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Azmoun "We must not be complacent against Cambodia"

Team Melli team striker says he and his teammates should be highly focused against Cambodia to earn 3 points. Sardar Azmoun added, "It might not be a difficult game for us, but we should not lose concentration because three points are vitally important for us." "Bahrain and Iraq tied their match, that was a good result for us, and we have to play this one with great focus in an offensive game to get all the three points, it is important for us not to be complacent. Zenit St Petersburg's forward commented on the eagerness of the forward line to play an offensive game and the praise bestowed on him by Ali Daei, "That the expectations are quite high is both bad and good in some ways. It raises my confidence when people talk about me and express their admiration" He continued: "Ali Daei is my role model and I always have respect for him. Now I have healthy competition and Ali Daei has records that I dream to achieve with great motivation to reach them. I am glad that Mr Daei and MahdaviKia encouraged me and had some good words about me. These two are the greats of Asia, and Mr Daei is the world's top scorer and we have to make a statue of gold of him. If he had been born elsewhere he would have been respected much more than this."

Demand for Cambodia match by females overtakes male fans.

While Team Melli will face Cambodia at Azadi Stadium on Thursday evening, women have bought more tickets than men up to this Wednesday morning according to the latest figures on electronic ticket sales.

حضور بانوان در ورزشگاه

 

Team Melli is playing its second match in the group and the first home game at  Azadi Stadium as part of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022  Group Qualifier.

Out of a total of about 75,000 seats available for sale, only 2500 eTickets were bought by male spectators. E-ticketing started on Thursday, October 5th at 9 pm, from the moment the e-ticketing began females purchased 3500 tickets. It is clear that females were eager to grab the tickets fearing high demand on the limited number of seats available to them.

In the one week that had passed since the launch of the electronic ticketing system. 6,000 seats were sold, however, the actual attendance is expected to be much higher with last-minute purchases.

The 100,000 capacity Azadi Stadium is limited to 75,000 spectators. This restriction is due to safety concerns and the number of seats installed.

The foreign press has wrongly reported that Iran-Cambodia match on Thursday is the first time that females will be allowed to attend a football match in Iran since the revolution. The fact is, females have attended many games before after the authorities have eased that restriction on several occasions without dispensing of the official restrictions which were still practised until recently. There is no clear cut laws in Iran that prevent women from attending matches. Volleyball has the highest number of female attendance in all sports in Iran.

 aورزشگاه آزادی Meanwhile, horde of foreign media is attending the match as Iran has been under scrutiny for banning women from stadiums. The bans are not a football federation or government mandate but powerful clerics have been publically calling for such ban arguing that females must be shielded from masculine atmosphere and sight of semi-clad men. Iranian females have always been actively participating in social activities without any restrictions including the right to drive, working in a mixed environment and travelling on their own. The Islamic revolution has put many restrictions on women one of which is the forceful wearing of headscarves and full-body cladding.

For this match, with the world and particularly FIFA the governing body watching closely, the authorities seem to have prepared quite well for the female entrance to Azadi with even special parking reserved for female drivers.  There also special washrooms and facilities for females only. The parking in  Azadi, one of the more difficult parts of attending a match there, in itself would have encouraged more female attendance.

Positive vibes of Marc Wilmots.

Marc Wilmots has crossed out the names of a few players in the new Team Melli list for the matches against Cambodia and Bahrain.

The significance of the omitted names goes beyond of numbers but it strengthens the belief in the Team Melli squad and the old mentality that a player has a place in the squad for life. Carlos Queiroz had a list that lasted for as long as he can. He trusted this group and had no regards to their current form in their leagues of the fact that other options are available. Queiroz zone of comfort was with his list of favourite players that he trusted.

Marc Wilmots is quickly showing that this mentality will not prevail in the new atmosphere of team Melli and its selection process. Every player needs to prove his worth. There is no place for just names. Players losing a form or being sidelined by their clubs will go down the pecking order. This is, in fact, the real methods of players selection that are practised across the globe with a few exceptions.

Wilmots called up two new figures in Mohammad Mohebbi and Morteza Mansouri to emphasize the message that players in excellent form in the domestic league and those whose performances merit selection for Team Melli will indeed be noticed and called upon.

 

On the other hand, a household name like Alireza Jahanbakhsh who assisted a goal against Hong Kong has no place in the squad, despite being a permanent fixture of Team Melli for over 7 years now. The current form of the player, rather than his fame will determine selection an in Jahanbakhsh's case he has been a poor performer at club level.

   

Here's a look at some of the players invited.

New Callouts:

Payam Niazmand
Rashid Mazaheri

Rashid Mazaheri (Tractorsazi) and Payam Niazmand (Sepahan): Both the goalkeepers in the list have been in the previous squads with Nazmand still to make a debut for Team Melli. Both have kept clean sheets since the start of the league competition and the position in the table of Sepahan and Tractorszai is an indication of the team success which both keepers respectively have played a major part in. hence they deservedly replaced  Seyed Hossein Hosseini and Amir Abedzadeh. Although Beiranvand is still the number guardian of Team Melli goal, his recent mixed form with Persepolis and his suspect temperament can easily outset him from the secure No. 1 choice in the pecking order. In any case, Wilmots have good and competent replacements if needed be.

It is hardly likely that Beiravand will be tested in the next two matches, with Bahrain being a more serious test.
Morteza Mansouri

Morteza Mansouri: The most prominent player invited to the camp is the 29-year-old Sepahan defender, who is in Team Melli squad for the first time and has been favoured over Esteghlal Club Captain Vouria Ghafoori. After an excellent season last year with Shar Khodr culminating in qualifying the club for the AFC Asian Champions League for the first time in their history, Mansouri moved on to Sepahan.

The tenacious defender came to the forefront of the defensive backs of Sepahan and immediately became a fixed player for AMir Ghalenoei. Sepahan's clean sheet and continued excellent performance have made him a natural choice for selection to Team Melli.  However, he is still behind Ramin Rezaian, who plays for a lowly club in Qatar almost every week and has managed to score a few goals too.

 
Mohammad Mohebbi

Mohammed Mohebbi: Mohebbi has played for several Team Melli age level and is no stranger to the tri-colour jersey. His goal against Persepolis, however, instantly boosted his value and worth as a quality Midfield player amongst the fans. Mohebbi joined Sepahan this season with the persistence of Amir Ghalenoei who needed a competent player to fill the role of the departed Mehrdad Mohammadi. Mohebi not only was able to fulfil the role well but he exceeded expectations by helping Sepahan reach the top of the league. Mohebbi is vying for the role of Jahanbakhsh after the Brighton player was dropped due to poor form.

Mehrdad Mohammadi

Mehrdad Mohammadi: An Iranian legionnaire who recently moved from Sepahan to Portuguese football club Aves. Mehrdad has managed to score some impressive goals for his team in the last few months becoming a major player in Portugal league. Mehrdad joins his twin brother Milad in the squad for the first time. Mohammadi continued where he left off as his form with Sepahan put him high in the ranking as one of the best forwards in the Persian Gulf League. Although Mehrdad has been named in the squad several times, he has not made his official debut yet. However, in the training camp that Wilmots and the coaching staff arranged for domestic players, Mohammadi scored the only goal for Team, Melli that was facing Omid team under Majidi.

 

Mehdi Tarami:  Taremi's absence from the previous match vs. Hong Kong was purely based on his fitness. He was injured and needed some time away to recover. After a brilliant performance in Portugal and fully recovering, Taremi is a sure bet to not only be in the starting line-up but also high odds of scoring against Cambodia and Bahrain.

Dropped  players :

Sayed Hossein Hosseini and Amir Abedzadeh: Two goalkeepers who were part of the last squad that played against Hong Kong, but were on the bench. Hosseini has not managed to keep a clean sheet all season and his team is lying in the bottom half of the table.

 Abedzadeh, who was the number goalkeeper for his team last season, has been relegated to the bench this season. It is clear that those two have lost form and subsequently, the selectors had other option thy picked instead of these two.

Varia Ghafouri: The captain of Esteghlal, who has been a member of almost every national squad except the World Cup, has lost his place in Team Melli. Ghafoori is a victim of his team's poor performance in the league this season. Estghlal is a shadow of last year's team and has been suffering defensively, hence both Ghafoori and goalkeeper Hosseinin lost their places. , Ramin Rezaian his usual rival in the lineup has been having a good season so far.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh: Perhaps the biggest omission but not entirely unexpected either. The English club Brighton midfielder has been less than satisfactory since his move from the Dutch League. He has not settled in and despite some factors that have curtailed Jahanbakhshs true potential, at this professional level clubs have little time to waste on recovery. Jahanbakhsh is a bench player now and in danger of being relegated to lower team. Wilmots had no choice except to leave him out with so many other good options available to him.

 Mehdi Torabi: This one is perhaps the more surprising of the lot. The Persepolis midfielder who plays behind Vahid Amiri this season has failed to impress Wilmots. Unlike Jahanbakhsh, Torabi is having an average to a good season but he is not at his best and that is the result of the turmoil in Persepolis. The reds are not doing too well in the league and changes in personnel and coaches have increased the pressure on the players. In Torabi's place, Wilmots has several options like the recently called out Mohammed Mohebbi and Mehrdad Mohammadi.

Allahyar Sayyidmanesh: The youngest Team Melli scorer after being part of the two friendly games of Wilmot's reign has been replaced by the much experienced  Mehdi Taremi in the camp. After his move to Istanbulspor on loan, Sayyadmanesh continues to be a bench player. If that situation continues, the young striker would need some long years before he can be picked again for Team Melli

Overall, none of the absent players is considered critical for Team Melli. Wilmots is spoilt for riches and will confidently use players with an eye of introducing the newer joiners for future.  

Omid Team (Iran U23) squad announced by Estili

Hamid Estili made his Omid Team Selection list available to the media. The players will be shortlisted in due time for the final selection in the squad that will take part in the AFC Asian U23 Championship in Thailand. The championship will also be the qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games.   The Squad Mehdi Nourollahi, Mohammad Sharifi, Omid Dareh, Amir Hossein Hosseinzadeh, Taha Shariati and Abolfazl Jalali (Saipa) Mohammad Moslempour and Mohammad Khoramolhosseini (Machin Sazi) Abolfazl Razaghpour, Mohammad Reza Azadi and Reza Shekari (Tractorsazi) Omid Noorafkan and Ali KayKhosravi (Sepahan) Meraj Ismaili (Zob Ahan) Mohammad Aghajanpour and Sina Zamahran (Shahr Khodro) Mehdi Ghaedi, Aref Gholami, Sina Khadempour and Sajjad Aghaei (Esteghlal) Mohammad KhodabandehLo (Peykan) Vahid Namdari, Se'adat Hardani, Aref Aghasi and Amir Hossein Bagherpour (Foolad Khuzestan) Mehdi Abdi and Amir Roustaei (Persepolis) Reza Jabira and Jafar Salmani (Sanat Naft) Ali Shojaei and Rahma Jafari (Nasaji) Younes Delphi (Charleroi) Esmaeil Babaei (Fajr Sepasi) Ramin Davoudi (Esteghlal Khuzestan) Habib Abbasifar (Naft Masjed Soleiman)

Hamid Estili appointment as Coach of Omid Team, will he be any good?

After the resignation of Farhad Majidi, it seems that FFIRI had no real choice but to appoint the Team manager, Hamid Estili as his replacement. The former Persepolis player also picked his former teammates Reza Shahroodi and Alireza Emamifar as his assistants.

During the short tenure of Farhad Majidi at the helm of Omid's team, Omid Namazi and Farshad Majedi were appointed as his assistants. It is not clear if they are is still or will remain as part of the coaching staff as neither have any Persepolis affiliation that seems to be the level of requirement in Omid team coaching structure with Estili in charge.

As such, the Omid team has turned into The red of Perspolis after the departure of the Blues of Esteghlal to prove once again that Iran's football will have an extreme affinity with the bipolar and partisan system.

At Omid team the status quo remains, meaning the same old chaos, with partisan, Favoritism, nepotism and partiality based upon being part of a favoured group, rather than job performance or competency being the essence.

Estili has more experience than Majidi but his coaching career has been full of failures and turmoil. In reality, he is not much of an improvement on Majidi.

 

Estili Coaching Career

Estili was appointed as an assistant by Ali Parvin in Persepolis in 2004. A few months after Arie Haan replaced Parvin, he sacked Estili. In August 2006, when Mustafa Denizli was signed as the head coach, Estili returned to his former post. On 13th January 2007, during the 2006–07 mid-season break, Estili was sacked again, this time by Denizli.

Denizli later stated that "It would be better for him (Estili) to take some professional trainings"

For the 3rd time, Estili returned to his beloved club as the assistant to Afshin Ghotbi, in the IPL 2007/08 season. However, with a lot of tension between the two coaches over team selection, players, and other decisions it was foreseen that one of them will have to leave Perspolis at the end of the season. Ghotbi left and Estili was touted as the new Perspolis Manager and Head Coach. However, when Ghotbi's returned back, Estili left Perspolis.

in summer of 2009 Steel Azin appointed out of work Estili as head coach. Despite having a star-studded team with players such as s Ali Karimi, Mahdavikia, Kaebi, Fereydoon Zandi, Shapourzadeh and Vahedi Nikbakht, Estili failed in the Hazfi Cup and was nowhere near the championship title.

He was sacked by Estil Azin on 19 April 2010

Next station was Shahin Bushehr where he was appointed on 1 June 2010. He lasted less than 10 months as he was fired on 4 April 2011 while Shahin was in 17th place out of 18, achieving 16 points in 18 matches

On 21 June 2011, Estili was back in Persepolis again as a Head coach but after a series of disappointing results and Persepolis fans disapproval of his appointment, he resigned his post on 9th Dec. 2011 after only 6 months at the helm.

From then on, Estili's reputation as a Head Coach was tarnished.

Critics say that Estili relies more on influences, comradeship and nepotism to cover his technical weakness and poor tactics on the field. He was a divisive influence as an assistant coach bad-mouthing the head coach in the hope of taking their places.  He caused disagreement and hostility between players to serve his own interest. It was not a successful strategy as it leads to him being sacked by 3 different coaches. While as Head Coach, his poor delivery, suspect decision-making, poor technical ability, and lack of quality were exposed at the teams he managed.

Such as shame for the player who is famous for his goal against the United States in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Analyzing Wilmots' selection.

Marc Wilmots started his first official match with Team Melli in the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers with a 2-0 win away to Hong Kong, is determined to build his own team rather than rely on the previous one created by Queiroz.

Morteza Mansouri
Morteza Mansouri (Sepahan)

In an evolutionary move, the Belgian head coach of Iran's national team made a few changes to his players' list for the next two matches against Cambodia at home and away to Bahrain. Wilmots is determined to show that he plans to evaluate and pick new players. The new squad list indicates that the Belgian coach has a great deal of confidence in the domestic League players, unlike his predecessor.

Wilmots invited Mohammad Mohebbi (21 Years) and Morteza Mansouri (29 years), two key players for current league leader Sepahan, for the first time. Wilmots' decision to continue including Siavash Yazdani and Mohammad Naderi's in the squad is another proof that he has much confidence in the domestic league players.

Although neither Yazdani or Naderi played in the match against Hong Kong, however, they were preferred over the experienced but ageing Vouria Ghafouri of Esteghlal. The four new players along with the regular defence players Majid Hosseini, Morteza Pouraliganji, Hossein Kanan-Zadegan will significantly lower the overall average age of Team Melli squad

The most notable omission in the list, however, must be the exclusion of Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who has been a regular fixture in the national team's camps for the past seven years. Jahanbakhsh has just recovered from a slight knee injury and was a non-utilized bench player in today's 3-0 Brighton win against Tottenham Hotspurs in the English Premier League.

Jahanbakhsh has been having an unfortunate time since his move to Brighton at the beginning to last season. The record signing by Brighton failed to score a single goal in all competitions last season. With the change of the head coach, Jahanbakhsh failed to even make it on the bench for his club and has yet to feature in the Premier League this season. His performance with Team Melli in the AFC Asian Cup was far from brilliant either.

Wilmots has also created a serious competition in goal for the ever-present Alireza Biranvand. In contention for the number one spot in the goal are Payam Niazmand and Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri, who have both managed to keep a clean sheet record after six weeks of Persian Gulf Premier League competition matches.

Biranvand, despite some flashes of brilliance, with the penalty save from Cristiano Ronaldo is the top of his achievements, has many suspect moments and quite a questionable temperament. Many critics believe that Niazmand is a better goalkeeper but lacks the international experience of Beiranvand.

Persepolis with five players, Tractorsazi Tabriz with four and Sepahan Isfahan with three players have the highest number in the new list of Team Melli squad. Esteghlal also has only two players after Vouria Ghafouri and Seyyed Hossein Hosseini were crossed off the final list.

Team Melli will play against Cambodia on Thursday, October 10, in Tehran and then travel to Bahrain to play against their national team on October 15th.

Mahdavikia urges Sardar Azmoun to continue his European success.

Sardar Azmoun has been one of the few Iranian players that continue shinning in European football.

The Team Melli striker who has never played a league game in Iran's domestic league has broken the record of goals scored in UEFA Champions League competition by Iranian players held jointly by Ali Daei and Mehdi Mahdavikia who both scored 3 goals in total in that competition.

On Wednesday 2nd October 2019, in the Zenit St. Petersburg match against Benfica, Sardar scored his second goal in as many matches in this competition this season to increase his tally to 4 goals overall. Sardar has already scored for FC Rostov before joining Zenit.

Mehdi MahdaviKia in response to Sardar Azmoun's achievement said: "I am very happy to see Sardar scoring in the Champions League. After a few years, we see a bright Iranian player at this level who is making us all proud." He continued: "We have not had an Iranian player at this level for many years and I am very happy Azmoun has been able to achieve this. I hope his goals scoring continues.

Mahdavi Kia, in response to Sardar's passing his record, said: "It was not a record that was impossible to achieve as three goals were there to be broken. However, I hope Sardar can score more goals and continue his success in the UEFA Champions League to achieve a much better record"

On the other side of Europe, and to be precise, in Glasgow, there still seems to be some regret with the fact that Sardar did not transfer to the Scottish Champion and instead elected to Join Zenit.

Glasgow Celtic reportedly wanted to bring Sadar Azmoun to the Scottish Premiership before he started scoring Champions League goals for Zenit St Petersburg.

Most Celtic fans would give an arm, or perhaps a finger or two, to reach the latter stages of the Europa League this season according to Scottish sports journalist, Danny Owen

"It’s been far too long since The Hoops really competed on the continent and Neil Lennon has a huge challenge even plotting a way out of a Europa League group containing Lazio, Rennes and a Cluj side who triumphed 4-3 at Parkhead just two months ago." He wrote in his blog.

"Fortunately, Celtic have one of the sharpest young strikers anywhere on the continent now. In his third season in green and white, Odsonne Edouard is showing the sort of form that will have defenders everywhere quaking in their boots."

"But, for all his qualities, and that clinical header against Cluj on Thursday, Edouard still cannot hold a candle to Sardar Azmoun when it comes to scoring goals in European competition."

According to The Mirror (22 April, page 48), Celtic wanted to sign the so-called ‘Iranian Messi’ back in the summer of 2018, shortly before he left Rubin Kazan for Zenit St Petersburg in a deal worth £10.5 million (L’Equipe).

Since Azmoun was linked with a move to the Scottish giants, he has taken his game to a whole new level, scoring five goals in just six games in both the Champions League and the Europa League. His most recent, a brilliantly taken solo effort against Benfica, sealed three points for Zenit on Wednesday night in the Champions League group stage.

In total, Azmoun averages a goal every 1.2 European games, compared to Edouard’s 2.7.

Team Melli squad for Cambodia & Bahrain matches

Team Melli squad for the FIFA World Cup  2022 Qualifiers for the two matches against Cambodia and Bahrain has been announced Alireza Biranvand - Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri - Payam Niazmand Seyyed Majid Hosseini - Hossein Kanani Zadegan - Morteza Mansouri - Milad Mohammadi - Mohammad Naderi - Ramin Rezaian - Morteza PouraliGanji - Siavash Yazdani Omid Ebrahimi - Ehsan Hajsafi - Ali Karimi - Ahmad Nourollahi - Massoud Shojaee - Vahid Amiri Karim Ansarifard-Ashkan Dejagah-Mehrdad Mohammadi-Mohammad Mohebbi - Sardar Azmoun-  Mehdi Taremi

World Media in suspense for the Iran-Cambodia match, and it has little to do with game-plans!!

The Public Relations Manager of Ministry of Youth and Sports announced that 21 foreign media outlets from 21 countries have applied for media credentials to cover the match between Iran and Cambodia in Azadi Stadium on 10th October 2019.

The match will be observed by a FIFA delegation to ensure that women are allowed in the stadium as per FIFA regulations. According to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, journalists, photographers and cameramen  from various networks and news agencies are seeking coverage of the Iran-Cambodia World Cup qualifiers,

Iranian female spectators are supposed to be allowed in the stadium for the match which will be subject to FIFA oversight.

It is clear that international media care less about the result of the match and more concerned with the case of Iranian women entry into football stadiums. Although the government and FFIRI have assured FIFA and confirmed that the authorities will have no objections in controlled entry and segrations of women, a recent statement by Iranian Attorney General has put a question mark on the whole affair.

Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, Iran's chief prosecutor, (Attorney General) spoke at a ceremony in Qom on the issue of women's entry to the stadiums and criticized FIFA for forcing a country to allow women in the stadium. It is not clear if this person, Montazeri, has the authority to stop the implementation of the government decree.

However, the consequences of FIFA banning Iran and in the process, the elimination of the Team Melli from the World Cup will definitely be having serious conseqiuences in the country. Many fear mass riots and clashes which will be surely met by brute force from the security forces as always against any show of dissent or mass protests in Iran.

 

Former Team Melli defender Jafar Kashani, passes away.

Jafar Kashani , the former Team Melli defender of the golden era of Team Melli has died in Tehran on Wednesday.

After a long struggle with illness, Kashani finally succumbed in a Tehran hospital.

Jafar Kashani, one of the player discovered by the famous Dr.Abbas Ekrami, Shahin F.C.'s founder when he was only 16. After Shahin's dissolution, Kashani joined Persepolis F.C. and played until 1974 when he was captain. With Team Melli , Kashani made his debut against Hong Kong on 10th May 1968 in the AFC Asian Cup tournament which Iran won for the first time. Kashani went on to win the AFC Asian Cup 1972 title for the second time in Thailand. He also was amemebrt of Team Melli in the 1976 Montreal Olympics followed by winning the 1974 Asian Games gold Medal title before he retired.

Kashani teammates in the golden age of Iran's football include the late Homayoun Behzadi, Ebrahim Ashtiani, Aziz Asli, Parviz Ghleechkhani, Hossein Kalani, Mostafa Arab, Nasser Hejazi, Gholamhossein Mazloomi and Ali Parvin amongst others.

Kashani played at the centre of defence for 33 times. He was as a rock-solid defender and was amongst the very dedicated players who always gave his best.

After his retirement, Kashani was away from football for some time but was involved in the Management of Persepolis club in the last few years.

May he rest in Peace.