Fulham’s Iranian midfielder Ashkan Dejagah made his return from injury on Sunday as the premier league team defeated C.S. Cartagines in a friendly match.

The upcoming season will certainly be one of the most important in Dejagah’s playing career, both at the club and national level.  Arguably Fulham’s best player last year (aside from Berbatov), Ashkan will be looking to help his side earn at least a top ten finish and even push for a Europa spot.  As for Iran, Carlos Quieroz’s squad is not just happy to be there.  Iran is going to Brazil with the aim of competing hard and showcasing their talents on a global scale.  The inclusion of Dejagah in the starting 11 makes for a national team that is not to be taken lightly.

Although it took Dejagah some time to adjust to English football last season after arriving from Wolfsburg, he soon became one of the sparks of offense for an often flustered Fulham forward line.  His ankle injury came at a time when he was playing fast paced attacking football and combining well with Dimitar Berbatov.  Based on his play before his setback, it seems logical that Dejagah will be Martin Jol’s first choice right winger if deemed fully fit.

As for his national team, Dejagah’s impact was felt instantly for Iran.  In his debut against Qatar in Tehran, Dejagah scored two goals and had the Qatar defense line on their heels for 90 minutes.  In a game against South Korea when Iran had fallen a man down, Dejagah was often seen single-handedly starting counter-attacks and frustrating Korean fullbacks on the way to a victory for Iran

But for now, Dejagah is taking things step by step and focusing on training with his Fulham teammates again.  If he can get back to his old form, both Fulham and Iran can surprise teams in the English league and World Cup respectively.

Another Team Melli player has learned about professionalism, the hard way.

Karim Ansarifard, the young and promising Perspolis player has been snapped up by Tractorsazi Tabriz club after Ali Daei told his protégé that he is not wanted in Perspolis anymore.

Karim Ansarifard , had a dispute with the club centered around the contract payment. Ansarifard demanded an advanced payment in lieu of signing the new contract, which the club refused to accept. Ansarifard , lowered the percentage of the advance payment , but Perspolis would not entertain his demand fearing that other players would demand the same. During all this period of dispute, Ansarifard refused to report for training, which was started earlier than usual by team coach Ali Daei. Eventually when Ansarifard found the going tough , he accepted Perspolis club offer and was ready to sing the renewal of the contract, however , the situation has changed. His long absence from training, rendered him unusable by Daei, Ansarifard missed three weeks of workout. His inclusion in the team would have disrupted the rhythm of the team, according to Daei. The young hero suddenly found himself a persona non grata at his club.

It was only question of time before the young gun would find a club. Ansarifard is the second ex-Perspolis player that Tractorsazi has recruited this season after the acquiring the services of Ali Karimi.

Daei , the former Team Melli coach and the current Perspolis head coach, has written a new chapter in Iranian football culture by his action towards Karim Ansarifard. The Ardabil born player was one of the discoveries of none other Ali Daei himself and under his direction and supervision, the young striker advances remarkably to reach Team Melli and eventually join one of the top teams in Iran.

In a country where lack of discipline is rife amongst the players, coaches and management, meddling and intrusion in each other’s jobs is conventional, it was very much expected that the “Well doers” clan will start meddling in Daei’s decision by advising him to take back Ansarifard. In Iran’s football, the “Well doers” are a plenty. They could be anyone from the guard at the gate of the training ground all the way up to members of the Parliament. They are very opinionated lot who seem to know it and know the best of every football matter. It was a very interesting situation and a real test for Daei’s strong character. Whether he succumbs to peer and public pressure, or will he stand his ground like any respectable professional person , was a matter that many experts were waiting to hear the result of. Will he do a Carlos Queiroz act and risk leaving two influential and senior players from Team Melli (Aghili & Rahmati) because of disciplinary matters, or will Ali Daei just yields to pressure created by all the interferences, the begging , the pleading and all that jazz?.

 Finally, Daei’s approach prevailed. That is a milestone in Iran’s football; a small one perhaps but a significant one nevertheless. It has been a hard lesson for several Team Melli players and an eye opener for most of them. The way professionalism works, might not please some individual players, but it surely enhances the team organization and standard.

The Spanish coach Jesus Candelas Rodrigo extended his contract with Iran futsal team until April 2014 on Tuesday .
Candelas was appointed as technical director of Iran futsal team in last September. The 55-year-old Spaniard replaced Ali Sanei in January after Iran was eliminated from the 2012 Futsal World Cup, suffering a 2-1 loss against Colombia in the round of 16.

He extended his contract for six months more after the Iranian futsal team won the Gold Medal in the 4th Asian Indoor games in Incheon , South Korea last week.

Candelas has coached Spanish futsal teams Interviu Boomerang, Mejorada and Caja Segovia.

In the meantime, report press reports in Tehran have have indictaed that the Russin Futsal team , Norilsk Nickel have reached agreement with two Team Melli futsal players. Mostafa Nazari, Iran’s goalkeeper and Asghar Hassanzadeh to play in  Russian club. There were further negotiotion with Asia’s top scorer and Team Melli futsal player Hossein Tayebi, however , he is contract bound with GITI pasand.

Ali Kaffashian, the head of the FFIRI has been quite accommodating to the Team Melli coach , Carlos Queiroz as he was counting on the Portuguese coach to save him from certain dismissal by public demand, if Iran failed to reach the World Cup. Queiroz managed to achieve that , despite a stuttering start, and saved Kaffashian blushes. However, there is one serious issue that Kaffashian is going to insist upon Queiroz and it seems that it could reach to a loggerhead.

Due to the over-extended budget of the football federation , Kafashian has demanded that Queiroz reduce his Team Melli technical staff by two.

Currently , Carlos Queiroz has a mini army with him consisting of  Omid Namazi , Dan Gasper, Markar Aghajanian , Antonio Simoez, Mikko Kujala (Fitness trainer) , Alireza Mansourian and Ebrahim Khanban ( analyzer). He also employed his mate Vingada for a short period ,but no finical arrangement was announced for that appointment.

If the coaching staff of Team Melli is eventually reduced due to financial constraints, it is most probably the Iranian assistant coaches who will lose their jobs.

In a separate news but related to the financial situation of  the FEderation and which demands a big budget ahead of the World Cup participation, Kaffashain met Ali Larijani the speaker of the parliament. Kaffashian explained the necessity for the government and the parliament to support Team Melli by releasing funds towards the program of preparation. Larijani , expressed his satisfaction with Team Melli progress and promised to discuss the matter with the concerned parties in the parliament.

After the un-ceremonial departure of Mojtaba Jabbari from his club Esteghlal following a bitter financial dispute, it is now the turn of Karim Ansarifard to follow suite. The young Perspolis striker had a financial dispute with his club. However, unlike Jabbari’s dispute which was about the non- payment of the dues to the player by the club, Ansarifard was given a new contract with a pay cut which did not please the Aradbil born player. With Daei taking the coaching job, it was widely believed that the master will sort things out with his prodigy. Ansarifard, though, stood his ground and insisted on better terms in order for the popular Tehran club get his services.  The player refrained from reporting on duty for the club and had unauthorized absence while skipping the training camps. Today, and after two weeks of deferral, Ansarifard finally decided that he will re-sign the contract after all. He shocked to hear that the club is not interested in him as per  Ali Daei’s instruction, according to a club official.

The Perspolis coach has explained that Ansarifard was away for a long period of time while the team was in training camp where a lot of teamwork was carried out. His sudden appearance after such long absence, will upset the team balance.  Apparently even one player coming late, can break the rhythm of the team and Ali Daei will not allow that to happen despite his special and close relationship with the player that he discovered from his home town , Ardabil , and brought to Saipa, when Daei was coaching there.

Team Melli Captain , Javad Nekounam has yet to extend his contract with Esteghlal , while a last minute act by Esteghlal management has stopped Khosrow Heydari’s departure to Esfahan. With Ando Teymourian’s contract with Qatari club Al Kheraytiat coming to end, his future club is uncertain despite the efforts of Esteghlal to bring him back to the club he left to Qatar. Team Melli defender, Pejman Montrazeri  is also out of contract with Esteghlal and his future with the club is uncertain.

Reza Ghoochanejad is still under contract with Standard Liege in Belgium but he seems to be unsettled and looking for much more playing time which the club has not provided him. Another player who is unsettled with a foreign club for the same reason as Ghoochanejad is the Rubin Kazan keeper Alireza Haghighi. The ex-Perspsolis player has seen very little playing time in the Russian league club and with the World Cup in mind; Haghighi does not fancy his chances for selection to the squad for Brazil if he did not get playing time. Apparently, his ex-club Perspolis has shown little interest in buying him back from the Russian club.

While Masoud Shojaei had trouble finding a place for himself in the Osasuna line up last season, and even trouble making the bench sometimes, he did not seem to have any difficulty in being picked for Team Melli starting line up by Queiroz. However, The Portuguese coach might re-think as Osasuna has already told Shojaei that he is in the sale list. The Pamplona club are trying to cut the wages and balance their books while fighting for survival. It seems that Shojaei is among many players that the Pamplona club wants to offload.

Team Melli players continue to switching team which is not a very good omen for stability of Team Melli itself.

Afshin Ghotbi, the former coach of Team Melli is facing a torrid time in Japan.
After the Asian Cup, in which Team Melli failed to pass the quarter finals stage under Ghotbi, the Iranian-American coach resigned to join  the Japan’s J. League Division 1 side Shimizu S-Pulse on a three-year contract with.
In his first season in Japan , Ghotbi lead his club to the tenth position in the table. In the following season ,  in which he had a good start,  the team started slipping towards the end and ended up in in 9th place with one progress. They also reached the final game of J. League Cup but lost 1-2 to Kashima Antlers.
This year the team is languishing in the 10th place away from the top that S-Pulse have been used to before Ghotbi’s take over.

Because of these poor results, the S-Pulse fans have shown their anger in quite a strong manner. Recently the coach carrying the players was attacked by the fans but there were no serious injury reported. The fans have singed a petition to sack Ghotbi from his coach. The petition has gathered around 12,000 votes in which the majority have blamed the coach and demanded his removal.

Ghotbi has coached Perspolis in two periods from 2007-2008 and managed to win the league , before being appointed as Team Melli coach from 2009 in the aftermath or the very short period that Mohammad Mayeli-Kohan was appointed.

The head of Iran football federation declared that his federation has something like 1/20^th of the budget of the Japanese and Korean federations and is way behind the Arab neighbors in sporting infrastructure.

Talking to the press during the opening ceremony of a football management symposium, Ali Kaffashian said that his federation is awaiting a road mapby Carlos Querioz after Team Melli’s coach return from holiday, in which the preparation plans for Team Melli in the aftermath of the Qualification to FIFA World Cup, will be laid.

Kafashian said  “ Queiroz is demanding that Iran arranges friendly games against strong teams to enable the players to get used to facing powerful oppositions , such experiences will assist in mitigating any fear or  barrier of facing high class strong team in the World Cup.”   However , Kaffashian has already hinted his federations budget limitations , which might mean that the federation cannot afford to spend too much on arranging friendlies, the way other Asian teams like Japan and South Koreas.

Kafashian also indicated that his federation has done well in the past few months. “ success of our football federation  should not be measured by the qualification of Team Melli to the World Cup only.  There has been other accomplishments at youth levels and the continuing of the Futsal team success is something to be proud of ,  particularly the women futsal team that despite wearing Hijab , has managed to win the Silver medal of the Asian Indoor games. Overall we do have lots of successes.”

The head of Iran football federation with all his customary modestly said “ I personally had little influence in the success of Team Melli and its qualification to the World Cup.”  That is clearly a fact, but interestingly enough, he attributed the Team’s qualification to God’s well and peoples prayer’s.

  “We need to think from now how to prepare a powerful team for the 2016 Rio Olympics games  . We have to qualify as the aspiration and the expectation of the fans is so high now that we cannot afford not to qualify.”

Referring to Queiroz, Kafashian said that “He extended his leave by a week after his visit to Brazil where he inspected facilities and met with FIFA official and Brazilian football personalities. Queiroz should be presenting his plans to us within 10 days.”

“Queiroz requires the arrangement of friendly matches with strong teams to prepare Team Melli for the world cup. We will do our best to accommodate him within our abilities and limitations” Kafashan added.

“The picture will be clearer after the draw for the World Cup which will be held  in November of this year, in which we should have a pretty good idea how to proceed and which teams are available.” Kafashaina Added. He also mentioned that there are already some requests for friendly matches, which if Queiroz  agrees to , we will finalize with the other party” Kaffashian refused to name the teams , however, he was most probably referring to South Korea’s request for a friendly , cum revenge , match against Team Melli according to South Korean FA spokesman.

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]fter the huge sigh of relief and the celebration and jubilation of Team qualification to the World Cup in Brazil , it is prudent to think about the plans beyond. Time and again , the officials of Iranian football have announced that the aspirations of Iranian football is not just to turn up in the elite of the World game but powerfully represent the country’s image and reputation to the global viewers.

For such to materialize, Team Melli needs an effective program planning to prepare itself well for the big stage. The IRIFF have already announced that the participation of Team Melli in next year’s World Cup will be taken into consideration in all their planning and league scheduling. In reality, the IRIFF and Iran sport official have hardly been transparent in their actions and always vague about their plans while pushing aside any potential problems that could occur as irrelevant or can be resolved with a few prayers and good well.

Added to the bitter reality , the fact that the IRIFF is not exactly a powerful player in the continental or the world stage in diplomacy. Poor communications and relationship with other countries, failure of the officials to gain influences and posts in the AFC, influences of Arab neighbors who, if not hostile, have not been very amicable with Iranians, Ability of Arab Persian Gulf states to buy their way into the corridors of powers of the AFC and FIFA has all contributed to the marginalization of Iranian football in recent years.

Internal and external influences have resulted in less than ideal progress of Iranian football and inability to reach its deserved prestige in Football. There is no shortage of talents in Iran; it is the manipulation, development, politicization, management and organization that have been significant limitations. As far as preparation for the world cup in concerned, arranging meaningful friendly matches with quality teams is at the top of the priorities of any aspiring national team.

In Europe, a group of professional managers and administrations are assigned to arrange friendly games well in advance with careful planning and knowledge. Friendly matches are arranged two years in advance in some cases catering for the participation of their teams in the World Cup and European championships. In Iran, such planning has not only been scarce , but also impractical for many reasons. That is why, it is quite important to address right now consider next year’s World Cup participation for Team Melli..

[dropcap]C[/dropcap]arlos Queiroz is a well-known name in World Football arena. They just don’t come much bigger than him. Coaching and managing in the World Cup, association with Portugal national team, Real Madrid, Manchester United, South Africa and Japan,  among many other jobs,  is just not a small feat. He has built powerful relationship in those countries and beyond hence it is important for the IRIFF to capitalize on the status of Querioz and assign him the task of arranging friendly matches with the countries willing to play Team Melli.

With the qualification to the World Cup and under a famous coach such as Queroz, there will be no shortage of national teams willing to play Team Melli.  However, this planning has to be done right now

The merry go-round of Team Melli players transfer continues unabated with the latest news of the transfer of the Esteghlal and Team Melli midfielder Mojtaba JABBARI to Sepahan Esfahan.

The addition of the creative midfielder to Sepahan, has ensured that Kranjcar team has a formidable title challenging line up for the upcoming season with Sepahan already getting the services of several Team Melli players including  Rahman AHMADI,    Abolghasim DEHNAVI , Ali HAMOUDI ,and  Shojaa KHALILZADEH . Out of those players , the status of Dehnavi is still unclear after the former Tractorsazi player signed for two teams at the same time resulting in his suspension by the IRIFF following Perspolis official complaint against him.

Jabbari has been having a long dispute with the club that repeatedly does not honor its contract commitments. Esteghlal seems to be cash strapped and has been in trouble with the courts and FIFA for not paying the contract commitments to the local and foreign players. The last time Jabbari went to see the CO of Esteghlal , Fathollahzadeh , the meeting abruptly ended with apparently harsh exchanges of words between the player and the official. Fathollazadeh claims that Jabbari was disrespectful in his claims and would refuse to have him in his club. Jabbari said that he merely wanted his money which was his right and already long due, while the club is dragging its feet and not paying. In another development, Fathollazadh admitted on Thursday that the court has frozen his personal assets because of his bouncing checks given to players without sufficient funds to cover the amounts.

Jabbari was a pivotal player for Esteghlal in their title winning team and will be sorely missed in the next stages of AFC Champions league quarter finals which Esteghlal has qualified to and will be facing  Thai FA Cup winners Buriram United in September.