Tag: Venezuela

Iran draws Venezuela

Team Melli drew 1 – 1 with Venezuela as part of the preparations for the AFC Asian Cup 2019. The friendly international match was played in Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar today (Tuesday).

The Venezuelan scored first through Darwin Machis on the half hour. Ali Gholizadeh equalized just before Half time for Iran.

First half:

The best chance to score was wasted by Iran as early as the 10th minute by Sardar Azmoun, after some brilliant work on the right flank by Ali Gholizadeh. Azmoun hit the ball which was nicely delivered to him by Gholizadeh at the Venezuelan keeper who blocked its path and deflected over it the bar for a corner thus depriving Azmoun from scoring a certain goal.

The first goal was scored in the 35th minute by Machies for Venezuela as the player easily dribbled passed the out of form Rezaeian and shoot passed him. A weak reflex  by Abedzadeh in goal allowed the ball to pass underneath his body to announce the first goal of the match. It was an awful goal to concede and a blunder by the defender and the keeper..

In the 43rd minute, Ali Gholizade, who was the star of the Iranian national team in the first half, with a series of skillful moves and dribbling of two opponents, shot a diagonal ball that beat the keeper to score level the score.

Second half:

in the 49th minute, Mehdi Taremi robbed the ball from a defender just outside the box. While he had two players in much better position than him to score, decided to go a lone a shoot weakly outside the post.

In the 53rd minute, the referee announced a penalty kick after Taremi was tripped in the box. but after referring to the VAR system, the Qatari referee changed his mind and reversed the penalty call.

The Venezuelan player manged to put the ball into Team Melli’s net in the 65th minute, but the referee disallowed it fo roffside. In the next few minutes, the two teams committed far too many fouls as the game turned into a physical battle, as it normally does with South American opposition.

There was yet another penalty call for Iran this time for handball inside the box. Once again the referee decided to check the VAR and once again he cancelled the penalty although the replays from many angles shows a definite and clear contact of the ball with Venezuelan defender.

With 15 minutes left, the substitutions started by both team and like it always does, the momentum and the excitement of the match was lost on both sets of players.

Team Melli lineup:

Amir Abedzadeh, Ramin Rezaian (Sadegh Moharrami), Omid Ebrahimi, Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh, Hossein Kanan-Zadegan, Milad Mohammadi, Vahid Amiri (Mehdi Torabi), Ali Gholizadeh (Ashkan Dejagah), Sardar Azmoun (Karim Ansarifrd), Mehdi Taremi (Kaveh Rezaei ) and Saman Ghodoos (Masoud Shojaei)

 

 

Venezuela match to be played in Doha

According to IRIFF’s official website, the Iranian national team will fly to Doha, Qatar right after the match against Trinidad and Tobago, in preparation for another international friendly on the 20th November 2018 day at Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium against Venezuela.

This match was supposed to be played in Tehran, but the Venezuelan federation had a change of mind and refused to travel to Tehran.  Negotiations between the two resulted in a midway solution as the match venue was changed to Doha.

Venezuela is ranked twenty-ninth and in FIFA Ranking one above Iran. The match will be held Tuesday, November 29, 18 (local time) in Doha.

Rank 30 for Team Melli

Iran climbed 3 places to number 30 in the world in the latest ranking figures that was published by FIFA on the 25th October 2018.

While still maintaining the top title in the AFC Zone , Team Melli managed to add 3 extra points to its grand total.  All other Asian teams maintained the same place in the AFC zone ranking.

 

FIFA Ranking Oct 2018

Rank Team Points Previous  Change
28 SVKSlovakia 1483 1491 -2
29 VENVenezuela 1479 1476 3
30 IRNIR Iran 1478 1474 3
31 PARParaguay 1477 1477 0
32 BIHBosnia and Herzegovina 1476 1468 2

 

 

AFC Zone

 

Asia

Rank

 World Rank Positions Total Points Previous Points +/-
1 30 IRNIR Iran 1478 1474 3
2 42 AUSAustralia 1432 1431 1
3 50 JPNJapan 1409 1398 4
4 53 KORKorea Republic 1401 1395 2
5 72 KSASaudi Arabia 1334 1337 -1

 

 

 

Venezuela also cancels the friendly match!

FFIRI has received a message from its Venezuelan counterpart stating that its national team which was supposed to be in Tehran on 20th November to face Team Melli, will not be able to appear.

 

According to FFIRI spoke person Homeira Asadi, the Venezuelans have stated that several of their players are resident in the USA and hence will be unable to join the squad. Asadi declined to comment on whether the FFIRI will seek compensation from the Venezuela FA for such move.

After this cancellation , Team Melli will play against Trinidad and Tobago and Qatar before flying to UAE for the AFC Asian Cup 2019.

Farias acknowledges that “Queiroz is a great coach”

In the pre-match press conference between Team Melli and Bolivia at Azadi Stadium, the guest team coach , César Alejandro Farías said: “We will play a great match tomorrow which will be different from our other matches.”

The Bolivian soccer coach (45 years) who is a native of Venezuela , went on to mention Carlos Queiroz on the bench of the Iranian national team and acknowledged what a great coach is occupying the bench of Iran. “Iran has great players and coaches. The team played well in the World Cup and was strong in terms of defensive structure.”

“In our continental competitions, we have rivals like Argentina and Colombia who have great physical strength,” he added. ”There are very strong teams in South America. It’s hard for us to compete against these teams. We have to prepare ourselves very well to face the strong continental rivals. Iran is also doing the same to maintain its rank and reputation in Asia. “

Referring to Bolivian players, who are preparing to face Iran tomorrow “it is a great opportunity for the younger players. Based on their physical fitness, they can challenge for a starting line up in the team” .

Bolivia boss responding to queries whether Bolivia has brought the full team to Tehran, said ” We have very good players who are in good conditions in the team. Iran is a very good tactical team. Our next opponent is one of the best in Asia. Our team is preparing itself for the qualifications matches. As you know, Bolivia is playing its home matches at high altitudes above the sea level, and now we are going to experience different environmental conditions.”

He continued “We traveled a long way to reach Tehran. This trip will be good for players to measure their readiness and bodily conditions to play around the world.”

The Bolivian national football team coach commented on the chances of Iran winning the 2019 Asian Cup in the UAE and said “Carlos Queiroz, who sits on a bench, is a great coach. Iran plays with good tactic and maintains a high standard. Iran national team was in the toughest World Cup group. But what we saw, was a fine display. While In London conference, we analyzed the World Cup games. Mr. Queiroz was also present. Iran’s strong performance was reviewed and analyzed. It is a team that played very well and very solid.”

At the end, Farias remarked: “I’ve been coaching in Venezuela for six years, and then I was involved in the South American under 20 competition. I was also in the Copa Libertadores and Superliga. I’m currently the Bolivian National football team coach. I am at the same time the coach of a Venezuelan club, my contract will become official as of the beginning of December. I have 25 years of coaching experience”

Team Melli to meet Trinidad and Venezuela in friendly matches.

As part of the ongoing preparation for the AFC Asian Cup 2019, Iran’s Team Melli will face Venezuela next month after the proposed match against Trinidad and Tobago.

According to ISNA, Venezuelan media have announced that the their national football team is scheduled to meet in a friendly international with the Iranian national team next month. On this basis, the friendly match between Team Melli and Venezuela will be held at Azadi Stadium on Tuesday, 20th November.

Earlier, foreign sources had announced that Team Melli is scheduled to hold a friendly international against Trinidad on Thursday 15th November. The Iranian national team will also play at home next week against Bolivia. The two teams Iran and Venezuela have recently met in Nijmegen, Netherlands,  where the match ended 1-0 for Iran.

As customary by now, there are no official word from the football federation on these matches!

Narrow win for Team Melli against Venezuela

Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s 57th minute strike gave  Iran a 1-0 win over Venezuela in an international friendly at the Goffertstadion in Nijmegen, Netherlands on Monday.

 The win stretched Iran’s unbeaten run to 10 matches as Team Melli continue their Road to Russia preparations.

Iran, the first Asian team to confirm their berth for the FIFA World Cup 2018 Russia, beat Panama 2-1 in a friendly on Thursday and are enjoying a rich vein of form.

The win is a boost for Carlos Queiroz’s team as they prepare for next summer’s FIFA World Cup. 

In action later on Monday will be Saudi Arabia, whose latest Road to Russia friendly will be against Bulgaria.

Team Melli Line up: Alireza Biranvand (Mohammadshshid Mazaheri 46), Ramin Rezaiyan, Seyyed Jalal Hosseini (Omid Ebrahimi 61), Morteza Pourali Ganji, Saeed Ezzatollahi (Akbar Imani 46), Ali Karimi, Ashkan Dejagah (Saman Ghodous 46), Vahid Amiri, Ehsan Haj Safi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Kaveh Rezaei 61), Reza Ghokhannejad (Commander 61).

Venezuela team : Fariniz (Contreras 46), Hernandez, Avicadas, Chanslor, Annel, Figueira, Aranda, Aniur, Murillo, Rondon, Machies (Lucena 75).

First half report

Minute 2: Alireza Jahanbakhsh kicked off the right-wing at the very first minute, and with a good shot, Reza GhoochanNejad set a good goal, but Gucci kicked the ball high with a fierce shot.

In the 7th minute, Sa’id Ezatollahi’s shot from behind the penalty area was easily caught byFariniz.

In the 14th minute, the tactical work of Iran’s players on the right hand side of Venezuela took a great shape to reach HajSafi in front of the penalty area. HajSafi strong shot midway through the Venezuelan player’s way and did not reach the gate.

In the 18th minute, once again the tactical work of the Iranian players was answered, but again, Iran’s players were not very accurate in the final touch and the Venezuelan goal remained clean.

In the 25th minute, Ehsan Haj Safi’s well-rounded pass to Vahid Amiri resulted in the player taking the shot and the player snapped out a little away from the Venezuelan goal.

 31st minute, WBA player Rhondon Shoot traversed a distance of about 30 meters from the Iranian goal

In the 36th minute, a free kick to Venezuela and a cross from , saw Biranvand come out erroneously in no-man zone. The Venezuela player shot at the empty net ,  Seyyed Jalal Hosseini cleared the ball from the line

Second half report

In the 50th minute, on a team-run Venezuelan team, the team got a shotgun that embraced the striker Muhammad Mazhahi Mazaheri.

In the 55th minute, Saman Chandos’s center met by Pouraliganji who headed powerfully towards the goal, but the new goalkeeper sent the ball to the corner.

Goal: In the 57th minute, a sharp counter-attack of Iran’s players resulted in a Venezuela goalkeeper coming out of his box, and Amiri sent a deep pass through to Jahanbakhsh who was facing an empty goal and scored the first goal for Iran. Jahanbakhsh scored in a city whose first club in the Netherlands belongs to this city (Nijmegen).

In the 60th minute, the Venezuelan player’s cross and the acrobatic blow of the player crossed wide off target .

In the 63rd minute, Hajj Safi’s pass into the penalty area of Venezuela, where a rogue shot and one shot hit him on the net.

In the 66th minute, Wahid Amiri initially scored the test inside Venezuela’s penalty area, and after passing few players, he transferred the ball to Kaveh Reza’i who did not hit the goal with a deflected attack on the team.

In the 70th minute, after a dribbling PouraliGanji, Sotluled sent his own line to the Iranian goal where Rondon was unlucky to miss the target.

In the 72nd minute, the Venezuelan midfielder Rondon struck against Iran’s goalkeeper but struck him off Hajj Safi. The attack continued and Iran’s players made several mistakes at Rashid Mazaheri’s goal.

In the 76th minute, with the Venezuelan goalkeeper mistake, the ball reached Rezaei, when his center landed on PouraliGanji, but the opponent’s timely tackle prevented him from scoring the second goal for Iran.

At precisely the 77th, Venezuelan players lost ground on a quick counter-attack near the boxy, who lost their position on the carelessness of the players.

In the 88th minute, Sotoledo Shot with a very good reaction from Rashid Mazaheri who kept the Iranian goal clean.

The game ended with a one-nil  lead away for the Iranian national team. This was the second narrow win for Team Melli after the 2-1 win against Panama.