Esteghlal Tehran player and Team Melli Captain,  Javad Nekounam made his126th Team Melli international cap to pass Ali KArimi as the second highest player after Ali Daei.

While Nekounam was absent from several Team Melli international friendlies during his time in Spain , it was quite possible to see him approach or even exceed Ali Daei’s record of 149 caps.

The table below list the players who have played 50 or more caps for Team Melli along with other stats.

Rank

Name

Openin.

Subst.

Total

Goals

Yellows

Reds

Budapest  August 15^th , 2012

 Iran drew with Tunisias 2-2 in a friendly internationa match held in Széktói, Kecskemét, Hungary. The match which was in the conclusion of a week-long training camp in Budapest , ended scoreless at half time with Iran having more of the possession and creating several scoring opportunities.

In the first chance , as early as the 3^rd minute , Ashkan Dejageh ball was cleared just before passing the goal line , while Karim Ansarifard , missed am easy ball while he was beautifully fed by Ali Karimi leaving him facing the goalkeeper with no marker in sight. Ansarifard blasted the ball off mark. Dejageh again found himself one on one with the Tunisian Keeper later on in the half . He dribbled past the advancing keeper with ease , but his feeble shoot towards the empty goal was intercepted by the advancing Tunisian defender for yet another chance to go astray.

In the second half , on the 53^th minute, Iran soon found the goal from clever work by Ashkan Dejageh , who fed Heydari with a clever ball on the right flank. The Esteghlal defender , went past his marker and penetrated into the box and passed a perfect ball to Mohammadreza Khaltabry , who had ample time to receive and control the ball before smashing it into the goal past the helpless goalkeeper and defenders.

But the Iranians joy was short lived as three minutes later , Tunis equalized when substitute Ammerl Jemel , tapped a simple ball into the net past Rahmati. The goals was gifted to the Tunisians due to some poor marking and clearance which allowed the Tunisian winger to play simple pass to Jemel t

The Iranians retored the lead on the hour when another piece of clever football yielded result. Khaltabary on the left wing , played havoc with his two Tunisian defenders and he slalomed his way with ease passing them to cross a delicately measure inch perfect ball to the advancing Mohammad Ghazi , for the Perspolis forward to head home , Iran’s second. Ghazi was slightly injured when the Tunisian goalkeeper clashed into him trying to intercept Khalatbary’s cross.

Iran still managed to control the match , but yet another momentary lapse of concentration and another poor timing by Mehdi Rahmati cost Iran the match . A long cross from the right found Jomaaa, the Tunisian Substitute with plenty of time to jump and head the ball while two central defenders ball watches. Rahmati , in one of his classical misjudgment of the flight of the ball, allowed the ball to pass him while it could have been easily saved.

A last minute plea for a penalty by Javad Nekounam after the bal hitthe Tunisisan defendewrs armwas waved on by the Hungarian referee for the match to end in a tie.

Overall, it was a much better performance for Team Melli with some positive and organized football played by the Iranians. Omid Nazari , the Iranian-Swedish player made his debut , while there was no sign of Ghoochinejad the other new player in the squad.

Carlos Queiroz Iran’s national football team coach, in a post-match interview after the friendly match between Team Melli and Tunisia  played in in Hungary , that the his team’s performance in this match was better than the results obtained.

“We had several one to one situations that did not yield any results. Unfortunately , we also concede two very simple goals. Of course ,it is not an individual fault but the overall team’s responsibility.” He added.

“ In general , I was not really satisfied with the results , because it was lower than I expected. We have wasted a good chance of winning this game. However , I am not too concerned , as there is no problem in this team that cannot be resolved(…)”

Queiroz  then explained the circumstances behind conceding those two simple goals “
“We lost concentration in the two moments that we conceded the goals. We also allowed the Tunisians to exert pressure on us during the times that we conceded the goals.  The positive point of our team, was the creation of many scoring chances which in itself is encouraging. While the fact that we rarely allowed the opposition to reach our goal . was another positive aspect. I think we are doing a good job and we are moving forward and am excited for the next camp because I have this mentality that we were fully prepared to meet in Lebanon.”

Iran’s coach commented about the players, especially the new players and said, “I am satisfied with the performance of the Omid Nazari. He had high concentration throughout the game and he looked like he was a veteran rather than a rookie in the team.

“I am satisfied with the performance of the team but I am so upset with the result”

“I was quite excited to have Ghoochanejad in the match as he trained very well with us since he joined the squad. However , the FIFA documents allowing him to  play with Iran was not issued in time . I was quite satisfied with Maziyar Zare in his new role in the center of defense as well. He did a good job. I am comfortable to have another solid defender in this position now.”.

Related Links

Match Details

Budapest.

Daniel “Dan” Gaspar  “Iranian goalkeeprs cannot win a place in the starting line up by using the media”

On the eve of the friendly match with Tunisia , Daniel Gasper , the Portuguese American goalkeeping Coach of Team Melli, commented on the week long training camp that was set up in Hungary. Gasper stated his satisfaction with the facilities provided and the resources available. He also declared that this was a very timely training camp which gave the technical crew a good opportunity to work with the players, specially the new faces, after a longish break since the last match against Qatar. The camp was quite productive.

Gapser praised the work ethics of the players and said that all of them showed a lot of enthusiasm and energy which was quite pleasing for the coaching team. Asked whether new goalkeepers will be added to the squad , Gasper said that there will never be anything called a permanent position in the team. We always look for new talents and capable players. At the moment I have two new goalkeepers that I will work with and hope that they reached a high standard to enable them to be competent keepers for the near future. These two are Mohsen Forouzan and Hamed Lak. They are both young and very talented. We are keeping very close eyes on them and I believe that the pair of them will excel”

“Goalkeepers need to show their worth to the coaching team of Team Melli , by being impressive and working hard. They need to focus their energy on the practice session and subsequently during matches in order to attract attention. Goalkeepers cannot win a place in the team or be selected by talking to the press . It is their good work on the pitch that distinguishes them and forces the coach to select them , not by talking or marketing themselves”

Gapser then went on to comment on Alireza Haghighi” Alireza is a very good goalkeeper and an excellent prospect. He currently plays in the Russian league which we must admit is of a higher standard than Iran’s league. He is the second choice goalkeeper in Rubin Kazan and he will have a very tough time replacing the first choice , who is a very popular Russian keeper. But with determination and persistence, Alireza is certainly capable. I believe he has the abilities and skills to be a first rate goalkeeper, in fact, I believe in him. He just needs to stay focused and continue working hard.”

Gapser is the long-time assistant and consultant to Carlos Queiroz with whom he co-authored Project 2010 for the USSF in 1998, with the goal to create a blueprint for long-term improvements in US soccer. He is living away from his family but hope that they could join him in Tehran after the New Year. He said that he is quite happy living in Iran after he settled in his own flat.
Gasper says he spends his spare time learning cooking , and in fact he has competition with Carlos Queiroz on who is the better cock. Gasper said he normally wins that competition, but a man in the caliber of Queiroz will soon beat him if he puts his mind on it.

Tehran/Budapest.

Iranian football federation has announced the appointment of the Belgian , Bart Caubergh as Physical Trainer or Team Melli.

Tehran

Carlos Queiroz , has announced the list of 23 players who will be undergoing a training squad starting from 9th August in Hungary. The squad will include a friendly international match against Tunisia in Hungary

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Reza Ghoochannejad  Sint Truiden VV (Belgium) and Omid Nazari was also included in the list. These two European based Iranian players will be joined by Ashkan Dejagah and will be directly flying to the camp site in Budapest. Reza Ghoochannejad is making his debut in Team Melli camp , while Omid Nazari has been with the Team Melli squad in Turkey camp but for immigration and naturalization reasons , he was not able to joining the team during the initial matches versus Uzbekistan and Qatar in the FIFA World Cup Qualifications round.

The major exclusions from the list seems to be Ando Teymourian , who is cup tied in Qatar League , Mojtaba Jabbari , Esteghlal player who has not figured for his team this season , and Gholamreza Rezaei whose form with Perspolis has dipped this season.

The team will be flying to Budapest on Thursday after an initial practice session in Tehran on Wednesday.

The Full List

Tehran

Team Melli will set camp in Hungary in preparation for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2012 Asian Zone Qualification matches.

The Director of Media and  International Relations in IRIFF , Khosrow Valizadeh has announced the details of the upcoming Team Melli training camp. The selected players , will be gathering in Tehran on Wednesday evening before flying to Hungary a day later on Thursday 9th August 2012.

Carlos Queiroz will be announcing the list of the players next Monday at the latest and the list will include a few new faces , according to Valizadeh . He added that since the start of the league, there has been a few impressive performances by some players which attracted the attention of the Portuguese Team Melli coach , and hence , it is quite probable that a few players will be added to the current squad.

Khosrow Valizadeh mentioned that the venue for the friendly match against Tunisia which was scheduled to be held on 25th August in Budapest has been changed. Since hist nation Hungary has a friendly game in the same day in the capital city , according to FIFA rules , two international matches cannot be held in the same city on a FIFA day. Valizadeh stated that IRIFF is actively seeking an alternative venue for the match , away from Budapest in coordination with the Tunisians.

Asked about the rumors of Reza Ghoochinejad joining Team Melli , Valizadeh denied any knowledge of  the Mashhad born Iranian-Dutch footballer, who currently plays for Sint-Truiden in the Belgian Pro League , is in the list of Queiroz, however , he said that barring any visa problems , a few new faces will be in the list of passengers to Hungary without specifically naming them.

Carlos Queiroz has visted Jordan to inspect the training facilities for team Melli’s upcoming September camp in Amman, added Valizadeh . Queiroz will be back on time to attend the Pesrpolis – Saba match in Azadi.