Tag: Osasuna

13/01/201714/01/2017

Ansarifard Joins Olympiacos

Team Melli striker Karim Ansarifard has joined the Greek giants Olympiacos from Panionios on a three-and-a-half year contract and a reported fee of €400,000 on Friday.

The 26-year-old who made a name for himself in Greek Super league with Panionios after scoring 11 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions last season, had offers from AEK, PAOK FC, Feyenoord and Olympique de Marseille. This current season, Karim has scored 5 goals and provided 3 assists in 14 matches.

Olympiacos is currently leading the table in the Greek Super League with 37 points from 14 games under tutelage of Portuguese coach Paolo Bento who was appointed in August 2016.

Olympiacos has qualified for the round of 32 in UEFA Europa League and they will take Turkish side Osmanlispor in a two-leg clash.
Although it was initially reported that Ansarifard would remain at Panionios until the end of the 2016-17 season, the contract he eventually signed is effective from the January 2017 transfer window.

Karim started his professional career in 2007 with Saipa before moving to Iranian league giant Persepolis in 2012. After 2014 World Cup Ansarifard moved to Spanish Segunda division Osasuna where he was mostly used as a bench-warmer.
A move to Panionios in the summer of 2015 saved his career as his good performance caught the eye of big teams and finally Olympiacos signed him.

11/08/2015

Karim Ansarifard signs for Greek club Panionios FC

Team Melli forward , Karim Ansarifard (25 years) signed a two-year contract with the Greek outfit Panionis FC.

Karim who last season experienced his worst ever season as a professional playing for Osasuna , was released by the Spanish second division club after he failed to score a single goal during the entire season. Playing alongside his Team Melli Captain Javad Nekounam was seen as a bonus for Ansarifard but his irregular selection, limited playing time , lack of confidence and his failure to gel with the other teams members resulted in a poor overall performance by the ex-Saipa and Persepolis & Tractorsazi striker.

Despite the woeful Season that Ansarifard suffered in Spain, he was adamant that he will continue to seek a European Club to continue his career. His confidence was high enough to make amends in another European country. The selection of Greece was more like immediate availability of a suitor for Ansarifard rather than choice

Greece, on the brink of bankruptcy as a country , does not seem to be the ideal place for the Iranian forward. During better days in the country, several Iranian professional footballer played in that country’s league including Nima Nakisa and current Naft Tehran coach , Alireza Mansourian. A few others also ended up playing in the Greek League.

Karim Ansarifard is one of the few Iranian footballers who has played in every age group of the national teams. A talented striker with a lot of potential, when he was first discovered by Ali Daei, he lost his bearing between Leaving Saipa to Persepolis and ending up in Spain. He still has a plenty of time to recover and return to the top.

Panionis FC is a based in Nea Smyrni suburb of Athens. Panionios has spent nearly its entire history in the Greek First Division (now called ‘Superleague’).

The team had its own share of financial troubles since the nineties and changed ownership several times. Last season it finished in the 13^th position and avoided relegation. The club home ground is Stadio Néas Smírnis in Athens with a capacity of 11,756

21/07/2015

Nekounam turns down assistant coach role in Team Melli

Javad Nekounam , the recently retired Team Melli Captain, expressed his gratitude towards Team Melli coach , Carlos Queiroz for offering him the job of assistant coach and said “He rather continue playing football”.

Nekounam who is signing for Saipa Alborz team , has recently moved back to Iran after a unsuccessful stint with Osasuna in the second division of the Spanish La Liga. Nekounam had much praise for his present coach Majeed Jalali and considered him one of the best in the country and Saipa as a club that many Iranian players think of quite highly.

The appointment of Nekounam as assistant coach was announced a few months back without the player himself being properly consulted. Nekounam made no public comment on the appointment and never reported to Team Melli signalling his refusal to accept the job. This is the first time that the ex-Team Melli captain has spoken publicly about the appointment.

No assistant coach has survived working under Queiroz. Omid Namazi , then Majeed Salih and Ali Karimi have all been working with the Portuguese coach and did not last the distance. Karimi’s stint was the shortest. Nekounam must have taken a cue and despite his admiration and good working relationship with Queiroz , has turned down the job.

08/04/2015

Nekounam pours his wrath on FFIRI.

Javad Nekounam was interviewed by telephone on Navad Program Monday night. The poor communication line, spoiled what was supposed to be constructive exchange between himself , the incumbent head of FFIRI, Ali Kaffashian and the show anchor Adel Ferdowsipour.

Kaffashian was the studio guest of Navad.

Javad Nekounam stopped short of accusing Ali Kaffashian of negligence when he talked extensively about the lack of proper support for Team Melli during its quest to qualify for the world cup. “I am not singling out Mr. Kaffashian who has tried to help the team, but at best his efforts were way short of what has to be done for the most important team in Iran that is trying to qualify for the World’s biggest sporting event. Support for Team Melli is a collective effort which has not met our aspirations.”

“All what the Team Melli players have said about that were true (…) no one has fabricated any lies .” Nekounam alleged.

“Lack of funds meant that we had to do with sub-standard kits that were actually made in Iran. I agree with Ashkan Dejagah on that. Iran’s football league standard is of a low quality of which 20% of that weakness is due the poor quality of the balls manufactured in Iran. The kit we were using was not of a good quality and everyone was dissatisfied with it.”

Team Melli kit manufacturers UHLsports has strongly challenged what it calls allegation of substandard quality , although the German sports good company admitted that some fake UHLSports kits was found in Team Melli’s kit collections when an audit was conducted. Those fake ones were not sent or approved by UHLSports nor did it have any control over it.

Nekounam criticized the FFIRI again by accusing the federation of inattentiveness and disregard for Team Melli players. “After the win against Chile, we expected some rewards, but we did not even get a phone call to congratulate us let alone a bonus.!” The Osasuna Captain said.

Nekounam had no complimentary words for the Iran’s football. He accused un-named parties of building hurdles against Queiroz and working to ousted him. He also emphasized that he and the rest of the Team Melli players are quite satisfied with Queiroz and braved Kaffashian to keep him by using his own judgment rather than succumbing to external pressure.

Nekounam was evidently referring to the pressure by the Ministry of Youth and Sports but did not have the nerve to name them. Kaffashian admitted that he did not contact the Team Melli players but offered no apology or proper justification.

Nekounam admitted that his decision to quit Team Melli was abrupt and without much thought, however, he insisted that he has played his last game with the team.

Nekounam has some valid arguments, although none of it is new. However, like the plethora of critics, the record holder of matches in Team Melli is not offering practical solutions nor indicating that he is willing to work on some good deeds to help take Iran’s football out of this hardship, at least within his capabilities.

Nekounam also ignored a very important issue and that is the role of the Iranian players themselves in this chaotic status. Players who are paid professional wages but hey are amateurs in every sense of the word, and that includes Team Melli players.

While the country’s economy and many sectors of society was suffering under sanctions, many footballers were enjoying a luxury life with wages several folds higher than other professional such as surgeons , doctors , university lectures etc.

Indiscipline, apathy, lack of commitment, disrespect for peers and egotism are quite rife amongst the footballers. Areas that have not been seriously addressed by any football management schemes, although it is common knowledge.

31/03/2015

Omid Nazari talks about Team Melli.

-source: http://svenskfotboll.se/

The Iranian national team plays its first international football match on Swedish soil. We enlisted the help of Malmö player Omid Nazari for a closer look at Tuesday’s opponents. The MFF-trained 23-year-old not only is following Iran’s national team – he has played himself into for the team. In 2012 it he played in five appearances and scored a goal for the Iranian side.

– I was selected to the squad in 2012. It was really cool to experience it and compete with the best in Iran. They recruited Carlos Queiroz. He ruled the entire national team and has certainly achieved good results, says Omid Nazari.

Q: What has Queiroz achieved with Iran to lift?

– He has the experience, training Portuguese national team, Real Madrid and has been assistant to Sir Alex at Manchester United. He knows how it will work for taking the extra strides and get the organization in the squad and everything around it.

Q: What is he like as a coach?

– He knows what he wants and how he wants to play. There are clear lines and all the players know what to do. He is a good coach.

It is largely the same Iranian game plan now as it was three years ago.

– I think they will play 4-3-3. They have a good midfield and a good offensive players. The team works hard and can adapt quickly. They have clever wingers who are aggressive and hard-working midfielder with good passing game. Offensive threats include Reza Ghoochannejhad, Ashkan Dejagah and Sardar Azmoun, who was very good in the Asian Cup in January, says Nazari:

– Dejagah is one of the wingers and used to play for Fulham and Wolfsburg, but now plays in the Qatari league. Reza has played in Charlton Athletics and Standard Liege, but also plays in Qatar now. Sardar Azmoun is a young player who is in Rubin Kazan, currently on loan to another club in the Russian premier league (Rostov).

– Captain is Osasuna’s Javad Nekounam. The 34-year-old midfielder has played nearly 150 international matches. He has a lot of experience from playing in Europe. He played in the Spanish league for a while before he returned back to Iran for a season then played in Kuwait, but now he’s back in Osasuna.

– Iran showed during the World Cup in Brazil that it is a team that absolutely should not be underestimated. The first match against Nigeria ended goalless and Argentina would have left the stadium in Belo Horizonte with 0-0 result , until a certain Lionel Messi struck with a wonder goal in time added on. The defeat 1-3 against Bosnia-Herzegovina meant that qualifying to the eighth finals was missed.

– It will be a tight game. There is little difference between Asian and European football. Here, the football is more organized. I can not really point out where Iran is vulnerable or weak , they had good defense against Argentina for example, says Omid Nazari.

The midfielder from Malmo preparing to present a season with FC Rosengård in Division 2 Southern Götaland, where he makes a fresh start after he suffered a severe knee injury in autumn 2013 (when he played for Ängelholm FF in the Premier League).

– I hope to take a step back to top level football, says Omid.

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

05/01/2015

Iran attempt to end years of Asian pain

AP3:08 a.m. EST January 5, 2015

SYDNEY (AP) — Iran’s squad arrived in Australia for the Asian Cup aiming to end nearly 40 years of football heartache with a long overdue continental triumph.

Team Melli must first overcome rivals from closer to home in an all-West Asian Group C, which includes Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Asia’s top-ranked team at No. 51, Iran has not progressed past the Asian Cup quarterfinals since 1996, falling well short of its most successful era when it won three successive tournaments from 1968 to 1976.

1976 Team Melli — Team Melli Asian Cup Champions 1976 L2R Standing: Rashidi, Abdollahei , Khorshidi , ZolfagharNasab,Eskandarian & Nooraei. L2R Sitting : Rowshan , Nazari , Parvin, Ghassimpouir & Ghleechkhani

The ace for Iran could be its coach, former Portugal and Real Madrid manager Carlos Queiroz, who guided the squad to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Queiroz was expected to leave his post after Iran’s group-stage exit from Brazil, but stayed on in what appears to be a vote of confidence in his methods.

Iran’s captain and talisman, Javad Nekounam of Osasuna in Spain, brings some star power to a tournament light on high-profile players and will be aiming to continue his goal-scoring form from qualifying, during which he netted four times.

Iran opens against Bahrain at Melbourne on Jan. 11.

Despite the continuing off-field distractions surrounding Qatar’s successful 2022 World Cup bid and subsequent preparations for the tournament, the Qatari squad enters the Asian Cup in strong form on the field.

Qatar was impressive at the recent Gulf Cup, where it beat Oman in the semifinals and Saudi Arabia in the final.

Algerian coach Djamel Belmadi has opted for youth above experience in attack, leaving veteran striker Sebastian Soria at home for Congolese-born Mohammed Tresor Abdullah and naturalized striker Mohammad Montari to support playmaker and former Asian Player of the Year Khalfan Ibrahim.

Qatar was ousted in the Asian Cup quarterfinals on home soil in 2011, losing to eventual champion Japan — a team it could well meet again in the same stage here.

The Qataris open in Canberra against the United Arab Emirates in a match that could be decisive for both nations’ prospects of reaching the knockout stages.

UAE breezed through qualifying, winning five games and drawing one on its way to topping its group.

Striker Ali Mabkhout notched five goals to jointly lead all scorers across the continent, as UAE found the net 18 times in qualifying, a mark only matched by group rivals Iran.

The UAE’s good form continued into the Gulf Cup, where the defending champs navigated their group undefeated, with Mabkhout scoring four times in three games. Saudi Arabia ended the UAE run in the semifinals, but the team bounced back to beat Oman in the third-place playoff.

Bahrain, the lowest-ranked team in the group at 125th, heads into the tournament in turmoil after a poor Gulf Cup campaign, which yielded no goals and the firing of coach Adnan Hamad.

New coach Marjan Eid has had little time to address Bahrain’s main weakness — its lack of potency in front of goal. Eid will lean on 28-year-old striker Ismail Abdul-Latif, who scored twice against Saudi Arabia in a friendly last week, to spearhead Bahrain’s attack.

13/12/2014

5th consecutive Asian Cup for Nekounam and approaching record.

Team Melli Captain, Javad Nekounam is on the brink of breaking a record of total match played for Team Melli. The current record holder is Ali Daei with 149 match appearances, while the Osasuna Captain is lagging behind by 2 matches with 147.

The next competition that Nekounam can equal or overtake Daei record is the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia. Barring any surprises or injuries, Nekounam is assured at least the 3 matches he requires to take the all time record of matches. This will also be a record breaking 5th consecutive AFC Asian Cup appearance for Nekounam who played in the 2000 edition of Asian cup in Lebanon. Javad Nekounam ( 34 years) made his debut for Team Melli against Syria on the 28th May 2000 at the age of 20 when he was a Pas Tehran player. Jalal Talebi was Team Melli coach who gave Nekounam his debut. For the next 14 years, the midfielder ‘s name was ever present in the list of Team Melli , with a character and performances which made it easy for the various Team Melli coaches to pick him.

Unlike many of his contemporaries , Nekounam kept a steady form , high level of discipline and avoided side issues and problems off the field. Despite being on the same age group of Ali Karimi , and Mehdi Mahdavikia, both household names in Iran and well-known beyond the national border , Nekounam managed to easily overtake both in number of matches played for Team Melli. while the Karimi was busy involving himself in all types of disputes and trouble making that kept him away from Team Melli on several occasions , Nekounam simply pressed on. Mahdavikia , on the other hand, suffered from the fact that he played in Germany which restricted his number of games especially the friendly matches.

In the list of top players who played 50 matches or more, the only player that seem likely to overtake both Daei and Nekounam , is Sepahan’s Ehsan Hajsafy. The young player is going from strength to strength with some wonderful performances. His consistency and discipline is exemplary and that should allow him . like Nekounam , to be on the selection list of Team Melli for many years to come.

TEAM MELLI

LIST OF TOP APPEARANCES

11/11/2014

Ansarifard and Azamoun join Team Melli squad.

The two European based Team Melli players, Karim Ansarifard of Osasuna and Sardar Azmoun of Rubin Kazan have joint their teammates in Tehran.

With the arrival of these two, Team Melli is now training with full squad in preparation for Next week’s match against South Korea in Azadi. Today morning was the third training session under the supervision of Carlos Queiroz and most of the players were active in training including Hashim Beikzadeh who suffered a knock during training and given a day off.

Alireza Haghighi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh were given a day off following their late arrival from Europe , while Nekounam and Ghoochanejad were given light training in the gym as a recovery exercise following their involvement in league matches with their respective teams before their arrival to Tehran.

Ashkan Dejagah in a brief interview with ISNA admitted that many fans were disappointed with him for leaving a European Team to play for a Qatari team “I am aware of such sentiment by some of the fans. It is a matter of people’s opinion and I respect that. I am the same Ashkan who grew up playing in Europe and will remain true to my standards and principles. The fact that I am in a different league now will not result in performances degradation.”

Dejagah also acknowledged that they are in a tough group n the Asian Games. “These teams prepared themselves well and played several friendly matches. I monitor Qatar team closely and I see that they have developed into a fine and organized team much better than what they were at a few years back. We have to admit that we are in a tough group and need to be at our best to qualify.”

“I urge the fans to flock to Azadi to support the team. The Koreans are here to take revenge after two consecutive defeats, We need the backing of the fans and I dearly hope that they will fill Azadi” the ex-Fulham player , Dejagah said

11/09/2014

Masoud Shojaei joins QSL club Al-Shahaniya SC

Masoud Shojaei signed with Al Shahaniya club the newest member of Qatar Star League for one season. The ceremony was held in the club’s HQ in Doha on Thursday.

After claiming that he has offers from several Spanish and Greek clubs, Shaojae , turned up in Doha to sign for the newly promoted club. AL Shahaniya formerly know as Al Nasr, has spent the majority of its existence in the second division in Qatar. Las Palmas , in the segunda Division of the Spanish league was the last team that Masoud played for after his contract with Osasuna expired.