Tag: Dubai

Goalkeepers inspire Iranian comeback in FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2024

Goalkeepers ran riot for Iran as they turned things around to defeat Tahiti 5-3 and top Group B.

The goalkeepers proved the heroes for Iran as both stoppers netted three between them to help Team Melli to victory over Tahiti at UAE 2024 Dubai™.

Two quick-fire second period goals from Tahiti put them in control of affairs, before Iranian goalkeeper Hamid Behzadpour scored a brace either side of a superb strike by fellow stopper Seyed Mirjalili to give Iran the lead.

Mohammadali Mokhtari eventually made the game safe with 90 seconds on the clock with a wonder goal, securing the victory and top spot in Group B for Team Melli. Tahiti, for their part, also advance to the quarter-finals in second place.FIFA Beach Soccer Woel

Team Melli Beach Soccer wll play the Host UAE in the qualkter finals of the FIFA Beach Soccer 2024 World Cup.

Iran 5-3 Tahiti

Iran goals: Behzadpour (2), Mirjalili, Tehau OG, Mokhtari

Tahiti goals: Labaste, Tinirauarii, Tepa

Player of the Match: Hamid Behzadpour (IRN)

Iran Beach Soccer defeats Giant Spain

Spain 6-6 IR Iran (1-3 PSO)

in its opening match of FIFA Beach Soccer WORLD CUP 2024, Iran’s Beach Soccer team defeated Spain in the penalty shot out in Dubai. The match ended 6-6 in regulation time.

La Roja and Team Melli put on one of the most gripping group-stage games in recent history. The woodwork was rocked on multiple occasions, but nets still rippled 12 times. Spain led 3-0 and 5-2, but Iran, thanks to four Mohammadali Mokhtari goals and an emphatic penalty shootout display, emerged victorious.

Team Melli Beach soccer team enjoyed tremendous support from the fans in the stands. Iran is one of the leading candidates for the title.

Spain goals: David (2), Chiky (2), Kuman, Jose Arias

Iran goals: Mokhtari (3), Mesigar, Amiri

Player of the Match: Mohammadali Mokhtari

Quotes

“We played a very good game. In phases of the match we should have had a little more control to take the three points. They turned the result around. We will have to see what we did wrong to take the three points.” Chiky, Spain player “We followed exactly what our coach told us. He kept telling us we could win the game. Iran will never give up. When you wear this shirt, you never give up.” Moslem Mesigar, Iran player

Iran ‘tried to kidnap 127-cap international legend Ali Karimi after issuing arrest warrant for criticizing regime’

IRAN tried to kidnap a former national football team captain for criticising the regime, according to his friend.

Ex-skipper Ali Karimi made 127 appearances for his country between 1998 and 2012, including at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Ali Karimi is at the centre of a kidnap attempt by the Iranian regime

Ali Karimi is at the centre of a kidnap attempt by the Iranian regimeCredit: AFP

However, he is now said to be living in exile in the UAE and at the centre of a social media, ploy to lure him back to his homeland because of his support for recent protests. Karimi, 43, went public with comments following the shocking arrest and death in custody three days later of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September for wearing her hijab incorrectly.

As reported by The Times, that resulted in an arrest warrant, accusing Karimi of “collusion with the intention of acting against national security”.

And now pal Mehdi Rostampour has detailed how an elaborate plan to capture the former Bayern Munich playmaker was devised.

In a lengthy social media post, Rostampour described how a “celebrity” (alleged to be Mehran Modiri) with alleged links to the regime wanted to follow Karimi’s lead and leave the country, requesting to meet in Fujairah, UAE. The message was sent to Karimi via another footballer he knew – but the sporting icon grew suspicious. Rostampour said: “Karimi was not keen on meeting him in any case.

“But just before the set time, he received a text from a friend saying, ‘Fujairah is a trap’.

“Who was the sender? Someone from within the intelligence ministry!”

Rostampour alleged the plan – conjured up by Iran’s intelligence ministry – was to force Karimi onto a boat, ship him back to Iran and strongarm him into making a false confession on state TV.

Around 200 people have died at the hands of security authorities while many of the crowds have chanted Karimi’s name. It is thought Iran wants to silence Karimi as a powerful voice of opposition – and he has reportedly had his passport confiscated yet still managed to fly to the UAE. Rostampour concluded: “Fortunately Ali Karimi is in good hands and safe. He has committed no crime other than standing by his people.”

people.”

All my pain and sorrow is the safety of the people in Iran

Ali Karimi

Karimi said on Monday: “I thank my countrymen who are worried about my humble self. “I and my family have been threatened and are threatened in various ways. But I am not important. “I still mourn my countrymen across Iran and all my pain and sorrow is the safety of the people in my homeland.”

There are growing calls for Fifa to banish Iran from the World Cup due to the oppressive regime and human rights record as well as the government supplying drones to Russia in their illegal invasion of Ukraine.

 

 

Post Match Press Conference UAE v Iran

Dragan Skocic expressed his satisfaction with the victory against the UAE. However, he stressed that “now is not the time for celebration because the crucial game against South Korea is ahead.“

“We played a great game against a team that defended with all heart and soul but we finally won,” Dragan Skucic told a post-match press conference. “The weather bothered us, especially since most of the players came from Europe and were not conditioned with the climate. The win was very important. We had a hard game. We knew our job was not easy at all in this climate. The presence of players from Europe also made our work difficult and we had little time to coordinate.”

He continued: “I was not satisfied with the way my team played in the first half, but with the changes we made, I got better in the second half. We made a mistake but VAR came to our rescue and reversed the referee’s decision. We are well on our way to achieving bigger things. We know we can do better. With the existing difficulties, we got a good result. “I am 53 years old and I know I should not be comfortable with these things,”

Team Melli Head Coach commenting on his 10th consecutive victory and his team’s lead with a difference of seven points with the third team in the World Cup qualifiers. “I have said many times that football has no memory. We have to rest well and get ready for the next game. If we compare with the previous round of World Cup qualifiers, we had a stronger start, but we should not be happy and we should work to get better.”

Regarding the use of VAR and determining the offside before the Shojaa Khalilzadeh was dismissed, he said: “If I had to change because of the Shojaa’s  dismissal, I would have to change one of the forwards Azmoun or Taremi, which was like cutting off one of my arms.”

“At the beginning of the second half, we started to control the game and impress the opponent, but that one mistake ruined everything, and the VAR corrected that,” Skocic said of the scene of Khalilzadeh’s dismissal.” After that scene, we returned to the game. I am glad that Shojaa’s dismissal did not take place. I must say that Khalilzadeh’s return raised the morale of the team.”

He continued: “We went to the field to win and achieved what we wanted, and this is very important. I would like to say that I liked the UAE style of play, especially in the first half, when they defended very well. “

“We are not celebrating this victory because we have a very sensitive game against South Korea,” Skocic concluded. “We have to win that game as well.”

In the post-match press conference, Bert Van Marwijk, the coach of the UAE national team, attributed the loss of his team 1-0 against Iran in the third round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, to the physical superiority of the Iranian players over his players, adding ” I do not blame the players for today’s loss, we played Against a very strong team ranked 26 in the world, and has players in the European leagues, which makes their physical fitness very high. “

Van Marwijk revealed that the video technology (VAR) had stopped functioning or some time in the UAE-Iran match, but then it was back online to work again, saying, “The fourth referee told me in the first half that the video technology  system VAR has stopped, but later he came back again to tell me in the second half that it had returned back to work again, This is unfortunate for the UAE team, as the video technology canceled the expulsion of the Iranian national team defender.”

“We played a very good first half, and we could have scored, but we did not take advantage of those opportunities well, and on the other hand, the opponent scored his goal from a quick counter-attack, which is a shame. ” He continued: “We will not give up, and stop there. We will try to compensate for the loss of Iran’s match in the next confrontation with Iraq, and we also have seven matches left in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, we must use them well, and the third-place we currently occupy is not bad. It also qualifies for the World Cup.

Van Marwijk pointed out that the players of the UAE national team came out very tired and frustrated after the match, noting that he has not spoken with them yet, but he will definitely work to get them out of the current situation in preparation for their next match against Iraq on the 12th of this month.

Taremi the hero as Iran edge UAE

Dubai: Iran secured three priceless points on the Road to Qatar, emerging from a dramatic AFC Asian Qualifiers clash against the United Arab Emirates with a 1-0 win at Zabeel Stadium on Thursday.
the-afc.com
07th.October.2021

A Mehdi Taremi strike with 20 minutes remaining proved decisive, keeping Dragan Skočić’s side on top of Group A with their third win from as many matches in the Final Round.

Unable to end their long winless run against Team Melli, the result leaves the United Arab Emirates stranded on two points from their three outings, considerably raising the stakes ahead of their clash with Iraq on Tuesday, the same day Iran will meet Korea Republic in a top of the table tie.

It had been billed as a showcase of some of the continent’s best strikers, but, with three crucial points on offer, clear goal-scoring chances were at a premium in a keenly contested first half.

An early delivery from the industrious Sadegh Moharrami provided one of those opportunities for Sardar Azmoun, but the Zenit star missed the target with his header, while the Emiratis might have wished it was Ali Mabkhout and not Khalil Ibrahim on the end of their brightest chance, with the latter also heading wide after a burst of speed from Fabio Lima had stretched the otherwise solid Iranian defense.

Scoreless at half-time, Azmoun threatened once again to provide the game’s first goal five minutes after the break, but again failed to test goalkeeper Ali Khaseif, while the other member of Iran’s two-pronged strike-force, Taremi, found himself well contained by the Emirati defense.

Iran had seized the initiative and Khasief was finally called into meaningful action when Jahanbakhsh forced him into a low save, but the pendulum looked to have swung sharply in the UAE’s favour when Shojae Khalilzadeh – exemplary until then – was shown a straight red card for fouling a goalbound Mabkhout, only for the Iranian defender to escape punishment after the Video Assistant Referee spotted an offside earlier in the move.

The turnaround in Iran’s fortunes was complete in the 70th minute when Taremi played a superb give-and-go with Azmoun to get behind the Emirati defense before easily beating the questionably positioned Khaseif from just outside the penalty to break the deadlock.

The visitors had a golden chance to add to the scoring when they were awarded a penalty after Taremi was impeded by Abdullah Ramadan in the dying minutes, but Khaseif saved brilliantly to deny Azmoun from the penalty spot.

That gave Bert van Marwijk’s side a glimmer of hope, but the last gasp equalizer didn’t materialize making Tuesday’s clash against Iraq one of the utmost importance for the UAE.

Team Melli squad arrives in Dubai.

Team Melli squad with a limited number of players has landed in Dubai. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) continues to tighten its restriction on the teams with health measures to ensure the safety of players and officials for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

The squad will start training in the UAE from today (Monday), and according to the AFC health guidelines, all team members must be in the health bubble and are not allowed to leave the hotel. Members of the Iranian national football team will take a corona test twice before the match against the UAE on Thursday in order to be allowed to attend the match. The Confederation’s executive officer also inspects the camp of the two teams on a regular basis sending reports on hygiene and preventive measure of the squads to the World Cup selection committee.

While the training will start as of Monday, most players based in Europe are absent and expected to join in Dubai within the next two days. In contrast to Iran, the UAE has its full quota of players in the training camp.

The list of UAE team includes goalkeepers, Ali Khaseef, Fahd Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani and Mohammed Al Shamsi, and players Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammed Barghash, Abdel Aziz Heikal, Shaheen Abdel Rahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Ahmed Rashid, Ahmed Al Attas and Al Hassan Valid. Youssef Jaber, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ali Salmin, Abdullah Ramadan, Muhammad Abbas, Abdullah Hamad, Majed Rashid, Fabio de Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Muhammad Jumaa, Tahnoon Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Zayed Al Ameri, Ali Mabkhout and Sebastian Tigali

The last time the Iranian national team met UAE was in the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia. Only two players from the UAE team that lost to Iran 1-0 are in the current squad. Ali Mabkhout and  Walid Abbas.

Why is Carlos Queiroz coaching of Iraq seems farfetched?

Despite no official announcement, sources all over Europe and Iraq have confirmed that the Iraqi Federation is close to signing a contract with the Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz to lead Iraq’s challenge of qualification for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Katanic was the last coach of Iraq to leave his post after Iraq secured the qualification to the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The reason was simply, monetary. Iraqi football federation has not paid the Slovenian for months which can frustrate even the most loyal and tolerant of coaches.

The fact is Iraq FA is bankrupt and has no steady income. Securing the services of an international coach requires a hefty budget which is not available to the Iraqi FA. So, recruiting a coach with an asking price of the north of two million US$ seems to be unattainable.

If Iraq FA could not regularly pay Katanec, how on earth they can afford an expensive and very demanding coach such as Queiroz?. Let’s face it, he does not come cheap and he is a very heavy burden to the budget of any federation.

Here comes the role of the insecure government of Iraq. To gain some hardly sought popular approval from the masses, the government of Iraq has agreed to pay for Queiroz and burden all his expenses. Such things will never be published, of course, but enough information has been leaked to give this theory some credibility.

Assuming that the Iraqi FA has sorted out the big challenge of Queiroz fees, it has to tackle other serious issues with the Portuguese. Like the 8 years that he spent with Team Melli, he was never a permanent resident of the country. His preference has always been the limelight of the City of Dubai. He traveled to Tehran when required and nothing more than that. He hardly attended league matches to find out about the standards of the local players, the tactics, and the physical strength of players, ironically he saved his travels to Europe to check on the Iranian legionnaires.

What is another big challenge is the demeanor of the Portuguese man. He is a difficult character to deal with. Aggressive, confrontational, and generally outspoken, the Iraqis have a challenge. He is a “never wrong” type of person who easily shifts the blames on others for shortfalls. Quite demanding when it comes to facilities, training equipment, player’s comfort, rest, league scheduling, and the time allocated for training camps. Queiroz will perhaps make one friend versus 10 enemies in any period of time in Iraq.

Despite all that, it is fair to say that Queiroz did a fine job with Iran. Whether the Iraqi’s will accept the heavy baggage that comes along with Carlos Queiroz is another story. If all financial issues are settled, the chances are that Queiroz will find some adversaries in Iraqi politicians. Many will question his pay reported to be more than 2 million dollars per annum while Iraqi people are living in extremely harsh conditions with frequent power cuts in the sweltering heat of summer not to mention the lack of security. That may be the reason that Queiroz does not intend to live in Baghdad

Middle East Tensions Hurting Asian Soccer Ambitions

Steve Price

The Asian Football Confederation has reportedly banned Iran from hosting international matches based on safety fears over the current tensions in the region. Iranian club sides have responded by planning to withdraw from the AFC Asian Champions League. The clubs have said Iran is “safe”, while Iranian media and fans have claimed that politics, rather than security, is behind the AFC’s decision.

Iran are one of the top nations in the Asian Champions League and has some of the best-supported clubs in Asia. Iranian clubs had a poor campaign last year, but the year before that, Persepolis reached the final of the competition. They, along with Esteghlal, Sepahan and Shahr Khodro, will withdraw from the competition should the AFC’s fixture ban not be reversed.

Iranian sides played their matches against Saudi Arabian sides on neutral territory last season, so the move by the AFC isn’t completely unprecedented. But playing any games on neutral territory is damaging to the competition’s reputation. When over 40,000 people turn up in Tehran to watch Estaghlal or Persepolis, it’s a much better advert for the Asian Champions League than when a thousand fans turn up in Doha to watch Estaglal’s ‘home’ match against Al-Hilal.

The Deby in Azadi Stadium

The absence of Iranian clubs in the competition would be similar to Italian clubs deciding to boycott the UEFA Champions League. Few other Asian countries can match Iran’s top clubs in terms of fans. The Asian Champions League is struggling to grow, with low attendance and regular scandals or other embarrassments, so having one of its most important members boycott the competition is the last thing the AFC needs.

But as well as damaging Asia’s main club competition, the current tensions could also damage the United Arab Emirates’ and Qatar’s attempts to bolster their sporting credentials.

The UAE and Qatar have benefited in the past from their relative stability compared to other countries in the region, often hosting ties that can’t be played at the home country’s stadium for security reasons. If Iran is banned from hosting international matches, then it is possible that Iran’s ‘home’ games would be played in the UAE or Qatar.

 

But it seems the current tensions in the Middle East have finally caught up with Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, as other soccer teams are staying away.

The USA men’s soccer team canceled its camp in Doha earlier this month due to the “developing situation in the region”, holding it in Florida instead. And last week Manchester United scrapped plans for a training trip to the Middle East in February, while Arsenal have said they are assessing security measures before deciding whether to head to Dubai for warm weather training.

A stadium in Qatar with empty seats

Qatar and the UAE have been popular destinations for these winter training camps in the past few seasons, with many of Europe’s top clubs heading there for the warm weather and high-quality facilities. Qatar’s FA says that “time and again, these teams return to AZF [Aspire Zone Foundation] to benefit from Qatar’s perfect outdoor training weather at this time of year.” This year, Bayern Munich, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven all used the Aspire facilities, apart from Ajax’s US international Sergino Dest who said he “didn’t feel comfortable” due to the tensions.

While showcase events like the Qatar 2022 World Cup or the Club World Cup might grab the headlines, these camps have been like a dripping tap, helping to slowly establish the two countries as reliable regional soccer hubs. With the teams come media, agents, sponsors and so forth, over time making the countries a good place for related businesses to set up offices, helping the local tourism sector, and boosting these countries’ soft power.

The Qatar 2022 World Cup and other showcase events are unlikely to be affected unless things really escalate in the region, but should the security situation in the region remain tense, top European clubs might decide to switch their future winter plans to Florida or to Spain and Portugal where many other clubs from around the world hold their winter training camps, putting a major dent in Qatar and the UAE’s aspirations to boost their global standing through sports.

Hashempour: “We will show our strength once again”

Defending champions Iran are determined to claim back-to-back Intercontinental Cup crowns and equal Brazil and Russia at the top of the records

Defending champions Iran have landed in Dubai with the mission of reediting the 2018 crown and equalling Brazil and Russia as the most decorated sides at the Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup records. After clinching the Bronze Medal at the last World Beach Games in Qatar just a couple of weeks ago, the team feels in the perfect mood to take on such a challenge.

Grit, talent and perfect teamwork, plus the support of their passionate fans, give Abbas Hashempour’s team all the necessary ingredients to go all the way in this year’s competition, taking place in Kite Beach between the 5th and 9th of November.

“Only the most powerful teams take part in the Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup, so we are fully aware of how difficult it is to prevail in such a competitive arena. Russia, for example, is a team that can do real harm on you if you are not fully focused and fight fiercely every single second of the game. But we also are, as we have repeatedly shown, capable of winning any team in the world. This is what we have in our minds and our hearts, and we will try our best to beat all our opponents and reach the final”, Iran National Coach Abbas Hashempour explained.

The tough opposition will not be the only obstacle for Iran to accomplish their mission, though. The Persian side will be missing one of the key players, 2018 Rising Star Mohammad Moradi, due to injury, and some other players will also be back in competition after injuries, that leaves a question mark on their outcome during the coming days, but coach Hashempour believes the collective strength will help the team overcome these setbacks.

As the defending champions, the Iranian side will have all the eyes put on them, but this is not something the team is concerned about. “Everyone will be expecting a lot from us, but we are determined to show everybody why we are the champions. We want to demonstrate again how powerful we are”, the coach admitted.

Iran were drawn in Group B together with also-favourite Russia, Egypt and CONCACAF champions Mexico and will be making their debut, precisely, against the Azteca side (Tuesday 5th of November, 8:00 pm). That will mark the first step in their road to reediting the crown and claiming their third Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup.

Jorge Fosati to replace Queiroz in Team Melli !!

An Colombian website  caracoltv claims that the next Team Melli coach will be coming from Uruguay. The site mentioned Jorge Fosati as the successor to Carlos Queiroz whose contract ends after the AFC Asian Cup 2019.

The website wrote that while Carlos Queiroz is expected to lead the Colombian national team, Jorge Fosati will take the helm at Iran’s national team. Day after day, the news that Carlos Queiroz’s will be taking over the head coach job of the Colombian national team are getting stronger , naturally a replacement coach should also be appointed to lead Iran in place of the Portuguese. In the meantime, Jorge Fosati of Uruguay is on the verge of being appointed to that post in Iran’s national football team. A few days ago, the Colombian Football Federation has denied any communication with Luis Felipe Scolari.

In Abu Dhabi, Carlos Queiroz has neither denied nor confirmed this news after he was asked by a reporter prior to the game against Vietnam. He asked the media to only ask questions about the match as any other question about his future is an insult to the team and the fans.

Carlos Queiroz is preparing Team Melli to play Iraq for a top of the table match in Dubai in the final match of Group D of AFC Asian Cup 2019