Year: 2015

27/03/2015

Iran 2-0 Chile : Reports

Iran 2-0 Chile: Alexis Sanchez fails to spark comeback as Queiroz masterminds shock

Iran’s captain Javad Nekounam tapped his side into the lead from a corner
Vahid Amiri finished off a flowing team move on 50 minutes to go 2-0 up
Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez came on for Chile at half-time

Published: 21:19 GMT, 26 March 2015 | Updated: 22:07 GMT, 26 March 2015

Arsenal’s fatigued talisman Alexis Sanchez failed to prevent Chile falling to a shock defeat by Iran in St Polten.

Former Real Madrid boss and Manchester United assistant coach Carlos Queiroz masterminded a resolute Iran side to prevail 2-0 at the neutral venue of the NV Arena in Austria.

In their first ever meeting, goals from Javad Nekounam and Vahid Amiri finished off Chile in the international friendly for a remarkable result.

Alexis Sanchez, who has already played 3,326 minutes for the Gunners this season, started on the Chile bench alongside Juventus star Arturo Vidal with Sunday’s clash against South American counterparts Brazil in mind.

A stuttering Chile failed to utilise their dominance in the opening exchanges and were undone by a simple set piece.

Iran captain Nekounam couldn’t believe his luck as he strode in unmarked at the back post following an Iran corner on 21 minutes, with Barcelona keeper Claudio Bravo failing to react in time.

Chile had 74 per cent of possession in Austria but we toothless in attack, hence the introduction of Sanchez at the interval.

However a swift counter attack on 50 minutes saw Vahid Amiri double Iran’s lead as he swept in from 12 yards.

Jorge Sampaoli’s side poured forward, determined to level the contest. Mark Gonzalez missed Chile’s best chance before halftime when he had his header saved by Iran goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi in the 43rd.

Carlos Queiroz, Iran’s national team coach, shouts out instructions to his players during the victory

Chile created more danger after Sanchez’s appearance. On the hour mark, he set up Jose Pedro Fuenzalida but his diagonal shot went wide.

Sanchez came close in the 77th when he controlled the ball on the chest before sending his volley from 15 meters just over the bar.

However Iran stood firm and recorded a famous win, whereas Chile will have to improve drastically ahead of facing Brazil in London at the weekend and then hosting the Copa America in June.

Iran’s squad are celebrating again soon after half-time, having doubled their lead through Vahid Amiri

Mar 2015 – 9:06am

Iran shocks Copa America host Chile

Iran players celebrate scoring against Chile. (AFP)

Chile saw its preparations as Copa America host hit a bump on Friday (AEDT) as it was beaten 2-0 by Iran at St Polten’s NV Arena in Austria.

Source:

Omnisport

27 Mar 2015 – 8:10 AM UPDATED 32 MINS AGO

In one of Chile’s final internationals before it opens the South American showpiece against Ecuador in June, Jorge Sampaoli saw his side fall to goals in either half from captain Javad Nekounam and Vahid Amiri.

Carlos Queiroz’s Iran started brightly and was rewarded after 21 minutes when Nekounam converted Andranik Teymourian’s corner.

Brazil is next up for Chile – as the sides meet for the first time since their last-16 FIFA World Cup clash – while Iran faces Sweden after victory in its first outing since the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Eduardo Vargas fired over after a smart turn 12 minutes in, after Chile had survived some early Iran pressure.

Masoud Shojaei then went down under a clumsy challenge from Gonzalo Jara, although the referee waved away the half-hearted penalty protests.

Nekounam eventually made Iran’s pressure pay when the skipper bundled home the opener amid slack marking from Rodrigo Millar and questionable goalkeeping from Barcelona’s Claudio Bravo.

The goal sparked Chile into life, with Juan Cornejo flashing a shot wide before the half-hour mark, before Fabian Orellana hit the side-netting from close range.

Mark Gonzalez saw a header beaten away by Alireza Haghighi as Chile piled on the pressure prior to the interval to no avail.

Sampaoli opted to introduce star man Sanchez at the interval, but it was Iran who found the target next as Reza Ghoochannejhad latched on to a throughball and picked out Amiri.

The Naft Tehran forward calmly finished from inside the area to put Queiroz’s side firmly in control.

Matias Fernandez almost reduced the deficit with a fierce drive prior to the hour with Jose Fuenzalida angling a strike wide of the far post as Sampaoli’s men continued to knock on the door.

Veteran David Pizarro was brought on to try to find a way back into the game for the South Americans, but Chile found Haghighi in fine form as the goalkeeper smartly kept out Fernandez’s free-kick going into the final 20 minutes.

Despite the late pressure, Chile failed to avert a second defeat in eight post-World Cup outings, leaving Sampaoli questions to answer with the Copa clash against Ecuador in Santiago less than three months away.

ST. POELTEN, Austria — Chile slumped to a 2-0 defeat against Iran on Thursday in their second-to-last friendly before hosting the Copa America in June.

Iran captain Javad Nekounam scored from short range from Andranik Teymourian’s corner in the 21st minute when he was left unmarked at the far post. It was Nekounam’s 38th goal in his 151st international.

Vahid Amiri beat Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo when he rounded off a counterattack set up by Reza Ghoochannejhad on the right wing five minutes into the second half, in Iran’s first match since losing to Iraq on penalties in the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup in January.

With a friendly against Brazil in London in three days, Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli rested several key players, including Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez, though the striker came on to replace Fabian Orellana in the second half.

The South Americans dominated ball possession for most of the match but lacked efficiency in front of goal.

Mark Gonzalez missed Chile’s best chance before half-time when he had his header saved by Iran goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi in the 43rd minute.

Chile created more danger after Sanchez’s appearance. On the hour mark, he set up Jose Pedro Fuenzalida but his diagonal shot went wide.

Sanchez came close in the 77th minute when he controlled the ball on the chest before sending his volley from 15 meters just over the bar.

It was Chile’s second defeat in eight games since last year’s World Cup.

Iran play another friendly against Sweden in Stockholm on Tuesday

26/03/201527/03/2015

Team Melli downs Chile 2-0

Team Melli Captain Javad Nekounam scored in the first half while the excellent Vahid Amiri added another goal in the second half for Team Melli to register an important morale boosting win against the team that was ranked 4 in the FIFA World Cup 2015 and the host of Copa America 2015.

The friendly match was played in NV Arena in the small town of St. Poulten , Austra in front of a small but voicferious crowd.

The match was split equally in terms of control as Iran was the better team in the first apart from the last 10 minytes of the first half , while Chile was the team which had more ball posession in the second after the introdcution of Alxis Sanchez.

Iran first goal came from on the 21st minute with a perfect corner by Ando Teymourian who found his Captain in a telepathic style , Nekounam perfectly positioned with ample space just had to slot the ball past Oscar Bravo , the Barcelona keeper.

Team Melli was the better team in the first half playing a compact game mixed with pace and energy during offensive moves. Defensive orgnization was perfect with very few balls seriously bothering Haghighi.

Ashkan Dejagah was by far the best player on the pitch giving the Chilean defenders extra headache while providing several glorious balls to his teammates. Shojaei was guilty of wasting 3 certain scoring chances. Dejagah was finding his teammates in space and dribbling past the Chileans with ease even while double-teaming him.

Alireza Haghighi had to make one save in anger during the first half but it was an important one. in the last minute of the half Haghighi denied the Chilean forward Fernandez from scoring when he parried his powerful header from close range for an excellent save.

The First half ended IRAN 1-0 CHILE

In the second , Chile was out to wipe out Iran’s lead and score a few goals ahead of their encounter with Brazil on Sunday. The Introduction of Alexis Sanchez , the Arsenal star player , made a significant difference in the pace and organization of the Chileans.

Despite the initial substantial ball possession , it was Iran that scored from a text book counter attack move when Masoud Shojaei passed the ball to his right , where Ghoochannejad raced past the half back and then sent a diagonal perfectly weighted ball to the on rushing Vahid Amiri for the Naft player to score his first goal for Team Melli and Iran’s second of the game.

After the goal , a period of sustain pressure where Chile players gave it every thing to recover , but failed to score as the highly disciplined back four were more than a match for the powerful and skilful Latin Americans. Sanchez in particular was initiating most of the attacks by Chile and skillfully feeding his teammates but to no avail.

Iran , despite the lack of ball possession in the 2nd half , were still dangerous in the counter attack. Masoud Shojae was unfortunately the weak link and he could only drag his foot around till Queiroz realized he needed to be subbed for a fresh player.

Vahid Amiri and Ashkan Dejagah continued their excellent forms through the 2nd half which saw the introduction of Karim Ansarifard in place of Ghoochannejad.

The Osasuna forward had a nightmare of a match failing to complete any pass while nearly costing his team a goal while back defending a corner.

Chile had their own chances but their finishing was not up to scratch while the Iranian defense was at its best.

Line Up

IRAN: 1 A. Haghighi ; 4 J. Hosseini , 15 P. Montazeri , 19 H. Beikzadeh , 11 V. Ghafouri , 6 J. Nekounam , 7 M. Shojaei (O. Ebrahimi 70′) , 21 A. Dejagah , 14 A. Teymourian , 13 V. Amiri (R. Rezaeian 90′) , 16 R. Ghoochannejhad (K. Ansarifard 74′)

CHILE: 1 C. Bravo ; 18 G. Jara , 5 E. Roco (G. Medel 63′) , 13 J. Cornejo , 27 E. Pulgar (C. Aránguiz 46′) , 11 M. González (C.A. Gutiérrez 46′) , 14 M. Fernández , 19 F. Orellana (A. Sanchez 46′) , 24 J. Fuenzalida ( M. Isla 62′) , 15 R. Millar (D. Pizarro 63′) , 9 E. Vargas

26/03/201526/03/2015

Iran Beach soccer march on to the semi finals.

Iran’s Beach soccer team reached the Semi Finals of AFC Asian Beach Soccer Championship 2015 after defeating the UAE 6-1 in the quarter final match played at Katara beach , in Doha.

The rough playing UAE were no match for the defending champions Iran , who played with confidence. Playing with caution at the start, an Iranian player opened the scoring in the 1st period but at the wrong end when Hassan Abdollahi deflected a ball into his own net wrong footing the excellent Goalkeeper Peyman Hosseini.

The response was quick and decisive as Mehran Morshedizadeh made it 1-1 and that how the first period ended.

In the second period a long-range goal by Goalkeeper Peyman Hosseini made the difference as he scored his team’s 2nd goal to make it 2-1 without any response from the UAE.

In the third quarter the UAE players seeing the match getting out of their reach , started some rough tackling.
Frustrated and un-sportsmanship behavior by UAE players nearly threatened to disrupt the match. All this happened after Iran opened the floodgates in the last quarter. Iran scored 4 goals in the 3rd quarter to annihilate the ambitious UAE and deprive them from a berth in 2015 FIFA beach Soccer World Cup.
Amir Hossein Akbari from penalty spot 3-1 , Mohammad Ahmadzadeh 4-1, Ali Naderi 5-1 and finally Farid Boloukbashi from penalty spot 6-1, scored Iran goals.

Waleed Mohammad of the UAE was sent off for violent conduct when he plunged with two feet into Amir Akbari. The Iranian player was stretched off the field. Akbari himself will miss the semi final after he was booked in the match. This is his second booking of the tournament.

Iran will be meeting the winner of Japan vs. Bahrain in the semi finals on Friday for a place in the 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

26/03/2015

Hajsafy sent home, while his replacement is declared injured !

The usual disarray and confusion surfaced again in Team Melli on the eve of the match against Chile.

Ehsan Hajsafy was sent back to Iran due to an injury. Apparently, this injury was not suffered during the last game of Sepahan in the league . In that televised game, Hajsafy was visibly in severe pain in what looked like a twisted knee or a hamstring injury but had to continue playing, albeit at a much lower mobility and effectiveness, until the end of the match. However, when his name was announced for the Chile and Sweden matches, neither the player himself nor the medical staff of Sepahan declared Hajsafy as injured or recuperating from injury. Team Melli management naturally dependent on the clubs to inform them about any injury sustained by players and the degree of severity. Hajsafy travelled to Austria as a fit player, while he has not fully recovered.

During the training Austria , it became apparent to the coaching staff that this player if far from fit and incapable of playing in a high level match therefore it was decided to send him back home for treatment.

To fill the gap, Queiroz asked for Yaghoub Karimi , Esteghlal’s midfield player, if medically fit to play, which he was according to the medial report of Esteghlal Doctor issued right after the last league game against Naft Teahran.

When Esteghlal management was formally informed about the requirement of Yaghoub Karimi for Team Melli duty , Esteghlal team supervisor called Kaffashian to inform him that Yaghoub Karimi is unfit to travel to Sweden in contrary to the medial status report of Esteghlal Medical Examiner Dr. Setoudeh.

It is difficult to assume who is telling the truth. It is also more difficult to understand why truth is a rare commodity in Iran’s football. Why would a player not reveal the extent of his injury ? Why did he travel when not fully fit? Why hide information from Team Mell?

Carlos Queiroz must shoulder part of the responsibilities himself. Although it is inexcusable to lie or falsify facts, Queiroz has left little margin of trust between himself and the local club coaches. It could be speculative, but his strong verbal attack on Ghalenoei & Derakhshan in Australia after the elimination of Team Melli , did not endear himself to Esteghlal or Persepolis coaches and fans. Expecting full cooperation by these two clubs with Queiroz is somehow unreasonable.

25/03/2015

Iran Beach Soccer cruise past Thailand.

Iran beach soccer team cruised to the quarter final of the AFC Asian Beach Soccer 2015 with ease after defeating Thailand 8-1 in the final match of the group. The first period ended 4-0 .

Iran’s goal were scored by Seyyed Peyman Hosseini 1-0 , Farid Boloukbashi 2-0 , Hassan Abdollahi 3-0 , Mohammad Ali Sadeghi 4-0 in the second period it was Farid Boloukbashi 5-0, Mohammad Moradi 6-0 before a Thai penalty made it 6-1 , Mohammad Moradi 7-1, Ali Naderi 8-1

The second win for the defending champion Iran puts it at the top of the group D and set up a quarter finals match against UAE tomorrow Thursday.

The quarter finals matches are as follows:
QF1 26-03-2015 16:00
UZBEKISTAN vs. LEBANON
Venue: Katara Beach, Doha – Qatar

QF2 26-03-2015 19:00
IRAN vs. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Venue: Katara Beach, Doha – Qatar

QF3 26-03-2015 16:00
OMAN vs. CHINA P.R.
Venue: Katara Beach, Doha – Qatar

QF4
26-03-2015 19:00
JAPAN vs. BAHRAIN
Venue: Katara Beach, Doha – Qatar

25/03/2015

Air Crash claims the lives of 2 Iranian journalists.

DIGNE-LES-BAINS, France —

Two Iranian journalist were among the victims of a German jetliner which crashed in Southern France. The Germanwings Airbus A320 en route from Barcelona, Spain, to Düsseldorf, Germany, plunged from the sky on Tuesday and slammed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. The Airline is a subsidiary of Lufthansa.

Milad HojatelIslami from Tasnim News Agency and Hossein Javadi a sport journalist for Vatan Imrooz newspaper were travelling from Barcelona after attending the El Classico match between Barcelona and Real Madrid in Nu Camp on Sunday.

The two reporters were then proceeding to cover the Team Melli matches in Austria against Chile then to Sweden . Their names were revealed this morning Wednesday) by the French authorities. The Iranian Foreign Ministry confirmed the news while Javad Zarif , the Iranian Foreign Minister sent condolence messages to the Iranian Media and the families of the victims.

The tragic news has shocked the Europe. It is the largest number of causality of an Air crash in the history of France .

TeamMelli.com wishes to extend its sincere condolences to the families of Shadravans Javadi and HojatelIslami and to their friends and colleagues.

25/03/201525/03/2015

Team Melli , one last chance to excel under Queiroz.

[row]
[column size=”1/2″]

The Iran’s vs. Chile friendly match in St. Polten, Austria on Thursday , is overshadowed by the resignation of Carlos Queiroz on the eve of Nowrooz , the Iranian New Year.

The match has lost a major part of its significance as a new coach will most likely deploy different team game plan , different strategy and for sure , he will have his own sets of players in mind after a period of familiarization with Team Melli and Iranian football in general. Assuming of course that the next coach will likely be a foreign one.

No surprises !

As far as the match goes, there is not going to be many surprises in the game plan and line up unless Queiroz, for the only time, changes his mind-set and decides to give the offensive game plan a go against powerful opposition. Otherwise, it will be the usual tight at the back and counter at the front for Team Melli. There are no new players to look forward to except for the gifted young striker Masoud Hassanzadeh of Zob Ahan, who might be given his debut.

Defensive prowess

The lineup for this match will be quite close to the Asian Cup matches except that Queiroz managed to get his two injured defenders back. Pejman Montazeri and Hashim Beikzadeh were on the injury list and did not make the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. Queiroz had to significantly change the defense as he was short of options. Whether Montazeri and Beikzadeh will claim their posts back is an interesting question as their replacements, Morteza Pouraliganji in the heart of defense and Vouriya Ghafoori in the left back position, did a marvelous job in the competition and both performed to the admiration of the critics and observers.

Midfield Woes

The middle of the field is where Iran is lacking and will continue so with the aging players, lack of creativity, lack of pace and dearth of offensive capabilities hurting the team. Nekouman , Teymourian and Shojaei are on steady decline and despite their significant efforts during the Asian Cup , they were found wanting as they were no match for younger, energetic and more creative opposition players. UAE and Iraq matches, highlighted the weakness of Iran midfield. Ashkan Dejagah remains the main midfielder who can make a difference.

Up front , there is a very healthy competition developing between the established forward Reza Ghoochannejad who has a terrific scoring record with Team Melli and up and coming star , Sardar Azmoun.

[/column]
[column size=”1/2″]

Although Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh will be absent from the team due to commitment of Omid Team in Tehran, which lead to Queiroz wrath and subsequent resignation , the addition of Masoud Ahmadzadeh is another shot in the arm for Team Melli offensive capabilities. On a perturbing note, Karim Ansarifard has lost much of his sparkle and abilities since moving to Spain to join Osasuna. His inclusion in the team as a striker without scoring a single goal in the season and not even providing a single assist, is one of those Queiroz special mysteries !.

Goalkeeping Calamities

Goalkeeping will remain the biggest of Iran’s worries for the forcible future, unless the new coach changes the keepers altogether. Haghighi is still the number one choice of Queiroz however; it is unlikely that he will remain so for long. The selection of calamity Sousha Makani is yet another of Queiroz mysterious rational that defies logic. Makani has been consistently unreliable for Persepolis

The star performers

The Chilean team, La Roja , is one of the contenders for Copa America. Head coach Jorge Sampaoli is expected to field his strongest line up including the Chilean household names of Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Arturo Vidal (Juventus), Claudio Bravo (Barcelona) and Gary Medel (Inter Milan) for the two games series against Iran and then Brazil in Emirates Stadium in London. . Because most Chile player play abroad, the chances of the team training together on regular basis is small hence these FIFA days represent the most important times for the coaches to impliment their game plans.

Players’ Fatigue

Sampaoli is quite lucky that he has no major injury except for Johnny Herrera (Universidad de Chile) custodian who dislocated his shoulder during the victory over Palestino in the league match at home and did not make the trip, However , in Claudio Bravo (Barcelona)in goal , such absence is the least of his worries.

The European contingent join the squad after some heaving playing schedules. Sanchez and Vidal in particular had busy schedules with significant number of strong matches played in the League and the Champions League. Fatigue might be a factor for these two games for Chile. Sampaoli might think it is wise to conserve their energy and refrain from playing them the whole 90 minutes.

[/column]
[/row]

25/03/2015

Chile vs. Iran : Match review

By Michael Huguenin

www.goal.com

Mar 24, 2015 12:13:39 AM

Iran will face Chile on Thursday in its first game since its Asian Cup exit, with the South Americans looking ahead to Copa America.

Midfielder Arturo Vidal has reminded Chile it must “take advantage” of its friendlies against Iran and Brazil ahead of this year’s Copa America.

Chile faces Iran in Austria on Thursday before taking on Brazil in London on Sunday, and Vidal has underlined the importance of match practice for Jorge Sampaoli’s men before they host the Copa America in June and July.

Vidal and Co. has lost just one match since last year’s World Cup, going down 2-1 to Uruguay in November, but has won four times in seven friendlies.

In its most recent game, Chile came from behind twice to beat the United States 3-2 in January, and Vidal wants to see some improvement against Iran in St. Polten.

“It’s an important game for us, we have these two games before the Copa America and we must take advantage,” he said, according to Chilean newspaper La Nacion.

The 27-year-old also denied any issues with his fitness after he was subbed off in his most recent league match for Juventus on Sunday.

“I stepped on an opponent late in the game and left the field just in case, and I was also a little tired, but no problems or injury,” Vidal said.

Coach Sampaoli has named a strong squad for this week’s matches with the likes of Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal, Fiorentina’s Matias Fernandez, Inter’s Gary Medel and Claudio Bravo of Barcelona all involved.

The Chileans will face an underworked Iran side in Austria, with Carlos Queiroz’s side not having played since it was eliminated from the Asian Cup in January.

Queiroz has made just four changes from his Asian Cup squad for friendlies against Chile and Sweden, with goalkeeper Sosha Makani, defenders Pejman Montazeri and Hashem Beikzadeh, plus striker Masoud Hassanzadeh promoted.

Iran lost the game of the tournament to exit the Asian Cup, losing in a penalty shoot-out in a quarterfinal against rival Iraq after the match ended 3-3 through 120 minutes, with four goals scored in extra time.

23/03/201525/03/2015

A winning start for Iran Beach soccer.

Iran Beach soccer team started its pursuit to defend its Asian Title by defeating Lebanon 3-2 in Doha , Qatar.

The 2015 Asian Beach Soccer Championship matches are being held in the Katara Arena on the beach of Doha with the presence of 15 teams.

Lebanon scored the first goal but Mohammad Ali Sadeghi soon equalized for Iran. Farid Blokbashi put Iran in front with a spectacular header to make it 2-1 for the defending champion, before Mohammad Ahmadzadeh scored a third with one of his trickery shoots to put Iran 3-1 ahead with 6 minutes to go, A long range shot from Lebanon’s Halawi to make it 3-2 to ensure a thrilling finale, however Iran held comfortably and finished the first match on the right track with a hard fought win against an excellent Lebanese team.

Naderi wasted a penalty in the match, saved by the brilliant Lebanon keeper.

Iran will have a break tomorrow before meeting Thailand on Wednesday.

The winners, runners-up and third-placed team of this tournament are all guaranteed a spot at July’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Portugal.

Iran, the side ranked highest in Asia by FIFA, will face Thailand and Lebanon in Group D. In Group B, Japan, who finished fourth at the 2000 and 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups, are set to do battle with China, Vietnam and Kuwait, while the UAE, Uzbekistan and Iraq will compete in Group C.

The top two teams from each group will progress to the competition’s knockout stage ahead of the final which will be held on March 28.

Only six teams have confirmed their 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup places so far – Italy, Portugal, reigning champions Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Fiji.

AFC Beach Soccer Championship 2015 Groups

Group A: Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Laos

Group B: Japan, China, Vietnam, Kuwait

Group C: UAE, Uzbekistan, Iraq

Group D: Iran, Thailand, Lebanon

23/03/201523/03/2015

AFC turns down Iran’s Black Armband request.

The AFC has turned down Iran’s request for the Omid Team to wear black armband to commemorate the death of Fatima Al Zahra, the Prophet Mohammad’s daughter who died in year 632. Fatimah is an inspiring example for Shia Moslems and highly revered.

The AFC found such request inappropriate and not relating to sport. It also violates the international regulation against the display of religious and political messages by players and teams for which severe penalties and sanctions are imposed.

It is not clear the reason behind the insistence of Iran’s football federation FFIRI in requesting such permission despite the fact that FFIRI officials are clearly aware of the rules governing the display of political and religious slogans in stadiums or by sport men and women.

The audacity of the federation reached a level that an unnamed executive of the federation, perhaps succumbing to external pressure, asked the International Relations officer of FFIRI of what are the consequences of defying this AFC and FIFA rule and going ahead with wearing the black armband, in which case the answer was spontaneous; Iran team will be prevented from playing!. The seriousness of the situation was eventually realized by the FFIRI and they opted to play the game according to the rules.

Iranian players in the domestic league, frequently display political but mainly religious messages and slogans on their under jersey and reveal them during scoring celebration. Although such practice is banned by FIFA and also has been considered inappropriate by some religious figures, it seems to be promoted within Iran as TV cameras habitually focus on any player who displays such religious slogans as if it is a mandatory practice!

The Iranian sportsmen and athletes were notorious for displaying religious messages and defiant political slogans right after the revolution but international uproar and application of new rules against such unsporting practices curbed such behavior by the Iranians, apparently not totally eliminated it.

Source: ISNA