Tag: Persepolis

Ivankovic’s pre-condition to coach Team Melli.

Branko Ivankovic is claiming 960,000 Euro arrears from Persepolis Club.

While the Croat coach is negotiating the possibility of coaching Team Melli with FFIRI and has met with the Iranian Ambassador in Croatia regarding this matter, he insists on settling the accounts with the Iranian Champions. The former Persepolis and Team Melli coach has given two conditions to the Iranian authorities, one of which is the financial settlement, while the other is the settlement of the contract with current coach Wimots before he can officially negotiates terms & conditions to coach Team Melli. It is an unwritten law between coaches that negotiating a job will not be carried out unless the post is vacant, which is not the case with Team Melli as Wilmots is still in charge, although remotely.

Meanwhile, Perspolis has acknowledged the receipt of an official letter from FIFA legal department reference Ivankovic’s claim and ordered to pay the full amount to their former Croatian coach. Failure to pay would result in sanctions on Persepolis and interest accumulation on the amount until it is fully paid.

Meanwhile, in true tradition Persepolis club on the receipt of the warning from FIFA, is seeking a discount from Branko Ivankovic! Persepolis must have thought to pull a quick one by taking advantage of Black Friday!

FFIRI has remained tight-lipped on the negotiations with Ivankovic and the contract with Marc Wilmots, whose future with Team Melli seems to be doubtful after the poor results that threaten Iran’s qualification for the FIFA Wolrd Cup 2022.

Kanaani-Zadegan, dismisses all rumors of a rift between players and Wilmots.

The Team Melli central defender dismissed talks of a dispute between players and Belgian coach Marc Wilmots as malicious rumours.

Mohammad Hossein Kanaani-Zadegan, was quoted saying that “The players and the coaching staff in Team Melli had a good working realtionship and mutual respect, anything beyond that is just malicious”

“Unfortunately, these talks have been spreading on social media. We respect Wilmots, and any talk or insinuation that the players in Team Melli were against Wilmots, is baseless rumours.” When Kanaani-Zadegan was quizzed about Branko Ivankovic impending arrival, he responded “I am unaware of his presence and I just heard it from you” The Persepolis defender said.

About the issue of Masoud Shojaei ,  Kanaani-Zadegan said “It has been mentioned that Shojeai has announced his retirement from Team Melli after the defeat against Iraq but the rest of the Team Melli players unanimously objected to that!  I assure you that this so-called announcement has never happened in the dressing room, and we are not unaware of any such plan”.

In respect to the other reports that Wilmots’ training style was not to the liking of the players “I don’t know where these rumours come from; Wilmots is a great coach, we’ve conducted the training that he planned for us too ” Kanaani said.

“there were some reporters present when we were at the training ground and they have witnessed how both we and Wilmots worked so hard for Team Melli’s success.”

Asked if the team only practised for two days before meeting Iraq? He said: “Again, this is not true, we did a few days of good and high-intensity training and I do not accept such statements that we only practised for two days. ” When he was asked to comment on reports that some Team Melli players called or have contacted Branko Ivankovic when they heard he is taking over Wilmots’ post, the former Machine-Sazi defender said, “I am unaware of this, it is best to discuss this with players who have called Branko.”

To put the records straight, Team Melli full contingent that includes the Legionnaires practised two days only before the match with Iraq. The rest of the training that Kanaani is probably referring too, was the training sessions for the domestic players only conducted by Hashemianm which is not considered as a full Team Training where gameplans, tactics and other stuff is discussed by the Head Coach.

Also, it has to be noted that reporters are only allowed 15 minutes from the start of training practice and then they asked to leave the pitch. It is not feasible to measure anything of worth in such a short time for reporters and observers.

Branko Ivankovic rumours!

The former Team Melli and Persepolis head coach Branko Ivankovic is rumoured to be approaching a return back to Iran.

The Croat, who left Persepolis after three successful years of winning trophies and titles, was recently interviewed where he denied the possibility of a return back to Persepolis, the club that withheld his wages for over a year. Nevertheless, Ivankovic also said that he is not interested in coaching a national team as he prefers the day to day commitment associated with coaching a club.

History has proven time and again that what coaches say in public about their future jobs, hardly holds true and in reality, anything might happen. Denial is standard practice for coaches on speculation of a new appointment.

What is interesting is that Ivankovic, who is perhaps the most popular and successful foreign coach in Iran’s football history, is out of work and the approval rating of the newish Team Melli coach Marc Wilmots is quite low. Not only Wilmots has failed to get any points out of the last two World Cup qualifiers, but Team Melli is also in serious risk of losing out on qualification which was achieved so easily under Carlos Queiroz in 2014 and 2018. Wilmots, who is a fly-by-night coach who is hardly seen in Iran, is currently back home in Belgium and seems to turn up a day or two before matches! In reality, he will not be in Iran for at least 4 months before the next World Cup qualifiers in March 2020.

Speculations are rife about Ivankovic taking over Wilmots’ job. His knowledge and experience of Iranian football at all levels is second to none. His records and achievements with Team Melli is quite highly regarded and appreciated by the fans. What could be a serious stumbling block with Ivankovic is how to work with a feeble ineffectual and seriously inefficient federation.

Those responsible in the FFIRI, but specifically the Duo Mehdi Taj and Mohammadreza Saket, have time and time again failed Team Melli in many ways. They have always extended their arms begging the government for aids and donations including money to pay their employees and coaches. The FFIRI Lacks solid strategy, philosophy and direction and works on Hail Mary and wishful thinking basis. Just like a few days back when two emotional communique was issued by the International Relations department and published in the official FFIRI website to justify the two costly losses in the World Cup qualifiers. Instead of injecting confidence and providing solutions for Team Melli to recover from this tragedy created by them, the FFIRI went into comprehensive good wishes and good luck philosophy without committing any particular measures. Basically, counting on hope, luck and greetings!

This federation hardly has long term plans for Team Melli, particularly Friendly matches. They claim they have tried, but were not successful to arrange such important matches, which prove the inefficiency of the personnel running the FFIRI.  Under such a cloud of inefficiency, it is difficult to imagine a coach succeeding in Team Melli.

 However, Ivankovic who led Team Melli to FIFA World Cup 2006, has tasted all that and plenty of bureaucracy in the many years he worked in Iran. The Gentleman, as many supporters call him, might fancy himself another challenge and a few bouts with Mehdi Taj. He just might be the answers that the fans are looking for because anything is better than what it is now.

Branko Ivankovic : ” No intention to coach Team Melli”

Former  Team Melli and Persepolis coach Branko Ivankovic says he has no intention of coaching Iran national football team.

Ivankovic led Persepolis to the Iranian domestic treble last season but left after they failed to pay him his salary, a common practice in Iran in the last few years.

The 65-year-old coach, considered as one of the best foreign coaches of Team Melli, won the gold medal in 2002 Asian Games and led Team Melli to third place in 2004 AFC Asian Cup.

The Croat coached Iran at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where the Team Melli failed to qualify for the next stage after losing to Mexico and Portugal. while drawing with Angola.

“At the moment, I have a lot of offers from Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Japan and China but have not accepted them so far. In Al Ahli, I was fired after three matches, something I never experienced such a thing before. I believe I worked well for the team as it needed some changes in dressing room but this is football and I accept it,” Ivankovic said.

Asked why he left Persepolis at the end of the last season, Ivankovic said, “I had four fascinating years in Iran and I so much miss the country. However, I was forced to leave Persepolis because they didn’t pay our salaries for about one year. At that time, Al Ahli gave me a good offer and I accepted it,” he added.

Persepolis have lost three times in the last 10 matches but Ivankovic says they are favourites to win the title for the fourth time in a row.

“I think Gabriel Calderon needs time in Persepolis because he is a great coach. Persepolis fans love their team and support their players and coaches. In my opinion, Persepolis and Sepahan are vying for the title in the current season,” Ivankovic stated.

Ivankovic believes that Team Melli had a chance to qualify for the next round at the FIFA 2018 World Cup.

“I think (Carlos) Queiroz preferred to defend in Russia. Iran could have played attacking football against Portugal and Span. After beating Morocco, Team Melli should have taken risks,” said Ivankovic .

“Is there any chance to return to Team Melli if he receives an offer?”

“I would prefer to work at club level. I am not going work as a national team head coach,” Ivankovic concluded.

Payam Sadeghian slapped with a career ending ban.

The former Persepolis and Team Melli midfielder has been banned from all football activities for 15 years.

Payam Sadeghian, the 27 years old player was considered as one of the best talents in Iranian football with a bright future when he emerged in Iran age groups team. His natural talent and skills were marred by equally destructive behaviour, controversy and indiscipline.

 According to the Mehr News reporter, Sadeghian was sentenced to this extremely long ban as a result of the establishment and operation of betting agencies in the field of football. According to the ruling by the disciplinary committee of the FFIRI, the former midfielder , who was born in Tabriz, is not allowed to attend any football matches in any capacity (even as a spectator) during his ban.

Sadeghian started his professional career in Zob Ahan before moving to Persepolis, then Naft Tehran, Saba Qom, Machinesazi, Turkish club Osmanlispor and now playing with Sepidrood Rasht.

Sadeghian is one of the very few Iranian players that have represented Team Melli in every age group, U14, U17, U20 , U23 (Omid) and also played 5 matches for Team Melli.

Payam Niazmand approaching a record.

Two seasons ago, the 17th season of the Persian Gulf Premier League, Esteghlal Goalkeeper Seyed Hossein Hosseini reached a milestone with his club by keeping a clean sheet fo 872 minutes., the longest any goalkeeper has managed in the history of the league competition.

This season, the 19th edition, Payam Niazmand (Sepahan Esfahan) and Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri’s (Tractorsazi Tabriz) are rapidly challenging that record by their excellent performances for their clubs.

The two Team Melli goalkeepers are in close competition with each other to break that record and also for the title of the best goalkeeper of the season. The two goalkeepers have kept their doors closed for 630 minutes (7 consecutive matches) minutes this season, however, Niazmand also kept a clean sheet from last season final game, while he kept 80 minutes from the previous match so his tally of clean sheet stands at 802 minutes.

in order to break Seyed Hossein Hosseini’s record, the 24 years old Niazmand needs to keep one more clean sheet for more than 70 minutes of the next match against Saipa at home.

On the other hand, while Naizmand and Mazaheri have been exceptionally good this season in the league, the regular Team Melli custodian, Alireza Beiranvand has not been so fortunate as his rivals. Beiranvand has conceded 5 goals and his team Persepolis has dropped to the 5th position. The goalkeeper who was instantly a hit after saving Cristiano Ronaldo’s spot-kick and a penalty against Cambodia failed to repeat the same against Bahrain.

Persian Gulf Pro League Table & Standings

Pos Team P W D L F A +/- PTS Form
1 Sepahan Sepahan 7 5 2 0 10 0 +10 17 W W W D D
2 Tractor Sazi Tractor 7 5 2 0 8 0 +8 17 W W W W D
3 Shahr Khodrou Shahr Khodrou 7 5 1 1 8 3 +5 16 W W D L W
4 Foolad Foolad 7 3 3 1 6 4 +2 12 W W D W D
5 Sanat Naft Sanat Naft 7 3 3 1 5 3 +2 12 D W W D L
6 Persepolis Persepolis 7 4 0 3 5 5 0 12 W L L W W
7 Naft Masjed Soleyman Naft MIS 7 2 5 0 7 5 +2 11 W W D D D
8 Esteghlal Esteghlal 7 2 3 2 10 7 +3 9 W W D L D
9 Nassaji Mazandaran Nassaji 7 2 3 2 12 14 -2 9 L D D W L
10 Pars Jam Bushehr Pars Jam 7 1 4 2 6 7 -1 7 D L D W D
11 Machine Sazi Machine Sazi 7 2 1 4 9 13 -4 7 L D W L L
12 Saipa Saipa 7 2 1 4 9 14 -5 7 L L L L W
13 Paykan Paykan 7 1 2 4 13 14 -1 5 L L D W D
14 Zob Ahan Zob Ahan 7 0 4 3 5 9 -4 4 L L D D D
15 Gol Gohar Gol Gohar 7 0 3 4 3 8 -5 3 L L L L D
16 Shahin Bushehr Shahin 7 0 1 6 4 14 -10 1 L L L L D
Last updated: 

Hamid Estili appointment as Coach of Omid Team, will he be any good?

After the resignation of Farhad Majidi, it seems that FFIRI had no real choice but to appoint the Team manager, Hamid Estili as his replacement. The former Persepolis player also picked his former teammates Reza Shahroodi and Alireza Emamifar as his assistants.

During the short tenure of Farhad Majidi at the helm of Omid’s team, Omid Namazi and Farshad Majedi were appointed as his assistants. It is not clear if they are is still or will remain as part of the coaching staff as neither have any Persepolis affiliation that seems to be the level of requirement in Omid team coaching structure with Estili in charge.

As such, the Omid team has turned into The red of Perspolis after the departure of the Blues of Esteghlal to prove once again that Iran’s football will have an extreme affinity with the bipolar and partisan system.

At Omid team the status quo remains, meaning the same old chaos, with partisan, Favoritism, nepotism and partiality based upon being part of a favoured group, rather than job performance or competency being the essence.

Estili has more experience than Majidi but his coaching career has been full of failures and turmoil. In reality, he is not much of an improvement on Majidi.

 

Estili Coaching Career

Estili was appointed as an assistant by Ali Parvin in Persepolis in 2004. A few months after Arie Haan replaced Parvin, he sacked Estili. In August 2006, when Mustafa Denizli was signed as the head coach, Estili returned to his former post. On 13th January 2007, during the 2006–07 mid-season break, Estili was sacked again, this time by Denizli.

Denizli later stated that “It would be better for him (Estili) to take some professional trainings”

For the 3rd time, Estili returned to his beloved club as the assistant to Afshin Ghotbi, in the IPL 2007/08 season. However, with a lot of tension between the two coaches over team selection, players, and other decisions it was foreseen that one of them will have to leave Perspolis at the end of the season. Ghotbi left and Estili was touted as the new Perspolis Manager and Head Coach.
However, when Ghotbi’s returned back, Estili left Perspolis.

in summer of 2009 Steel Azin appointed out of work Estili as head coach. Despite having a star-studded team with players such as s Ali Karimi, Mahdavikia, Kaebi, Fereydoon Zandi, Shapourzadeh and Vahedi Nikbakht, Estili failed in the Hazfi Cup and was nowhere near the championship title.

He was sacked by Estil Azin on 19 April 2010

Next station was Shahin Bushehr where he was appointed on 1 June 2010. He lasted less than 10 months as he was fired on 4 April 2011 while Shahin was in 17th place out of 18, achieving 16 points in 18 matches

On 21 June 2011, Estili was back in Persepolis again as a Head coach but after a series of disappointing results and Persepolis fans disapproval of his appointment, he resigned his post on 9th Dec. 2011 after only 6 months at the helm.

From then on, Estili’s reputation as a Head Coach was tarnished.

Critics say that Estili relies more on influences, comradeship and nepotism to cover his technical weakness and poor tactics on the field. He was a divisive influence as an assistant coach bad-mouthing the head coach in the hope of taking their places.  He caused disagreement and hostility between players to serve his own interest. It was not a successful strategy as it leads to him being sacked by 3 different coaches. While as Head Coach, his poor delivery, suspect decision-making, poor technical ability, and lack of quality were exposed at the teams he managed.

Such as shame for the player who is famous for his goal against the United States in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Former Team Melli defender Jafar Kashani, passes away.

Jafar Kashani , the former Team Melli defender of the golden era of Team Melli has died in Tehran on Wednesday.

After a long struggle with illness, Kashani finally succumbed in a Tehran hospital.

Jafar Kashani, one of the player discovered by the famous Dr.Abbas Ekrami, Shahin F.C.’s founder when he was only 16. After Shahin’s dissolution, Kashani joined Persepolis F.C. and played until 1974 when he was captain. With Team Melli , Kashani made his debut against Hong Kong on 10th May 1968 in the AFC Asian Cup tournament which Iran won for the first time. Kashani went on to win the AFC Asian Cup 1972 title for the second time in Thailand. He also was amemebrt of Team Melli in the 1976 Montreal Olympics followed by winning the 1974 Asian Games gold Medal title before he retired.

Kashani teammates in the golden age of Iran’s football include the late Homayoun Behzadi, Ebrahim Ashtiani, Aziz Asli, Parviz Ghleechkhani, Hossein Kalani, Mostafa Arab, Nasser Hejazi, Gholamhossein Mazloomi and Ali Parvin amongst others.

Kashani played at the centre of defence for 33 times. He was as a rock-solid defender and was amongst the very dedicated players who always gave his best.

After his retirement, Kashani was away from football for some time but was involved in the Management of Persepolis club in the last few years.

May he rest in Peace.

An ill-tempered derby sells Iran football short!

Bizan Zolfaghar Nasab, the former Team Melli player and current Media expert says the standard of the Iranian football is always exhibited in the big Tehran derby between Persepolis and Esteghlal.

In the match played on Sunday, Persepolis defeated Esteghlal in the packed Azadi stadium by one goal to nil in a dour and ill-tempered match with frequent clashes between players and stoppages duration of the match.

Zolfaghar Nasab in an interview with ISNA, commented on the derby: “It was the weakest derby in terms of quality in the last two seasons. Neither team was able to reproduce its form. Both teams had a lot of changes this season, the players were not comfortable with the prevailing conditions and were not mentally fit.”

He continued: “Overwhelming errors and aggressive fouls diminished the quality of play and prevented the referee from doing his job too. Overall it wasn’t a good game. To say that, it is just the fourth round and the teams aren’t ready yet, is just an excuse. It is regrettable that we played such a sham game at this level in the league, a match that has millions of overseas viewers too. In addition to football standards,  the performance and the attitude of the players has put a serious question mark on our culture, morals and behaviour.”

Zolfaghar Nasab added. “This is not just a problem limited to the two teams. Of course, these two clubs have gone through many changes, from the change of board and CEO to the coaching staff and players.”  He added, “The lack of quality in this derby is not exclusive fault of the coach and the players but it is the combination of many factors which lowers the technical level of the teams.”

“European second-class clubs have stable management structures that remains at the helm for at least seven years. Bayern Munich has changed only two directors in five years, but here three CEOs change has occurred in one year. We do not expect Iranian clubs to be like Bayern Munich or meet the standards of the top European teams, but a country claiming to be a World Cup contender every tournament must have more structured and systematic clubs. In here, chaos is the rule rather than the4 exception”

Zolfaghar Nasabsaid at the end: “The Derby showed the true face of Iranian football. We are tense, chaotic, disorderly, undisciplined and seemed to be in a real hurry. To address this chaotic football system from the highest levels, we need proper and professional management, which we don’t at the moment.”

The overwhelming verdict by many critics and pundits that this derby between the two most popular team in Iran’s bipartisan Iranian football was a bad advertisement for Iran.  Nasser Mohammadkhani, ex Perspolis player and a member of Team Melli in the 1998 World Cup went as far as saying the at ” We have really seen 10 minutes of real football in the whole match, the rest was skirmishes, protests, clashes and everything but football”

Team Melli list for Hong Kong match is announced.

Marc Wilmots announced the squad list of Team Melli for the match against Hong Kong which will be Iran’s opening match for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

In the new Mark Wilmotz roster, Esteghlal , Persepolis and Tractorsazi have the lion share of the players. Sepahan Esfahan and Padidah Shahr Khodro who are currently leading the Persian Gulf Football League table, have no representation in Team Melli.

Estghala has 4 players (Hossein Hosseini, Siavash Yazdani, Ali Karimi and Vouria Ghafouri ), Persepolis has 6 (Alireza Biranvand, Vahid Amiri, Hossein Kanani Zadegan, Mehdi Torabi, Mohammad Naderi and Ahmad Nourollahi ) while Tractorsazi of Tabriz has 3 players (Rashid Mazaheri, Ehsan Haj Safi and Masoud Shojaei)

There are prominent absentees in the list and the most surprising is the Captain Ashkan Dejagah. Tractor midfielder, who has been ever-present in Team Melli in the last 9 years, is nowhere to be seen in the list despite his brilliant performance in the first two weeks of the Premier League. Dejagah was instrumental in his team defeat of the defending champions Persepolis a few days ago.

On the other hand, the Team Melli selectors have invited Persepolis defender Kanani -Zadegan , who has not played a single minute in the league this season!

Siavash Yazdani and Mohammad Naderi are the two rookies

Another major absentee is former Esteghlal defender Rouzbeh Cheshmi. The reason given for his exclusion is due to uncertainty about his future club after his contract expired with Esteghlal.

There is also no place in the squad for Saeed Ezzatollahi, who recently moved from Russian club to Belgian team Eupen. His status and lack of match fitness were deemed unacceptable for the upcoming match against  Hong Kong.

The Iranian national football team will face Hong Kong at 9:37 pm on Tuesday, September 19, in the qualifying round of the World Cup and the Asian Nations Cup.

THE SQUAD

# Player Club Country
GOALKEEPERS
1 BIRANVAND, Alireza Persepolis
2 MAZAHERI, Mohammad Rashid Tractorsazi
3 HOSSEINI, Hossein Esteghlal
DEFENDERS
4 GHAFOORI, Vourya Esteghlal
5 HOSSEINI, Majeed Trabzonspor
6 KANANI-ZADEGAN, Hossein Persepolis
7 MOHAMMADI, Milad Ghent Image result for belgium flag
8 NADERI, Mohammad Persepolis
9 POURALIGANJI, Morteza Al Arabi
10 REZAEIAN, Ramin Al Shahaniya
11 YAZDANI, Siavush Esteghlal
MIDFIELD
12 AMIRI, Vahid Persepolis
13 EBRAHIMI, Omid Al Ahli
14 HAJSAFY, Ehsan Tractorsazi
15 KARIMI, Ali Esteghlal
16 NOORALLAHIE, Ahmad Persepolis
17 SHOJAEI, Masoud Tractorsazi
18 TORABI, Mehdi Persepolis
FORWARDS
19 ANSARIFARD, Karim Al Saliyah
20 AZMOUN, Sardar Zenit St. Petersburg
21 JAHANBAKHSH, AliReza Brighton & Hove Albion
22 SAYYAD-MANESH Allahyar Fenerbahçe
23 TAREMI, Mehdi Rio Ave

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