In an unexpected and highly peculiar move, Mehdi Nabi, the secretary general of the Iranian football federation announced today, that the Portuguese coach Eduardo Manuel Martinho Braganza de Vingada, will be joining the Team Melli technical staff as “Honorary Coach” on the recommendation of Carlos Queiroz. This move has been approved by Ali Kaffashaian , the head of IRIFF.

The duration of this appointment of the “Honorary Coach” assignment is up to the end of the FIFA World Cup qualification matches which would be lasting for 3 weeks ending with the match against Korea Republic in Ulsan on the 18^th June 2013.

In a brief statement to the press, Mehdi Nabi said that Nelo Vingada will begin his assignment with Team Melli on the 28^th of May when he will be traveling to the UAE to join the coaching staff . Team Melli is currently in a training camp in the emirate of Dubai.

In what seems to be a desperate move by Carlos Queiroz , it is remained to be seen if the veteran Vingada can add any value in such short time for Team Melli. one of the many. The peculiarity of Vingada’s appointment comes in the midst of an outstanding legal case between him and Perspolis Club whom he coached briefly in 2009. Vingada was appointed in February 2009 but left unceremoniously 2 months later without much justification or reasons behind his abrupt departure.

The case is in lieu of nonpayment of the fees by Perspolis club which has been threatened with suspension if the payment is not settled. There is no confirmation yet if Vingada has settled his case with Iran’s most popular club.

Team Melli will be playing a highly crucial match on June 4^th against Qatar in Doha, where Queiroz is hoping that with the help of Vengada, his team will grab all the 3 points to revitalize Team Melli’s hope of qualifying either directly or through play-offs. Team Melli’s path has been fraught as it has performed quite poorly under the Portuguese reign. The latest defeat in a friendly at the hand of a reserve Oman team, despite the attempt by Queiroz to downplay it , has left even more question marks about the chances of Iran making it to the FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil and whether the team has the quality to qualify in what looked like an easy passage when the qualifiers started .

In the long list of coaching jobs (20) taken by Vingada since he took up football coaching back in 1981, only 3 jobs involved National Teams. Portugal (1994), Saudi Arabia (1996-97) and Jordan (2007-09). Most of Vingada’s coaching appointments was for clubs and the most successful stint of this Portuguese coach was with Al Ahli of Cairo.

NIJMEGEN / TEHRAN

Alireza Jahanbakhsh Damash Gilan Midfielder and Iran’s Youth team Captain has reached agreement on a three-year contract with NEC.  The Dutch football club from the city of Nijmegen has announced today that the Iranian player must pass the medical check in Nijmegen as part of the induction into the team. In addition, the eredivisionist are to complete the necessary paperwork, such as a work permit.

Despite his young age ,  Alireza Jahanbakhsh (19) is a prolific scorer at Damash and internationally with the different youth teams he has represented for his country.  The right winger is regarded as a major talent in Asia. In the autumn of 2012.  NEC technical director Carlos Aalbers discovered Jahanbakhsh while playing for his country in an international friendly  tournament in Dubai. The coach subsequently observed the Iranian youngster in a youth tournament in Qatar before he decided to recruit him for NEC.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh ‘agent is Amir Hashemi, trainer of third grader Lunteren.

Jahanbakhsh who was granted a visa , will be traveling soon to the Netherlands for medical examination. “I think I have made the best choice.” Jahanbakhsh was quoted by  Tehran Times. “I have big plans and will play in the future in major European clubs. “

NEC’s technical director Aalbers announced his satisfaction with the agreement and praised the Iranian player  ‘He is technically gifted and physically strong winger. “

The club has not won any major tournaments to date, though they were runners-up in the KNVB Cup competition in 1973, 1983, 1994, and 2000; they also played in the UEFA Cup tournaments in 1983, 2003, and 2008.

NEC just avoided relegation this current season losing 5 matches in a row in the Eredivisie. They were ranked 15 between 18 teams in the Dutch League.

Iran women team was eliminated from the Asian Cup qualifiers after their second heavy loss. In today’s match, Thailand the group favorites defeated Iran 5-1 a result which left Iran with 3 points and an exit from the competition.

Iran lost to Philippines in the first match 6-0 before the Iranian ladies bounced back against Bangladesh winning 2-0.

Thailand has won the group with 9 points followed by the Philippines with 6, Iran lies 3rd with 3 and Bangladesh without a point in fourth place.

 

 

Bangladesh 0-2 Iran

Published on Friday, 24 May 2013 00:30

Dhaka: Iran bounced back from their opening defeat to the Philippines with a 2-0 win over Bangladesh on Thursday that kept alive their hopes of reaching the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup finals.

Iran made a disappointing start to their qualifying campaign when they were hammered 6-0 by the Philippines but picked up a vital win against Group B hosts Bangladesh, with Maryam Rahimi put the Iranians one up 26 minutes into the match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium before sealing the victory six minutes after the interval.

Iran, who are under the helm of Portuguese tactician Helena Costa, the first-ever coach of the Qatar women’s team, take on undefeated Thailand in their final match on Saturday while Bangladesh will be looking to end on a positive note when they face the Philippines on the same day.

Kuala Lumpur.

The draw for the qualifiers for the AFC U-19 Championship 2014 to be held in Myanmar has been carried out in AFC Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Iran’s U19 team has been pitted in Group D alongside Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Tajikistan. The qualifying rounds will be hosted by Iran and will be held in Mashhad from 11 October 2013.

The football federation has been slow to react and failed to appoint a coach after the previous one Akbar Mohammadi resigned his post following the failure & elimination of Iran in the Asian Youth Championship with a defeat against the eventual winner, South Korea.

The bitter defeat also resulted in the resignation of the team’s manager, Fereydoon Moeini whose post was quickly vacated by Mirshad Majedi. With this appointment, it was hoped that a new coach will be selected and the team continues its program for the qualification round, but Majedi and the federation failed to appoint a head coach despite the fact that several nominees were named. Initially, Ali Doustimer was the prime candidate, but the U-17 coach is already fully occupied with his team which is actively preparing for the finals of FIFA U17 World Cup to be held in the UAE.

IRIFF , Secretary General  Mehdi Mohammad Nabi announced on several occasions that a coach will be named to begin the preparation process for the youth team , but he failed to deliver after each promise  while the team remains without a coach.

The AFC U-19 Championship also serve as the qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 World Cup with the top-four sides of the 2014 edition booking a place each in the FIFA U-20 World Cup to be held in New Zealand in 2015.

Korea Republic, who edged Iraq in the final of the competition in 2012, have won the competition 12 times since it started in 1959. The finals, to be held in Myanmar for the very first time, are the 38th edition of the competition.

The Group winners of the nine groups; five from West Zone and four from East will book a ticket to the October 2014 finals alongside with six best-placed sides and hosts Myanmar.

The final list for the remaining 3 matches in FIFA World Cup 2014 has been announced ny the Team Melli technical staff. The squad will be setting camp in the UAE ahead of the match against Qatar in Doha on June, 4th.

Notable absentee from the list is Ashkan Dejagah who is injured for the rest of the season and will be sorely missed. There is also no place for Daniel Davari , the German/Iranian goalkeeper whom was expected to join the squad for the 3 crucial matches. No explanation was available for his absence and whether it is a technical decision or as before, the non availability of the goalkeeper.

The squad now has the recently crowned league Champion Estghlal players with a recall for Hashim Beikzadeh and Amir Hossein Sadeghi , both defenders have been absent from Team Melli for a long time.

 

 

1	AHMADI, Rahman	Saipa Alborz
2	BEIGZADEH, Hashim	Esteghlal
3	EBRAHIMI, Omid	Sepahan Esfahan
4	GHOOCHANEJAD, Reza	Standard Liege (BEL)
5	HADDADIFAR, Ghassim	Zob Ahan
6	HAGHIGHI, Alireza	Ruben Kazan (RUS)
7	HAJSAFY, Ehsan	Sepahan Esfahan
8	HATAMI, Farzad	Esteghlal
9	HEIDARY , Khosrow	Esteghlal
10	HOSSEINI, Jalal	Perspolis
11	JABBARI, Mojtaba	Esteghlal
12	KHALATBARY, MohamadReza	Sepahan Esfahan
13	KHALILZADEH, Shojaa	Mes Kerman
14	KHANZADEH, Mohammadreza	Perspolis
15	MAHINI, Hossein	Perspolis
16	MAKANI, Sousha	Naft Tehran
17	MONTAZERI, Pejman	Esteghlal
18	MOSALMAN, Mohsen	Zob Ahan
19	NEKOUNAM, Javad	Esteghlal
20	NOURI, Mohammad	Perspolis
21	OULADI, Mehrdad	Malvan Anzali
22	REZAEI, Gholamreza	Perspolis
23	SADEGHI, AmirHossein	Esteghlal
24	SHAOJAEI , Masoud	Osasuna (ESP)
25	TEYMOURIAN, Andranik	Kharatiyat (QAT)

The intensive training program for Iran’s U17 team is continuing in preparation for the team’s participation in the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup which will be held in the United Arab Emirates beginning on  17^th October.

Ali Doustimehr shortlisted 27 players for the next stage of training. The players will set camp next week after a short break.

Iran has qualified from Asian zone along with Iraq, Japan and Uzbekistan.

The players list for the U-17 team is as follows:

Yosef Sayyedi, Mohammad  Bazaj, Hossein Mehraban ,  Mohammad Reza  Kaveh, Ahmed Gohari, Ali Shojaei, Mohammad Yasini, , Komeil HaghZadeh, Ali Hazamy, Milad Badregheh,  Sasan Jafari, Reza Karamlachab, Iman Salimi, Seyed Majeed Hosseini, Ali Gholizdeh, Mahan Rahmani, Sadegh Moharrami , Amir Mohamad Mazloom, Saeed Ezzatollahei , Parsa Salimi, Seyed Mostafa Hashemi, Arash Kamali, Shervin Kazemi, Milad  Dai, Amir Hossein Karimi, Mehdi Amini and Amir Nasrazadany.

 Team Melli defeat by a second string Omani team , was characterized as a “Wake up call” by Carlos Queiroz who also added that “ this defeat was a bitter pill to swallow.”

This wakeup call coming only a fortnight before a decisive tie against Qatar, where a defeat could very well end any real hope of making it to the World Cup finals, seems to be late realization for Mr. Queiroz.  A long series of below par performances, historic defeats, lethargic display of football ,  odd selection of squad players and host of other anomalies  has failed to alert Queiroz that all is not too well with this team. Hiding behind his own logics and self-justifications while on the other hand demanding the full and unquestionable support from everyone, the now beleaguered coach might find it too late to put things in order with the acute shortage of time in the compressed World Cup Schedule.

Granted that there were several conditions that has led to this embarrassing defeat at the hand of the Omanis, such as the unbearable hot temperature and high humidity plus the absence of 10 regular team players. It is, however, prudent to mention that the opposing team was player under similar restrictions with most of their regular players missing and playing under the same harsh weather conditions. Yet, Oman played a nicely balanced game and scored three wonderful goals in a match that raised serious alarms about the physical condition of the Iranian players and their susceptibility to weather, plus the usual poor tactical shortcomings.

Comes June the 4^th, Doha weather will be much the same as Muscat, if not worst and if the match in Muscat was anything to go by , the endurance of the Iranian players will be tested to the limit in the scorching temperatures and unbearable humidity.

More alarming than the physical conditions if the players and their adaptability to adverse climatic conditions , is their lack of variation in  attack and what seems like inability to have other options. The age old tactics of sending crosses from the flanks and hoping for some prolific header of the ball to yield result has been a hallmark of Team Melli during Queiroz era. The problem is that if this system fails, Team Melli has shown little other options to open up the opposition defenses.

Admittedly, time is too short to re-build a solid winner team or inject enough enthusiasm and confidence in a team that has lost badly. Iranian players have shown time and again that they do bounce back under demanding and difficult conditions and turn out to be winners. This is probably the only hope that Team Melli has going into the next three matches, else not much other perhaps bright areas can be seen from this squad. No technical prowess or exceptional players are seen to be saviors otherwise.