Year: 2014

Knowing Team Melli stars: Ashkan Dejagah

Ashkan Dejagah , even with his limited caps for Team Melli, is considered as one of the key players. A player whose goals and assists can make the difference for Iran in the World Cup. A Player, according to Roberto Martínez, the Everton Manager , who can shine in the big stage and spring a surprise. .

The 27-year-old winger made more than 150 appearances in five seasons at Wolfsburg, having spent three years prior to that at Hertha Berlin before transferring to the English Club , Fulham.

His impressive performances for the Bundesliga side in 2011/12 – where he registered many assists for his team – earned him a first international call-up. Prior to making his senior international debut for Iran, Dejagah represented Germany at every age group from the U17s to U21s.   

Ashkan+Dejagah+Thailand+v+Iran+ryt8sxka6Ycl

Ashkan Dejagah’s debut for Team Melli against Qatar was memorable one. He scored two brilliant goals and was by far the best player on the field. It was breath of fresh air for Azadi fans many of whom flocked to the stadium specifically to watch this man whom they heard so much about, but only been sparingly seen on TV.  

In England , once Dejagah got used to the pace and physicality of the Barclays Premier League, he proved to be a potent weapon in Fulham’s attacking artillery. With his direct running and quick feet, the Iranian bamboozled many top flight left backs during his first season at the Club.

He was arguably Fulham’s most in-form player when his campaign was cruelly ended following an innocuous looking challenge in the 3-2 win over Queens Park Rangers at the start of April. Was one of the few players to emerge from the 2013/14 season with credit after scoring five goals in 22 league appearances.

Now, many hope of Team Melli making it to the next round falls on the shoulder of this magician.

Roberto Martínez says Ashkan Dejagah’s Iran could be a surprise package at Brazil 2014 – Carlos Queiroz, Sir Alex Ferguson’s former No 2 at Manchester United, has fashioned a side with some flair and attacking intent.

The Everton Manager thinks Dejagah could very much be part of that, being a player with a good eye for goal who could step up on the bigger stage.

8 Years wait will be over comes Monday

It has been 8 years since team Melli last kicked a ball in the World Cup. 8 years wait and patience for the avid and passionate fans to see their beloved Team Melli perform at the highest level of world football again. Ironically , the last time the team played was against an African team , Angola. The next match is against another African team and the champions of the continent, Nigeria.

Nigeria , coming to Curtiba with all sort of variable loads from the expectation of the Nigerian people , to their problems on and of the field , in all cases that does not matter to them as they are here in Curtiba  to conquer Iran. Far from being an indestructible team , though Nigeria has obvious shortfall that the Wiley Queiroz must have been drooling over and over. The battle of tactics will be quite interesting to watch.

This World Cup has started with a bang. While we are still in the first round with more than half of this rounds matches have not even been played, surprises are a aplenty. Who could have imagined that the tiny Costa Rica, the team that has never beaten a South American team in the World Cup before and a team that was labeled by the punters as the punching bag of the big boys in the presence of three previous world cup winners teams, Italy, England and Uruguay in the same group. Yet it can defeat Uruguay 3-1 and convincingly for that matter. This is football, where nothing is impossible.  This is the World Cup where dreams and fairy tales can become reality. This is the World Cup where the victory goes for the ones who want it more. 

Even with moderate expectation from our Team Melli , we expect a victory against the Africans. Team Melli is truly and well capable of doing that.

Team Melli will be ready to roar tomorrow with this expected line up

Ahmadi

Pooladi

Hooseini

Montazeri

Sadeghi

Heydari 

Hajsafy

Nekounam

Teymourian

Dejagah

Ghoochannejad

 

Team Melli arrives at Curtiba

CURITIBA, Brazil (AP) — Hundreds of noisy Iranian football fans cheered their team Saturday as it arrived in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba for its first game of the World Cup.

For one man of faith, the joy highlighted how football can bring people together in a way that religion and politics often don’t.

Arraival in Curtiba

“They are chanting my country, that for sure has special feeling,” said local Sheikh Mohammed Sadigh Ibrahimi. “Now you can see Iranians, Iraqis, Brazilians, Slovenians, Polish, all together.”

Curitiba has a significant Muslim population, and the Sheikh’s mosque is renowned in the world of Islam.

Crowds awaiting Team Melli outside the hotel

Most of the crowd seemed to be local. Some of the supporters had come from outside of Iran, which has been isolated over its nuclear program.

After the short flight from Sao Paulo , Team Melli landed in Curtiba and settled down in preparation for the vital first match against Nigeria on Monday.

The team arrived at Curtiba airport at 1800 local time and after being ushered through fast track channels , the team bus bearing Iran colors and themes was escorted to Hotel Pestana Curtiba, a 5 star hotel in the center of the city.

The city’s population numbered approximately 1,760,500 people as of 2010, making it the eighth most populous city in the country, and the largest in Brazil’s South Region.  Compared to Sao Paulo , the biggest city in Brazil and Latin America , Curtiba seems to bea sleepy town.

At Sao Paulo Airport departure lounge

There is no sign of the traffic jams , bottlenecks, noise and the difficulties of the movement. The weather in this southerly city and the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Paraná is perfect for football. On Saturday Evening the temperature was 20 degrees Celsius.

After checking into their rooms , the players were allowed to come down the reception and out of the street to greet the enthusiastic fans. Many Brazilians were among the crowds who wanted to see Team Melli players and get their autograph. A Balcony opposite of the hotel was full of people trying to catch a glimpse on the commotion downstairs.

More fans celebrating outside the hotel

 

 

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Iran Team arrives in Curitiba to play on Monday

14.06.2014 | 19:12 | 

Report by DIEGO RIBEIRO

Gazeta Do Povo – Translated from Portuguese 

 

Team Melli squad arrived in Curitiba in the early evening of Saturday (14) to play the first match of the World in the city, against the Nigerians, on Monday (16). 

 Greeted by dozens of supporters, the Iranians landed in Afonso Pena airport under heavy security. 

 Upon reaching the hotel, the players were pleasantly surprised by fans, many Iranians, who shouted the name of the country and raised Iranian flags. In the warm welcome, the players left the bags at the hotel and quickly turned up at the hotel entrances to greet the fans.

Traffic on Rua Comendador Araújo, where the Prestana Curtiba Haotel is situated , was blocked for nearly an hour to facilitate the delegation enter the hotel. Despite slow traffic, the bus arrived at the hotel an hour after landing at Afonso Pena Airport. Iran will get a chance for a workout on the lawn of the Arena da Baixada on Sunday at 14:30.

 

Reception

The arrival of Iran to Curitiba brought optimism and good humor of the fans. Away from the political disputes of the Middle East, they were able to express themselves more freely about politics and sports.

The merchant Saatsaz Vahid, 33, is Iranian, but living in Curitiba for six months now. With Portuguese accent and reasonable language spoken , he is optimistic about the presence of the Team Melli in the city. “We will win by 2-1,” said, carrying his two years old daughter Linda,.

Saatsaz is still trying to get tickets for himself and his family. The merchant does not have fond memories of the Iranian Cups in retrospect, but a memory no one can take away. “In 1998, in France, we defeated the United States. I’m happy with that the Team Melli is here in Curtiba, even though I don’t have tickets for the match ” he said laughing.

Beside him is another Iranian, Arash Memaris, 44, who lives in Mexico and came to Brazil to watch all the matches of Iran  From Guadalajara, the Mexican Chivas twists.

“I’ll see all of the group matches and we will move to the second round,” he says proudly, while showing photos of the games tickets for Iran against Nigeria, Argentina and Bosnia.

 

“Obama is not coming”

Dozens of police and about ten police cars, and army soldiers and Federal Police officers accompanied the of the Iranian national team all the way from the landing of Afonso Pena Airport to Hotel Pestana, Rua Comendador Araujo, in Batel.

 The overenthusiastic crowds around the Iranian team turned the occasion of their team arrival and the tight security into a light hearted joke . “Obama is not coming,”  joked Memaris, in English, who was surprised at the police barriers that closed the road and divided the spectators from the hotel entrance.

 Palestine and Israel alone in the city

Among the dozens of fans that accompanied the arrival of the Persian national team in Curitiba were many Arabs, Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian origin. Many of them were carrying banner calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel leaders!

 The demonstration sparked the curiosity of the Israeli journalist Ori Cooper, the Tel Aviv daily Yedioth Ahronoth, who is in Curitiba following the national team pf Nigeria and Iran. He was able to interview some Arabs and Iranians after some of them showed ugly faces when they realized his country of origin . Cooper eventually approached by the president of the Arab Brazilian Society Moutih Ibrahim, after speaking in Hebrew during the story.

“Here in Brazil Jews and Arabs are at peace. It is the only country in the world that is so, “said Ibrahim. The two shook hands cordially. “We’re like cousins. They are our neighbors. In football we are friends. “ About politics, the two were reticent, but Cooper summarized. “In politics it is different,” he says.

Nigerian Football enthusiasts urge Keshi not to underrate Iran

OKITIPUPA – Football fans in Ondo State on Friday, urged Coach Stephen Keshi of the Super Eagles not to underrate Iran at the ongoing 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The super Eagles will take on their Iranian counterparts on June 16 in their first Group F game. They will later meet Bosnia-Herzgovina and Argentina.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Okitipupa, the fans called on Keshi to make use of his best players in the first half.

According to the fans, Eagles will triumph over Iran if they discharge their best, especially in the first half.

Tunde Ogunja, a former Director, Ondo State Football Academy, expressed concern that Iran could spring surprises if they were not adequately tackled.

“I think the Eagles need to work on their coordination and they must not underrate Iran because they have some good players who can spring surprises,” Ogunja said.

Idowu Akinbulumo, the General Manager, Ondo State Sports Council, advised the Eagles to imbibe “Team Spirit” for them to be able to dislodge the Iranians.

He, however, noted that the Eagles did not exhibit team spirit in their friendly matches, saying that they needed to work hard during the tournament.

“Eagles need team spirit and hard work for them to surpass difficulties at the World Cup,” Akinbulumo said.

A sports analyst, Oluwatoyin Olafusi, also advised Keshi to ensure that the best players were featured in the first half of the match against Iran.

Damola Olasanmi said that the coach should work on the midfield and defence for them not to concede early goals.

“The midfield is too loose without coordination, while the defence is porous too, I think these are the areas that Keshi needs to work on for the success of the team,” he said.

Kehinde Akinusi also predicted victory for the Eagles but urged them to work hard. (NAN)

Iran’s World Cup Zeal Wanes as Match Draws Near

By  

New-York-Times

 

TEHRAN — In a city where few people are allowed to organize large gatherings, and fun is enjoyed in private, the public celebrations of a year ago are legendary.

The Iranian national soccer team, called Team Melli here, had just qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 2006 by beating South Korea in a tense match. Millions of Iranians flooded the streets of the capital in a display of pure happiness, dancing and singing of national pride. The authorities were helpless to stop them.

Now, days before Iran’s opening World Cup match with Nigeria on Monday, fun-loving Iranians should be thrilled for a new opportunity to celebrate. But Tehran is possibly the only capital in the world where there are no signs of the coming tournament.

This is what irritates the authority

Online, some die-hard fans have designed and shared desktop wallpaper showing Iran’s star players, such as the Iranian-Dutch striker Reza Ghoochannejhad, accompanied by the not-very-promising slogan, “Against the Odds.”

“It’s just that nobody is excited,” said Arman Hosseinabadi, a 30-year-old accountant. “It is as if we are paralyzed.”

Soccer experts agree that the Iran team faces a complicated task in making it to the second round. The World Cup draw placed Iran, the top-ranked team from Asia, in a difficult group: with soccer power Argentina; Nigeria, the African champion; and Bosnia and Herzegovina, making its debut in the tournament.

[quote] “Their coach publicly complains about the quality of his players. I have never seen anything like it.”[/quote]

“Almost all their players play in the weak national league, instead of in big international teams,” said Samy Adghirni, a correspondent for the Brazilian paper Folha de S.Paulo, who has been following the Iranian team for months. “Their coach publicly complains about the quality of his players. I have never seen anything like it.”

Some Iranian media have questioned the lack of enthusiasm for the Team Melli. “Why doesn’t anybody believe in our national team?” the reformist website Asr-e Iran wrote in an editorial. “If we believe with all our might we may turn into the surprise of the tournament: We will be the untamable cheetahs of 2014,” the site wrote hopefully, referring to the national team’s new logo, which features the Iranian cheetah.

As with much in Iran involving money and influence, the national team is overrun with officials claiming to act in its best interest, but focusing on everything except improving the team.

Its Portuguese coach, Carlos Quieroz, had several public disputes with the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, complaining that the team was not getting enough money to prepare for the World Cup. In turn, the federation accused the coach of arranging lucrative warm-up matches and pocketing the money. Mr. Quieroz denied the allegations.

Like the other qualifying teams, Iran received $1.5 million from FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, but this was apparently insufficient to order enough team uniforms. Last month, the president of the Iranian federation said that players were not allowed to exchange their shirts with opponents after the games, a tradition in soccer.

“This is the year of economic resistance,” Ali Kaffashian told the website Khabar Online, hinting at Iran’s answer to international sanctions over its nuclear program. “We must learn to do with as much as we can.”

Citing bad weather, President Hassan Rouhani shunned a farewell ceremony here for the team last week. The event had to be moved from its original venue to a smaller one when only 3,000 fans showed up, far less than the expected 12,000.

It is more than the daunting competition and the controversies surrounding Team Melli that keep the Iranians from warming to the World Cup. The authorities have been working hard to nix any soccer related excitement.

Tehran’s cinemas have been told by the police that they are not allowed to show World Cup matches to a mixed audience of men and women, “out of respect for Islamic morals.” A plan to show Iran’s games on some of the large electronic billboards across the city was canceled, and on Wednesday, restaurant and coffee shop owners said they had been told by the Ministry of Islamic Guidance and Culture to refrain from decorating their establishments with the national flag or the colors of other countries.

“We want to decorate our restaurant with German flags,” said one restaurant owner who asked to be identified only by his first name, Farhad. “But even that is not allowed. Fun, people gathering in large groups, such things make the authorities nervous.”

Until Monday, the day of the team’s first game, nobody is expecting much enthusiasm. “We bought a large television set for our customers to watch the matches,” said Hadis Bagheri, who runs a modest coffee shop. “But people are just not interested. Instead of talking about the World Cup they are hiding their faces behind mobile devices.”

Still, if Iran managed to beat Nigeria, everything might change.

“People are busy trying to survive,” said Behzad Talebi, a movie production manager. “But if we win, unexpectedly, be sure we will witness a return of last year’s street party. In the end, we all love to win.”

 

Iran’s President Rouhani expects Team Melli to qualify for the next round.

In a routine press briefing , President Hassan Rouhani expressed his delight at Team Melli being among the elite in FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil and said that the team should display a  professional and brave style of football

Asked by a journalist about the government plan to support Team Melli , the President responded “The interest of our people in football is quite immense and that should lead to the development of professional standards. My message to the team was that we expect you to play a good football,  professionally and  valiantly. Of course we want the team to succeed and qualify for the next round. The team should play with high spirit and utilize the best techniques.”

“If Team Melli is successful in Brazil , we have good news for them!” The President has concluded.

The President remained non-committal towards any specific financial aid to football especially in the aftermath of the parliament’s critical views on money that is being siphoned from the public coffers towards football. However , it is interesting to note that President Rouhani is reflecting the views of the majority that expect Iran to qualify for the next round as our own polls indicate.

Team-Melli-vs-Angola-in-Austria

Ali Karimi attracts the interest of a foreign club.


Ali Karimi ex-Team Melli player has opted to pause his contract extension negotiation with Tractorsazi Tabriz for another season , pending the final outcome of talks with an unknown foreign club that is interested in Karimi’s services.

This news comes as a surprise as the 36 years old midfield player has recently announced his intention to wind down his football career and retire from Team Melli with the objective of hanging his boots soon. With a foreign club being a suitor, Karimi’s career seems to be revitalized and seems to want to extend his playing career outside Iran.

In a recent poll by TeamMelli.com , the majority of the voters (45%) named Ali Karimi as the top player that should have been included in Queiroz list for the FIFA World Cup 2014.

Karimi played many years of his football outside Iran. After leaving Persepolis in 2001 he played with Al Ahli of Dubai where he became a living legend for the locals, then for Bayern Munich, Qatar FC , Al Siliya  and Schlake 04 , before returning back to the Iranian league.

Tractorsazi Tabriz club, is currently coached by , Rasoul Khatibi  a former  Team Melli teammate.

The popular club from Azerbaijan has failed to qualify for next season’s Asian Champions League and parted company with its Portuguese coach Toni Oliviera following that failure. Tractorsazi , is owned by a mixture of Military organizations and Pasdaran with a minority shareholding by car manufacturers Saipa. Tractorsazi has the third largest fan base in Iran after Perespolis and Esteghlal however , the attendance have dramatically fallen last season due to the poor results.

Despite the government organization ownership and control, the club supporters are notorious for their Azeri separatists chants during the matches.  

Kaffashian “negotiotion with Queiroz has stopped”

Ali Kaffashian , the President of the FFIRI , briefed the Iranian press in Brazil about his activities in the last few days during the FIFA World Cup 2014. Kaffashian said “At first , we attended AFC Extraordinary Congress meeting in Sao Paulo. Many items were discussed such as the nomination for the vice president. Currently it is by appointment , but the general assembly approved the election by majority. We have voted for that.” The other major issue as far as we are concerned is the establishment of another regional zone in Asia which Iran will be part of.” in-principle’ creation of a ‘Central AFC’ Zone was approved at Monday’s Congress that will see the current South & Central Zone split into two.”

 “The proposal, which was submitted by the football federation of Iran, will see the Islamic Republic and Tajikistan grouped with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in a Central Zone which shall be recognized in the AFC Statutes. In this case , we (Iran) can have a member in the executive committee the AFC”

“The AFC will host an Extraordinary Congress in the period prior to the elective Congress in 2015 to determine the number of seats assigned to each zone on the Executive Committee.”

” The location of the headquarters will be in Tehran” Kaffashian added.

   

 “The second meeting was the FIFA general Assembly meeting where several major issues were discussed including the removing the age limit on FIFA Presidency. The assembly approved that no age limit should be attached to the candidate” “FIFA Also approved a US$ 750,000 payment to its members. We have arranged with the Islamic Republic of Iran Embassy in Brazil to transfer the funds to Tehran. We will have no problem with the sanctions for the transfer.”

“FIFA also discussed the balance sheet which is quite healthy and much better than ours ( giggling). FIFA made a lot of profit and hence the payments to members are much better this years. After that meeting they took us to watch the opening ceremony of the World Cup , without eating lunch (…) which was quite difficult on me !”

“Eventually after all these engagement , we went to see Team Melli and the Iranian reporters, which was a nice break.”

Asked about Queiroz future with Iran , Kaffashian said “The negotiation with him has stopped, Queiroz wanted to clarify and finalize his situation way before the world cup. We did not give him a definite answer and that is because of several issues one of which was the results in the World Cup. Another one was the financial problems we were facing. If we do not get monetary support from somewhere , we will definitely have a problem. However , we have not reached a final decision on Queiroz although we think he is the best candidate. To get someone in the standard of Queiroz is going to be costly. The majority here are against the appointment of a local Iran coach for Team Melli.”

Ali Kaffashian , the nice man that he is with a permanent smile on his face, is known to providing the media with inaccurate , sarcastic , conflicting and sometime speculative statements.  While AFC has not yet decided where the Headquarter of the Central Asian Federation will be located, Kaffashian has already said it is in Tehran!  As for the money transfer, regardless to where the money is originated be it Brasilia or Timbuktu , the transfer will have to pass through New York Financial and banking system where the US government has a tight control and can stop such transaction like they have done a million times before despite their knowledge that the funds transfer is for an NGO like the football federation.

As for Queiroz, Kaffashian continues his conflicting and inconsistent statements. He has claimed on several occasions that FFIRI has negotiated with Portuguese coach on contract extension, while Queiroz himself categorically denied it. Kaffashian even mentioned that Queiroz has set his price and he (Kaffashian) managed to reduce it to an acceptable figure!. The head of FFIRI moves the goalpost now by mentioning that the extension of contract with Queiroz is dependent on Iran’s result in the World Cup , which was never an issue for renewal of Queiroz contract until now!  With all the conditions and difficulties he laid , Kaffashian is adamant that Queiroz is the only candidate for FFIRI at the moment!

Iranians CANNOT watch Team Melli playing in the World Cup in public !!!!

When Iran faces off against Nigeria for a June 16 match in the FIFA World Cup, fans in both teams’ home countries may be hard-pressed to find a public spot to watch the game.

In an attempt at crowd control, Iranian police banned cafes and restaurants from airing World Cup games, even Iran’s own matches, the BBC reported Tuesday, citing local media. The decision came just weeks after the country banned women from watching the games with men in public cinemas.

Though Iranian TV will still air the games, police told the Cafe Owners Union in Tehran to not tune in to broadcast matches.

Authorities in the northeast Nigerian city of Adamawa have ordered a ban on all public viewings of the games, citing the possibility of bombings during the events, per a separate report by the BBC. “Our action is not to stop Nigerians … watching the World Cup. It is to protect their lives,” Brigadier General Nicholas Rogers told reporters Wednesday.

The crackdown comes just a week after suspected members of Islamist militant group Boko Haram set off a car bomb, killing 18 people who were watching a televised match in a viewing center in Adamawa.

Iranian women wave Iranian flags during a ceremony of farewell for their national soccer team ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

I’m fit for Iran test – Musa

I’m fit for Iran test –Musa

Jun 13, 2014 

Super Eagles midfielder, Ahmed Musa, has declared himself fit for Nigeria’s first match against Iran scheduled Curitiba on Monday. Musa told our correspondent on Thursday that his injury was not too serious but that doctors advised him not to aggravate it.

He said, “I was ready to play even the last friendly against the USA, but it is of no use taking such risk when the event proper was yet to start. “I am happy to say that I have been part of full training for about a week and also trained on Wednesday. I am fit and ready for Iran.”

Speaking on the opposition, the CSKA Moscow player said the encounter would be tough since it is the first match. “Every first match is always very dicey because the competition is just starting. We are hoping to take our chances early and control the match to bag the three points.

“We know the importance of the first two games and we are going to do our best to get the results,” he said. Nigerian are competing for honours in group F of the global football competition along with Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Argentina.