Tag: Miroslav BLAZEVIC

Miroslav “Ćiro” Blažević, former Team Melli coach passes away.

Miroslav Blažević, the former head coach of the Croatian national football team, who won third place in the  World Cup 1998 with this team, has passed away. Blažević became the head coach of Team Melli.  in charge of the Iranian national team, but he could not lead this team to the 2002 World Cup.

Ćiro accepted an offer to lead the Iranian national team midway through the 2002 World Cup qualification process. Coming in ahead of the final qualifying round, he quickly developed a following among many of the Iranian fans. Ćiro kept the 3–5–2 formation that Iran had played with previously in the 96 Asian Cup, in which the Iranian national team had won third place. He also introduced new players to Team Melli such as Rahman Rezaei, Javad Nekounam, and Ebrahim Mirzapour. Known as a loudmouth and showman, Blažević stayed true to form by claiming he would hang himself from the goalposts if Iran failed to beat Ireland in the deciding qualification playoff for the 2002 World Cup.[16] Ireland won 2–1 on aggregate, the defeat that marked the end of Blažević’s time in Iran as his assistant Branko Ivanković took over.

According to the Croatian website vecernji, Blajević battled prostate cancer for a long time but ultimately lost the battle.

Blažević was supposed to celebrate his 88th birthday tomorrow. This coach had experience not only in the Iranian national team but also in the Mes Kerman team in 2011.

He is always remembered fondly by the players in the early 2000 era as a colorful character and a tactician.

God bless his soul.

Team Melli Head Coach

Queiroz’S cryptic message!

Carlos Queiroz has sent a cryptic message to the Iranian football community, with a motive that is far from prudent and borders a malicious act!

In a message published on the official FFIRI website, Queiroz praised coaches such Amir Ghalenoei, Javad Nekounam and Mehdi Mahdavikia.

In his message, he said “Football is a game were people have different opinions, and we , the football family, learn that in this game, whether we agree or disapprove on some points, we still have respect for each other. I always admire the courage and valor of my fellow professionals when they rise up and fight for the principles and values that protect the interests of football. For example: Ali Parvin, Ali Daei, Amir Ghalenoei, Winfred Shaefar, Javad Nekounam, Yahya Golmohammadi, Hossein Kalani, Mehdi Mahdavi Kia and Vahid Hashemian. If there is a name in this list of “high courage and personality” that I have missed, accept my apology.

There is very little doubt in any one close to the affairs of Iranian football that this is another dig by Queiroz against his nemesis Branko Ivankovic. However, the timing of this message seems to be strange, especially when Queiroz and his squad are less than a month from the AFC Asian Cup. Queiroz has always demanded peace and tranquil atmosphere during his preparations with Team Melli but such message is not exactly what he preaches, and clearly intended to score a point in his long running dispute with the Croat coach of Persepolis.

Persepolis club with its influence and popularity is fundamental in the support and success of Team Melli. With its massive fan base and supporters across Iran and beyond, the majority of whom have clearly sided with their coach and shouted slogans against Queiroz, this message and exclusion of Branko Ibankovic name from the list of dedicated servant of Iranian football, is ill-timed.

The Croat coach who has served as assistant coach to Miroslav “Ćiro” Blažević and then  head coach of Team Melli twice, taking Iran to the World Cup in 2006, winning the Asian Games Gold medal and winning third place in Asian Cup 2004 in China, he remains one of the most decorated coaches of Team melli. Branko Ivankoivic is undoubtedly a candidate of any such list

Branko Ivankovic fuming against Team Melli plans!

The tension between Team Melli coach and the League clubs coaches are continuing unabated. The latest episode involves Carlos Queiroz and FFIRI on one side and Branko Ivankovic and Persepolis on the other.  Queiroz is known to be at odds with the league club coaches as in the past, he started a series of verbal battles with the likes of Daei and Ghalenoei on the matter of his continual demand to interrupt the league during the season on the pretext of Team Melli’s preparations.

Iran’s Persian Gulf Football League has the highest number of breaks amongst the Asian leagues.

This time, his battle is with Branko Ivankovic. The Croat is a seasoned campaigner in Iranian football. He started his work in the country as an assistant to Miroslav Blazevic in 2001 and ended up as Team Melli’s head coach leading the squad to Asian Games Gold Medal in 2002, third place in AFC Asian Cup 2004 and then leading the Team to the FIFA World Cup 2006 in one of the easiest qualifiers since the seventies.

Ivankovic returned to Iran as the head coach of Persepolis while the team was struggling last season and desperate for success that has abandoned them for years. A mid table finish was all that Ivankovic could do with the limited time and resources available but this season he is at the top of the league and has built a young energetic competitive unit that is bringing back the Red Army’s glory days and challenging for the title.

Ivankovic , however, believes there is one big stumbling block in his road map for the championship title. The untimely break in the league followed by compressed scheduling to complete the league matches, is a serious threat. The Croat had enough of Queiroz’s never ending demands for Team Melli camps and accuses the Portuguese of interrupting the whole league system by his uncalled for demands for setting up camps before the World Cup qualifiers.  “If Persepolis falters this season and fails to win the title, you should question Mr. Queiroz for continuously interrupting the rhythm of a winning team.”

Branko’s latest outburst with the backing of his club management forced the head of FFIRI , Mehdi Taj , to act and even ask Queiroz to consider sending  Persepolis players back to Tehran to join their clubs for training!

It is obvious that the aggressive head coach of Team Melli does not have time for compromise and it is his way or the highway. With such style, he does not have many friends to exchange seasons greeting with in Iran. Lots of discontent is generated amongst the clubs leading to several sharp protest or exchanges between Queiroz and the others. Some even accused him of holding the league clubs and the nation at ransom. Branko Ivankovic has mentioned that as a former Team Melli head coach, he realizes very well how important Team Melli is to the nation and the football in Iran. However, he adds that Team Melli program must be discussed amongst all the stakeholders and not be the result of one person’s decision and particularly a person that has very little regards to other people’s opinions.

The battle is still raging

 

Team Melli Coaches stats : Where does Queiroz stands?

Carlos Queiroz joined Team Melli as the head coach after signing  a two-and-a-half-year deal  on 4th April 2011, Queiroz.

Queiroz First match was a friendly against a lowly African Team Madagascar on 17th Jul 2011 that ended in 1-0 win in Azadi. His last match with Iran was the World Cup Groep F against Bosnia-Herzegovina which ended in a 3-1 defeat.

 In total , Team Melli played 40 international games under Queiroz , and his results are as follows:was the coach for 

 

P W D L GF GA GD
Queiroz 40 20 13 7 73 28 45

The matches were in these competitions

World Cup:                       3
World Cup Qualifiers     16
Asian Cup Qualifiers      5
Friendlies                       13
Others                              3

 

The winning percentage of Querioz is 50% 

During the 2 1/2 years reign of Queiroz  and 40 matches played, only 4 opponents were above Iran in the FIFA ranking , Argentina , Bosnia , Tunisia and South Korea in 2012.

Achievements:

Queiroz managed to qualify Team Melli to the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Queiroz managed to qualify Team Melli to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup

 

Post Revolution Team Melli coaches winning percentage

Coaches with 10 matches or more are selected

Rank Coach Name Nationality Winning %
1 Hassan HABIBI Iran 64.29%
2 Ali Daei Iran 64.00%
3 Mohammad MAYELI-KOHAN Iran 60.00%
4 Branko IVANOKOVIC Croatia 58.93%
5 Amir Ghalenoei Iran 58.82%
6 Jalal TALEBI Iran 56.00%
7 Afshin Ghotbi USA 53.33%
8 Mansour POURHAIDARI Iran 52.63%
9 Miroslav BLAZEVIC Croatia 52.63%
10 Parviz DEHDARI Iran 50.00%
11 Carlos Queiroz Portugal 50.00%
12 Ali PARVIN Iran 43.90%
13 Nasser EBRAHIMI Iran 40.00%

 

 

 

Highest number of matches won is by Branko Ivankovic winning 33 out of 56 matches , followed by Mayeli-Kohan who won 24 out of 40.

The least number of losses while by Team Melli in the same list above was achieved by Amir Ghalenoei losing 1 match in 17  (5.88%) followed by Hassan Habibi losing 1 match in 14 (7.14%). Queiroz losses were 7 out of 40 (17.5%)

The Worst number of losses by a coach is by Ali Parvin who lost 12 matches in 41 or 30%.

 

World Cup Finals

Excluding the first World Cup in 1978 where only 16 teams made it to the finals , the rest of the three participation shows that 2014 was the no improvement on the other two. It is the only tournement that Iran managed to score 1 goal only. FIFA World Cup 1998, remains Iran’s best performance and result so far.   

 

Year Coach P W D L GF GA GD win % GF per match GA per match
1978 Mohajerani 3 0 1 2 2 8 -6 0 0.66 2.66
1998 Talebi 3 1 0 2 2 4 -2 0.33 0.66 1.33
2006 Ivankovic 3 0 1 2 2 6 -4 0 0.66 2
2014 Queiroz 3 0 1 2 1 4 -3 0 0.33 1.33

 

 

 

 

 

World Cup qualifications

Coaches who managed to qualify Team Melli for the World Cup.

  • Valdir VIERRA 1998
  • Branko IVANKOVIC 2006
  • Carlo Queiroz 2014

 

Longest serving Coaches

 

  1. Ali Parvin -From 1st Nov-1989 to 28th -Oct-1993  – 1457 days
  2. Branko Ivankovic –  two different spells total of 1208 days
  3. Carlos Queiroz – from 4th April 2011 to 26th June 2014 total of  1179 days

 

Best Offensive records coach

 # Name Nationality Matches GF GA GD GF Avg
1 Hassan HABIBI Iran 14 43 8 35 3.07
2 Mohamad MAYELI-KOHAN Iran 40 109 27 82 2.73
3 Branko IVANOKOVIC Croatia 56 115 52 63 2.05
4 Mansour POURHAIDARI Iran 19 36 19 17 1.89
5 Carlos Queiroz Portugal 40 74 28 46 1.85
6 Amir Ghalenoei Iran 17 30 12 18 1.76
7 Ali Daei Iran 25 44 15 29 1.76
8 Jalal TALEBI Iran 25 41 21 20 1.64
9 Miroslav BLAZEVIC Croatia 19 31 20 11 1.63
10 Parviz DEHDARI Iran 24 37 12 25 1.54
11 Ali PARVIN Iran 41 62 36 26 1.51
12 Nasser EBRAHIMI Iran 10 14 8 6 1.40
13 Afshin Ghotbi USA 30 39 27 12 1.30

 

Best Defensive records coach

 # Name Nationality Matches GF GA GD GF Avg GA Avg
1 Parviz DEHDARI Iran 24 37 12 25 1.54 0.50
2 Hassan HABIBI Iran 14 43 8 35 3.07 0.57
3 Ali Daei Iran 25 44 15 29 1.76 0.60
4 Mohamad MAYELI-KOHAN Iran 40 109 27 82 2.73 0.68
5 Carlos Queiroz Portugal 40 74 28 46 1.85 0.70
6 Amir Ghalenoei Iran 17 30 12 18 1.76 0.71
7 Nasser EBRAHIMI Iran 10 14 8 6 1.40 0.80
8 Jalal TALEBI Iran 25 41 21 20 1.64 0.84
9 Ali PARVIN Iran 41 62 36 26 1.51 0.88
10 Afshin Ghotbi USA 30 39 27 12 1.30 0.90
11 Branko IVANOKOVIC Croatia 56 115 52 63 2.05 0.93
12 Mansour POURHAIDARI Iran 19 36 19 17 1.89 1.00
13 Miroslav BLAZEVIC Croatia 19 31 20 11 1.63 1.05

 

 

GF = Goals For

GA = Goals Against

GD= Goal Diffrence    (GF – GA)

GF Avg = Average goal scored per match

GA Avg = Average goal conceded per match