Tag: Chile

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

25/03/201525/03/2015

Team Melli , one last chance to excel under Queiroz.

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The Iran’s vs. Chile friendly match in St. Polten, Austria on Thursday , is overshadowed by the resignation of Carlos Queiroz on the eve of Nowrooz , the Iranian New Year.

The match has lost a major part of its significance as a new coach will most likely deploy different team game plan , different strategy and for sure , he will have his own sets of players in mind after a period of familiarization with Team Melli and Iranian football in general. Assuming of course that the next coach will likely be a foreign one.

No surprises !

As far as the match goes, there is not going to be many surprises in the game plan and line up unless Queiroz, for the only time, changes his mind-set and decides to give the offensive game plan a go against powerful opposition. Otherwise, it will be the usual tight at the back and counter at the front for Team Melli. There are no new players to look forward to except for the gifted young striker Masoud Hassanzadeh of Zob Ahan, who might be given his debut.

Defensive prowess

The lineup for this match will be quite close to the Asian Cup matches except that Queiroz managed to get his two injured defenders back. Pejman Montazeri and Hashim Beikzadeh were on the injury list and did not make the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. Queiroz had to significantly change the defense as he was short of options. Whether Montazeri and Beikzadeh will claim their posts back is an interesting question as their replacements, Morteza Pouraliganji in the heart of defense and Vouriya Ghafoori in the left back position, did a marvelous job in the competition and both performed to the admiration of the critics and observers.

Midfield Woes

The middle of the field is where Iran is lacking and will continue so with the aging players, lack of creativity, lack of pace and dearth of offensive capabilities hurting the team. Nekouman , Teymourian and Shojaei are on steady decline and despite their significant efforts during the Asian Cup , they were found wanting as they were no match for younger, energetic and more creative opposition players. UAE and Iraq matches, highlighted the weakness of Iran midfield. Ashkan Dejagah remains the main midfielder who can make a difference.

Up front , there is a very healthy competition developing between the established forward Reza Ghoochannejad who has a terrific scoring record with Team Melli and up and coming star , Sardar Azmoun.

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Although Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh will be absent from the team due to commitment of Omid Team in Tehran, which lead to Queiroz wrath and subsequent resignation , the addition of Masoud Ahmadzadeh is another shot in the arm for Team Melli offensive capabilities. On a perturbing note, Karim Ansarifard has lost much of his sparkle and abilities since moving to Spain to join Osasuna. His inclusion in the team as a striker without scoring a single goal in the season and not even providing a single assist, is one of those Queiroz special mysteries !.

Goalkeeping Calamities

Goalkeeping will remain the biggest of Iran’s worries for the forcible future, unless the new coach changes the keepers altogether. Haghighi is still the number one choice of Queiroz however; it is unlikely that he will remain so for long. The selection of calamity Sousha Makani is yet another of Queiroz mysterious rational that defies logic. Makani has been consistently unreliable for Persepolis

The star performers

The Chilean team, La Roja , is one of the contenders for Copa America. Head coach Jorge Sampaoli is expected to field his strongest line up including the Chilean household names of Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Arturo Vidal (Juventus), Claudio Bravo (Barcelona) and Gary Medel (Inter Milan) for the two games series against Iran and then Brazil in Emirates Stadium in London. . Because most Chile player play abroad, the chances of the team training together on regular basis is small hence these FIFA days represent the most important times for the coaches to impliment their game plans.

Players’ Fatigue

Sampaoli is quite lucky that he has no major injury except for Johnny Herrera (Universidad de Chile) custodian who dislocated his shoulder during the victory over Palestino in the league match at home and did not make the trip, However , in Claudio Bravo (Barcelona)in goal , such absence is the least of his worries.

The European contingent join the squad after some heaving playing schedules. Sanchez and Vidal in particular had busy schedules with significant number of strong matches played in the League and the Champions League. Fatigue might be a factor for these two games for Chile. Sampaoli might think it is wise to conserve their energy and refrain from playing them the whole 90 minutes.

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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)

11/03/2015

Queiroz threatens to leave….again!

Ali Kaffashian said that Team Melli Head Coach , Carlos Queiroz has once again stated that if he continues to experience lack of resources at his disposal , he will resign his job as the head coach. The duo have met after Queiroz returned back to Iran from his extended holidays to discuss the future programs of Team Melli. Kaffashian said that Queiroz was concerned with the outcome of the Chile match and once again reiterated that if the proper resources are not available at his disposal , he will resign his job as Team Melli head coach.

Queiroz’s concern is about the possible cancellation of this high-profile and important friendly international against one of the best teams in the world with stars like Alexis Sanchez. The Portuguese coach is counting a lot on a solid performance by Team Melli players against both Chile and Sweden. Countless numbers of matches and training camps have been cancelled by the federation due to lack of resource. Queiroz is approaching the point where he has drawn a line, where he believes that continuing to operate under such depravity and in constant struggle for handouts to do his basic work , is harming his own reputation and that of Iranian football.

Despite his strong support for Omid Team in its quest for qualifying to the Olympics and his strong backing of Kashani and Khakpour , Kaffashian admitted that Queiroz holds the upper hand in the release of Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh. The head of FFIRI said that he cannot force Team Melli coach to release the two players for Omid Team while the team is playing two important matches.

Kaffashian also supported Queiroz against Abbas Torabian and said that “Torabian’s job is somewhere else and he should not involve himself in issues that are not part of his job.”

Kaffashian also supported Queiroz against the criticism of Omid Team Manager Habib Kashani. “Queiroz is doing his job for the benefit of the team and Iran. It is nothing personal. He simply wants to prepare the team as best as he can like many other good teams in the area.” Kaffashian dismissed Kashani’s criticism against his own administration and Queiroz but refrained from rebuking Kashani for his strong words.

10/03/2015

Proposal for a friendly against Italy in Azadi !

The President of FFIRI was quoted as saying that a proposal of a friendly against Italy and Team Melli is being studied. Ali Kaffashian confirmed that there is active study and negotiations to finalize a game between Team Melli and Italian National team hosted in Azadi stadium.

“The Italians demanded US$ 1.5 million for the match. We are currently studying a sponsorship deal, projected revenue and other aspects to see if we can cover the costs of the match. If that can be achieved, then we will definitely sign the contract and the match between Iran and Italy national teams will be on.”

Kaffashian was speaking in the aftermath of Iran’s failure to secure the hosting of the next Asian Cup tournament in 2019 which the AFC granted to the UAE.”I am sorry that I could not achieve this for our country. It would have been a great boost for Iran’s football. We tried our best, but we also need to admit that the conditions always favored the United Arab Emirates especially in the marketing and generating revenue aspects.”

Kaffashian said that the AFC executive committee has made its decision in favor of the UAE and we will be asking them why so as to note our weak points and work towards improving them for future bids.”

On the comment made by Queiroz expressing his bitter disappointment if the Chile match is cancelled, Kaffashian said “it true that the match is not finalized yet. We have asked for the contract to be sent to review it. We are trying hard in order for the match to take place. I can confirm that there is some outstanding payment that needs to be settled to the agency and it has to be paid.”

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 !

Beitashour,Haghighi R.,Hoisseini,Davari,Nekounam-Sadeghi AH,Mahini,Ghoochannejad, Dejagah, Jahanbakhsh,Shojaei

10/03/2015

Queiroz “Possible cancellation of Chile match is a big blow for Team Melli”

The Portuguese coach of Team Melli Carlos Queiroz has returned back to Iran to select and prepare the team for the two high profile friendly matches against Chile and Sweden in two weeks time.

Rumors have been rife in Tehran about the possible cancellation of the Chile match in Austria because of the customary shortage of funds to cover the cost. Queiroz was confronted by the reports on his arrival about his feelings on such possibility. “It will be a big and major blow for Team Melli if this match is canceled and regrettable if there is shortage of funds. We have all been looking forward for this unique opportunity to play two of the finest teams in the world and if the Chile match is canceled it will be a big psychological blow” Queiroz commented.

Queiroz was also asked about the status of several players and he had these to offer.

“Azmoun and Jahanbakhash are members of Team Melli and are definitely required for the two matches in Europe. This is a big opportunity for them. There is no chance that I will not select them for this trip. It is regrettable that this tour coincides with the Omid team qualifying matches , but once again , both will be required and will be with us in the trip to Europe”

“Mohammad Nouri and Mehdi Rahmati are not Team Melli players and will not be part of the squad to Europe. I have no further comments to offer on the subject. Full stop.”

“The list of Team Melli players will be announced soon and will be starting our preparation from Iran before flying to Europe”

01/03/2015

Jahanbakhsh & Azmoun not available for Omid Team.

Jaffar Kashani , the manager of Omid Team ( Iran U23) announced that despite their request , Alireza Jahanbaksh and Sardar Azmoun will not be available to join Omid Team during the qualification rounds of the Olympic Games 2016 , instead they will be part of the Team Melli squad playing two international friendly matches in the holiday periods.

Omid Team will be playing the first stages of the qualifying matches in a round ribbon group along with Nepal , Palestine , Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia in the period from 23^rd to 31st March in Azadi stadium. During the same period Team Melli will be taking full advantage of the FIFA day and have already arranged two important and momentous matches against Chile and Sweden.

Sardar Azmoun was one of the stars of the recent Asian Games 2015 where he scored two goals and desevedly has established himself in Team Melli. Alireza Jahanbaksh was less fortunate and was not able to produce the quality that was hoped from, yet this player remains an important part of Carlos Queiroz grand plan in rejuvenating the team.

Kashani criticized his employer FFIRI and claimed that the team is not getting the full support of the federation!. The reality is that Kaffashian has already declared for support for Omid Team in their quest to qualify for the nest year Olympics after 40 years of absence by Iran.

“Because we are not Carlos Queiroz , our request to change the league program has been refused. We have demanded that league to be stopped for one week in order to allow us to take part in the Kuwait camp where we could have played two friendly matches, but we don’t get the same attention as Team Melli gets.” Kashani moaned.

Kashani also bitterly complained about the lack of commitment by the league clubs by not releasing their players whenever they are required by Omid Team program. Kashani then repeated his usual drama by threatening to resign if his requests are not met by the federation or the clubs create difficulties for the team.

Jafar Kashani already resigned this same position and vowed never to return to work with this federation after his effort to recruit Zlatko Kranjcar was turned down. However , to the surprise of many observers, the man did a 180 degrees turn and announced that he is a soldier who will answer the call of duty for the country any time he is required !.

The manner that he resigned and then came back within a few days , leaves a lot to be desired in what many people consider the Achilles heel of Iranian football and that is poor quality , untrustworthy and erratic management.

Iran

Japan

Korea Republic

Australia

United Arab Emirates

Uzbekistan

China PR

Iraq

Jordan

Saudi Arabia