Team Melli's forward Karim Ansarifard scored twice on his European competition debut to give Olympiakos the boost it needed to see off host Osmanlispor with a 3-0 score in Ankara and advance to the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday.

With the first leg in Piraeus having ended goalless a week earlier, Olympiakos had to score away from home to advance to the next round of the competition, and did so three times in the second half in Turkey despite the tricky pitch.

The first half was actually quite poor for Olympiakos, with the hosts having several occasions to open the score; however their finishing touch let them down time and again. The Reds committed several defensive errors and were lucky not to pay for them.

Yet barely two minutes after the interval Seba took a corner, Alberto Botia tried a swerving header and Ansarifard tucked the ball in from close range for a dream debut in Europe with the Olympiakos jersey. The Iranian striker only got a place in the starting line-up because Brown Ideye appears destined for China.

The goal turned the game on its head as the Turks clearly lacked the necessary experience – being at their first ever European campaign – to bounce back from this setback at home.

Olympiakos started missing chances until the 70th minute when substitute Thanassis Androutsos tried a parallel cross to find Tarik Elyounoussi in the box and the Norwegian international headed the ball home for 2-0.

The Turkish defense had crumbled and three minutes from time Ansarifard scored his second of the night heading the ball in after Osmanlispor keeper Zydrunas Karcemarskas had saved a Seba shot.

The result is also preserving the job of manager Paulo Bento, as the Portuguese’s position had become somewhat precarious after the goalless draws with Osmnanlispor and Atromitos at home and the loss to AEK away last Sunday. The irony is that Bento’s job is safe thanks to a player he had chosen to keep out of the squad and resorted to using on Thursday due to Ideye’s departure.

Notably the Osmanlispor fans surprised the Greeks with a banner that read "Dear neighbor, friendship will win" in Greek, English and Turkish.

Olympiakos is joined in the last 16 of the Europa League by Cypriot champion APOEL, that defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-0 in Nicosia on Thursday and 4-3 on aggregate.

With exactly 4 weeks to go for the crucial FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers match in Doha against Qatar , The Iranian football federations FFIRI has requested the travel documents of Team Melli players, including Esteghlal, to process visa application.

However, Persepolis club was not approached by the FFIRI to send their Team Melli player’s documentation which rekindled the fear that Carlos Queiroz will stick to his threat to exclude all Persepolis players from Team Melli!

Currently, Persepolis with 7 players has the highest number of Team Melli internationals. Persepolis has just returned from Muscat after playing their first AFC Champions league match against Al Hilal in Muscat. That match ended in a 1-1 draw.

 Queiroz who has banned several plyers from joining Team Melli for life,  seems to be repeating the same but this time with 7 players at once and due to no fault of the players who are victims of a conflict between club and team Melli coaches!

Queiroz verbal war and heated exchanges with Branko Ivankovic , Current Persepolis coach and ex-Team Melli head coach resulted in the Portuguese coach to prematurely cancel the Team Melli Training camp in Dubai, but not before sending all the Persepolis contingent home as a sign of defiance !

“Queiroz’s temperament and his past track record in acting eccentrically, is putting the interest of Team Melli and Iran’s football in general at a high risk.” Said one of the football experts who was a former employee of FFIRI, and wished to remain anonymous. “Iran is only one point ahead of the rivals and not in unassailable position. Qatar is still desperately seeking a few valuable points in the hope of at least a third place finish if not better.  One of the spots for the finals means a lot for our next opponent Qatar. That alone makes them a strong challenge. If Queiroz threat is materialized, then this petulant act will perhaps mean a repeat of Mayeli-Kohan’s misadventure in 1997.”

This was a reference to the dogmatic attitude of Team Melli coach in the World Cup 98 qualifiers where Mayeli-Kohan left Daei out of the squad because of some personal dispute and lost to Qatar 2-0 in Doha missing direct qualification that was on hand. The coach was sacked on his return to Tehran.

Repeat of Maylei-Kohan 97 will most certainly not result in the firing of Queiroz, which many believe he is aiming to achieve. Queiroz has resigned umpteen times, but in every case it was rejected by FFIRI. The only way out is for him to be sacked by FFIRI and subsequently get a handsome compensation for the dismissal.

In this cat and mouse game, it is Iran’s football and in particular the qualification to FIFA World Cup 2018 that is put in jeopardy.

Persepolis players in Team Melli

1. AMIRI, Vahid 2. ANSARI, Mohammad 3. BIRANVAND, Alireza 4. HOSSEINI, Jalal 5. KAMYABINIA, Kamaleddin 6. REZAEIAN, Ramin 7. TAREMI, Mehdi Recent addition RAFEI, Soroush

Reza Shekari is joining FC Rostov at the start of the Russian League season according to a Russian sports website. The 18 years old Zob Ahan midfielder was selected as one of the best 50 young prospects in world football . He has featured in several Team Melli age groups. FC Rostov has been scouting the young Iranian player to add to the duo of Sardar Azmoun and Saeid Ezatolahei currently playing for the team. Rostov is involved in the Europa Cup this season.  

Ashkan Dejagah , who has recently re-joined Vfl Wolfsburg has been declared injured.  The club website announced that the Team Melli midfielder who recently left Qatar Star League club Al Arabi to the Bundesliga, was injured during a training session. The injury will ground the midfielder from 2 to 4 weeks, which might very well keeps him out of a contention for a place against Qatar on March 22nd. Iran is leading group A going into the match.  

GROUP A

Reza "Gucci" Ghoochannejad achieved a historical feat for an Iranian player. The Team Melli and Heerenveen striker scored a hat trick in the match against PSV Eindhoven to become the first Iranian ever to score three goals in a match at top European league. 

Gucci , who has been scoring on regular basis recently in the Eredivisie , is his teams leading scorer with 9 goals

Heerenveen took an early lead in Eindhoven thanks Ghoochannejhad in the 5th minute to make it 0-1 for Heerenveen  but the host equalized and then went 2-1 up in Philips Stadion (Eindhoven). Gucci was in top form and equalized on the  54th.  The 29 years old striker who was born in Khorassan then completed his hat trick on the 80th minute to record a milestone that no other Iranian professional football has achieved in one of the top European leagues.

Despite this excellent performance and finishing by Team Melli's forward, there was a heart-break as PSV the 23 times title winner scored in the last-minute of the game to draw level 3-3. That was not the end as a goal in the dying minutes of added time ensured a miraculous win for PSV. The match ended 4-3

                                                                          

Carlos Queiroz conflict with the football federation is ongoing with the Portuguese coach refusing to meet his boss Mehdi Taj to resolve the problems that lead Queiroz to resign. FFIRI President has requested a meeting for Tuesday but was turned down by Queiroz.

instead, Queiroz claimed that he has not been paid for 4 months and now demanding that FFIRI immediately pay up. Mehdi Taj and the Minister of sport have been assuring the fans that Queiroz's case will  be resolved soon and he will be back at the helm of Team Melli to prepare for the next stage of FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Taj has announced that his administration has not accepted the Portuguese head coach’s resignation from his post.

Queiroz is still out of Iran , presumably in Dubai, and has not resumed his duty with 9 weeks left to the crucial match against Qatar in Doha. The Portuguese coach did not return to Tehran with the squad after the conclusion of the failed Training camp in Dubai.

This maneuver is not a new one from Queiroz. It is the umpteen times that Queiroz has submitted his resignation which has always been for the same or similar reasons. Every other time on the past, the ex- Manchester United, Real Madrid and Portugal coach withdrew his resignations and continued his work citing new promises to improve Team Melli and his own personal conditions. Queiroz, who hardly resides in Iran, continued his work grudgingly with FFIRI but creating a toxic atmosphere in the process. He hardly had a good word for anyone and was a super critic of everything and everyone in Iranian football including the federation, clubs, coaches and ex-players.

This time, his target was Branko Ivankovic, the head coach of Persepolis who criticized the interruption of the league for the sake of setting up a Team Melli training camp in Dubai. Queiroz, never the type to accept any criticism, took an exception to the Croat and in retaliation, send all the 7 Persepolis players back to Tehran from Dubai! This move antagonized many and lead to some strong outcries not least from the fans and management of Persepolis club.

Queiroz’s misdemeanor did not end there as he took the battle against Branko to the internet and wrote some uncompromising harsh words in the social media against Persepolis coach. Brank Ivankovic opted to concentrate on his work for Persepolis and refused to respond to Queiroz’s provocations.

There is more to Queiroz’s refusal to work in Iran than his skirmish with Ivankovic, however. The Team Melli coach has grown tired of lack of support from the federation, poor management , lack of arrangement of friendly games , weak planning and finally the lack of resources. He also has had enough of the false promises by Mehdi Taj and Ali Kaffashian before him. Queiroz’s frustration was also further fueled by the non-payment of wages to his assistants.

The drama is continueing….

 

The French NGO Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM, or “Together Against the Death Penalty”) has demanded sanctions against Iranian soccer in response to the country’s policy of carrying out public executions in stadiums.

FIFA, the body governing the sport internationally, released a statement following ECPM’s call which condemned execution in stadiums as “contrary to essential human dignity.” The organization vowed to raise the issue with officials from Iran’s national soccer federation.

On Tuesday, January 10, the French website SOfoot published a report entitled “Stadiums of Death” detailing public executions in Iranian sports facilities. The author of the report stated that FIFA has recently added a human rights section to its charter. The article makes mention of a September 22, 2016 execution in Nay Riz, Fars Province, conducted before a crowd. Following the execution, ECPM director Raphael Chenuil-Hazan addressed a letter to FIFA stating that “FIFA cannot say this matter is irrelevant to them. If I were an athlete, there’s no chance I’d be able to play in a place where a human being had been hanged.”

Chenuil-Hazan continued: “We’re happy that Article 3 of FIFA’s charter empowers them to take action and that FIFA has promised to have a conversation with the Iranian Soccer Federation. We’re waiting for FIFA to approve real sanctions against Iran, like a ban from international competition.”

Meanwhile, Hedayat Mombini the ex league referee and a member of the executive committee of FFIRI in a statement to ISNA , confirmed that his federation has received a letter from FIFA on the subject of Executions in football stadiums.

While Mombini said that this incident refers to a 3 years old execution in a small provincial town, he admitted that such act was carried out due to ignorance of international laws and lack of awareness by the local authority. "Football stadiums is a place for sport and its sanctity should be maintained. Such acts should never happen in our stadiums , else we will face sanctions and could be thrown out of international football competitions."