Tag: Soroush RAFEI

Team Melli unable to use players under Military Service.

The Armed Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran has written to the concerned departments declaring that all those players who have found to be guilty of fraud by the courts for holding fake military release certificates , will not be allowed to join Team Melli or Omid teams. The ban is valid until the completion of their service.

Team Melli will be playing against Guam at home then India away. Carlos Queiroz will be unable to select those players although in real terms , none are fixed players in the team. The players are Arash Afshin , Bakhtiyar Rahmani , Shoja’a Khalilzadeh , Hossein Mahini and Soroush Rafei. In addition , Mehrdad Pooladi who is currently out of the country , is also put on the black list and cannot play for Team Melli.

The communique from the armed forces did not specifically mention those other  players who have not cheated and are currently serving their mandatory military service as required by the law. Such players are normally banned from leaving the country while serving but dispensation has been issued before on request from the FFIRI and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

 Team Melli will start a short training camp next Thursday in Azadi Sports Complex in preparation for the match on 3rd September against Guam in Azadi and on the 8th in Mumbai against India.

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Team Melli is further depleted !

A depleted Team Melli will be flying to Tashkent on Tuesday 11:00 am missing 7 players. The latest additions,  is one of the most experienced players, Seyed Jalal Hosseini and Foolad young starlet , Soroush Rafei. The pair is facing administration issues preventing them from leaving Iran.

As reported earlier in teammelli.com , Hosseini is facing tax evasion charges due to the non-payment of taxes while he was playing with Persepolis. Hosseini learned of his dilemma when he returned to Iran after the end of the QSL season where he was playing with Al Ahli in Qatar.  Hosseini is adamant that according to his contract , Persepolis was supposed to pay for his income taxes , something they never did.

Soroush Rafei is faced with the military service which in Iran means the person is not allowed to leave the country until the completion of his duty. However, there are exemptions based on admissible evidences. Queiroz personally took Rafei’s issue to task but it appears that his efforts were fruitless.

Although the decision on both are not final with another 30 odd hours remaining to the flight , it is hardly unlikely that the matter will be resolved. Hosseini’s absence will be a real blow to Team Melli already missing Amir Hossein Sadeghi in the central defense and Mehrdad Pooladi. Montazeri will most probably be paired with young Pouraliganji in the central defense while Ghafoori , Heydari or Beikzadeh will be occupying the defensive flanks.

The list of the absentees on the trip to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is as follows:

  1. Ashkan Dejagah (Injury)
  2. Alireza Jahanbakhsh (injury)
  3. Ghassim Haddadifar (Fatigue)
  4. Jalal Hosseini (Taxation)
  5. Karim Ansarifard (Form)
  6. Mehrdad Pooladi (Military Service)
  7. Soroush Rafei (Military Service)

Pooladi & Rafei cleared to join Team Melli squad.

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Mehrdad Pooladi

Mehrdad Pooladi , Team Melli’s left back currently playing for Al Shahniya club in Qatar and Soroush Rafei the young Foolad Khuzestan player have been granted permission by the armed forces to join Team Melli squad.

After a series of disappointing turns of events and depressing news around Team Melli in its preparation for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup 2015, this has to be the brightest news of them all. With the absence of Pejman Montazeri who misses the tournament due to injury, Pooladi’s inclusion in Queiroz squad is quite vital. Mehrdad Pooladi was the best player in Team Melli 3 matches in the World Cup according to FIFA technical analysis. His National Service problem prevented him from being selected for duty for Team Melli.

Most of the credit for the inclusion of Pooladi and Rafei must go to the Head coach Carlos Querioz whose personal efforts and demands, including a straightforward and serious discussion with the Minister of Youth & Sport has yielded result. The latter writing to the Armed Forces and requesting the release of the two players for national duty as football players.

The two persons who should have done the most to release Team Melli players, Kaffashian and Mohammad Nabi were quite passive about the issue and maintained a stance where they kept declaring that they are abiding by the law, without making any efforts to challenge or request any alternative options from the authorities to seek the two players release.

Soroush Rafei

Although Soroush Rafei is a rookie and is not expected to play a major role in the Asian Cup in Australia,  his inclusion is vital for the long term planning of Carlos Queiroz future Team Melli build up.

Team Melli is supposed to fly to Australia via Dubai this evening for the last part of the ir training camp which includes a friendly match against Iraq in Sydney.

Queiroz seeking Pooladi & Rafei release.

Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, Team Melli manager spoke of the possibility of inviting  Persepolis Captain  Mohammad Nouri to Team Melli in case of the failure in getting the release of Pooladi  and Rafei from Military Service.

During the Sunday training session of Team Melli, Mohammad Nabi said “As Carlos Queiroz has stated earlier, our opponents have prepared themselves quite well. On our side, we have tried our best to match them and  prepare the team for this competition (…) . Our start was with the match against South Korea followed by several training camps”

 “We have up to January 1st to submit the final list to the Asian Cup Organizing committee and the AFC. Because of that, Queiroz opted to leave two vacant places for the players he wants to add.” Mohammad Nabi added without mentioning the name of the players in Queiroz’s mind. When pressed for an answer and if the two places are reserved for Pooladi and Rafei, , Mohammad Nabi said “Yes. These two players are in the plans of Queiroz and he wishes to include them in his squad. But, I and Mr. Kaffashian are law abiding and need to stick to the regulations of this country. However, there are some negotiation between the Minister of Sports and the Military on the subject matter.”

“We do not have the liberty of playing an international friendly match without the approval of FIFA. The Palestine match was registered with FIFA and the unilateral cancelation of this match by Palestine FA was totally an unprofessional act. Nevertheless, any actions to be taken against the Palestinians , is the job of Ali Kaffashian” Mohammad Nabi said in reaction to the match cancelation and the demand by Queiroz for compensations from Palestine FA..

“We have played 7 friendly games in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup and still have one more to go against Iraq in Sydney.” Mohammad Nabi thus considers playing against reserves of club teams as preparation matches !

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“Carlos Queiroz assessment of the squad and the players’ forms is quite good, however more work is needed. Sometimes friendly games matches end up with results that might not be the same if it was an official match (..)”

“Our preparation program started three and a half months ago.  We had a very well laid program with the help of the Football League commission. The only setback was this Palestine match cancelation which has really hurt our plans.” The Team Manager explained.

Team Melli manager said that “The Coach has the full authority to select which players he wants. He has an assessment program where the players are technically fully analyzed and evaluated according to the requirement of the game plans. Mohammad Nouri is one of the players that might be added to the list.”

Cartlos Queiroz appeals to the authorities to release his players.

Carlos Queiroz , Team Melli  coach with “humility” urged the football federation and the authorities to find a solution for the missing key players in the squad.

On arrival in Johannesburg , Queiroz gave a brief statement to the press , pleading with his superiors to actively seek the release of players such as Mehrdad Pooladi , Soroush Rafei , Hossein Mahini , Mohammad Nouri and others who are either totally banned from playing football or have restriction on their playing  rendering them not being able to be in the squad. The restrictions are normally in the form of players not being allowed to leave the country under military service regulations.

Queiroz said “ In order to achieve our objectives , I need players. I’m respectfully  appealing to  the authorities to realize the importance of the presence of some key players that we require and work to solve their problems.”.

He said officials of the Football Association and coaches of Team Melli  meantime, spent a lot of energy and worked hard. “Despite months without being pay,  we’ve worked hard to achieve the team goals. With respect to the authorities, we humbly believe that there are ways we want to help the team, it would be no cost!”

Responding to the question whether any friendly games in the South African camp has been arranged, Queiroz said “as long as we have players missing , I do not have anything to say about this topic.”

Team Melli is setting up a 10 days camp in Johannesburg in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia. No friendly matches have been confirmed yet in this camp.

Team Melli leaves to Johannesburg.

Team Melli left Tehran en route to Johannesburg via Dubai for a 10 day training camp with 21 players in the squad.

2 players were left behind. Mohammad Nouri , Persepolis Captain is banned from leaving the country because of a court order and tax issues, while Soroush Rafei has Military service pending. Queiroz has asked the FFIRI to act to release these two , but realistically it is a long shot as the cases of the two are not the type that Kaffashian can solve by picking up the phone and everything becomes settled.

Naft Tehran provided 4 player to Team Melli , a record by this club. Their players were quite enthusiastic and spoke to the press before departure. The veteran Iman Mobali who last played for Team Melli in AFC Asian Cup 2011, hoped that he can gian the trust and confidence of the coach and win a place in the squad to Australia. Vahid Amiri , believed that the camp will be very beneficial and echoed the sentiments of his teammate, Mobali. Amiri acknowledged that the majority of the squad are young and inexperienced but hoped that the objectives of the camp is realized for the coaching staff.

The 10 days Johannesburg training camp does not have any confirmed official or friendly matches. It is hoped that Queiroz , through personal contacts, can set up a match or two with some outfit to save the blushes of the federation and the training camp.

New faces in the latest Team Melli squad heading to South Africa.

The football federation announced the list of 23 players selected for Team Melli Training camp in South Africa.

There are 9 uncapped players in the list which has none except one of the legionnaires named. Most players are not  able to join until the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Mid January . Sardar Azmoun will be the only player who will attend the camp as the Russian league will be in its winter break. Sajjad Shahabzadeh , the prolific Esteghlal forward who has an excellent scoring record this season, has been included and so is Iman Mobali , the Naft Tehran midfielder who is a key player for the league leader Naft Tehran.

Once again , there is no place for Mohammadreza Khalatbary , arguably , the best forward of the league this current season  while Mohsen Mosalman who has just joined Esteghlal on loan from Zob Ahan has failed to make the list.

 

GOALKEEPERS

Rahman AHMADI (Sepahan), Alireza BIRANVAND (Naft Tehran), Mohsen FROUZAN (Esteghlal)

DEFENDERS
Hashim BEIGZADEH (Esteghlal), Morteza POURALIGANJI (Naft Tehran), AmirHossein SADEGHI (Esteghlal) , Vourya GHAFFORI (Sepahan). MohammadReza KHANZADEH (Persepolis) , Habib GORDANI (Tractorsazi) Ramin REZAEIAN (Rah Ahan), Mohammad NEJADMEHDI (Padideh Mashad)

MIDFIELD
Andranik TEYMOURIAN (Esteghlal), Omid EBRAHIMI (Esteghlal), Ehsan HAJSAFY(Sepahan), Khosrow HEYDARI (Esteghlal), Vahid AMIRI (Naft Tehran), Mohammad NOURI (Persepolis), Soroush RAFEI (Foolad Khuzestan), Iman MOBALI (Naft Tehran)

FORWARDS
Sajjad SHAHABZADEH (Esteghlal) , Sardar AZMOUN (Rubin Kazan RUS), Mehdi SHARIFI (Sepahan) , Masoud HASSANZADEH (Zob Ahan)

 

 

Esteghlal 7
Sepahan 4
Naft Tehran 4
Persepolis 2
Foolad Khuzestan 1
Padideh Mashad 1
Rah Ahan 1
Rubin Kazan 1
Tractorsazi 1
Zob Ahan 1

Sajjad Shahbazadeh
Sajjad Shahbazadeh

9 uncapped players

Masoud Hassanzadeh
Masoud Hassanzadeh