Tag: Mahdi Javid

Tough test for Futsal Team Melli against Kazakhstan

Iran will face their toughest test yet when they play Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021 at the Kaunas Arena on Monday.

In what promises to be a thrilling encounter, Kazakh fans will be hoping that the quarter-final is decided in normal time, as Team Melli won two penalty shootouts and another match after extra-time at the last Futsal World Cup.

On the other hand, Iran might want to avoid another open encounter like their Round of 16 epic against Uzbekistan, as scoring against Kazakhstan and their formidable goalkeeper Higuita, aided by defensive stalwart Douglas, has proven extremely difficult in Lithuania 2021.

 

  • Uzbekistan v IR Iran - FIFA FWC2021 (1)
    FIFA Futsal World Cup

 

Team Melli opened their campaign with a narrow 3-2 victory over Serbia before seeing off the United States 4-2, with a 2-1 defeat against Argentina being their only blemish as they finished second in Group F behind the South Americans.

In the Round of 16, Uzbekistan found a chink in Iran’s armor going toe to toe with the 12-time Asian Champions in a nail-bitting 9-8 scoreline in the Iranians favor.

Missing from the Iran line-up is Hossein Tayyebi, who featured in the two previous editions but captain Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh has still not lost his deft touch – evident in his cheeky lob over Argentina goalkeeper Lucas Farach.

Kazakhstan

The Falcons boast the best defensive record of the tournament, having conceded just two goals in four matches.

In Group A, Kazakhstan flexed their muscles in their opener against Costa Rica winning 6-1, and a 3-0 victory against hosts Lithuania followed before being held to 1-1 draw by Venezuela to top their group.

Kazakhstan advanced to the last eight stage in style with a 7-0 win over ASEAN heavyweights Thailand in the Round of 16.

They have the best defensive record among the quarter-finalists and Iran, who have been in fine form up front, will have to be at their sharpest if they are to make the semi-finals for the second successive FIFA Futsal World Cup.

 

Head to head.

Iran never lost to the Kazakh before. Their first meeting was in the final of the AFC AFutsal Championship 2000 on 12th May. Kazakhstan was a member of AFC then before switching to UEFA.  Team Melli won 4-1 to lift yet another title. From then on, the two teams met 4 times with Iran winning 3 and drawing one. All the wins were with a margin of one goal.

 

Iran’s concern.

 

Despite winning a thrilling match against Uzbekistan and scoring 9 goals at this stage of the Futsal World Cup, all was not well with the team.

By now the whole world knows how Iran is vulnerable in defense during the power play as every time Uzbekistan deployed that plan, they scored at will! The reason for such failure is tactical and psychological.

In football and futsal for that matter, it is common knowledge that a team is most vulnerable to be scored against right after they score a goal. Elation and celebrations of the players put them at risk of forgetting their tasks. This happened repeatedly against the Uzbek team who cleverly took advantage.

The more serious of the issues, however, is the tactical shortfalls. It seems that the coaching staff was caught off guard and did not prepare the team well to counteract the power play of the opposition. Clearly, the marking was poor with goals being easily scored due to the abysmal marking.

If Nazim Al-Sharia wants to enhance the chances of Iran qualifying for the last four, he and his coaching staff must organize the defenses much better, especially during the power play. In fact, Iran’s defense was suspect through the whole tournament with the goalkeeper being the culprit in a few goals. The only decent defensive performance was against Argentina which Iran narrowly lost 2-1 to the defending champion.

There will be a lot of pressure tomorrow Mental strength and discipline have to be priorities else no tactical masterplan can help against the best defensive team of the tournament.

Injury List

Farhad Fakhim ( injured for the rest of the championship)

Hossein Tayebi (On the recovery, possible brief playing time)

 

Iran v Kazakhstan
Venue: Kaunas Arena
Kickoff: Monday, 20:00 (UTC+3)

 

A thrilling victory for Iran’s futsal.

Futsal Team Melli defeated its regional rival Uzbekistan 9-8 in one of the most exciting and thrilling of World Cup matches to qualify for the Quarter Finals of the competition of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021

In a spectacular encounter between two of Asia’s biggest teams, 12-time Asian champions Iran walked away winners to set up a quarter-final tie against Kazakhstan.

The all-Asian affair got off to an exciting start right from the get-go with both sides battling for possession with Iran opening the scoring in the first minute through captain Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh, before Mahdi Javid doubled their lead in the fifth minute, courtesy of Farhad Fakhim’s assist.

The two teams last met in the 2018 AFC Futsal Championship with Iran emerging 7-1 winners but Uzbekistan – bolstered by reaching the Round of 16 for the first time – refused to be overawed and pulled one back in the ninth minute through Khusniddin Nishonov.

Uzbekistan v IR Iran - FIFA FWC2021 (5)

Iran restored their two-goal lead when Hassanzadeh turned provider for Saeid Ahmad Abbasi to find the back of the net in the 16th minute, but Uzbekistan’s persistence saw them score quick goals through Dilshod Rakhmatov and Ikhtiyor Ropiev in the 17th and 18th minutes respectively to level the tie.

Iran called their first time-out to take the edge out of Uzbekistan, which proved to be a successful move as Farhad Tavakoli struck moments into the restart.

Uzbekistan v IR Iran - FIFA FWC2021 (3)

Team Melli maintained their high tempo in the second half with Abbasi and Javid scoring their second goals of the evening in the 22nd and 25th minutes respectively.

The scintillating match continued with its thrills as Anaskhon Rakhmatov reduced Uzbekistan’s deficit in the 28th minute, but Iran’s reply was immediate through Hassanzadeh, before Moslem Oladghobad scored two minutes later to make it 8-4.

Uzbekistan v IR Iran - FIFA FWC2021 (6)

Uzbekistan, however, refused to back down and closed the gap with Ilhomjon Hamroev and Nishonov beating Iran goalkeeper Alireza Samimi in the 31st and 33rd minutes.

The goals galore, however, were not yet over as Abbasi completed his hat-trick in the 37th minute but Uzbekistan fought back with Anaskhon and Hamroev giving their side hope only for the clock to run out on them.

 

Iran Scorers

First Half

Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh (1′), Mehdi Javid (5′), Saeed Ahmad Abbasi (16′) and Farhad Tavakoli (18′)

Second Half

Saeed Ahmad Abbasi (22′), Mehdi Javid (25′), Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh (29′), Moslem Oladghobad, Saeed Ahmad Abbasi (39′)

 

 

 

 

Mahdi Javid critical of Iran’s futsal show.

Mahdi Javid, one of the key players of Iran’s national futsal team said: “If we play like what we did against the United States in future games, we will be punished.”

Mahdi Javid told ISNA after Iran’s victory against the United States: “Although we won the game, I think we did not see an interesting game from Iran. There is a lot of expectation from the Iranian team, but everyone saw that Serbia was a worthy team and showed in front of Argentina that it is one of the good teams in this championship.”

He added: “In two games, we did not fully show what our futsal is capable of, and if we are to play in the next games with this standard, we will be severely punished and we will not qualify.” Javid emphasized that we should appear better in this competition: we got six points but we did not show real quality. We hope to have a better start to the match against Argentina.

Commenting about whether Iran’s strategy is to be second in the group in order to be on an easier path: “Nobody has talked to us about being second in the group. Our goal is to qualify as a leader or second in the group. We are waiting to see what the strategy of the technical staff is.”

Iran get FIFA Futsal World Cup campaign off to a flying start with win over Serbia

Vilnius Arena, Vilnius.

Iran opened their FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021 campaign brightly with a 3-2 win over Serbia in Group F at the Vilnius Arena on Tuesday.

Iran, seeking to emulate if not better their third-place finish in the 2016 edition, were always on the front foot against Serbia and will now aim to make it two wins in a row when they play the United States on Sunday.

Iran, appearing in their eighth FIFA Futsal World Cup, raced off the blocks with Mahdi Javid spearheading the attack with captain Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh dictating the tempo of play.

It was not long before the Iranians found the back of the net with Hamid Ahmadi getting on the scoresheet with his fourth-minute strike off Moslem Oladghobad assist before Farhad Fakhim doubled their advantage seconds later.

Serbia, however, refused to buckle as Dejan Majes’ tried to find a way back despite the immense pressure from the Iranian side.

The Asian champions suffered a blow in the 11th minute when goalscorer Ahmadi was given his marching orders after picking up his second yellow card, with Serbia then seeing more of the ball with Slobodan Rajcevic, Dragan Tomic, and Mladen Kocic all making attempts but goalkeeper Alireza Samimi stayed firm.

Serbia, however, were not to be denied by the Mes Sungun FSC shot-stopper as Milos Stojkovic pulled one back courtesy of Marko Prsic’s assist with two minutes left in the first half.

The opening minutes of the second half was equally balanced as both teams traded blows but neither could find a breakthrough in a tense contest with Serbia growing in confidence as the match progressed.

Despite Serbia’s best efforts, Iran refused to be breached again and put the tie beyond reach through Ahmad Esmaeilpour’s strike three minutes from time with Dragan Tomic reducing the deficit seconds later.

Final result

IRAN   3 –  2  SERBIA 

NEXT MATCH

17 September: Iran vs United States (Vilnius)

Iran ready for the first challenge of Futsal World Cup 2021

Iran’s national futsal team is ready for the first match of FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021 against Serbia this evening.

The squad played its last training session last evening with another early session this morning before entering the match against Serbia.

Asia will be represented by five teams at the FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021 with the continent’s representatives determined to make an impact.

To be played across three venues, the FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021 will see Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan, Thailand, and Vietnam carrying Asia’s challenge.

The six group winners and runners-up, together with the four best third-placed teams will advance to the Round of 16. The tournament is played from  September 12-October 3 FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021.

There are still two players on the injury list as Ahmadzadeh and Hossein Tayebi will be undergoing late fitness checks.

Perhaps the first match is the most important of the three group games as Serbia has shown remarkable improvement of late. Recently the Serbians played the might Brazil and drew the match. The defending champions, Argentine will be the obvious toughest game for Iran.

 

Matchday 1 of Group F

Serbia-IR Iran, Vilnius, 18:00

Argentina-USA, Vilnius, 20:00

Overview

Iran will enter their eighth FIFA Futsal World Cup campaign as genuine challengers, having lifted the AFC Futsal Championship trophy 12 times. The Iranians made history in 2016 by finishing third, the best-ever achievement by an Asian team, and head coach Mohammed Nazemosharia is aiming for the title in Lithuania 2021.

Nazemosharia has retained most of the 2016 squad with the likes of Mahdi Javid, Hossein Tayebi and captain Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh – a four-time AFC Futsal Player of the Year – leading the charge with defending champions Argentina the toughest hurdle.

Ahmad Esmaeilpour and Ali Hassanzadeh inspired Iran to bronze in 2016, and the 33-year-olds believe they can do even better in Lithuania. Serbia will provide a stern test in their curtain-raiser.

 

History: 7 previous appearances – 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016; 12-time Asian champions

Recent Form – 3W: Thailand (5-1), Belarus (8-2, 5-1)

Players to Watch: Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh, Mahdi Javid, Farhad Fakhim

Challengers: Serbia (Sept 14), USA (Sept 17), Argentina (Sept 20)

4 Iranian candidates for AFC Annual Awards 2019

Alireza Beiranvand, Sardar Azmoun, Mehdi Javid and Katayoun (Kat) Khosrowyar have been nominated by Asian Football Confederation as the top three in their categories fo awards 2019.

Persepolis FC and Team Melli goalkeeper Ali Reza Beiranvand, Japan’s versatile defender Tomoaki Makino and AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 star Akram Hassan Afif of Qatar lead the nominees for the AFC Player of the Year – Men’s category at the AFC Annual Awards Hong Kong 2019.

Beiranvand is famously known for saving Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia and he repeated the feat against Oman in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 to lead Iran to the semi-finals. He has been an inspirational figure in goal for both club and country but outside the pitch, he remains a strong advocate for social responsibility.

Makino’s commanding presence in the heart of the Urawa Red Diamonds have been one of the key reasons in helping his team keep six clean sheets en-route to reaching the 2019 AFC Champions League final. He was also integral in leading the Samurai Blue to their fifth final of the AFC Asian Cup.

Afif is arguably Asia’s brightest prospect and he burst onto the scene at the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 where he produced 10 assists – the most in the tournament’s history. He was also a figure of consistency for club Al Saad where they reached the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League.

Sardar Azmoun , who plays for Zenith St. Petersburg has stormed into the team scoring regularly n the Domestic and European league. The Team Melli centre forward is having one of the best seasons in his career in Russia. Azmoun AFC is nominated as Asian International Player of the Year

Mahdi Javid, arguably one of the best futsal players of this generation is also included in the list. The 32 years old Mes Sungun player has been an inspiration with club and country. He also played in Lebanese league and several other Iranian clubs winning many titles. Javid is nominated as AFC Futsal Player of the Year

Katayoun Khosrowyar, who grew up playing soccer in Oklahoma, is the head coach of Iran’s under-19 national women’s team. The team narrowly missed qualification to the final rounds of AFC U-19 Women’s Championship Thailand 2019 by virtue of its lower fair play points. Katayoun has sacrificed her university scholarship and lifestyle aside for the sake of helping Iranian women develop in football. Katayoun is nominated as AFC Coach of the Year (Women)

The star-studded cast of nominees (in alphabetical order of MA) for the AFC Annual Awards Hong Kong 2019 are:

AFC Player of the Year (Men)

Ali Reza Safarbeiranvand (Persepolis F.C. and IRN)

Tomoaki Makino (Urawa Red Diamonds and JPN)

Akram Hassan Afif (Al Saad and QAT)

AFC Player of the Year (Women)

Li Ying (Guangdong Huijun FC and CHN)

Ashalata Devi Loitongbam (Sethu FC and IND)

Saki Kumagai (Olympique Lyonnais and JPN)

AFC Asian International Player of the Year

Sardar Azmoun (IRN)

Makoto Hasebe (JPN)

Son Heung-min (KOR)

AFC Futsal Player of the Year

Mahdi Javid (IRN)

Tomoki Yoshikawa (JPN)

Yushi Sekiguchi (JPN)

AFC Youth Player of the Year (Women)

Karly Roestbakken (AUS)

Wang Linlin (CHN)

Jun Endo (JPN)

AFC Youth Player of the Year (Men)

Hiroki Abe (JPN)

Lee Kang-in (KOR)

Doan Van Hau (VIE)

AFC Coach of the Year (Women)

Katayoun Khosrowyar (IRN)

Asako Takakura (JPN)

Nuengrutai Srathongvian (THA)

AFC Coach of the Year (Men)

Tsuyoshi Otsuki (JPN)

Go Oiwa (JPN)

Chung Jung-yong (KOR)

AFC Member Association of the Year (Inspiring)

Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran

Japan Football Association

Korea Football Association

AFC Member Association of the Year (Developing)

DPR Korea Football Association

The Hong Kong Football Association LTD.

Football Association of Singapore

AFC Member Association of the Year (Aspiring)

Guam Football Association

Mongolian Football Federation

Yemen Football Association

AFC President Recognition Awards for Grassroots Football (Inspiring)

Chinese Football Association

Japan Football Association

Football Association of Malaysia

AFC President Recognition Awards for Grassroots Football (Developing)

The Hong Kong Football Association LTD.

All India Football Federation

Football Association of Singapore

AFC President Recognition Awards for Grassroots Football (Aspiring)

National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam

Guam Football Association

Palestine Football Association

Team Melli futsal qualify tot he semi-final in style

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Taipei:

Iran are one step closer to defending their AFC Futsal Championship title after beating Thailand 9-1 in the quarter-finals on Thursday at the Xinzhuang Stadium. 

The defending champions produced a dominant performance, taking a five-goal lead in the first half with strikes from Ahmed Esmaeilpour, Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh and Hossein Tayebi.

Thailand’s Jirawat Sornwichian found one back but further goals from Mahdi Javid and Mohammad Shajari, sealed a comprehensive win for Iran.

Iran took the lead just 10 seconds into the match with Hassanzadeh’s long range pass finding Esmaeilpour, who made no mistake with a left-footed shot.

It was just the beginning for the title holders as Esmaeilpour scored his second in the fourth minute when he intercepted a pass and surged down the middle, before hitting home.

Hassanzadeh turned goalscorer less than 30 seconds after the restart from a set-play, tapping the ball in from close range, before Tayebi made it 4-0 in the sixth minute, courtesy of Farhad Tavakoli’s swift pass.

ASEAN champions Thailand’s first real chance came in the 10th minute with Madyalan aiming for the top left but Ali Reze Samimi palmed the the ball away.

Thailand conceded again in the 17th minute with Tayebi’s superb ground shot to the bottom right corner.

 

There was to be no respite for the Southeast Asians as Javid etched his name on the scoresheet two minutes into the second half, but Thailand’s five-men assault team avoided a whitewash with Sornwichian finding the back of the net moments later.

Shajari restored Iran’s six-goal lead in the 25th minute with a simple tap in, and as Thailand piled on the pressure in search of goals, they were hit again.

Tayebi completed his hat-trick in the 36th minute, before Shajari struck the final goal of the match.

Iran will face the winners of the Vietnam-Uzbekistan quarter-final, which will be played later on Thursday.

Mohammed Nazemasharieh: Iran Head Coach

“There were some good reasons for our win. Firstly, we had a meeting with our players, because we weren’t satisfied with their performance against Iraq and told them to have better concentration. And we also analysed Thailand’s performance in this and other tournaments. Thailand have been one of the best teams in Asia, and have been one of Iran’s rivals since 20 years ago, and we really respect them. I will say it again, the Iranian team play with our hearts.  We have a vision, it started in 2016 Colombia. We started with some new players, and are aiming for the 2020 FIFA Futsal World Cup. We aren’t only representatives of Iran in that competition, but of Asia as well. Whatever way we can improve, we will try to reach there.”

Jose Maria Pazos: Thailand Head Coach

“There was no game. Once they scored the first goal in the opening seconds, it was over. It was important to keep the concentration, but we lost that in the first few minutes after conceding three goals in four minutes. The score reflects our performance. Maybe our mental preparation was not there, and making one mistake after another against Iran meant it’s over. We showed two faces in this tournament, our really good and bad. We showed today that we are not ready to face a team like Iran. Now we must analyse what was the problem here. We need to know why we have two faces, and find a stable level. This tournament is the first tournament for some of our players, and the last for some, and we need to fix the problems we have in this tournament, ahead of 2020.”

Photos: AFC

 

Iran Scorers

Ahmed Esmaeilpour, 1′ , 3′

Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh 4′

Hossein Tayebi 5′ , 16′ , 36

MahdiJavid 21′

Mohammad Shajari 24′ , 35

 

Iran Futsal to defend AFC Futsal Championship title in Chinese Taipei

Team Melli, who recently beat Belarus 5-0 and 2-1 with Ahmad Esmaeilpour and Asghar Hasanzadeh scoring a goal apiece on both occasions, will play Azerbaijan on Tuesday and Wednesday..

Iran, who are preparing for their defence of the AFC Futsal Championship title – which will be held in Chinese Taipei on February 1-11 – are drawn in Group C alongside Iraq, China PR and Myanmar.

Sixteen teams are divided into four groups with the top two sides in each section advancing to the knockout phase.

Iran won their 11th AFC Futsal Championship title after beating Uzbekistan 2-1 in the final of the 2016 edition.

AFC Futsal Championship 2018: Group C Preview

 IRAN

Best finish: Champions – 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2016

How they qualified: Group B winners (South & Central Zones)

FIFA Ranking: 5

Defending champions Iran are the favourites to lift the title again in Chinese Taipei as Mohammad Nazemosharia’s side prepare to open their defence against Myanmar on Feb 2.

Team Melli, who won the Asian Indoors in Ashgabat last year, beating Uzbekistan 7-1 in the final, topped their group during qualification as they maintained a perfect record beating Afghanistan 8-2 and Tajikistan 12-2.

Ahead of the Finals, Iran beat Belarus 5-0 and 2-1 in Tehran. They also played to a 3-3 draw against Azerbaijan before beating them 4-1 in the return leg.

Two-time AFC Futsal Player of the Year Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh will lead a star-studded cast in Chinese Taipei which includes Mahdi Javid, Farhad Tavakoli, Ahmad Esmaeilpour, Moslem Oladghobad and Alireza Rafieepour.

 

IRAQ

Best finish: Quarter-finals – 2002, 2016

How they qualified: Group A runners-up (West Zone)

FIFA Ranking: 50

Iraq qualified for the Finals after finishing second in Group A during the West Zone qualifying behind group winners Bahrain.

The 2002 and 2016 quarter-finalists head to Chinese Taipei after completing a series of friendlies against Lebanon and Malaysia as part of their tune-up ahead of the Finals.

The Lions of Mesopotamia beat Malaysia 5-1 and lost to Lebanon (5-1) and (3-2) in Beirut.

CHINA PR

Best finish: Fourth place – 2008, 2010

How they qualified: Play-off winners (East Zone)

FIFA Ranking: 74

China PR’s best finish in the competition was finishing fourth in the 2008 and 2010 editions and Team Dragon will be looking to better their record in Chinese Taipei.

Li Jianjia, Zhuang Jianfa, Zeng Liang, Zhao Liang, Xu Yang and Li Zhiheng will lead China’s charge in Chinese Taipei.

MYANMAR

Tournament debut

How they qualified: Group A runners-up (ASEAN Zone)

FIFA Ranking: 71

Myanmar will be making their debut in the Finals following an impressive ASEAN Zone qualifying, scoring 41 goals in finishing runners-up in Group A behind group winners Vietnam.

The White Angels beat Brunei 13-0, Phillipines 25-0, Indonesia 3-2 but fell 3-0 to Vietnam as Pyae Phyo Maung emerged top scorer with 11 goals.

Khin Zaw Lin, Naing Ye Kyaw, Nyein Min Soe, Aung Aung and Hlaing Min Tun make up the rest of Htay Myint’s side in Chinese Taipei.

Group C Fixtures

Feb 2:

Iraq v China PR,

Iran v Myanmar

Feb 4:

Myanmar v Iraq,

China PR v Iran

Feb 6:

Iran v Iraq,

China PR v Myanmar

Third place for heroic Iran Futsal Team.

Iran’s remarkable journey at the FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016 ended on a high note, as they claimed third place after a 4-3 penalty shootout win over Portugal following a 2-2 draw in Cali on Saturday.

The Iranians came from two goals down to take the third-place match to a dramatic penalty shootout, where six rounds of spot kicks were needed to decide the contest.

The first half had the feeling of a friendly contest, with both goalkeepers in Iran’s Alireza Samimi and Portugal’s Bebe being the standout performers in the opening period.

Both sides created a good opportunity to open the scoring. Ahmad Esmaeilpour had Iran’s best chance, but his chip over Bebe also sailed over the crossbar. At the other end, Samimi did well to deny Cardinal at close range.

Where the first half was fairly tepid, the second half came to life, as Cardinal scored a quick-fire brace within the first minute of the restart for Portugal. He showed great patience to beat the onrushing Samimi to open the scoring before combining with captain Richardinho to make it 2-0.

Cardinal then made a key defensive play to deny Ali Hassan Zadeh’s shot, even though replays showed he may have used his arm to block the goal-bound effort.

Then an ugly melee that involved both sets of players in the Portugal half produced a pair of red cards, as Iran’s Mohammadreza Sangsefidi and Portugal’s Miguel Castro were given their marching orders.

It was at that stage that Iran turned the match around. Afshin Kazemi pulled the Asian champions back into the game with an assured finish before Mahdi Javid converted a second penalty past Portugal’s back-up goalkeeper Vitor Hugo to send the contest to a penalty shootout after the full-time whistle.

It required six rounds of penalties to decide this encounter. Iran’s back-up goalkeeper Sepehr Mohammadi made a pair of big saves, but his team-mates twice hit the woodwork with their spot-kick efforts.

Then after Portugal’s Joao Matos hit the post with his sixth-round penalty, Javid stepped up to convert his spot-kick and ensure Iran’s best-ever finish to a Futsal World Cup, surpassing their fourth-place accomplishment at Hong Kong 1992.

Matches

12 SEP 2016 – 20:00 Local time
GROUP F
Coliseo Ivan de Bedout
Medellin

Iran     IRAN     v     SPAIN     Spain

FULL-TIME

1-5

15 SEP 2016 – 20:00 Local time
GROUP F
Coliseo Ivan de Bedout
Medellin

Iran      IRAN     v    MOROCCO      Morocco

FULL-TIME

5-3

18 SEP 2016 – 18:00 Local time
GROUP F
Coliseo Ivan de Bedout
Medellin

Azerbaijan     AZERBAIJAN     v      IRAN     Iran

FULL-TIME

3-3

21 SEP 2016 – 17:30 Local time
ROUND OF 16
Coliseo Bicentenario
Bucaramanga

Brazil     BRAZIL     v     IRAN     Iran

FULL-TIME

4-4

Iran win on penalties (2 – 3)
24 SEP 2016 – 15:30 Local time
QUARTER-FINALS
Coliseo Bicentenario
Bucaramanga

Paraguay     PARAGUAY     V     IRAN     Iran

FULL-TIME

3-4

 

Iran win after extra time
27 SEP 2016 – 19:00 Local time
SEMI-FINALS
Coliseo Ivan de Bedout
Medellin

Iran     IRAN     v    RUSSIA      Russia

FULL-TIME

3-4

01 OCT 2016 – 12:00 Local time
MATCH FOR THIRD PLACE
Coliseo el Pueblo
Cali

Iran       IRAN     v    PORTUGAL      Portugal

FULL-TIME

2-2

Iran win on penalties (4 – 3)

 

 

The Heroes

PLAYERS▴▾ MP▴▾ MINP▴▾ GS▴▾ ASS▴▾ Y▴▾ 2YC▴▾ R▴▾
Ahmad ESMAEILPOUR 7 310 4 2 1 0 0
AliAsghar HASSAN ZADEH 7 310 5 1 1 0 0
Mahdi JAVID 7 310 5 5 0 0 0
Hossein TAYEBI 7 283 3 1 2 0 0
Alireza SAMIMI 6 270 0 0 2 0 0
Farhad TAVAKOLI 6 269 2 2 2 0 0
Mohammadreza SANGSEFIDI 7 261 0 1 1 0 1
Afshin KAZEMI 7 257 2 0 1 0 0
Mohammad KESHAVARZ 6 235 1 0 1 0 0
Mehran ALIGHADR 7 229 0 0 1 0 0
Hamid AHMADI 6 227 0 0 1 0 0
Mohammad TAHERI 4 128 0 0 0 0 0
Sepehr MOHAMMADI 1 40 0 0 0 0 0
Ghodrat BAHADORI 1 37 0 0 0 0 0

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Futsal Continental giants take to the stage

Match of the day
Iran-Spain, 20:00 local time

With Iran missing from only the very first edition of the Futsal World Cup, and Spain one of three ever-presents, it’s fair to say that this match will be full to the brim with experience. Both have a trio returning for their third tournament – where in 2008 Iran fought to the quarter-finals and Spain finished second – while the European side have six amongst their ranks to have reached the final.

The Asian champions stormed to the AFC crown back in February, scoring eight goals per game on average, while Spain had laid down an impressive marker themselves a couple of days earlier, beating Russia 7-3 in the UEFA Futsal EURO final. Both will be intent on transferring that pedigree from their own continents to South America early on.

futsal hassanzadeh

Iran’s Strengths and styles
Iran were an irresistible attacking force in the Asian finals, racking up 48 goals in their six matches, more than any other side in the competition. They also conceded fewer than anyone else – a mere four. Coach Mohammad Nazemalsharie’s squad contained a clutch of experienced players who appeared at the FIFA Futsal World Cup Thailand 2012, including Hossein Tayyebi, the scorer of 11 goals at Uzbekistan 2016, and Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh, while Mahdi Javid and Farhad Tavakoli were two of the young players to excel.

Live Broadcast

https://youtu.be/G_rty6AAaTY