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Nazim-ul-Sharia : " We need more friendly games."

Iran national Futsal team coach Seyed Mohammad Nazim-ul-Sharia said that the only problem facing his team is the inadequate friendly matches before the FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016

Team Melli futsal team will be taking part in the premiere world championship showcase for the seventh time after the team underlined its status as the pre-eminent force in Asian futsal by winning their 11th continental title at the 2016 AFC Championship in Uzbekistan.

Nazim-ul-Sharia who was at the helm of the championship team in Tashkent expressed his gratitude for the support of IRIFF and the futsal committee but still maintained that there are not enough friendly games that he could build upon for the stronger challenges in Colombia in September.

futsal hassanzadeh

Nazim-ul-Sharia however mentioned that the upcoming 2016 Thailand Five , a 4 side futsal tournament next month in Bangkok, will be a good opportunity for Team Melli futsal team to get in shape playing oppositions like the host Thailand, who will accompany Iran in the World Championships, Japan and Kazakhstan. The head coach of Team Melli was particularly happy about meeting Japan in this tournament as he considers the Japanese as the best and the strongest challengers to Iran's supremacy in the continent.

Team Melli has won 11 championship titles in Asia.

"We would have loved the opportunity to play Italy before the World championship "Nazim-ul-Sharia added" The Italians expressed a great interest in playing against us but at the time passed before finalizing a date and a venue, The Italians decided that they will be looking for an easier opponents before Colombia!"

Nazim-ul-Sharia was critical about the new kit provided by the new National Tema kit provider and demanded a better quality.

Team Melli futsal team will be playing flying to Bangkok where they will meet the host Thailand on 21 August 2016 as part of the 2016 Thailand Five's tournament.

FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016

Group F The matches

12/09/2016 - Medellin - Iran vs Spain 15/09/2016 - Medellin - Iran vs Morocco 18/09/2016 - Medellin - Azerbaijan vs Iran

Mehdi Taremi back in Persepolis !

The central forward and Team Melli player Mehdi Taremi , did a quick U turn returning to his previous club Persepolis after announcement that he has signed for Turkish Club   Mehdi Taremi along with Ramin Rezaeian have signed with Turkish Super League club Çaykur Rizespor, but the former changed his mind and came back with giving any solid reasons. Both players left under a cloud of controversy and criticism for leaving unceremoniously. It seems that Persepolis is seeking legal advise on Rezaeian.  

Masoud Shojae to join Panionios FC

Team Melli's winger and midfield player , Masoud Shojae (32 Years) have agreed a deal with the Greek Super League outfit, Panionios FC.

Shojaei , who was playing for the QSL Al Gharafa last season in Qatar, will be joining his compatriot , Karim Ansarifard in the same team in Greek league.  Shojaei has played in the Spanish La Liga side Osasuna (101 games & 8 goals) and Segunda Division , Las Palmas (29 games & 5 goals) before returning east to the Persian Gulf and joining Qatar league.

Panionios FC were performing quite strongly in last season and with the help of Ansarifard's goals , as they climbed the table near the top , but their campaign faltered towards the end and were finally ranked 5th , which was a massive improvement from the season before when they just managed to avoid relegation.

Panionios management has been trying to strengthen the squad to mount a good run and yet another title challenge in the Super League Greece season 2016/17.  They play their home games in Nea Smyrni Stadium with a capacity of 11.700 seats. Panionios FC is one of the oldest and most historic Greek teams.

Russian FA commission verdict put Sardar Azmoun in a dilemma.

Team Melli's forward , Sardar Azmoun has received a setback in his battle with his old Club Rubin Kazan after the Football Federation league commission today issued a verdict in favor of the club. The dispute between Azmoun and Kazan stems from the fact that each party claims the other has violated the clauses of the contract and hence a litigation was sought by each party. Sardar Azmoun  is currently playing FC Rostov.  Azmoun and his compatriot Saeid Ezatollahei both played a major part in a fantastic showing of the unfancied FC Rostov challenging for the Russian League Title until the last round of the season's campaign when CSKA Moscow pipped them for the title by two points. However , Rubin Kazan who brought Azmoun to Russia , before the young forward even made a senior debut in the Iranian football league, maintains that Azmoun is still a Ruben Kazan loaned to FC Rostov. All news  were clearly indicating that Kazan has loaned the Iranian to FC Rostov but the player himself was adamant that he was transferred to Rostov and acted as such hence refusing to report to Ruben Kazan duty at the beginning of this season. The club from Central Asian Republic of Tatarstan then filed a case against both FC Rostov and the player with the Russian Football Federation while Azmoun through his agent filed a counter case.   The ruling today in favor of Rubin Kazan is a setback for Iran's prolific striker with an immaculate record at international level. Azmoun has stated his complete satisfaction with his present club FC Rostov and strongly maintained that he will be playing here next season rather than go back to Kazan.      

FIFA Ranking: Iran maintains its top Asia Ranking

Team Melli maintained the same ranking both in the World and in Asia in the latest FIFA Ranking for July 2016.

Iran Climbed remained 39th in the world , while staying as Number 1 in Asia.

in the monthly published ranking , Iran which had no matches last month accumulated a total of  674 down from the previous month of 688.  However , that was still  comfortably higher than the second place and  its closest rival South Korea  with 592 points while  Uzbekistan (569) narrowly overleaps Japan (564)  in third place.

In addition to South Korea and Uzbekistan Iran's opponents in the World Cup qualifiers group are ranked as Follows: Qatar (79) followed by  China (81)  and Syria (104).

FIFA ranking

July 2016

Asia World Rank Team Total Points Previous Points +/-
 [1] 39 IRNIran 674 688 0
 [2] 48 KORKorea Republic 592 591 2
[3] 56 UZB  Uzbekistan 569 544 10
 [4] 57 JPNJapan 564 581 -4
 [5] 59 AUSAustralia 555 663 0
 [6] 65 KSASaudi Arabia 540 545 0
 [7] 74 UAEUnited Arab Emirates 484 517 -4
 [8] 78 JORJordan 438 434 2
 [9] 79 QAT  Qatar 425 407 5
 [10] 81 CHN  China PR 422 423 0

Teymourian joins Machine Sazi

Team Melli Captain has signed for newly promoted Machine Sazi club of Tabriz,

The much traveled Andranik Teymourian has signed a short-term contract with Saipa last season after he left QSL team Um Salal . Despite his initial good impact with Siapa , Teymourian's season was marred by injuries rendering him ineffective for the team last season.

This will be the second Tabrizi team for Teymourian, He has played for city rivals Tractorsazi before.

Machine Sazi , currently coached by ex-Team Melli forward Rasoul Khatibi , was promoted to the  Persian Gulf Pro League in 2016,  after a 19-year absence from the top flight of Iranian football. 

They play their home games in Bagh Shomal stadium with a 25,000 seats capacity.

Taremi and Rezaeian join Turkish Club Çaykur Rizespor

Team Melli players & Persepolis player Mehdi Taremi and Ramin Rezaeian have signed with Turkish Super League club Çaykur Rizespor.

The duo signed a two year contract with the Turkish club on Tuesday.

Meanwhile Persepolis Club have reacted negatively in the case of Rezaeian accusing the player of unilaterally breaking the contract and threatening to withhold his ITC. Rezaeian has said that the term of the contract between him and Persepolis allows him to join a foreign club without the consent of Persepolis. Some supporters even protested in front of IRIFF building in north of Tehran.

Some ex-Persepolis players accused Rezaeian and Taremi of betrayal (...) and accused them of abandoning the club that taught them football !

The fact is none Neither Taremi nor Rezaeian are products of Persepolis youth system, if such thing exists. Taremi is from Bushehr where he played his football before moving on to Khuzistan then Tehran while Rezaeian is a byproduct of Rah Ahan excellent youth academy.

Çaykur Rizespor has struggled in Turkish Super League last season and finished just above the relegation zone in the 13th place to secure survival . The club has a number of international players from Africa , Europe and one Asian player in the Iraq  Dhurgham Ismail. The 22 years old Iraqi defender has himself on the verge of Joining Persepolis after the Asian Cup 2015 but changed his mind and headed to Turkey instead.

 

Team Melli Armenia and Austria training camps are called off.

Team Mell proposed training camps in Armenia and Austria has been called off after Branko Ivankovic and Amir Ghalenoei have refused to release their players to Team Melli according to Carlos Queiroz. “If we fail to qualify for the World Cup, then you better go and ask Ivankovic and Ghalenoei” the Portuguese head coach of Team Melli told reporters. Incidentally, after Portugal defeat against Portugal and elimination from World Cup 2010, Cristiano Ronaldo was asked about that loss, to which he replied: "Ask Queiroz." Now Queiroz is borrowing Ronaldo punch line against his nemeses!! The bulk of the problem seems to be the uncoordinated Team Melli plans that Queiroz decides unilaterally without reference and consent of the league clubs. While the Persian Gulf League is about to start in earnest and during the height of preparation, Queiroz training plans disrupts the clubs plans. On top of that, Team Melli camps seem to last weeks. Armenia and Austria camps would have lasted two weeks each, meaning the clubs would have lost the services of their players for a whole month at a critical time when most needed for league matches! What inflamed Ivankovic further was Queiroz refusal to allow Team Melli players go through the mandatory pre-season medical examination. Ghalenoei joined Ivankovic in refusing the Team Melli laid down plans and criticized the way his players are being manipulated and disruption to his own training program. When asked to respond to Queiroz harsh words against him and Ghalenoei , Branko Ivankovic said “Persepolis is my team and I am responsible and accountable for its results. When I lose , I take responsibility and NOT blame others and that is the same way I operated for 5 years as Team Melli coach. I am responsible and no one else for the team results. My manner and upbringing does not allow me to respond to slanders.” “There is no good national team without strong clubs and competitive league.” Ivankovic said.    

Team Melli scores 6 past Kyrgyzstan.

Team Melli cruised to a comfortable 6-0 win against Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday in the friendly International match held at Azadi Stadium in front of 4500 fans.

Iran scored early through Masoud Shojaei's penalty on the 6th minute , before Mehdi Taremi made it 2-0 with a double-header , first saved by the keeper while the rebound to Taremi himself was headed home for a goal. Torabi sealed the first half with a brilliant shot from an angle at 29th minute.

The second half with several changes only came alive late after both teams struggled to find a rhythm due to the many substitutions that seems to disrupt the international friendly games nowadays.

However , as soon as Team Melli settled, the team played with style and finesse resulting in another three goals and many missed ones too. Karim Ansarifard eventually scored after missing many chances in the match in the 68th minute. Sardar Azmoun who just came in as a substitute for Taremi made it 5-0 with a spectacular ball from immaculate teamwork and finally Ansarifard scored the 6th after Azmoun’s ball rebounded from the post for Karim to slot in his 2nd of the match and Iran’s final goal.

This was a good practice match for Team Melli. The opposition was not as strong as hoped however , there were some brilliant teamwork, individual skills and fine ball distribution. Like always there were lessons to be learned from this match. The fact that the forwards were getting offside was quite noticeable. There is some works to be done on that.  The player's ball possession still needs to be looked at. The fact theat Iranian players keep the ball more than the average European professional is evident. This match was an improvement, but Queiroz has not yet managed to improve this to a higher level.

Haghighi in goal, despite not being truly tested in the match, was not convincing. His saves by punching and risky jumps between number of players was a sign of lack of real competition. His clearing of the ball by punching, left a lot to be desired.

The two debutant, Mahini and Tayebi performed played quite well. Both of the player played with confidence and did not look like it was their first international game for their country. Milad Mohammadi was a gem of a player especially when attacking from the flanks. His moves where delightful to watch. Mehdi Torabi , the Gazelle of Iran's football , did not show his usual runs and skills yet still managed to score a beauty.

QUEIROZ: "Team Melli's ship has sunk to the bottom"

Carlos Queiroz continued his crusade of doomsday scenarios for Iran's Team Melli and once again expressed his pessimistic viewpoint on the team fortunes, unless all concerned listen to his demands and abide by his rules!

"Team Melli's ship has sunk to the bottom" is how he describes the fortunes of the National Team with millions of die-hard fans inside and outside of Iran! In an interview with Radio Varzesh, the head coach of the team, added that " It is going to be a very difficult job to float the team  once again. Of course, I hope that Mehdi Taj and the other management committee members are capable of saving the team!"

In his usual antagonistic and aggressive gloves off attitude Queiroz continued to criticize and blame the administrations and authorities for lack of some basic facilities and dearth of resources for Team Melli predicting struggling and shaky paths towards the World Cup.

Carlos Queiroz leading Team Melli training.
Carlos Queiroz leading Team Melli training.

Queiroz continued his claims about how he is trying to lead Team Melli towards success while how the rest are not doing their job properly by failing to provide funds and facilities. Queiroz even criticized his staunchest backer in FFIRI the former President Ali Kaffashian. "Kaffashian did not listen to me, and now it is too late. We have wasted one and a half years due to lack of preparation and failure in obtaining a proper high class training facilities for Team Melli. My only apprehension now is to think of how to win the next match and then think of the next one after that”

Queiroz also took a swipe at some unnamed journalist who has lied about him (Queiroz) turning down an opportunity for a friendly match against Italy and Greece and labeled that person a dishonest fabricator.