While Team Melli is active preparing for the continent’s most important trophy, the Asian Cup, Carlos Queiroz issued a statement through the Official FFIRI website carrying a message of hope and encouragement..

Queiroz, who has never shied from attacking his detractors while himself constantly criticizes the lack of quality support for Team Melli by the federation and the government, through such statements, seems to pave the way for another battle of the field in addition to the on-field preparations and training the squad.

The text of this message is as follows:

“Undermining the efforts or not achieving a good place or losing in the Asian Cup, in fact, is in contempt of all the sacrifices and commitments made by coaches and players over the past few years.

Failure to support the national squad’s preparation process effectively and at the right time, with real resources and solutions, will disappoint the supporters of the national team and cause shame and humiliation of all the dreams and expectations of supporters who have gone through the achievements of the higher national team.

Sometimes the main thing is not pursuing impossible, but to improve the conditions of the past. To be a champion, to win, you have to play better, practice harder, have better rest and sleep.

With a tech-minded group that is like a close-knit company, detectors of values, creators of talent, courageous opposition plans destroyers, and precise analysts by doing very difficult and clever tasks with the adherence and display of courage and sacrifices, we were able to do the right thing. Where exactly others predicted that it would be impossible to succeed, some of them even dreamed of defeating us. Thank you, gentlemen, I am very proud of you and here I would like to thank you very much from my heart.

Of course, now is time for all of us to stand up and face the challenges ahead with the same flexibility and commitment that we all have, and that’s precisely what we need to do to prepare, train, and support our players in the national team. Now that we are faced with devastating winds, I seek your courage and loyalty to motivate our players so that we can succeed in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 and turns those sweat drops in to gold, thanks to the support of the national team. ”

Ali Daei has been voted the best ever AFC Asian Cup goalscorer in a poll conducted by official AFC website (www.The-AFC.com)

Daei  (767,438 votes) was voted ahead of :

Yasser Al Qahtani – Saudi Arabia – 452,115

Younis Mahmoud – Iraq – 54,634

Ali Mabkhout – United Arab Emirates – 6,475

Alexander Geynrikh – Uzbekistan- 4,424 votes

Lee Dong-gook – Korea Republic – 4,240 votes

Naohiro Takahara – Japan – 4,192 votes

Tim Cahill – Australia – 4,079 votes

Jassem Al Houwaidi – Kuwait – 3815 votes

Ali Daei – IR Iran

Top Scorer – 1996 AFC Asian Cup

No player in the history of football has scored more international goals than Ali Daei’s 109 for Islamic Republic of Iran.

Eight of those strikes came at the 1996 AFC Asian Cup, earning him the top scorer award.

Daei added three more in Lebanon 2000 and three more in China four years later to become the competition’s all-time top goalscorer.

Ali Daei Summary Record in Asian Cup

 Carlos Queiroz has announced the name of 28 players who are invited to train in preparation for the  international friendly match against Bolivia.

The squad will assemble in Tehran and will training under the Team Melli coaches . The training camp will last until the international break and the match on the 16th October. Because of the FIFA international break, most of the Legionnaires will be available for the camp. However, the fate of Sardar Azmoun is not clear.

The Rubin Kazan player has insisted on not playing for Team Melli after the FIFA World Cup, however Queiroz invited him for the Uzbekistan match. Azmoun did not turn up for training or the match. Queiroz has again invited the Team Melli back to the team without giving any heads up to the reporters and the media if there has been any progress with Sardar Azmoun about his future with Team Melli.

One certain and significant absentee however is Ramin Rezaeian who was not included on the list. The ex Persepolis defender, who last played for the Belgian side , KV Oostende is a free agent and has not managed to find himself a team. Although Queiroz picked him for the last friendly against Uzbekistan, he did not make an appearance in that game.

No other surprises are there in the squad, however the poor form of Khanzadeh and Mehdi Taremi  both playing in Qatar Star League and the out of practice Karim Ansarifard is raising concerns ahead of the AFC Asian Cup matches in the UAE.

THE SQAUD

In a detailed interview today, Carlos Queiroz, outlined the conditions of Team Melli and raised various issues relating to the squad; the UAE’s problems of hosting AFC Asian Cup 2019 , the team’s Kit , Iran’s logistical problems of arranging friendly games and his verbal agreement. With Mehdi Taj

One of the main areas of Queiroz discussion was the selection of players for the AFC Asian Cup 2019. The Portuguese head coach used various descriptive sentences and has advanced criteria for inviting players for Asia’s premiere tournament. In reality, Queiroz has conveyed an irrefutable message to highlight the fact that the presence of players in the FIFA World Cup last summer is not a guarantee that the player will be picked for the squad of Team Melli for the AFC Asian Cup.

“It’s different from the World Cup,” he explains, “For sure, the style of the 23 final players who will be selected for the Asian Cup is different from those who were selected for the World Cup in Russia.” “In another part he explicitly states:” Certainly, the type of my choices will be different from the Russian World Cup. »

In another discussion about what criteria is used for selection of Team Melli players for Asian Cup, Queiroz pointed out that experience of the player has a high priority in the selection criteria. Despite the emphasis on how the style of the players in the World Cup and the Asian Cup is different, he described the “experience” as “something that cannot be ignored in his belief.” The national team’s head coach says experienced players will play a crucial role against Japan, South Korea and the other Asian powerhouses.

Playing in the domestic Iranian League or the Leagues of the other countries is one of the issues Queiroz claimed that he does not care about when inviting players to the National Team. Although the head coach of Team Melli habitually criticizes the quality of the Iranian domestic league and countries like Qatar, he says: “My theory as a coach is to look at everyone with one eye. But I always choose the best, and it does not matter to me where the player plays. I try to give my players some strategies to make them progress. »

Another criterion in which Queiroz emphasized in his interview is the commitment and loyalty of the players. Perhaps this is one of the few times a national team manager clearly states that he needs the commitment and loyalty of his players and somehow extends his hands toward them. This statement of Queiroz generates an interesting debate specifically due to the Post World Cup event when Sardar Azmoun, the team’s striker declared that he would not play again for Iran. However Queiroz brushed aside Azmoun’s retirement and kept insisting on his return to the squad, even naming the Rubin Kazan forward for the squad that played Uzbekistan last month. Azmoun, though, never showed up to prove that his decision was serious and for real.

Perhaps one of the points that Queiroz wanted to put across is how much he is counting on Sardar Azmoun in his plan to conquer Asia and lift the Cup for the first time after 47 years  With the absence of his key striker, Queiroz is handicapped.

The news was very short but quite shocking. “Majid Golamnejad has died.”

It was not the first time that a footballer dies at a young age, and probably Golamnejad would not be the last athlete to experience death at such early age. But the death of our former Team Melli player was so sudden and strange that it caused the gossip market to engage in full force within a few hours. Dozens of reasons and speculations were given for the unexpected death of the 35 years old player, not to mention the usual fabrications of facts that is rife in Iran.

From stroke to choking to depression to head trauma, all such cases were mentioned as reasons for the death of a likable former national team figure, and the rumors were so hot and believable that few individuals actually sought the real story and the true reason for Gholamnejad’s death. The only thing which was common in all these rumors was that this accident happened in the water.

MehrNews determined to pursue facts behind this tragic accident. The fact is Gholamnejad had neither had a history of heart disease, nor suffered a stroke, nor did he jump from heights into the water, nor was there any dives.

The real story. On Friday 14^th September 2018 , Majid Gholamnejad, along with his wife and son, and several friends with their families were on a leisure trip to Siyahoo region in Hormozgan province , about 65 km north of Bandar Abbas. The area is scenic with mountains, rivers and plantation. It is a popular tourist attraction for the locals.  The group reached the bank of Naband River, and intended to cross it to the other side of the water. Gholamnejad, who was a good swimmer, volunteered to find a good crossing spot. He ventured in to the shallow section of the river which seemed to be safe for crossing. His intention was to lead and find the safest path to cross. While walking in relatively shallow waters, he slipped, lost his balance and fell into the rushing water. In matter of seconds the strong current took him towards the deep part of the river.

Before the deceased could react, he was caught up in the whirlpool in the deep part of the water, and while he was screaming for help, he suddenly disappeared under and this was the last time that deceased was seen alive. All of this happened while his wife, his son and other companions were watching helplessly.

Gholamnejad’s wife immediately fainted on watching that shocking scene, the efforts of the companions to find him in the river’s water were ineffective and inevitably the emergency personnel were called. The accident happened around 11 am and Gholamnejad’s dead body was found around 13:30 by divers who responded to the rescue call and explored the area.

The deceased body was then transferred to the forensic department, and after the autopsy it became clear that the deceased first suffered from drowning and afterwards his head hit the river bed rocks, which did not actually caused his death.

After the incident, Bahman Dehghan and Kazem Burjloo, who were close friends, traveled to Bandar Abbas on behalf of the Saipa Alborz, the club where Gholamnejad played most of his career. Arash Borhani, another close friend of the deceased, who was in Bandar Abbas at the time of the accident, also joined Dehghan and Burjloo to accompany the grieving deceased’s father and help with the administrative process of transferring his body to his native town.

On Saturday, and after the result of the autopsy was confirmed that the cause of death was due drowning, the lifeless body of the footballer was handed over to his close friend, Bahman Dehgan then his body was shrouded and flown to Tehran where it was then taken by Ambulance to Rasht his final burial place.

The late Majid Gholamnejad made his name in football while playing for Saipa Club. During the coaching of Ali Daei, he made 17 appearances for Team Melli and also scored a goal. Apart from Saipa, he also played for Pas Hamadan and Esteghlal Tehran. Gholamnejad spent his final years in football with Shahrdari Bandar Abbas team in the second division and after the end of his career he settled in Bandar Abbas to manage a sports and fitness club.

The body of the late Gholamnejad is buried in Rasht city, in the village of of Hindkhala, the birthplace of his father.

May God bless his soul.