Year: 2022

Mahdavikia resigns from FFIRI Technical Committee

A report on an Iranian sports website has claimed that Mehdi Mahdavikia, the former Team Melli player and the current Head Coach of Omid Team, has resigned his post as a member of the federation’s Technical Committee.

“Tarafdari ” claims that not only Mahdavikia is not willing to be a part of the committee he has shown reluctance in continuing his work with Omid Team (U23) too.

This site writes that FIFA  has sent an invitation to MahdaviKia as the representative of Iran to attend the online meeting of the technical directors of the football federations of the member states, however, in response to this invitation, Mahdavikia said that he is no longer the technical director of FFIRI.

After Mahdavikia’s response to FIFA that he is no longer representing Iran, the world governing football body sends a letter to the Football Federation of Iran FFIRI inquiring about this and asking the Football Federation to introduce a replacement for MahdaviKia to attend the FIFA online meeting.

The expectation is that there are currently two candidates who can represent the FFIRI in this virtual meeting. Mirshad Majedi, the chairman of the Youth Committee and a member of the Board of Directors of the Football Federation, and Bijan Zolfagharansab, who has recently become the chairman of the “Technical and Development Committee” of the Football Federation. The latter’s post is more appropriate for the subject of the meeting.

Earlier, ZolfagharNasab had also announced that he had not been notified of the decision to select him for this post and that it was only speculation.

While Mahadvikia quitting his post is indicative of internal disagreements in the “Technical and Development Committee” or a dispute between Mahdavikia and the FFIRI management, the role of the Technical Committee has been marginalized and damaged during the Queiroz era. It is effectively toothless with no power or authority to do anything of worth to develop football at any level in Iran.

The fact that Mahadvikia agreed to join, was surprising knowing that the committee is no more than a formality and suffers a distinct lack of transparency.

There was no confirmation on the FFIRI website confirming or denying this information.

A critical look at Team Melli.

Team Melli got the result it wanted against the UAE and put further pressure on Korea Rep for the race at the top of the group. With qualification assured, it was an excellent opportunity for Dragan Skocic to introduce changes in the lineup, but to the great disappointment of many, he stuck with the same players except for those enforced changes such as through suspensions or Covid.

If the mission of Skocic was just to finish the match with three points and minimum damage, then he achieved that objective, but it was far from pretty. A countless number of passes went astray, the finishing in front of the goal was abysmal, final balls lacking accuracy, misunderstanding between players and lack the sense of urgency and accuracy. Players were guilty of some unprofessional works at this level. Team Melli must look beyond the final two games of the group, although the one against Korea is a good test, and start looking forward to how would they like to play and compete.

To be recognized and accepted, Team Melli has a long way to go in a relatively limited time period.

Player’s selections and Opportunities

Skocic pick for the match was frustrating. If Team Melli has any aspiration to stand and be counted amongst the elite in Qatar, then Skocic must think positively and bravely to build a team of 23 highly-rated players and not just stick with a skeleton of 11 to 13 fixed starters. That was Queiroz regime style and despite the limited success of Queiroz’s team, it failed to go beyond the group stages in Russia and did not win the title in the Asian Cup 2019.

To give players confidence, Skocic must offer them the chance to play and perform. The bench players must be as good as the main players. Bench players must be integrated and there is no better way of such integration except actually giving them the minutes at any opportunity.

Skočić missed that opportunity against the UAE. Perhaps fear of losing was the catalyst and that is understandable. It is not a crime for a coach to be result-oriented, however, there is a time when the future integration and strength of the team must take priority.

Shaky individual Performances

Non-performing players or those who are consistently playing sub-standard games must realize that they would lose their place in the lineup. For example, both Ghoddos and Gholizadeh were poor against Iraq, yet they both kept their places against UAE. To create the spirit of competition amongst the players, Skocic could have dropped them for this match to send a signal to everyone else that there is no such thing as a permanent place in the team, sub-standard performances have consequences, there are alternative options who can fill the gap and the team is more important than the interest of the individuals.

That methodology has proven to work, as the problem with Taremi proved not long ago.

Most professional coaches religiously adhere to this mindset, Skocic must follow too. If a player is selected to play, he must deliver.

If a player continues playing weakly and yet he is still picked up for matches, there will be a sense of injustice and disappointment in the team the consequences of which is unimaginable.

Players must feel that bad performances will have consequences and hence give it 100% effort. Players in Team Melli must understand that there are at least two if not more players that can take their place if they do not deliver. This is missing in Skocic team.

Professional players of this generation will develop a false sense of security and believe in their own vitalness. Only a good professional coach can change that.

Disciplinary acts.

Then there was another disturbing part. The disciplinary record of Team Melli is absolutely dismal. There are far too many yellow and red cards awarded to them. It is an indication of lack of guile, professionalism, and most probably negligence.  There are certain Team Melli players that one feels could be dismissed anytime due to a wild or mistimed tackle, pure negligence, and lack of maturity. leading to suspensions and negative effects on the team. Whatever it takes, Skocic and his coaching staff must strengthen the mental agility and emotional control of the players. The World Cup is too valuable of a place for the Team to lose players through suspensions because of loss of concentration.

Game Plan

While there were some nice touches and inter-passing, despite the lack of continuity, the game plan against the UAE was not clear specifically at the forward end. There were few crosses on the flanks while Iran has the best players who could cross. There was also a lack of aerial firepower up front where the like of Taremi can excel, the direction and control of the midfield were lost mainly due to the failure of the Team Melli midfielders in keeping the ball and timely distribution. Game plans normally do not cater for players’ dismissal and that could have been a reason for the bewilderment of the team, however, even with one player short, Team Melli still managed to miss at least two certain goals!

Creativity and flexibility.

Team Melli is struggling to break down compact defense teams. Even if that is successfully done, the rate of conversion against the chances created is poor. There has been an embarrassing number of easy scoring chances missed

The problems stem from the heart of midfield. The sight of Team Melli probing from side to side, with a painful lack of incision, has left some critics lacking in confidence in the team. Flanks that feed the tall attackers seem to go missing in action. Apart from Jahanbakhsh, no other midfield player seems to have the vision and the creativity that is required at the top-level competition. The generations of Khodadad Aziz, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Ali Karimi, Nekounam which then continued with Mojtaba Jabbari, Ando Teymourian, and Ashkan Dejagah have served the Team well through the years, now such creativity is simply lacking.

The root cause is the standard of the domestic league in Iran which is feeble and has failed to produce the quality required at the international level. The solution at Skocic’s hand. Somehow he must address this complicated issue.

Players rating vs UAE

Amir Abedzadeh : Another commanding, confident and perfect display. Despite the few attacks by the opposing team, Abedzadeh handled the ball and any aerial threat with ease and did not put a foot wrong, Oozes with confidence and that transmits to the defenders in front of him too [8.75]

Sadegh Moharrami : Disappointing premature game end for such a skillful half-back. His second yellow card and subsequent dismissal were unprofessional, reckless, and negligent for a player at the international level. We sincerely hope that a good lesson is learned  [5.0]

Omid Noorafkan : In the makeshift defense line, Noorafkan played well as a central defender partnering with Kananizadegan. Solid and steady although the UAE attacks were sparse and hardly threatening [7.7]

Milad Mohammadi: Had a quiet game, but it is apparent that this pacey defender has lost some of his finer touches. His ball distribution and passing lacked accuracy and was guilty of some bad passes [6.8]

Hossein Kanani-zadegan : Another solid performance at the center of defense. His timely header saved the Team a certain goal. Despite playing in an unusual formation with his regular partner (Khalilzadeh) missing, his coordination with Noorafkan was immaculate. [8.4]

Saeed Ezatollahi : Still wobbly and at times acts like a bull in a china store. The defensive work was as expected but he lacks consistency. Got himself booked for an unnecessary foul, then escaped another booking minutes later with a bad tackle. [6.7]

Saman Ghoddos : The second consecutive game in a row that Saman looks lackluster. It was not a difficult decision for Skocic to sacrifice him after Moharrami was dismissed. He made little difference in the team and lacked proper and accurate ball distribution for his teammates. It is a pity as Ghoddos is a highly technical and visionary football. He has yet to deliver at Team Melli though. [6.0]

Ali Gholizadeh : After a marvelous run late in the second half where he showed tremendous skills, his run towards the UAE goal and the feeble shoot on goal, while Taremi on his left was wide open, is bordering a crime. He did not have a good game like his partner Ghoddos. It is unsettling and as such robbing the team of creativity. Missed two glorious goal-scoring chances [6.3]    

Alireza Jahanbakhsh : Another top performance from the Captain of Team Melli. His enthusiasm, skill, and vision are going to be much needed if Iran has any aspiration in qualifying from the group stages of the World Cup. He is the Maestro of the team [8.9] Man of the Match

Mehdi Taremi : He delivers when needed. That goal against UAE was a poacher’s goal and that is what makes Taremi so special and a valuable asset to the team. He suffered from some fatigue especially when he had to return back and cover for the team missing a player, but still performed admirably [8.8]

Vahid Amiri : A few flashes of brilliance but Amiri like many of his teammates today lacked the high passing accuracy. It is expected from him to feed the forwards with crosses, but they were scarce and far apart thus hardly creating any threats. He still covered quite well in the back when needed. [7.5]

Substitutes

Ahmad Nourollahi : Found it hard to control the midfield after he came as a substitute. His one shot at goal was way off target., otherwise he had a quiet game. Perhaps recovering from Covid had some effect on his performance  [7.0]

Saleh Hardani : taking into account his status as a new member of the team, he played with confidence and boldness against quite a pacey UAE winger. He never let his guard down and filled Moharrami’s slot quite well. A very good prospect and a player that needs to be given more playing time [7.8]

Siavaush Yazdani Moghadam : Not enough playing time to rate him, but in the opportunity given, he played well without any problem.to be

Iran edge UAE to maintain tight grip on top spot

the-afc.com

Tehran: Ten-man Islamic Republic of Iran extended their unbeaten run in the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar to eight matches with a 1-0 home win over the UAE in Group A on Tuesday.

The home side had already qualified to Qatar 2022 last week after beating Iraq 1-0, but they still fielded a full-strength side and produced another win and a clean sheet despite their numerical disadvantage for over 40 minutes.

The earliest attempt of the game came after Ali Saleh spotted Amir Abedzadeh off his line and tried to catch him off guard from 45 yards out but lacked precision with his aim.

IR Iran came within inches of opening the scoring in the 32nd minute when the UAE defense failed to deal with a deflected cross, and the ball fell to Alireza Jahanbakhsh who sent it first time across the mouth of goal for Mehdi Taremi who could not connect inside the six-yard-box.

UAE’s first shot on target arrived in the last minute of the opening half when full-back Bandar Al Ahbabi tested Abedzadeh from a long-range free-kick, but the Iranian goalkeeper calmly collected it.

The stalemate was finally ended by the home side after Jahanbakhsh sent a cross from the right that was headed against the upright by Ali Gholizadeh before Taremi followed through on the half-volley to hand Team Melli the lead and match China PR’s Wu Lei at the top of the qualifiers’ scorers charts with four goals.

The game dynamics changed four minutes after the restart as IR Iran right-back Sadegh Moharrami received his marching orders following a heavy challenge on Abdulla Ramadan.

From that point, possession was dominated by the visiting side while the Iranians looked to absorb the pressure and hit on the break.

Team Melli nearly doubled their tally against the run of play when Jahanbakhsh led a quick counter attack and beat his marker before rifling from distance, forcing goalkeeper Ali Khaseif to produce a world class save, parrying it behind for a corner.

Coach Bert van Marwijk threw all his attacking weapons in an attempt to find the equalizer, but goalkeeper Abedzadeh stood tall to deny Caio and Sebastian Tagliabue on multiple occasions to help IR Iran hold out for the victory.

The result means IR Iran increase their tally to 22 points, two ahead of the Korea Republic which also joined them in Qatar 2022 earlier in the day. Meanwhile, the UAE remains third but their lead over fourth-placed Lebanon is reduced to three points with two games to go.

MATCH STATS

Iran

4-3-3
 1 – 0 United Arab Emirates

4-2-3-1
WC Qualification Asia

Iran
2 S. Moharrami 38‎‘‎49‎‘‎ DF
5 M. Mohammadi 83‎‘‎ DF
6 S. Ezatolahi 23‎‘‎59‎‘‎ MF
7 A. Jahanbakhsh 84‎‘‎ FW
9 M. Taremi 44‎‘‎ FW
11 V. Amiri MF
13 H. Kanani DF
14 S. Ghoddos 54‎‘‎ MF
17 A. Gholizadeh FW
18 O. Noorafkan DF
22 A. Abedzadeh GK

Substitutes
8 A. Nourollahi 59‎‘‎59‎‘‎ Sub
15 Saleh Hardani 54‎‘‎54‎‘‎ Sub
20 S. Yazdani Moghadam 83‎‘‎83‎‘‎ Sub

Manager
– Skočić MAN

United Arab Emirates
1 Ali Khaseif GK
3 Waleed Abbas DF
8 Majed Hassan 74‎‘‎ MF
9 Bandar Mohamed DF
10 Tahnoon Al Zaabi 84‎‘‎ MF
11 Caio Canedo FW
13 Mohammed Al Attas DF
14 Khalil Ibrahim 67‎‘‎ MF
16 Ali Saleh 67‎‘‎ MF
18 Abdalla Ramadan 90‎+‎2‎‘‎ MF
21 Mahmoud Khamis 86‎‘‎ DF

Substitutes
2 Zayed Al Ameri 86‎‘‎86‎‘‎ Sub
5 Harib Abdalla Suhail 67‎‘‎67‎‘‎ Sub
19 Yahya Al Ghassani 74‎‘‎74‎‘‎ Sub
20 Sebastián Tagliabúe 67‎‘‎67‎‘‎ Sub

Manager
– van Marwijk MAN

Final training before UAE match

The final Team Melli’s training session before the game against the UAE was held at 15:30 Monday, at the No. 2 field of the National Football Center.

The training in the presence of the Iranian Minister of Youth and Sports and hordes of news photographers was conducted under strict health protocols. Social distancing with the media was strictly observed.

* Ahmad Nourollahi,  who missed the match against Iraq due to Corona, returned to training after his latest PCR Test was Negative.  He was the subject of attention by the photographers and members of the media.

* With Beiranvand’s absence, the head coach invited Akhbari as the third Team Melli keeper for the match against the UAE.

Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem, the president of FFIRI was hosting the minister and both had a friendly chat with the players and coaches before the start of training.

* The players warmed up at the beginning of the practice and then in single-player groups, they carried out one-on-one passes.

* The representative of the Asian Football Confederation attended the training of the Iranian national team and monitored all the training points and the presence of the media to ensure compliance with the health protocols.

* The media left the training ground after 40 minutes of training today according to AFC rules.

 

Team Melli striker Mehdi Taremi offered to Arsenal

According to CBS sports website, A dramatic deadline day looks set to end with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leaving Arsenal with Barcelona has reached an agreement to sign the former Gunners’ club captain on a free transfer. Arsenal who looks like having a crisis in the forward line, with their two main strikers being out of contract in the summer has already failed to attract the Serbian forward Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina after Juventus secured his services for a €70m transfer fee

The Gunners have also been offered several players on loan this month, including Real Madrid’s Luka Jovic and Team Melli striker Mehdi Taremi of Porto, and have been working to upgrade Arteta’s strikeforce before the transfer window closes Monday night. Meanwhile, Arsenal have made one signing, securing the services of Colorado Rapids center back Auston Trusty.

Porto, meanwhile, have lost three of their key players in recent weeks, namely Jose Corona, Sergio Oliveira, and Luis Diaz, and it is unlikely that the Porto boss will take another move in the transfer window. Mehdi Taremi who scored the winning goal against Iraq on Thursday to qualify for the World Cup 2022,  is currently in the camp of Team Melli and will face the UAE tomorrow.

It will be suicidal for Porto to part with Taremi at this stage, especially since they are challenging for the League titke.

Striker Azmoun moves to Leverkusen earlier than planned.

Leverkusen (DPA)

Football Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen has brought forward the signing of Iranian national striker Sardar Azmoun.

Sunday, 30.01.2022, 16:21 hrs

Sardar Azmoun (r) will move to Leverkusen in the winter. Photo: Dmitri Lovetsky/AP/dpa

Both clubs announced that the 27-year-old will move to the Rhineland in the winter transfer period. “We are happy about the constructive agreement with Zenit and that we can now rely on Sardar’s qualities at an early stage,” said sporting director Simon Rolfes. A week ago, the club had reported the actually transfer-free transfer Azmoun’s for summer as perfect. The goalscorer, who scored 39 goals in 60 international matches and became champion three times in a row with Zenit, signed a contract until 2027 with Bayer Leverkusen.

Meanwhile, Zenit has officially confirmed through their Twitter account. that Sardar will be leaving the club with immediate effect. The club wishes to thank Sardar Azmoun for all the work and dedication that he displayed as a valuable member of the team.

Presenting Sardar’s statistics in the Zenit team, the club wrote: “The striker scored 62 goals and provided 17 assists in 104 games for Zenit. Taking into account the goals he scored for FC Rostov and Rubin Kazan, this striker, along with Wagner (85 goals each), are the top foreign players/scorer in the history of the Russian championship.”
The final part of the message reads: “Zenit Club thanks Sardar Azmoun for his incredible performance, the joy of our joint victories, and the love for Zenit and its fans. “Thank you for everything, Sardar!“

Sardar Azmoun finalized the transfer details for the end of the season with Bayer Leverkusen a few days ago and the player was supposed to play in the German Bundesliga at the start of season 2022/23 in a 5-year contract. However, the news of the Azmoun agreement with Leverkusen spread in the media, angering Zenit managers and making them think of selling the striker to Leverkusen in the same winter transfers window. The 20-year-old striker of the Brazilian International team, “Yuri Alberto”, will replace the Azmoun in Zenit.

Skočić determined to continue winning vs UAE.

Tuesday’s game against the UAE is a formality for Team Melli, but neither Skočić nor the players will be so relaxed as to let their guards down against a team that is still fighting for a place in the play-off.

Skočić is determined to continue his immaculate record and register yet another win in Azadi, which will most probably be without spectators.

The list of absentees is significant including key players like Azmoun, Nourollahi, Beiranvand, Ghayedi Hajsafi, Sayyadmanesh, and Khalilzadeh (suspended). Add to the long-term injury of Morteza Pouraliganji. However, what Skocic has on the bench, cannot be referred to as a depleted team in all sense of the word, it is simply less than the full-strength lineup.

The absence of Shoja’a Khalilzadeh is significant, however. There are several options available for Skocic to fill the gap one of them being the highly rated Esteghlal central defender, Siavaush Yazdani. With a slight reshuffle, Skocic can also use a different format as he can even employ Saeed Ezatollahi in the role of a central defender if he wishes to stick to the old guards.

Between the post, Abedzadeh did himself and Team Melli’s pride against Iraq and should continue occupying the goalkeeper post, however, such assurance cannot be given to the middle of the field. Both Gholizadeh and Ghoddos had a mixed and sometimes below-par match in the last outing. Both missed easy chances to score while their feeding to the forward line was not spectacular either. It was left to Jahanbakhsh to do all the hard work with Ezatollahi supporting the defensive side of things.

While there are apparent concerns on the half-backs, in the last three matches, all the defenders used on the posts played well enough if not perfectly to justify their selection. The question remains on the level of consistency of the half-backs. Nourafakn has shown that he has the quality and can be a forceful offensive asset with his runs on the flank, but he can also be easily caught off guard while defending and has a knack for wild tackles.

The absence of Nourallahi looked quite definitive against Iraq. Ghoddos has not reached the standard that is required at this level of competition. He has little time to make amends and misses like the one against Iraq where all he had to do is place the ball on either side of the goalkeeper, instead of hitting it badly off target, will not ender him to the coaches, or the fans.

Gholizadeh was also disappointing against Iraq. His consistency is suspect while his passing and timing need to be addressed. Both these Team Melli midfielders have the skills and the quality, however, the application and consistency are lacking for whatever reason.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh remains the gem in the crown and at the moment, an indispensable dynamo of the team.

 

Upfront, there is little concern even with Azmoun out of commission. Taremi’s magic is still there and even if he is given a rest day, Ansarifard, Rezaei, or the newcomer Shahab Zahedi can fill the gap with ease.

For the UAE, Bert Van Marwijk will hardly make substantial changes in the lineup except for the forced ones. The services of the players like strikers Ali Mabkhout, Fabio de Lima, and Sebastian Tagliabue are not available due to injuries. The team’s hope upfront is mainly on their former Brazilian Ciao Canedo who scored against Syria and provided an assist too. Team Melli was caught by the pace of the UAE players several times in the last match where Iran won by a solitary goal from Taremi. Khalilzadeh was actually red-carded momentarily, but it was rescinded at the last minute because of an offside just before he committed the foul on Al Mabkhout. Luckily a repeat will not occur on Tuesday as Khalilzadeh and Al Mabkhout will be out of the match.

Ciao Canedo
Ciao Canedo , UAE Striker

Team Melli invited for a friendly international to Japan in June.

Now that Team Melli secured qualification to the finals stages of the FIFA World Cup 2022, the federation has started planning for the next stage and has received offers for friendly international matches.

One of these proposals is the invitation of the Japan Football Federation JFF for a friendly match in Japan on FIFA day in  June this year. Japan, whose qualification to the World Cup is not final yet, has asked for a preparatory game with Team Melli during that period. The final decision on holding this match, despite the request of the Japanese, is still not finalized.

“Some matches are already scheduled for June,” Team Melli head coach  Dragan Skocic said in his latest interview. “We also received an invitation from Japan. Let’s see what happens. There are some scheduling work that needs to be ironed out and many plans to address. The most crucial thing is to be well prepared before we fly to Doha”

Sardar Azmoun may join Bayer Leverkusen as early as next week!

A French journalist claimed that the Iranian striker would terminate his contract this winter and will immediately join the Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in the winter transfer window.

Zenit striker Sardar Azmoun will terminate his contract with Zenit St Petersburg ahead of schedule and join Leverkusen this winter, RMC Sports correspondent Luis Tanzi reported on Twitter, according to RMC. The German club will most likely pay for the Azmoun contract period.

One week ago, Azmoon signed a contract with Bayer until 2027. The player’s current contract is with Zenit is valid until the summer of 2022. Azmoun has scored 10 goals and provided 4 assists in 21 games for Zenit this season. The Zenit club announced that the player will not attend Zenit training for two weeks and will be in quarantine so that he can regain his health. Thus, the striker of Bayer Leverkusen next season will be absent for two weeks, even in the training sessions of his club team, and will not be available for the Team Melli game against the UAE in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers on Tuesday 1st February.