Qatar national football team arrived at Tehran on Sunday evening in preparation for their World Cup Qualification Asian Zone match against Team Melli on Tuesday 12th June, The Qatari team is without their influential Captain Wessam Rizk who is suspended after receiving a yellow card in the match against Korea Rep. making him illegible for the encounter in Azadi Stadium. The other absentee in Qatar team will be Jarallah Al Merri , who is on the injured list , while another players , Lawrence , is still undergoing treatments and might be doubtful for the match on Tuesday.

 Meanwhile , Paulo Autuori’s men were given a morale boosting lecture by the Brazilin coach in which he asked the players to completely forget the Korea match defeat and make a fresh start starting coming Tuesday. Although many in Qatar believe that a draw against the Persians in Tehran will be a great result, as they managed to achieve this before in February in Paulo Autuori’s first match in charge of the team. However , the Brazilian intends to go for all the three points. He claims that there is no point in settling for a draw at this stage of the competition . In the process , Autuori  is planning to make several changes for the match against Iran focusing on the offensive side.

 It was noted that several players suffered from fatigue in the last match against Korea Rep. The match in Azadi will be the third for Qatar in 10 days. Physical condition of the Qatar players will be a serious issue on Tuesday.

Meanwhile in the Team Melli training camp . news has filtered through that Pejman Montazeri is back training with the team after the initial fear that he tore a hamstring muscle. The Esteghlal defender  is on a special training program to prepare him for the match. Ando Teymourian , who was amongst several players who had a touch of cold and got a mandatory rest , is also back on training. There still no confirmation from the camp on the status of Ashkan Dejageh and whether he will be available for selection on Tuesday.

The controversial Al Wasl Argentinee coach Diego Maradona xlaimed that he copped some ‘harsh words’ from Team Melli’s coach Carlos Queiroz, after they clashed over Mohammad Reza Khalatbari’s availability for a match.

Queiroz rejected Maradona’s request to release Khalatbari from international duty for Sunday’s Gulf Club Championship final second leg against Al Muharraq sheduled to be played in Dubai.

Maradona had hoped the Iran international, who scored the winner in Team Melli’s opening 1-0 away victory over Uzbekistan, would be available for selection in Dubai. He ingnored the fact that FIFA rule that international players must be released to their national teams at least 3 days prior to an offcial match.

However, Queiroz rejected his request, as Iran prepare for Tuesday’s 2014 World Cup qualifier at home to Qatar.

“I called Carlos personally to request him for the release of this player for this game but he flatly refused and had some very harsh words at me. This was uncalled for,”  Diego Maradona told reporters in Dubai ahead of the second leg.

There was no independent confirmation to Maradona’s claim nor was there any public response from Carlo Queiroz on the subject. However , Queiroz would have been under severe criticism if he had agreed to the release of Khalatbary for a worthless and meaningless club match while Iran is involved in a crucial World Cup qualification match.

On the other hand, Carlos Queiroz was himself ultra-critical when Sepahan , Esteghlal and Perspolis were invloved in the AFC Champions League matches and did not release their players for the Team Melli camp.  Maradona . it seems ,  was oblivious to these fact

It would be quite a rare occasions in Team Melli history if a player starts  his career against the same opposition in two consecutive times in competitive matches. Ashkan Dejageh , the German based Iranian player , will achieve such feat if he proves his full fitness to Carlo Queiroz comes Tuesday June , 12th and starts the match against Qatar.

Dejageh has not featured in the Team Melli matches, all of which were friendlies against low ranked teams. He was selected for the match against Uzbekistan in the first of Round 4 matches , but a niggling injury prevented him from making an appearance.

Ashkan Dejajeh was sorely missed in that match as Team Melli played one of its weakest matches for a long time , and thanks to the last minute deep into injury time goal scored by Khalatbari and assisted by Ansarifard , which saved Iran’s blushes.

While most of the team did not click and played with flaws, (the goalkeeper excluded) ,  it was the midfield where Team Melli suffered most from weaknesses. None of the midfield players  managed to play any role in controlling the match and time after time , Nekounam , Teymourian , Jabbari failed to match the Uzbeks speed , stamina and filed control. Team Melli midfield players lacked creativity and failed in dominating.

Team Melli’s Portuguese coach is desperate to arrest the slide in performances which began with the loss against Albania. He knows that two bad games constitute a mini-crisis, especially when the majority expects a full 3 points from the match against Qatar in Azadi. South Korea has already sounded the alarm by defeating Qatar in Doha convincingly and emphatically 4-1.

The Expectations are quite high and Ashkan Dejageh could find himself in the limelight and a crucial figure in the team. A repeat performance against the Qatari’s on Tuesday will be quickly elevate Dejageh status amongst the fans and if he scores , this would be another unique record for a Team Melli player , scoring in first two competitive matches.

While a single player cannot possibly cover all the weaknesses of the team, however Dejageh’s experience, skill and creativity will go a long way in improving the performance and leading the team to all the three points.

Ashkan Dejageh is currently training with the squad in Team Melli camp , but a final verdict on him is not expected until shortly before kick off on Tuesday.

IFF has announced that two friendly matches has been finalized on Tuesday , 4th August against Syria and Tuesday 9th October against North Korea ahead of the FIFA World Cup qualification matches with Lebanon and Korea Republic.

Team Melli will be hosting these two matches in Azadi stadium.

These two matches willl be good tests for Team Melli facing two crucial matches. The friendly against Syria will act as a good test run for the Lebanon match as both the teams play similar style of football.

North Korea , always a difficult opponent to beat and a solid defnsive team will be a real test juat ahead of the defiiong match against South Korea. The North Koreans have never beaten Iran , but they have never been easy opponents either in the 21 matches that have been played between the two nations.

Iran last met North Korea in the group stages of the Asian Cup 2011 in Doha , Qatar and managed to defeat the Koreans by a solitary goal scored by Karim Ansarifard.

The central defender of Team Melli who played a full match against Uzbekistan in the 1-0 victory in Tashkent , has suffered a major blow when medical tests diagnosed him as having  hamstring problems which requires anything up to 5 weeks to fully recover.

This is a blow for the Esteghlal defemder who was one of the few outstanding players in the first match of FIFA World Cup Round 4 qualification. This injury will mean he will miss the Qatar game and possibly the start of the new league season .

On the other hand , Ashkan Dejageh is still on the injury list and his chances of playing the next match against Qatart in Azadi stadium is about 50/50.

Team Melli injury list also includes Mojtaba Jabbari who was listed as doubtfull for the next match. Although Jabbari is not confirmed , he has not trained with the team since theri return back from Tashkent.

Team Melli has risen 7 places in the latest FIFA ranking published today. June 2012 ranking of 45 is the second best that Iran has achieved this year since January ranking of 44 in the world.

The other Asian teams of significant rise was Japan which also has risen  7 places to 23rd while Australia has dropped 3 spots to 24th right after Japan. Iran remains the 4th in Asia After South Korea in the 35th  place.

The other teams in Iran’s World Cup qualification matches suffered mixed fortunes. Uzbekistan gained 4 places to rise to 66 , while Qatar dropped 7 places to 91. Lebanon suffered a steep fall losing 14 places to be ranked at 143 in FIFA Ranking.

Tashkent.

A last minute injury time goal by substitute Mohammad Reza Khalatbary, ensured all the three points of the match against Uzbekistan the first match of the group.

In a lackluster performance , the two teams failed to impress and the match was scoreless until the dying seconds when a counter attack and a brilliant pass by Karim Ansarifard , found Khalatbary on the far side. The Al Wasl forward slotted the ball calmly on the far right of the Uzbek goalkeeper.

The first half started with Iran having most of the play and controlling the pace , but that quickly changed as Uzbekistan took control and created two serious chances both saved by Mehdi Rahmati in Iran’s goal.

The second half continued on a similar pattern to the first with the host pressuring Team Melli into defense and even managed to put the ball past the goal line but the Japanese referee was unable to spot that and the game continued .

Despite the host creating most of the chances, there finishing left a lot to be desired while Team Melli managed one shot only from the disappointing Nekounam during the 90 minutes.

With the three points in the bag , Iran will be facing Qatar in Azadi with a huge confidence . however , the performance of Carlos Queiroz was feeble and disorganized. The lineup , has raised a few question marks. The Portuguese will be hoping to get it right next Friday  and with a near capacity crowd expected , there is very little margin for error.

Saturday 3^rd June 2012

Uzbekistan  0 – 1 Iran

Goal : Khalatbary (90+4)

Tashkent
JAR Stadium
Referee:  Yuichi NISHIMURA (JPN)

Uzbekistan
Ignatiy NESTEROV (GK); Anzur ISMAILOV, Islom INNOMOV, Jasur KHASANOV Out (68′ Lutfulla TURAEV), Azizbek HAYDAROV,Odil AHMEDOV,Stanislav ANDREEV, Alexander GEYNRIKH, Timur KAPADZE, Jasur HASANOV Out (87′ Ulugbek BAKAEV ),Victor KARPENKO Out (50′ Marat BIKMAEV )
Coache: Vadim ABRAMOV (UZB)

Iran
Mehdi RAHMATI ; Ehsan HAJI SAFI (61′  MohammadReza KHALATBARI), Seyed jALAL HOSSEINI, Pejman MONTAZERI ,Pejman NOURI, Hossein MAHINI , Javad NEKONAM , Andranik TIMOTIAN , Mojtaba JABARI (75′  Karim ANSARIFARD) , Ali KARIMI, Mohammad EBRAHIMI (45′ Khosro HEYDARI)

Coaches:
Carlos QUEIROZ (POR)

UZBEKISTAN vs. IRAN

Head to Head

H Home  / A Away / N Neutral

Last 5 results   

UZBEKISTAN 

  Last 5 results    

IRAN

SQUAD

May 1, 2012Iran 3 – Mozambique 0

A Crucial encounter against the Uzbeks on Sunday

Tashkent : Team Melli will be commencing the long and arduous road to Brazil 2014 for the qualification to the FIFA World Cup by playing away to Uzbekistan on Sunday. While Uzbekistan had a very impressive qualification record in round 3 topping its group that had Japan , the current Asian Champion as the favorite , the Uzbeks will be handicapped by the absence of several key players.

Team Melli , who will have Askan Dejagheh on the bench still not fully fit , while Mohammd Ghazi is definitely out, is still not full strength but still better than the Uzbeks who faces the loss of 5 major players due mixture of suspensions and injury. However, it would be truly unwise to consider that as a major blow for the Central Asian team who has a mixture of experience and youth in its squad.

The match is expected to be a tight affair between the two teams who are amongst the favorite in addition to Republic of Korea.

Team Melli, has been stuttering on the field and none of the results or performances during the matches against weak games have been very encouraging. However, the Persian have always shown a resolute attitude when it matters and the fans count on such attitude to pass the first hurdle in Tashkent successfully.

With the last minute arrival from Dubai of Al Wasl midfielder , Mohammad Reza Khalatbary , the squad had its last member and headed for the Uzbek capital from its Turkish camp in Istanbul.

The previous records between the two teams augur well for Team Melli. They have never lost to Uzbekistan since their first encounter back in 1998 when Team Melli defeated the Uzbeks 4-0 courtesy of a hat trick by Ali Daei and a goal by Ali Mousavi in the last the Asian Games where teams had their full squads.

Queiroz “Regardless to the result of the match , I wishthat Iran and Uzbekistan qualify from this group.

In the pre-match news conference, Queiroz said that regardless to the result of the match , he wished that Iran and Uzbekistan qualify from this group. On the issue of 5 key players absent form Uzbekistan , Queiroz said “I do not think that this a crucial issue for us. This team is quite strong and with many players missing , they managed to defeat Japan. So , in such caliber of a team , the absence of few players does not make a big dent in its abilities. We take our opposition seriously despite these absentees”