehdi Taj has been active in Iran’s football for decades and has a strong lobby too.  He is a man who went through many governmental posts in Esfahan province. His career progression is all through the regime’s organizations. In football, he was the chairman of Sepahan for many years and was a strong leader who propelled the club from Esfahan to new heights including winning the league titles and reaching the AFC Champions League.

The election in FFIRI is nothing different than other elections in the rest of the country mainly the election of the President of the Republic. It is all well orchestrated and the results can be predictable. The formalities, the process, and the motions are all pre-determined and nicely engineered.

Taj’s rap sheet and still pending issue with Marc Wilmots is perhaps his biggest shortfall. He has never been transparent about the contract, selection process, and the payments to the big failure Wilmots. As he did not play any role in the selection of Skocic, because he was out of action, he has no affinity for the Croat and much prefers to work with the devil he knows, namely Queiroz. However, time is the biggest factor that is against this union. Queiroz himself left Iran in distress and bitterness. He later accused and bad-mouth several people in Iran including the Ministry of Sports. He left very few friends in the country. One of those who was a victim of Queiroz onslaught was no one but Mehdi Taj himself.

The outspoken Portuguese is well aware of how politics works in Iran’s football and he knows who has the keys. If Mehdi Taj comes calling and is seriously desperate, Queiroz contracts and other demands could be prohibitive or beyond the abilities of Taj.

There are players in Team Melli who supported Taj and will be happy to see him back at the helm of the federation, however, the man remains a polarizing and divisive figure. Undoubtedly, he has the strong backing of the regime and access to many government agencies and ministries. It remains to be seen whether he will use that support wisely to the benefit of football in general, or try to strengthen his grip on a shambolic federation that for decades has failed in achieving what football deserves.