Tag: Vahid Shamsaei

Iran Uzbekistan- Futsal Semi-Final

Preview - Semi-final: Uzbekistan v IR Iran

Bangkok: Uzbekistan will encounter their toughest challenge yet when they go head-to-head with Iran in the semi-finals of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Thailand™ 2024 at the Bangkok Arena on Friday.

Both sides are in great form, having won their previous four matches en route to the semi-finals with Uzbekistan showing nerves of steel to defeat Vietnam in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, thanks to Sunatulla Juraev’s last-gasp goal. 

Head coach Jose Venancio Lopez knows it will be even tougher against 12-time champions Iran. 

“Facing Iran is a different proposition altogether. They are undeniably one of the best teams in the world and are rightfully considered favorites,” said Lopez.

#ACFutsal2024 | Quarter-final : Uzbekistan 2 - 1 Vietnam

“It’s difficult to figure out how to beat Iran. We’re aware of their high-quality play. However, in one game, anything is possible, and we’ll strive to do everything within our power to achieve our target.”

Iran, on the other hand, have been cruising through the tournament and booked their semi-final spot with a 6-1 win over Kyrgyz Republic but head coach Vahid Shamsaee wants his team to remain focused.  

“We know it’s going to be a tough match, both physically and tactically, and we’re determined to show the best performance we can,” said Shamsaee.

#ACFutsal2024 | Quarter-final : IR Iran 6 - 1 Kyrgyz Republic

“The past is the past. We had friendly games with Uzbekistan before this tournament, but there’s a significant difference between the Uzbek team and my team. Each team possesses unique conditions and physical attributes. Right now, our focus is solely on the next game, and we aim to maintain our concentration.

“With each game, we’re improving. We had two targets, and yesterday, we achieved one by qualifying for the FIFA Futsal World Cup Uzbekistan 2024. After our quarter-final game, all my players understood their roles. They know what they need to do tomorrow: to fight until the end without stress and with the hope of delivering a good performance.”

Uzbekistan  v Iran  
Venue: Bangkok Arena (Bangkok)
Kick-off: 17:00 (UTC+3) – Iran Time: 17:30 (UTC+3:30)  

Futsal Team Melli turn on the power

Iran booked their place in the semi-finals of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Thailand™ 2024 after defeating the Kyrgyz Republic 6-1 in their last-eight tie at the Bangkok Arena on Wednesday.

The win meant the 12-time champions also punched their ticket to the FIFA Futsal World Cup Uzbekistan 2024, with a meeting against Uzbekistan or Vietnam in Friday’s semi-finals.

Kyrgyz Republic, meanwhile, will need to wait for the outcome of the day’s last quarter-final between Uzbekistan and Vietnam to learn whether their campaign has concluded, or they will return to action in Friday’s playoffs.

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Iran head coach Vahid Shamsaei said his players found the opening minutes difficult as they were not used to the court conditions.

“We had to acclimatize to the conditions of the court surface as we did not play in this arena in the group stage. However, the players knew what they had to do and we had the perfect second half,” said Shamsaei.

“I’m proud of my players as we also qualified for the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan later this year. Even though Japan are not here in this competition, the quality of the other teams has improved.”

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Kyrgyz Republic head coach Luis Molina was proud of his players despite the heavy defeat.

“I think we played a very good first half but unfortunately for us, we had two players absent due to suspension. We were fighting for 20 minutes with Iran and this was not an easy level. As we approached the end of second half, the players were fatigued,” said Molina.

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Kyrgyz Republic, who lost all their three previous encounters against Iran, had the first look at goal in the opening minute when keeper Bekbolot Akmataliev sent a long ball for Daniiar Talaibekov, who couldn’t get his header on target.

Akmataliev’s reflexes were put to the test moments later when he thwarted Salar Aghapour’s grounded effort and then kept out Behrooz Azimihematabadi twice before the Iran No 14 was denied by the bar followed by a block on Ali Khalilvand’s effort from distance.

Iran continued pressing and broke the deadlock in the seventh minute when Azimi found space down the centre to strike the ball into the top right corner of the net.

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Kyrgyz Republic responded immediately, equalizing a minute later when Akmataliev squared the ball to Amanbaev Donierbek, who beat his marker on the turn before slotting home a grounded effort, leaving Iran keeper Bagher Mohammadi stunned.


Iran restored their lead two minutes later when they were awarded a free-kick with Aghapour curling his effort over the wall and into the top right corner.

Kyrgyz Republic fell further behind three minutes after the restart when they were caught on the counter-attack when Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh played on the ball for Saeid Abbasi to strike home from just above the arc past a diving Akmataliev.

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Despite Kyrgyz Republic’s best efforts, Iran scored their fourth in the 25th minute after Abbasi gained possession before squaring it to Hassanzadeh to tee up Mahdi Karimi to slot the ball through the legs of Akmataliev.

Karimi doubled his tally in the 35th minute after collecting the ball off Aghapour’s cutback from the left flank to slot home on the turn from the top of the box before Hassanzadeh made it 6-1 from the penalty spot.

Iran’s Futsal thrashes Uzbekistan

In the second friendly game, Iran’s national futsal team defeated  Uzbekistan by a wide margin thus ending its training camp with full marks.

The national futsal teams and Uzbekistan met in their second match on Monday with this game ending 8-1 in favor of Iran. In this game, which started at 20:00 in Tehran’s Pass Stadium, Iran scored goals by Behdad Sheikh Ahmadi, Mehdi Karimi, and Saeed Ahmad Abbasi (twice each), Hossein Tayibi and Duran Cherif (own goals). Uzbekistan’s goal was scored by “Akbar Usmanov”. Unlike the first game against Uzbekistan, Vahid Shamsaei’s men started their work without stress and with authority in this match and achieved a 5-0 lead in the first half.

In the second half, even though Uzbekistan tried to make up for the lost goals, Iran continued its offensive game and was able to continue the scoring process. In this half, Mehdi Karimi, Saeed Ahmad Abbasi, and Hossein Tayyebi scored three goals, and Uzbekistan only allowed the ball to cross Iran’s goal line once.

Iran won 5-3 in the first game held on Sunday. If financial resources are provided, the Iranian national team will head to the Brazil tournament in September to hold a few friendly matches and then prepare for the preliminary and final stages of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup.

Shamsaei to continue as Futsal head coach!

Iran’s national futsal team returned to Iran on Sunday from Kuwait, after losing to Japan in the finals of the 16th AFC Asian Futsal Cup. Ehsan Usooli, head of Iran’s futsal committee, who was in Kuwait with the national team, was questioned by the media at the airport who were seeking some justifications for the avoidable loss.

in response to reporters’ questions, Usooli said that  Vahid Shamsaei, the head coach, will continue to be employed according to his contract. The contract of Shamsai and his assistants with the national team is until the end of 1401 (March 2023) adding that this contract will probably be extended for another year. Shamsaei has experienced three competitions as Iran’s futsal head coach. First, in the preliminary and qualifying rounds of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup and then the Thailand Continental tournament where Iran lost to Morocco in the final, while the last one was in the appearance  AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2022 where he again tasted defeat in the final match against Japan. Currently, the Iranian national team does not have a special plan after the Asian Championship, and it seems unlikely that the Caspian tournament will be held with the participation of teams such as Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan.

Usooli did not indicate if there will be an internal review of Shamsaei’s performance and failures and his suggestion that Shamsei will be continued as a head coach indicates that there will be no performance analysis.

Shamsaei in a bold but not very wise move completely overhauled the national team getting rid of most of the players that were winners of trophies at the Asian level and performed admirably at FIFA competitions. However, that was a major mistake by the relatively inexperienced coach and it meant that Iran lost its title in a match that a more experienced coach and players would have probably won easily.

Vahid Shamsaei apologizes for the defeat!

Iran’s national futsal team lost its title against fierce rival Japan in a thrilling match in Kuwait.

While Iran’s road to the final was quite smooth, scoring a plethora of goals against its opponent all the way to the finals, Japan had a difficult road and only managed to qualify from the group stages thanks to goal difference. Japan also had difficult matches against its rivals in the Quarter and Semifinals. However, in the final, Japan managed miraculously to beat Iran which had almost 70% possession, and bombarded the Japanese keeper who was the undisputed hero and the man of the game in the final match.

Iran’s head coach Vahid Shamsaei expressed his hope that his players will learn from this defeat at the press conference of this match. Shamsaei said: “I told my players that I am responsible for the defeat. They gave their best with maximum effort.” The head coach of Iran emphasized: “My players did not want to lose the trophy and were crying, but they have to accept the result. If they want to create a good future for themselves, they must understand failure.” Shamsaei continued: “We had a plan for our team, and if something goes wrong, the responsibility is on me and my colleagues. I wanted to present this win to the people of my country and I hope they will accept my apology.

About the sure performance of Iran’s Legionnaire OladGoghbad, Shamsaei said “he (OladGoghbad) was chosen as the best player of the Asian Championship: All my players were great, but he (OladGoghbad) was wonderful as always and like the rest of the players against Japan. Referring to the changes he made in his team, Iran’s head coach said: “After the loss, I don’t want to talk about the past. I have picked 10 new players to replace the 10 legends. In the very near future, these 10 new players will be legends of Iranian futsal. In the end, Shamsai said: “If I continue with the team, I will definitely work on all our weaknesses. I don’t want to make excuses or say it was a missed opportunity. Our program was not supposed to be for today. I am ashamed that I could not present a win to the people of Iran today.”

Shamsaei committed several tactical mistakes during the final game. Although Iran was the better team, the head coach failed to introduce a game plan that could penetrate the compact Japanese defenses. On his own team, the failure in defense was the reason for Iran’s inability to defend its title. It was three out of three defensive mistakes that allowed the Japanese to score two goals while Saeid Ahmad Abbasi gifted them a goal by passing the ball into his own team’s net during the powerplay!

Shamsaei in his first experience as Team Melli coach was doing fine until the final game, where he failed against a formidable defense of Japan and had no solution for their tight defending.

Team effort powered Iran to semis, says captain Tayyebi

the-afc.com
Wednesday 05 October 2022
Kuwait City:

Captain Hossein Tayyebi credited outstanding teamwork for powering Iran into the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ Kuwait 2022 semi-finals. 
Tayebi, who starred with his second hat-trick of the tournament, was among six Iranian players on target in the 8-1 quarter-final win against Vietnam on Tuesday. 

#ACFutsal2022 – Quarter-finals | Islamic Republic of Iran 8 – 1 Vietnam

Tayebi was quick to praise his team, stating that his teammates – many of whom are young and inexperienced at the continental level – can only improve as the tournament progresses.

“In my opinion, the whole team should be selected as the MVP. We are all following the coach’s guidance and I’m very happy with the result,” said Tayyebi.
“I would like to say that this is a different team, 90 percent of them are playing for the first time in this tournament. I’m very sure that we will get much better with every game.

“I insist that it wasn’t just me, but a team effort, I only had the chance to finish. This is the Iran team, scoring goals for Iran, which is our concept. However, we are young and moving forward in our defence of our title.”
Head coach Vahid Shamsaei hailed the veteran Iranian skipper for his leadership in guiding Iran’s new generation of players.

“Hossein is a really good leader for the team, and all the players respect him,” said Shamsaei.

“Hossein always tries to be the mentor among the players. He’s our international player, and that’s what we expect to see from him.”

Iran turns on the style against Vietnam

the-afc.com
Kuwait City 04 Oct. 2022 

Iran edged closer to a record-extending 13th AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ title after an impressive 8-1 win over Vietnam in the quarter-finals on Tuesday. 
Iran, who scored their fourth consecutive victory en route to making the Kuwait 2022 semi-finals, will face Thailand – who defeated Tajikistan 3-2 – next.

Just as Iran head coach Vahid Shamsaee had predicted, Vietnam adopted a defensive approach but the defending champions wasted no time in testing goalkeeper Ho Van Y through Salar Aghapour and Hossein Tayebi’s early efforts.

Ho then denied Saeid Ahmad Abbasi and Mohammadhossein Bazyar in the fifth and sixth minutes respectively to keep his side in the game.

The Vietnam keeper, however, could do little to stop Tayebi’s incredible strike in the seventh minute, with the Iran skipper volleying home Moslem Oladghobad’s corner-kick for a deserved lead.

Iran, who scored a whopping 24 goals to top Group C, displayed their attacking brilliance in the 10th minute when Abbasi teed up Aghapour (pictured above), who let loose a scorching right-footed strike from over 20 metres out into the top right corner, before Alireza Rafiei Pour (pictured below) drilled home their third goal moments later from a corner-kick set-piece.

Vietnam could have been further adrift in the 11th minute after committing their sixth foul, but Alireza Javan failed to convert from the second penalty spot.

Desperate to stay in the game, Vietnam initiated power play in the 11th minute but found no openings to exploit.

Instead, Iran further widened their lead in the 16th minute when Oladghobad intercepted a pass before relaying it to Tayebi to place the ball in an empty goalmouth.

Vietnam, forced to play on the counter-attack, had a golden opportunity to reduce the deficit  in the 24th minute when Rafiei Pour was penalised for handling the ball at the edge of the box, but the Southeast Asians failed to capitalise.

At the other end, there was no stopping Iran, with Bazyar converting a corner-kick from close range effort in the 25th minute, before Oladghobad’s left-footed strike beat Ho a minute later to make it 6-0.

Vietnam tried to limit the damage by pressing the Iranians with man-to-man marking, but Tayebi completed his hat-trick in the 33rd minute after Abbasi’s initial shot deflected off the upright.

Abbasi netted the eighth three minutes later with Vietnam then scoring a consolation – amazingly only the second goal Iran have conceded in the tournament – through Pham Duc Hoa.

Controversy follows Iran’s Futsal team as it arrives in Kuwait for the AFC Asian Futsal Cup.

Iran’s national futsal team left for Kuwait, the venue of the 16th AFC Futsal Asian Cup Kuwait 2022™. The sending-off occurred after the end of the training camp on Friday but the event was not without contention in Tehran.

Mohammad Reza Sangsafidi’s and Mostafa Nazari, the goalkeepers’ coach were forced to drop out of the squad indicateing the existence of internal disparities before departure to Kuwait. The uncertainty of Sangsafidi’s exclusion from the squad is still not completely clear. There are conflicting views between the player and the coach. Mehr reporter’s follow-ups show that this player has been left out by Vahid Shamsaei based on medical reports and due to a long-term injury. Of course, the player claimed in an interview that he is not injured. The FFIRI has not provided an explanation for the exclusion of a key team player from the squad.

There was more controversy to follow after the omission of Mostafa Nazari, the former Team Melli Goalkeeper and current coach from the team. The Football Federation announced in a one liner that Nazari’s absence in Kuwait was a decision by Vahid Shamsai, but provided no further details on the circumstances and how is it that the defending champion will be playing without a Goalkeepers coach in the competition. Privately it is said that the reason for these decisions was the conflict between the two parties with Nazari accusing and Shamsaei of leaving him out of technical decisions and ignoring his views.

After being excluded from the national team, Nazari, who already has been issued a Kuwaiti visa, reacted to his exclusion by publishing a message on his Instagram and writing a sarcastic message aimed at Shamsaei.

Once again, the FFIRI finds itself in a turmoil and war of attritions. It is not expected that Taj will add quality or anything of value to this administration. After the drama of Team Melli, now it is the turn of the Futsal’s Team Melli. It not because there is a curse, nor it is bad lack or the enemies of the regieme at work, these are also self-inflicted and the end result of one fundementl issue in Iran. Poor management and inefficient leadership leading to the induction of shaky and dodgy characters in the Iranian football system.

Final list for AFC Futsal Cup Kuwait 2022

Iran’s national futsal team, on returning from the 6-side Intercontinental tournament in Thailand, published the list of players who will take part in the Asian Cup in Kuwait.

This camp will resume training after the team’s two-day rest. The technical staff of the national futsal team invited 16 players to the tournament in Thailand. This list has been reduced to 14 people for the AFC Asian Cup Kuwait 2022. Vahid Shamsaei will be coaching for the first time in the Asian Futsal Cup hoping to lift the title for the first time as a head coach. He has already won eight AFC Futsal Championships with Iran.

Iran has one the title 12 times since the inception of the championship. Iran is also the Champion of the last edition.

# Player Post DOB and Age Club
1 Alireza Javan FW 2 February 1995 (27) Crop
2 Alireza Rafieipour DF 9 October 1993 (28) Crop
3 Hamzah Kodkhodaei MF 2 February 1997 (25) Mes Sungun
4 Hossein Tayyebi (captain) FW 29 September 1988 (33) Palma
5 Mehdi Asadshir Sunich Saveh
6 Mehdi Karimi MF 28 January 1997 (25) Giti Pasand
7 Mohammad Hossein Baziar MF 29 November 2003 (18) Sanaye Poshtiban
8 Mohammad Hossein Derakhshani MF 1 April 1993 (29) Giti Pasand
9 Mohammad Reza SengSefidi MF 2 November 1989 (32) Mes Sungun
10 Moslem Oladghobad MF 29 November 1995 (26) Palma
11 Saeid Ahmadabbasi FW 31 July 1992 (30) Valdepeñas
12 Saeed Momeni GK 23 November 1992 (29) Crop
13 Salar Aghapour FW 7 March 2000 (22) Mes Sungun
14 Sina Perkas GK 17 August 1992 (30) Sunich Saveh

 

MATCH SCHEDULE

GROUP C

DATE Match No. Home Away Time Venue
28 September 2022
Wednesday
Match Day 2		 5 Lebanon Chinese Taipei 20:00 Saad Al Abdullah Hall
7 Iran Indonesia 17:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
30 September 2022
Friday
Match Day 4		 13 Indonesia Lebanon 17:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
15 Chinese Taipei Iran 20:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
October 2022
Sunday
Match Day 6		 21 Iran Lebanon 20:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
22 Chinese Taipei Indonesia 17:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall

 

Iran futsal to the finlas after defeating host Thailand.

Iran’s national futsal team defeated the host Thailand 3-2 today in the semi-final match of the intercontinental futsal tournament 2022.

Mohammad Hossein Derakhshani (8), Saeed Ahmad Abbasi (10), and Salar Aghapour (39) scored for Iran in this match. Vahid Shamsaei’s players made their way to the finals with this difficult victory and tomorrow they will face the winner of the Morocco-Finland game for the title of the 6 nations tournament.

The first half; was an intense and physical match. Iran scored the first goal in this half through Derakhshani from an assist by Salar Aghapour. Two minutes later, this time it was Saeed Ahmad Abbasi’s turn to open up Thailand’s goal with two consecutive shots. The clashing and physical game between the two teams even caused Iran to commit 5 fouls. as a result. Thailand was awarded a second-point penalty. However, Iran’s goalkeeper Saeed Momeni, who replaced Sina Perkas in the goal saved the penalty,

The second half:   Thailand came back in the second half with the support of its fans. The host scored its first goal in the 25th minute. In the 29th minute, the Thai players stuck the ball in the net of Iran’s team due to the combined poor work and negligence of the Iranian players, giving the host lots of hope to turn the result around and even win the game. Iran’s attempts were closed but not good enough to scare the Thais.  Thailand also put pressure in the hope of scoring a goal on counterattacks. However, one minute before the end of the game, it was Salar Aghapour who scored the winning goal for Iran so that our country’s team became the finalists with a 3-2 win. Thailand’s captain was sent to the hospital.

In the last minute of the first half, Hossein Tayyebi’s hand, the captain of Iran’s national team, hit the face of Thai captain “Kristada”, causing him severe injuries and breaking Kristada’s nose. The severity of this injury was such that the Thai captain was taken to the ambulance by the emergency forces in the hall to be sent to the hospital to complete his treatment.

Meanwhile, Morocco and Finland met later today Thursday in the other semi-final stage of the 6-side futsal tournament in Thailand. The game ended 4:1 in favor of Morocco. Morocco advanced to the final and will face Iran in the final match that will be held tomorrow Friday.