Tag: Tractorsazi

08/06/2020

Alireza Beiranvand to undergo tests in Antwerp.

Team Melli’s goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand will have to travel to Belgium to participate in the Royal Antwerp club’s testing & training session, Tasnim news agency.

After successfully completing the tests, Beiranvand will join Antwerp. Details and fees are undisclosed and remain under wrap. Persepolis, the current club of Beiranvand, has been against such transfer but there is little they can do to stop it as Beiranvand will be under no obligation as he is reported to be a free agent.

According to the report, it could be a big blow for Iran’s Persepolis team ahead of the Iran Professional League (IPL) resumption.

Persepolis, who relies on Beiranvand’s good performances in the league matches, is in a race to win IPL title, which is scheduled to resume on June 18. Persepolis is leading the table with 10 points gap ahead of Sepahan Esfahan and Tractorsazi Tabriz. with 9 matches left to the end of the delayed season.

24/12/2019

Amir Ghalenoei, The pride of Iranian coaches

Amir Ghalenoei is the most decorated coach in the Iranian domestic league. His record stands at 5 championships titles, 3 with Esteghlal and 2 with Sepahan. All this is about to change as the controversial Ghalenoei is leading the charge for another championship and another record-breaking season.

Sepahan already holds the record for 21 consecutive undefeated matches in the Iranian Premier League. An old record leftover from the tenth Premier League era. In that year, Sepahan, coached by Amir Ghalenoei, lost against Esteghlal in the seventh week but remained unbeaten until the twenty-ninth week of the league when it lost to Mes Kerman.

This record is about to collapse. Again it is Sepahan and again it is Amir Ghalenoei. Interestingly, this time it also started with a defeat against Esteghlal, which was last season. Since then, the yellow and black jerseys have not been defeated. The only zero in the league table standings of the current Iranian Premier League is under losses for Sepahan. Naft Masjid Soleiman finished the half-season unbeaten, but eventually, they were defeated in Tabriz in the 16th week. Sepahan with 31 points leads the table ahead of Persepolis with goal difference.

When Amir Ghalenoei set the record for undefeated matches, he also won the title with Sepahan. He won the league title twice for the “Nisf Jahan” club and can now break his record for the third time for Sepahan. Ghalenoei and Sepahan have played 20 consecutive Premier League games without a loss. If they win the next two games, they will have a new record.

***Team Melli under Ghalenoei in AFC Asian Cup 2007***

Additionally, with Sepahan, Zob Ahan, Esteghlal, and TractorSazi, Ghalenoei has also been vice-Champion.

Amir Ghalenoei also managed Team Melli most notably during the AFC Asian Cup 2007. His statements before and after games are always controversial. He is not by any means unique in his rhetoric as almost all the Iranian coaches have this Blame Culture, feeling of being prosecuted, conspired against, treated unfairly and most famous of all of them, “the referee was against us” mentality. Ghalenoei has been sent off to the stands, sanctioned and disciplined many times in his career for his misdemeanors; however, he remains unique in one important aspect. He is technically one of the most acute and advance coaches that Iran has ever seen. If there was an Iranian coach that can easily coach at the highest level in Asia (language barrier permitting) it is Amir Ghalenoei. This man is head and shoulder above the rest.

It is a great pity that his chances of coaching Team Melli are not great as he admits himself, he has far too many adversaries domestically. The FFIRI and Taj will not be able to deal with the outspoken Ghalenoei. The loser, however, is Team Melli and the national football at large.

17/02/201917/02/2019

Hajsafi talks about the childish mistake against Japan.

Twenty days after the shocking loss of Team Melli to Japan, Ehsan Haj Safi is the first player to publicly talk about the match.

Talking specifically about that strange first goal that Iran conceded, the Tractorsazi player said “It was an irresponsible act that I deeply regret when I think about it. It was a child mistake which lead to conceding the first goal. We were growing in confidence by that time and were sure to score against them if it was not for that regrettable goal that broke our heart. That unfortunate scene is still lingering on all the players’ mind. It is still like a nightmare scene to all of us “HajSafi, who was himself one of the guilty players in the scene pleading with the referee, said.

“It was not the fault of any players for seeking an advantage at that moment (…). When we saw the Japanese player play acting to get a foul on the edge of the box and falling to the ground, we went towards the referee, demanding to punish the player and show him a yellow card for un-sportsmanship conduct, without realizing that the referee has waved play on and the other Japanese player collecting the loose ball, took his time and crossed creating a great opportunity for the forward to score the first goal. In any case, it was a collective mistake of all the 5 players for being negligent. We are to be blamed, the 5 players on that part of the field. This was a costly mistake and a valuable experience for all of us, at international and club level which we hope is never repeated again.”

Iran lost 3-0 to Japan in the semi-finals of the AFC Asian Cup 2019 in Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, UAE.

Qatar won the title for the first time in its history by defeating Japan 3-1 in tn a memorable match in Abu Dhabi..

After the loss to Japan, the FFIRI terminated the contract of coach Carlos Queiroz.

29/09/2018

Speculation about Van Gaal in Iran.

The Former Bayern and Manchester United coach Louis van Gaal is engaged in negotiations for a coaching job in Iran according to consistent media reports. The 67-year-old Dutchman will soon visit Iran, according to various sources.

There could be a possible involvement with Tractor Sazi Tabriz club, currently the richest in the Persian Gulf league (Iranian premiere league). According to other reports, van Gaal could also succeed Carlos Queiroz as coach of the Iranian national football team. The Portuguese contract expires next February. after the end of the AFC Asian Cup 2019.

Tractor Sazi Tabriz, who are known as Paris Saint-Germain of Iranian football, is financially able to sign a coach like van Gaal, For this season, the club has already brought in the Welshman John Toshack as head coach and national players such as Ashkan Dejagah, Masoud Shojaei and Ehsan Haj Safi. However, with 10 points from seven games, the team was not meeting the expectation of the owners and was placed in a disappointing sixth place – which is why there the was speculations about a possible departure of the Welshman. Toshack resigned one week ago and left Tractorsazi.

Louis Van Gaal has trained a host of famous clubs in Europe including Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich, Netherlands National Team and Manchester United. Van Gaal is one of the most decorated managers in football world, having won 20 major honours in his managerial career.

His last post with Manchester United proved the most difficult as his tactical plans and tough training methods did not sit well with the players leading to some poor results. A demanding coach who requires full commitment from players and a coach who has always believed in hard and physically demanding training regime, it is difficult to see him succeed in Iran where the players lack professional discipline and the attitude of their European counterparts. Iranian players prefer a much more relaxed atmosphere in training. and do not respond too well to strict tactical instructions.

02/08/2018

Masoud Shojaei and Ashkan Dejagah, join Tractorsazi

Both Captains of Team Melli , have joined Tractorsazi Tabriz, in the surprise transfer of the season.

While both have been playing in Europe and could have continued doing so, yet in a strange turn of event, they turned up in Tabriz with a lot of question marks on the motives of the move. Masoud Shojaei and Ashkan Dejagah, two well-known and influential players of the Iranian national team who participated in the 21st World Cup recently in Russia, reached peculiar decision to join Tractorsazi team.

Though it will be very good news for the Tabrizi team, it will raise questions about the reasons for the decision made by Shojaei and Dejagah and wheter it hase been either coordinated or orchestrated, especially since the two players have signed up to a three-year contract with Tractorsazi, which is questionable and ambiguous.

Shojaei and Dejagah have joined a team whose owner has been a tremendous support for Team Melli in recent years and has even provided the squad with a special chartered Jet for the squad travels.

The two captains were expected to join Foreign teams with better prospective after the World Cup. Or, even if they did not do well in the European teams, they could have easily continued to play in the neighboring countries League, in particular Qatar.

The main question is why Massoud Shojaei and Ashkan Dejagah have decided on the domestic league in the year leading up to the Asian Cup? The two joined the Tractorsazi while Queiroz always preferred and emphasized on the presence of players in international teams for greater readiness.

It is not clear if Shojaei and Dejagah, who have a close relationship with Queiroz – as national team captains – have consulted the Portuguese coach for their next season’s team selection?

It seems that reasons other than a simple choice in the transfer of Massoud Shojaee and Ashkan Dejagah have been influential.

Branco Ivankovic, who has won the Premier League for two consecutive seasons and has gained a lot of popularity among Persepolis fans, and even considered as a strong candidate to replace Queiroz in the national team, now sees his opposition much stronger than before.

What’s clear is that Tractorsazi has built a strong team under John Toshack and will form a challenge to Persepolis and Esteghlal with the recruitment of Shojaei and Dejagah

13/08/2017

Mehdi Taj to the rescue of Iranian clubs.

The FFIRI President, after prolonged discussion with AFC officials, was able to extend the AFC deadline given to Iranian clubs to pay off their debts for additional two months.

Asian Football Confederation recently set a deadline for the AFC Champions League teams, according to which the clubs must pay all their debts to individuals, legal entities and taxpayers until 31 August . Otherwise they would not be able to get professional licenses and participate in Asian competitions including the Champions League.

Meanwhile, each of the four Iranian clubs on the list Persepolis , Esteghlal , Tractorsazi and Naft Tehran had amassed huge debts from the past seasons that their settlement could did not possibly be cleared in two months, and requires careful planning by the owners of these clubs.

Regarding this problem, Mehdi Taj, during his recent visit to the AFC, had meetings with the members of the Confederation, which resulted in AFC’s approval for a two-month extension to the deadline and mainly to determine the debt obligations. Earlier, these debts were to be paid until August 31st, the club’s account needs to be clear of debts by 9th of November.

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

01/08/2015

The beginning of league season, joy and gloom.

The 15^th Season of Iran Pro football, the Persian Gulf League started with all its usual actions, fanfare, claims and counter claims by coaches, who never seem to tire from their blame culture. It was a bright start for Esteghlal , Sepahan , and Malavan all registering their first wins. The big game of the week between Tractorsazi and Naft Tehran which was so controversial at the final game of last season when Tractorsazi players and fans went into a wild celebration after the final whistle thinking they won the league, was much more quieter and mundane this time. The goalless draw was a drab affair but at least no one fooled Tractorsazi players this time.

Persepolis, with a young team and a highly confident Branko Ivankocvic who is claiming his team is challenging for the championship title and nothing less, could do no better than draw at home against Padideh. The highlight of that game was a wonder equalizing strike by Hadi Nouroozi. Rah Ahan , were minutes away from winning away to Foolad Khuzestan after they lead 2-0 but two quick goals near the end ensured the teams share the spoils. Rah Ahan remained in the top league after the ruling from the appeal committee of FFIRI against their relegation for fielding unregistered player.

Malavan Anzali, a team that is unfairly taking advantage of some peculiar ruling in Iran that allows it to snatch young players during their military service, defeated last season’s Cup winners Zob Ahan 1-0, the goal scored by Arash Afshin , one of the players who does not belong to Malavan but the Bandar Anzali team can get his service for free because it is categorized as a Military team!

As customary for coaches here, Zob Ahan’s Yahya Golmohammadi blamed elements behind the scene for his team’s defeat!

As far as Team Melli players were concerned, there was some good form displayed by various players. Sajjad Shahbazzadeh , Esteghlal’s forward who was selected for Team Melli but never made any squad, scored two goals for his team away to Siah Jamegan. Mehdi Sharifi , continued where he left off last season when he scored the winner against Esteghlal Khuzestan from an inch perfect cross by another Team Melli player, Ehsan Haj Safi.

Sajjad Shabazadeh- Potential Team Melli candidate

Amongst all the actions, the 2015/16 season was not a happy ground for a number of current and former Team Melli players. Amongst the top players sadly missing in action were, Karim Ansarifard, and Ahmad Ale Nemeh. Both part of the FIFA World Cup squad in Brazil, the two players could not find a team. Ansarifard who had a torrid season with Osasuna and was sadly released at the end, insists that he wants to play in Europe and looking for a team in the better league of western Europe.

Other recent and former Team Melli players who were not wanted by any team at the start of the season are:

Javad Kazemian, Mehrdad Ouladi , Siavush Akbarpour , Seyed Mohammed Seyed Salehi , Farshid Talebi , Ahmad Jamshidian , Milad Zeneidpour, and Mohsen Bayati.

The listed players are all out of contract and looking for teams.

15/05/2015

Hossein Faraki does it again . Sepahan lift the League title for the 5th time.

A thrilling finale to the Persian Gulf League season which saw the championship change hands three times in 90 minutes, ended today. Tractorsazi Tabriz, Naft Tehran and Sepahan Esfahan were all in it for the championship title, with the first two meeting in Tabriz and Sepahan facing Saipa t home.

The final day of the league began with Tractorsazi leading the table and needing a win against the other contender Naft Tehran to secure the title for the first time in the history. Naft was in the same situation as Tractorsazi , while Sepahan not only needed all the three points of the match against Saipa , but also for the two teams drawing in Tabriz , in order to snatch the title.

SNATCHING THE TITLE

Snatch is the most appropriate term for Sepahan eventual Championship title as they have been chasing the leaders for weeks without actually making the top until 9 minutes from the season end.

The match in Tabriz in an over-filled Yadegar Imam stadium estimated to be at 70,000 started shockingly for the host as Ezzati scored Naft’s goal within 9 minutes. That result meant the title was for Naft, but Tractorsazi soon responded. The brilliant partnership between Ando Teymourian and the Brazilian forward Edinho , produced two goals for the Azeri team. The first one came on the 37^th minute when a nice weighted cross from Ando found unmarked Edinho on the right. The top league scorer, calmly dribbled the on rushing Naft Defender Shiri, before slotting the ball to the right far corner of Biranvand goal to score the equalizer.

Eight minutes later on the stroke of halftime , the roles was reversed as Edinho, on the left flank, was the provider of an immaculate low cross which found the on rushing Teymourian, to head home past Biranvand reach to the far end of the Naft goal. On both of Tractorsazi goals , Biranvand was found wanting and guilty of poor positioning and action.

Now , Tractorsazi was the champion despite Sepahan leading Saipa in Esfahan.

In the second half Tractorsazi cemented their lead with a third beautifully taken goal by the young and promising forward Farid Karimi, who was surrounded by 4 Naft players but managed to beat them and easily put the ball under Biranvand’s open legs!

3-1 for Tractorsazi as Yadegar Imam Stadium erupted.

Naft Tehran, A fine team with grit and talents.

MORE THRILLING MOMENTS

But there was more action and thrill awaiting the fans. The fate of this match turned upside down when only two minutes after Tractorsazi’s goal, Ando Teymourian, the most experienced of Tractorsazi players, got his marching orders from Iran’s top referee Alireza Faghani. With just short of half an hour to go, suddenly Tractorsazi was feeling the heat.

In the 76th minute and after consistent waves of Naft attacks, Ali Ghorbani pulled another goal back for his team to make it 3-2. Tractorsazi had 14 minutes to hold on to their lead to win the title, but Lenardo Padovani , the Naft defender took full advantage of a horrible mistake by Hamed Lak in Tractorsazi’s goal to score the equalizer.

It was a massive heartbreak for Tabrizi fans.

SEPAHAN ESFAHAN, RECORD BREAKING TITLE.

Sepahan were still leading Saipa for the remainder of the 9 minutes of the League season 2014/15 as the two goals scored by Mehdi Sharifi in Esfahan was good enough for the Esfahani team to win its record 5th title.

Hossein Faraki, proved beyond shadow of doubt that he is currently the best Iranian football coach by far, winning his second title in a row with two different clubs.

TEAM MELLI FORTUNES

As far as Team Melli is concerned , the matches of the last few rounds and the thrilling finale , showed plenty of promise and talents to replace the old guard in the team, if only one Carlos Queiroz allows that to happen. The Portuguese coach , was nowhere to be seen in any stadiums for the last day of the league as he has left Iran and missed the thrills of what he labels as a boring league.

The worrying part is that Team Melli will be truly struggling in the goalkeepers department as Naft Tehran’s Alireza Biranvand and Tractorsazi’s Hamed Lak both where culprits in their performances. Their standard was consistent with their earlier showings in the league. Both are on Team Melli squad list but certainly liabilities and hardly worthy of a place in Team Melli. With Peykan relegated and with them Mehdi Rahmati, it is difficult to see him bounce back that soon or be picked up by Queiroz. There are no other significant talents who can be considered a worthy candidate for Team Melli goalkeeper position discovered in the league.

26/02/2015

The Goalkeeping dilemma.

Any Iranian fan watching the recent AFC Champions league matches would have been alarmed by the lackluster standard of Iranian goalkeepers. Added to the fact that the recent showing of Team Melli matches where goalkeepers performed poorly, such performances does not instill much confidence in the custodians who form the last frontier of any ambitious team challenging for championships and trophies.

The beautiful free flowing passing game of Naft Tehran deserved much better than the 2-1 defeat in Uzbekistan, as the Persian Gulf League leader fell victim to two horrible and amateurish errors by their goalkeeper Alireza Biranvand which cost them two goals and a defeat, after leading 1-0.

Nearly identical scenario was repeated a day later again in Uzbekistan as Tractorsazi was leading 1-0 before two blunders by their goalkeeper allowed the Uzbeks to win the match 2-1. The culprit goalkeeper was Hamed Lak. His edgy performance was a contributing factor in this defeat.

Persepolis , whose goalkeeper Sasha Makani is very well known for his calamitous performances was spared its blushes when they defeated Lekhwiya of Qatar 3-0 against all the odds. The Qatari league leader with some expensive star players were simply having a day off as Makani was hardly tested.

The common dominator of all these goalkeepers is that Carlos Queiroz has picked the above mentioned goalkeeper for Team Melli at different stages and competitions. Which , for all practical terms and purposes , means they are the best keepers in Iran. Biranvand is still in the list and was part of the last squad in the AFC Cup 2015 in Australia while Makani and Lak have only been recently replaced by Haghighi and Frouzan.

Haghighi , the surprise pick of the obstinate Portuguese coach , was the main goalkeeper for both the World Cup and Asian Cup. Not surprisingly, his performances have left a lot to be desired. The fans need to be thankful for the outright defensive game plan of Queiroz that has protected Haghighi in goal from being bombarded in both tournaments. However, when the team changed plans and needed to win by playing more offensively , Haghighi and his defense were truly exposed and conceded 6 goals in the last two matches of the two major competitions. 3 goals against Bosnia in the World Cup and three against Iraq in the quarter finals of Asian Cup. To make matters worse, Alireza Haghighi failed to save any penalty kick in the penalty shootout as Iran was knocked out from the Asian Cup.

All this was happening when two of the most experienced goalkeeper in Iran, Mehdi Rahmati and Rahman Ahmadi , were enjoying a holiday back home as Queiroz did not seem to believe in their abilities nor their skills.

Queiroz issue with Rahmati and some other players is a problem that is quite clearly undermining Team Melli. His personal antipathies against certain staff and players like Khalatbary , Mojtaba Jabbari, Hadi Aghili , Majid Saleh , Ali Karimi amongst many others are leaving the team handicapped and nothing is more evident than in between the three posts where the absence of the experienced Rahmati was felt.

Queiroz is only a part of the entire problem as Iran’s football system seems to have a distinct lack of ability to produce quality goalkeepers. It is also evident that the goalkeeping coaches are not of a high caliber at clubs and junior teams’ levels.

Iran’s goalkeeping problem is not new either. For more than a decade, Iran has been suffering from lack of quality goalkeepers. Ebrahim Mirzapour and his generation of keepers did not enhance the reputations of Iranian keepers, before Rahmati came into the scene. However, even Rahmati, arguably still the best keeper in Iran (not according to Queiroz, of course) , had difficulties like poor handling of aerial balls which marred his good records.

While goalkeeping is the least popular of posts amongst young players and good keepers are always in demand, the lack of production of quality keepers which requires a careful study and planning from the root level , could very well be a serious problem in the near future for Team Melli.