Tag: Olympiakos Piraeus

Krim Ansarifard in the Qatar Star League

The former Nottingham Forest player and Team Melli centre forward, Karim Ansarifard signed a 2-year contract with Al Sailiya Sports Club in Doha.

Al-Sailiya SC is managed by the Tunisian Sami Trabelsi and Ansarifard is the only non-Arab player in the squad which is mainly formed of north African and Sudanese players.

Last season, the club ended the season in a very respectable 3rd position behind champions Al Sadd and runners up Al Duhail. This was one of the best rankings of Al Sailiya in Qatar Star league. Ansarifard, whose contract with English Championship club Nottingham forest has run out, had a few good seasons in Greece before moving to England and the disappointment of Nottingham Forest. In 2017/18 season, the 29 years old Ansarifard played in the Greek League for Olympiakos Piraeus where he scored 17 goals in 26 matches. However, in England, Ansarifard only managed 3 goals in 12 matches without securing a starting place in the line up of coach O’Neil.

Nottingham Forest had to endure a lot before managing to secure the signature of Ansarifard last season after eventually getting his work permit sorted out, but after all that effort the striker was to warm the bench for most of the season!

England has never been a successful playing ground for Iranian internationals and despite the small number of them playing in England, none of the Iranians managed to claim success. Jahanbaksh, the Top Scorer of the Eredivisie, was bought by Brighton for a record fee, but he could not score a single goal in the Premier League or other competitions with his team in a full season. It is to be noted however that Jahanbakhsh only played 19 games for Brighton missing many due to injury and then the AFC Asian Cup 2019 while he was away with Team Melli.

Team Melli top stars

When Team Melli kicks off the opening match in St. Petersburg against Morocco on June 15th, all eyes will be focused on Sardar Azmoun. Majority of websites and sport media profiling and analyzing Group B of this FIFA World Cup 2018 competition, single out the Rubin Kazan’s forward Azmoun as Iran’s best hope and the star player.

Of course, this is a compliment to the 22 years old who has an outstanding scoring record at international level and at such a young age. Azmoun could very well end up as the single most influential player in Team Melli and deservedly so. However, based on statistics and form, the Rubin Kazan forward is a distant third or even fourth in Team Melli top performers of the season.



The top performer accolade goes for Alireza Jahanbakhsh , the brilliant  AZ Alkamaar winger who has topped the Dutch league scorers chart, thus becoming the first ever Asian Player to do so in a major European league. An exceptional prospect and an all-round player, Jahanbakhsh can supplement Sardar Azmoun in the front but he is also well capable of outdoing Team Melli’s main striker and grabbing all the glory. The 24 years old Jahanbakhsh has what it takes to beat the Spanish and Portuguese defenses. He scored 21 goals for Alkamaar this season which is 10 more goals than his tally for last season.

On the other hand, Azmoun has scored only 5 goals for Rubin Kazan this season. He never hit double figure in scoring at club level in his professional career, a far cry from his record at Team Melli level which has a stunning 23 goals in 32 matches.

Two more plyers have better records than Sardar too. Karim Ansarifard, Olympiakos Piraeus striker who has scored an impressive tally of 17 goals in the Greek league, and Heerenveen forward, Reza Ghoochannejad who has scored 9 goals in the Dutch league, both have better return in the leagues than Iran’s golden boy Azmoun.

Although it is difficult to compare the league form to those at the highest level of football, as the World Cup definitely is, Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s impressive season and ability cannot be overlooked and the chances of him outshining his teammate is absolutely a possibility.

What all that means for Carlos Queiroz at the end of the day, is that he is spoiled for choices up front. Now if he can only sort out his fragile back line.

Good start for WC preparation: Iran 2-0 Togo

Team Melli defeated the African Side Togo 2-0  on Thursday in front a disappointing number of fans in Azadi Stadium

Both goals were scored by Karim Ansarifard in the second half within 10 minutes of each other. The first half ended goalless.

Carlos Queiroz gave several players their debut including Saman Ghoddos who was instrumental in the first goal, Ahmad Abdollahzadeh ,   Hossein Kanani-Zadegan, and substitute Akbar Emani. The new look team look solid in defense in the first half despite some gallant efforts from the Togolese team coached by the veteran French coach Claude Le Roy. The front line consisting of Kaveh Rezaei and Karim Ansarifard was disappointing however. Very little chances were created and the African side easily controlled their defense area with ease. Ansarifard in particular was guilty of wasting many easy balls and inability to dribble past his markers.

The second half started with 2 changed in the midfield for Team Melli.. A ferocious shot in the 51 minute by the Swedish born debutant, Saman Ghoddos was only partially parried by the Togolese keeper Sabirou, Ansarifard cleverly slotted the rebound into the net. The Olympiakos Piraeus, forward once again was on the score sheet after an easy slot in after some good work by Omid Ebrahimi on the right flank.

The match was a good start for Queiroz and his selection was successful with some sterling displays at the back lead by Rouzbeh Cheshmi who hardly put a foot wrong. Saman Ghoddos best contribution was his assist , but it is clear than he needs more work with the team. The match saw Hamed Lak in goal after many years of absence.

Russia will be a tougher test in 45 days, but the signs are there that Team Melli under Queiroz can be a tough opponent for any team.

 

Glorious days for Iranian strikers in Europe.

Team Melli strikers in Europe, are rewriting the history and reaching feats that their predecessors did not manage or was unthinkable. 

Reza Ghoochannejad, Sardar Azmoun , Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Karim Ansarifard the four players who happened to be all playing up front in their teams have done Iran’s football pride by consistently scoring goals in the most competitive of leagues.

Reza “Gucci” Ghoochannejad , who had a torrid couple of season in the lower English League and Persian Gulf countries, gradually found his form after transferring  to SC Heereneveen in the Eredivisie. Gucci scored his 14th goal of the season yesterday in a 3-0 win against Roda JC Kerkrade .

Sardar Azmoun, the golden boy of Iran has scored 7 goals for his team in various competitions, including 4 goals in one season of the UEFA Champions League. He is the only the second Iranian player to score in this competition after Ali Daei who scored 6 goals in two seasons for Hertha Berlin in the UEFA Champions League.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh who has been playing professional in the Eredivisie for 4 seasons now although he is only 23, has enjoyed a good run with his club AZ Alkaamar. He has already doubled his tally from last season scoring 6 goals so far for the Dutch club.

Karim Ansarifard whose football career was seriously being undermined while warming the bench at segunda Division Osasuna in Spain, made it good after transferring to the Greek league. With Panionios he scored 14 goals in one a half season before being grabbed by the league leader Olympiakos Piraeus in the winter transfer window. Karim already opened his account with Olympiakos by scoring a brace in UEFA Europa league against Turkish side Osmanlispor.

.It has never been so good for Iranian players in European leagues. Household names such as Ali  Daei, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Ali Karimi , Vahid Hashemian, Karim Bagheri and host of other Iranian players played in Europe especially after that famous FIFA 1998 World Cup. However, despite the relative success , it is definitely not comparable to the success that the current group is enjoying in Europe despite Team Melli lack of success or achievement.

 

Karim Ansarifard scores a brace for his Greek club.

Karim Ansarifard Team Melli and Greek club Panionios FC center forward was the hero of the day as the Iranian player scored both of his team’s goals in the 2-0 victory over PAS Giannina on Saturday evening round 12 match of the Greek super League 2015/16 season.

With this win, Panionios FC secured the 3rd spot in the table behind the runaway leaders Olympiakos Piraeus with 30 and equal in points with Panathinaikos, lying 2nd with 22 with with a better goal margin ahead of Panionios .

Ansarifard scored his first goal in Stadio Néas Smírnis (Athína) early in the first half. Only 5 minutes has passed when Team Melli forward opened the scoring. 15 minutes later , L. Argyropoulos provided the assist for Ansarifard to complete his brace and secure an early commanding lead for Panionios FC.

Ansarifard was substituted in the 81st minute receiving a standing ovation from his fans.