Tag: Sardar Azmoun

Sardar Azmoun linked to Milan move.

Sardar Azmoun is the latest striker to be linked with a move to AC Milan but as per Italian media, the interest is not that concrete. In fact, the Rossoneri remain focused on Chelsea’s Armando Broja.

Lorenzo Colombo is expected to join Monza on a season-long loan and therefore, Milan are set to bring in a striker before the window closes. Broja is their primary target, per Italian media, but Azmoun has also been linked with the club.

AC Milan are looking for a striker on the market and they have been linked with several players over the last few weeks. The latest name is Sardar Azmoun, who reportedly already has an agreement with the club.

Milan will send Lorenzo Colombo out on another loan spell for this season (Monza in pole position) and as a result, they are expected to sign a striker before the window closes. The latest player to be linked with the club is Azmoun.

The Iranian international currently plays for Bayer Leverkusen and according to BILD, he has a personal terms agreement with Milan. The latter are thus in talks with the German side over the transfer and it remains to be seen if an agreement can be reached.

Azmoun made 33 appearances for Leverkusen last season, 12 of them from the start, but found the back of the net just four times. At the age of 28, he needs to revive his career and his next destination might be Milan.

Azmoun out injured for two months

Sardar Azmoun, Team Melli and Bayer Leverkusen’s forward have just recently joined his teammates for pre-season training. Azmoun, who had suffered an injury a short while back was immediately tested for physical condition and underwent a medical examination to determine the extent of his old injury.

According to Kicker magazine, Sardar Azmoun claimed that he was injured in the left leg tendon area last week, and thus he will be out of action for 6 to 8 weeks. Kicker announced the definite absence of Azmoun in the first three matches of Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, as well as the team’s first match in the DB Pokal. The striker will definitely not be able to play for a team until the middle of September, and if his treatment goes well according to plan, he will be ready for selection for the match against Bayern Munich on September 24. Azmoun struggle with this injury comes at a time that Team Melli has a full training schedule during FIFA Day in September. Iran will play Bulgaria and an African team, which is yet to be named.

The absence of Sardar Azmoun will be quite disappointing for Amir Ghalenoei who was hoping to test the duo Azmoun and Taremi against tougher opposition starting with Bulgaria in five weeks time.

Team Melli lifts the CAFA Nations Cup 2023

Iran’s national football team defeated host nation Uzbekistan in the final of the CAFA tournament to lift the inaugural championship

A goal by the second leading goal scorer of the tournament, Sardar Azmoun in the 48th minute from a nice assist by Mehdi Taremi settled the match early in the second half.

While the two teams were testing each other, a cross from the Uzbek winger saw the clumsy Beiranvand rushing out in an attempt to punch the ball clear without an awareness of the position of his teammates, as such he managed to punch the ball and the head of Saeid Eztollahi leaving the midfielder bleeding in the head. Beiranvand himself was also injured and could not continue. He was replaced by Payam Niazmand. A repeat performance for Beiranvand against England in the FIFA World Cup.

The physical nature of the game against Uzbekistan led by the absent Serco Katanic, due to illness, caused the referee to repeatedly blow his whistle for fouls.

The most serious threat of the first half was the Uzbeks’ counterattack by Uranov in the 43rd minute, where the ball hit the post. Apart from that, no real action was created by the two sets of forwards.

in the second half, Vahid Amiri replaced the ineffective Mehdi Ghaeid in order for the two strikers to get a better service from the flank. Ghalenoei’s change of plan paid off soon after the re-start for the second half. Taremi got the bell from the left flank and saw Azmoun free right in the box, his pass was well controlled by Sardar who then composed himself to shoot powerfully into the net to announce the first goal.

After this goal, Team Melli tried to control the game’s pace rather than go out on an all-out attack. They played a logical possession football with some intricate passing that was delightful. Niazmand was hardly tested by the Uzbeks players who were getting frustrated as the time went on.

Next, the Uzbeks tried to threaten the depth of the Iranian national team’s defense with their long passes, realizing the slow pace of the defenders, especially Hajsafi and Pouraliganji. In one attack, they nearly managed to score when the Uzbeck player found himself in plenty of space left behind Hajsafi and then a dribble past Poyralganji but haste and Nizamand’s timely interception prevented the Uzbel player from scoring.

In a match that neither team managed to take control of and which was about to end victoriously and peacefully for Team Melli, a petulant act from the notorious Hossein Kananizadegan nearly threatened to erupt the match right at the end.

Kananizadegan, who was earlier cautioned by the Russian referee for one of his silly and totally uncalled-for fouls when he pushed the Uzbek keeper, Yusupov, while he was trying to shoot, The center back got the second card in the 90th minute when he started a childish protest against something that he did not like demanding a penalty. His zealous protest led the Russian referee to award him another yellow card and subsequently the red and the marching order.

The center back, sulking and crying foul refused to leave the field and instead, he sat down on the lawn in protest. This aggravated the Uzbek players, a couple of whom tried to lift Kananizadegan up and force him out of the field where he should be rather than on the lawn. An altercation between the two teams’ players followed and if it was not for some cool heads from both sides, the situation could have turned quite ugly scenes.

After Kananizadegan’s petulant act and his dismissal, Ghalenoei did not risk it and replaced Mohammad Karimi who himself replaced Azamoun in the 75th minute, with Majid Hosseini to secure the heart of the defense.

The match ended 1-0 and was a deserved victory for Team Melli.

Oman took third place after defeating Kyrgyzstan 1-0

Second victory for Team Melli in CAFA Nations Cup 2023

Team Melli faced Kyrgyzstan in the final group match of CAFA Nations Cup 2023 this Friday evening. The match ended 5-1 for Iran with Mehdi Taremi scoring a hat trick (34′, 39′, and 56′) and Sardar Azmoun helping himself to a brace (56′ and 66′). Morzaev (52) scored the only goal of the host.

It is the second game in a row by Amir Ghalenoei players which was accompanied by a high-scoring victory, while the possession of the ball and the field was completed in the hands of the Iranian national team.

This team was able to score two goals in the first half by using the players’ tactical intelligence and the combined efforts of Mehdi Taremi. The second half was accompanied by the Kyrgyz shock. A blunder by Morteza Pouraliganji’s in clearing the ball in the box, and Beiranvand poor positioning and awareness, allowed the Kyrg striker to score their only goal of the match, to the delight of about 10,000 spectators present at the “Dolan Omurzakov” stadium in Bishkek.

It was for the second consecutive game against that the second-ranked team in Asia, that Team Melli has been breached with ease due to a combination of factors. That fact that Team Melli was easily scored against must have raised a few alarms in the coaching staff.

Amir Ghalenoei has some serious work to do on the defense.

Also, a point of concern was the failure in the game plan to change offensive moves, as the team tactics is becoming obvious. There has to be a combination of plans to attack as the stronger teams will not be so easily defeated by crosses from the flanks.

Mehdi Taremi showed his high quality when he again scored a hat trick for the second consecutive game.

The introduction of Sardar Azmoun to replace the ineffective Reza Asadi changed the game up front. the Pair Azmoun and Taremi scored three times.

Team Melli has now qualified for the final match to be played against Uzbekistan next Tuesday.

Apart from the strikers Azmoun and Taremi, Mohammad Mohebbi played a solid game as well. Ramin Rezaeian, Mehdi Torabi, and Omid Nourafkan were also at their best. Reza Asadi, Pouraliganji, Beiranvand were the weak links.

Team Melli trounces Afghanistan 6-1

Team Melli outplayed Afghanistan at Dolon Amorzakov Stadium in Bishkek in its first match in the CAFA Nations Cup 2023 winning 6-1.

With that result, Iran takes a commanding lead in Group B of the tournament as it only requires a draw against Host Nation Kyrgyzstan next Friday to qualify for the final match in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Mehdi Taremi scored a hat trick in the match which included a penalty, while Azmoun, Jahanbakhsh, and Asadi helped themselves to one goal each.

Contrary to expectations, Amir Ghalanoei preferred to use most of the main players in the match against the 155th FIFA ranking team in order to get familiarized with the players that will most probably form the core of the starting lineup in the AFC Asian Cup next January.

As predictable, the game was dominated by the favorites Iran from the first minute, and by the 3rd minute, Team Melli could have scored with Mehdi Taremi’s shot on Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s pass, but Afghanistan’s goalkeeper blocked the ball. Iran’s pressure finally paid off in the 20th minute, with Sardar Azmoun opening the score tally after a cross from the left by team captain Ehsan Hajsafi’s cross. Azmoun neatly headed the ball into the net to give Iran a 1-0 lead. One minute later, Team Melli scored again, and this time Mehdi Taremi did the trick to make it 2-0.

Five minutes later, a foul by the Afghan goalkeeper Faisal Hamidi on Tarimi in the penalty area resulted in a penalty, which Taremi himself dispatched cooly into the net in the 28th minute. In the last minutes of the first half, Afghanistan caught the Iranian defense napping and could have scored in their first real attack of the match, when Musawi passed the ball in front of an empty goal but Niazmand managed to grab it just before passing the goal-line.

In the 45th minute, Azmoun skilfully dribbled his markers in the box and sent a neat pass to Taremi, who stepped over the ball and left it to the on-rushing Jahanbakhsh. The Feyenoord winger scored Iran’s fourth goal with a precise shot.

In the second half and in the 51st minute, Mehdi Taremi completed his hat trick when he scored his third goal and Iran’s fifth from a deep pass by Omid Nourafken. In the 57th minute, a foul was committed by Saeed Ezatollahi on the Afghan forward right on the edge of the box, where the Iranian midfielder was left for dead by the nifty Afghan’s dribble. Ezatollahi had no choice but to foul him for a free kick. The resulting shot produced the best goal of the match which was scored by the Afghan captain Farshad Noor with a ferocious shot into the roof of the net. Niazmand had no answer to that shot.

That spectacular free-kick goal made the result more respectable and precious for the underdogs. However, 10 minutes later, Iran scored the sixth goal by the substitute forward Reza Asadi who recorded his first national goal on a back pass by Sadegh Moharrami. In the rest of this match, the efforts of both two teams did not yield results, as Iran came out with a clear 6-1 winner.

Team Melli will face the Kyrgyz team on Friday, June 26 at 18:30 Iran time in the second game of the CAFA Nations Cup 2023.

starting line-up.

Iran: Payam Nazam, Ehsan Hajsafi, Sadegh Moharrami, Mohammad Hossein Kanaanizadegan, Seyed Majid Hosseini, Saeed Ezzatollahi, Omid Nourafkan, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mohammad Mohebbi, Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi.

Head coach: Amir Ghalenoei

Afghanistan: Faisal Hamidi, Farshad Noor. , Amanullah Sardari, Mehboob Hanafi, Farzad Ataei, Mohammad Saharani, Basit Mushtaq, Ali Basit Nazari, Tofi Eskandari, Yama Sharzad and Omid Mousavi. Head coach: Abdullah Motairi. who was suspended for the rest of the tournament and was watching the match from the stands.

CAFA Nations Cup 2023 Diary.

Taremi’s attack on CAFA!

After the training session of Team Melli under Ghalnoei yesterday, Mehdi Taremi was quizzed by a horde of journalists and reporters on his view n Team Melli. After the customary praise of the head coach, effusing about the qualities of Amir Ghaleneoi. whom he never worked with in his club career, the interesting part was Taremi’s comment on the Technical value of CAFA Nations Cup. ” Such a tournament has no value for The National Team.” The Porto forward decried, albeit indirectly, pointing to the low standard of the participating team, while he said added that he understands that taking part in the tournament is a commitment and needs to be respected.”

When a reporter reminded him that Team Melli has always lagged behind others in the preparation and organization of friendly practice games, Taremi was unimpressed and stuck to what he said!

Perhaps not the wisest of characters on and off the field, as a professional who plays in the top league in Europe, his declaration that it CAFA has little value lacks insight. During the preparation for the FIFA World Cup, Iran managed only two quality friendlies while Japan, Korea, and Saudi Arabia tripled that number.

Taremi forgets that it is not winning in these matters that matter, it is a big chance for the coach in his new job to understand, evaluate, and familiarize himself with the qualities of his players and their capabilities in different formats. What better than a handful of games in a matter of a week or so?

Sardar Azmoun also gave a brief interview after the practice session on the same subject of CAFA. Asked about the value of this tournament for Team Melli’s preparation, Azmoun said that “We have all the respect for all participating teams, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan Oman, and the rest. Our mission as players is to execute what the management has planned, It is not for me to answer that question, you need to direct it at the federation leaders, not players. Our job is to play and represent our country at international levels”

The rebel Kuwaiti coach of Afghanistan makes headlines

The video where the head coach is directing his players to leave the pitch is going viral across social media.

Abdullah Al Mutairi, a mediocre Kuwaiti coach at best with hardly any achievements in his coaching career, beckoned, or rather, forced the Afghan players to leave the field after Kyrgyzstan scored the winner deep into injury time.

The game was level at 0-0 when Kyrgyz Republic found the winner deep in minute 97 of the match which gave them a huge chance of winning the match. However, a massive controversy took place immediately after the goal as Afghanistan’s head coach, in protest, forced his players to leave the playing area before the final whistle. Despite a few attempts by the referee to simmer down the heated situation, the former head coach of the Nepal men’s national team was not in a mad state signaling the referee has been bribed!!.

The sight that followed the walkout by the Afghanistan men’s national team was embarrassing. Kyrgyz Republic’s players celebrated their opponents leaving the pitch while Abdullah Al-Mutairi applauded sarcastically.

People like Al Mutairi with zero credibility as a coach and a track record for controversy, should be put away from football. There is no place for such characters in the beautiful game. Granted, football has become tarnished in the last few years as it is not the purist game, with commercial interests, bribery, and corruption in the World of Football making headlines, the beneficiaries are most the leaders at the top. depriving young footballers of playing their beloved game is bigger than anything. This is why the like of Al Mutairi needs to be made an example with FIFA, AFC, and CAF need to act by giving him the heaviest sentence possible. Long, preferably permanent, suspension from the game should be applied.

Mehdi Taremi claims top scorer title while Porto loses the league title to Benfica.

Team Melli and FC Porto forward, Mehdi Taremi claimed his first top-scorer title in one of the top Europe leagues to become the third Iranian after Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Sardar Azmoun winning such accolades in the Eredivisie and Russuan premiere leagues respectively. Taremi ended the season 2022/23 with 22 goals, 3 more than second-place Goncalco Ramos of Benfica.

Meanwhile, FC Porto have failed in their defense of the Primeira Liga title after Benfica’s home win versus Santa Clara secured the championship, this Saturday, despite the Dragons’ 3-0 triumph at home to Vitória.

Sérgio Conceição’s men were in need of a huge favor from bottom-of-the-table Santa Clara in order to leapfrog Benfica at the top of the table, as Vitória came to town.

Porto held up their end of the bargain with a 3-0 victory, complete with goals from Mehdi Taremi, Otávio, and Evanilson, but an equally-proficient night in front of goal for the Eagles meant the Blue & Whites were kept at bay, trailing top-spot by two points on the final day of the season.

Conceição pulled up no surprises with his XI at the Estádio do Dragão, filled to the brim with hopefuls roaring their team on to a potential back-to-back conquest of the Primeira Liga title. Things began to look very favorable for the Northern giants after their regional heavyweights Vitória found themselves reduced to ten men just two minutes in, following Tomás Händel’s red card for a poor challenge on Matheus Uribe.

Just five minutes later, an incredible run on the counter from Pepê enabled the Brazilian to set Taremi up for the opener, with the Iranian requiring little more than a side-foot toward the goal to break the deadlock.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, the Eagles had also taken the lead via Gonçalo Ramos before doubling their advantage through Rafa Silva, just as Otávio’s strike across goal landed a second blow to Vitória in the 32nd minute.

In the 39th minute, Evanilson made it 3-0 with a classy finish on the half-volley, adding comfort to the scoreline before the half-time interval.

For the second half, the protagonists were the same but the intensity wasn’t quite at the levels demonstrated in the first period, with Vitória holding back Porto’s waning forcefulness and appetite.

The Primeira Liga’s top scorer Taremi neared a brace in the 67th minute with a chipped attempt on Bruno Varela, stopped by the ex-Benfica man before Ibrahima Bamba’s risqué clearance off the line, using his shoulder.

Porto left it a 3-0 – a score matched by Benfica at the Estádio da Luz – as the Dragons bowed out to a second-placed finish behind their bitter rivals, lifting the title for the first time in four years.

 

MEHDI TAREMI SCORING RECORD IN PORTUGAL

 

Season Team Comp Minutes played Appearances Lineups Substitute in Substitute out Substitutes on bench Goal Yellow card Yellow 2nd/RC Red card
2022/2023 Porto PRL 2636 33 31 2 22 2 22 7 0 0
2021/2022 Porto PRL 2434 32 27 5 13 5 20 4 1 0
2020/2021 Porto PRL 2226 34 26 8 20 8 16 1 0 1
2019/2020 Rio Ave PRL 2352 30 26 4 11 4 18 2 0 1

The plight of Team Melli players in Europe

The spiral dive of Iranian footballers’ fortunes have continued since the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup 2022.

It is safe to say that apart from Mehdi Taremi, in one match against England, none of the Team Melli players displayed any meaningful football or quality in the World Cup to attract interest from European clubs, or even regional Persian Gulf leagues. As if this was bad with no buyers turning up for the Iranian stars, most of the Team Melli players (on the edge or above 30 years old) even household names are struggling in their clubs too,

Perhaps the most noticeable fall from grace and drop in form has to be that of Sardar Azmoun. The days when the central forward of Team Melli was in Russia playing for Zenit, were perhaps the greatest achievement of any Iranian player in history. Not only Azmoun won several titles with the St. Petersburg club, he also achieved the title of top scorer in the Russian league to become only the second Iranian footballer to do so after Alireza Jahanbakhsh in the Netherlands Eredivisie.

Then came that dreadful transfer to the Bundesliga.

No doubt, the injury to Sardar was a great setback at the time when he needed to prove himself at Bayer Leverkusen, however, even after full recovery, Azmoun was far from convincing and lacked the quality to earn himself a place in the starting line up for a middle of the table Bundesliga club. Now, Leverkusen is thinking of cutting their losses by loaning him to other clubs.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh is another player whose winning the top scorer title was a bad omen. His time with Brighton in the Premiere league was best to be forgotten. On his return to the Eredivisie with Feyenoord this time, it was hoped that Jahanbaksh will rediscover himself and find the quality that abandoned him in England. It was not to be as Jahanbakhs steady decline and poor showing made him a semi-permanent bench warmer. Jahanbakhsh never utilized the occasional playing time he was afforded to prove himself. It is safe to say that he will be on the unwanted list of Feyenoord by the end of the season, barring a miracle, that is.

in Charleroi, Ali Gholizadeh was a lively and important player. The winger had enough quality to force the Belgian club to renew his contract for another three years, however, the jinx of drop in form hit Gholizadeh too, this time in Belgium. Recently, it seems that the winger of Team Melli has been facing domestic problems complicating the matter even further.

Royal Charleroi will face the Union team in the framework of the 23rd week of the Belgian league. Charleroi’s 20-man squad was announced for this match, while the name of Iranian winger Ali Gholizadeh was once again missing from the list. In last week’s game against Club Brugge, Gholizadeh was left out by head coach Felice Mazo’s, and this happened for the second week in a row. The Belgium website ‘le Soir claimed that Ali Gholizadeh’s mind is somewhere else and this Iranian player is getting closer and closer to the exit door of the club.

Saman Ghoddos continues to be a fringe player in the Premier League with Brentford, with cameo appearances every now and then. Saeed Ezatollahi plays in the second division of the Danish league, which even the local media hardly covers. Ehsan Hajsafi and Milad Mohammadi play in AEK Athens, The latter has seen action in 10 of the 19 league e matches his club played only six as a starter while Hajsafi fared much better with 12 matches starting and 1 substitute out of 19.

Majid Hosseni’s club Kayserispor is currently ranked 8th in the Turkish Süper Lig. With the domestic league at halfway stage, Hossini has featured in 15 out of 19 matches, displaying acceptable form in most of the matches. He is one of the few successful Iranian players in Europe.

The onus on Mehdi Taremi  to continue being the flag bearer of Iranian footballers. Although far from perfect, Taremi continues displaying quality and scoring valuable goals for his club. He is the only Team Melli player who is making headlines in Europe.

Iran vs Wales: Player Ratings

The players rating against Wales in which Team Melli achieved a convincing win 2-0 scored by the two unlikeliest players.

  • Rouzbeh Cheshmi : Substituted in with 12 minutes remaining of the match. His major contribution was the goal he scored from about 30 meters in added time. Not only it gave Iran a deserved lead but boosted the morale so effectively that the second came soon after his goal. 8.0
  • Mehdi Taremi: He was overshadowed by Sardar Azmoun, yet his moves disturbed the Welsh defense. Slow in transition and missed a few good opportunities to create possession for his teammates. Provided the assist for the second goal to Rezaeian 7.60
  • Sardar Azmoun : His presense was immensly felt in the team. Always willing to run and tackle while doing defensive. duties Provided the pass to Gholozadeh to score the disallowed goal after VAR review. Hit the post too. His contribution was helpful to the team but the injury was worrying. 8.10
  • Ali Karimi: Came in as a late sub without contributing much in the few minutes.6.20
  • Mehdi Torabi : As a sub, he had limited time on the field but a good attempt to open the scoring deserves a good rating. 7.3
  •  Karim Ansarifard: A sub for Azmoun with limited time and contribution to the game 6.6

  • Ali Gholizadeh : Was one o the better player on the field. He was slightly offside when he received Azmoun’s ball to score. His dribbling and ball control was a breath of fresh air. 7.95
  • Ramin Rezaeian: Started the match badly with some wayward crossing that irritated the forwards. Slowly he came on well and started gelling with the rest. Defensive work. His delightful dink to score the second was all class. Got himself booked unnecessarily for useless protesting 7.85
  • Alireza Jahanbakhsh: A bench player for this match who came in with 12 minutes to play. Not only he had no effective contribution, but he also got another yellow card and is hence suspended for the next match against the USA. 6.00
  • Ehsan Hajisafi: Solid defensively and hardly put a foot wrong. It seems that he is not a 90 minutes player and more but for the time he was on the field, he was reliable and did a good job 7.80
  • Saeid Ezatolahi: A much better performance than the last match yet still missing some vital skills in his play. Defensive work from the midfield was fine when combining well with other players 7.45
  • Majid Hosseini: More confident and less error-prone. He combined with Pouralganji to create a solid wall in front of Hosseini preventing the Welsh penetration from the heat of the defense. 7.70
  • Ahamad Noorollahi: Lacks the speed and agility for fast transitions however, he played his role well and prevented the Welsh from taking hold of the midfield areas. 7.70
  • Hossein Hosseini: Was not really threatened by the Welsh player thanks to a solid defense. His Aerial work was fine and had no problem catching most of the crosses aimed toward his goal. Kept a clean sheet. 7.78
  • Milad Mohammadi: Had a calm day and did not need to exert lots of pressure on defensive duties. His incursion into the Welsh half on the wing was limited. 7.78
  • Morteza Pouraliganji : Did a fine job in combination with Majid Hosseini despite the lack of playing together for many years. 7.75
  • Carlos Queiroz: Must be credited for the changes he made in the starting lineup including playing with two center forwards, Taremi and Azmoun. On the other hand, there was no sign of a definitive game plan for ball distribution from the midfielders as he opted for route one football, balls directly sent from the back directly to the two forwards. Although some of the midfield players were capable of distributing the ball more efficiently. Had no solution for the slow transition from defense to attack and for the lack of pace. A player such as Torabi would have been ideal for that purpose. 7.8

A humulation for Team Melli

Team Melli suffered it heaviest defeat in World Cup history after a 6-2 drubbing by title contenders England.

Jude Bellingham started the rout in the 35th minute, Arsenal star Bokayo Saka made it 2-0 on the 43rd, and Raheem Sterling scored the third in the 45th First half ended 3-0

In the second, Bokayo Saka was on the scoresheet again on the 62nd  to make it 4-0 before Mehdi Tarremi scored from a tremendous shot on the 65th. Substitute Marcus Rashford scored 49 seconds after he was on the field on 71st,  Jack Grealish (90) ended the scoring for England 6-1. Sardar Azmoun who was substituted managed to run past his English marker to face Jordan Pickford on one to one situation. The Everton and England keeper managed to save Azmoun’s shoot. and finally, the VAR review awarded a penalty for Iran where Taremi slotted nicely for his second goal of the evening. The match ended 6-2 for England.

The 45,000 fans in the 60,000-seat Khalifa Stadium in Doha, witnessed a superior display by Southgate players while Iran under Queiroz not only suffered its heaviest defeat but displayed poor control, lack of stamina, bad passing, and total collapse of the defensive strategy that Queiroz prides himself in.

Earlier in the half, a collision between Alireza Beiranvand and Majid Hosseini result in a bad injury to the Iranian goalkeeper. This resulted in a 14 minutes pause while Beiranvand was being treated . Finally, when Beiranvand treatment was over, and while still clearly dazed, he opted to continue playing without any objection from the medical team or the coaching staff, who must have feared losing their number one goalkeeper in detriment to his health. Alireza vividly in a concussion status could not stay focused for longer than a few minutes after the match restarted before he collapsed to the ground. A stretcher took him out while Hossein Hosseini replaced him.

This embarrassing, yet unexpected result was a culmination of many failures and shortfalls in the team. It started with the selection of a coach whose archaic strategy and game plans have proven to be a failure not just in Iran but Colombia and Egypt before it. In fairness, Queiroz was not given proper time for preparation for the greatest of championships like the World Cup, yet for whatever reason, he accepted the job offer despite its risk thinking he knows enough about the team he left three years ago. And the result was a disaster against a quality team in England. The old age team was clearly suffering in physical attributes against the much younger English team, Little preparation compared to other World Cup teams was also in evidence in the misplaced passes. Lack of confidence, concentration, and political turmoil back home were also factors in this heavy defeat.

Iran Line UP

Alireza Biranvand (19′ Seyed Hossein Hosseini), Sadegh Mohrrami, Majid Hosseini, Rozbe Cheshmi (46′ Mohammad Hossein Kanaani Zadegan), Morteza Pouraliganji, Majid Hosseini, Ehsan Haji Safi, Milad Mohammadi (63′ Mehdi Tarabi) ), Ahmad Nooralhi (77′ Sardar Azmoun), Ali Karimi (46′ Saeed Ezzatollahi), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (46′ Ali Gholizadeh) and Mehdi Taremi.

old agers