Behazdi was born in Khorambad , Lorestan on 20th June 1942. He was only 15 when he played for Shahin club , at the time , the most popular club in Iran.
He made his debut at 20 years old against Iraq and went on to play 10 years for Team Melli playing 35 times and scoring 13 goals.
Behzadi won the first Asian Cup as part of the 1968 squad that beat Israel in the finals in Tehran.
Doha: Extra-time goals from Yuta Toyokawa and Shoya Nakajima kept Japan’s hopes of a sixth consecutive appearance the Olympic Games alive with a 3-0 win over Iran that moved Makoto Teguramori’s side into the semi-finals of the AFC U23 Championship on Friday.
Toyokawa put Japan in front five minutes into the first additional period before Nakajima struck twice in two minutes to settle what had been a tight tussle and victory means the Japanese are one win away from guaranteeing themselves one of the continent’s three berths at the Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro in August.
Japan will meet either United Arab Emirates or Iraq in the next round, with the winner securing a place at the Olympics, while the loser will play-off against the other losing semi-finalist for the third and final spot in Brazil.
Only three of the Japan team that started in the 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia retained their places while Mohammad Khakpour kept faith with six of his line-up following Iran’s 3-2 victory over China in their final Group A clash on Monday.
It was the Iranians who started the brighter, with Arsalan Motahhari breaking through with just two minutes on the clock before firing off a shot that goalkeeper Masatoshi Kushibiki palmed away for a corner. From the resulting set piece, Ali Karimi should have done better, heading his effort off target.
Japan threatened soon after through Yuya Kubo, only to see his effort deflected to safety, and in the 26th minute the Switzerland-based forward went closer still, racing down the right side of the penalty area before hitting a low strike that flew just wide of the far post.
With eight minutes remaining in the half, Iran should have taken the lead. The chance fell, again, to Motahhari when the Japanese defence hesitated and, with Naomichi Ueda making a mess of his clearance, the ball fell to the Naft Tehran striker, but he rushed his shot and it flew far off target.
Watch the match highlights Japan harbour Olympic hopes after win over Iran
Three minutes shy of the hour mark, the Iranians came within a whisker of taking the lead. Ali Abdollahzadeh sent in a fine curling cross from the right that Milad Mohammadi met with a header that looped over Kushibiki, only to fall back into play via the underside of the crossbar before being cleared.
Iran had impressed for periods in normal time, but an inability to convincingly unlock the Japanese defence was to prove crucial as the game moved into extra time.
With only five minutes gone in the first period, Khakpour’s team were chasing the game as Toyokawa slipped between the Iranian centre backs to head home Sei Muroya’s cross from close range.
Kushibiki maintained Japan’s advantage soon after when he did well to block Seyed Mohsen Karimi’s effort as the Japanese went into the changeover holding a slender lead.
Four minutes into the second period of extra-time, however, Nakajima punished the tiring Iranians with a spectacular strike from the right that curled into the far top corner of Mohammadreza Akhbari’s goal and, a minute later, he struck again, beating the Iranian goalkeeper from a similar position, only this time to his right.
Iran almost salvaged a consolation four minutes from the end of the game, but Karimi’s attempt came back off the bar before eventually ending in the arms of Kushibiki.
Photo: AFC
Reza Ahadi the Ex-Team Melli and Esteghlal Tehran midfield player , passed away in a Tehran hospital after struggling with illness.
The 53 year Ahadi has been receiving treatment for kidney failure but succumbed shortly after admission, The Esteghlal midfielder made his International Debut for Team Melli against South Korea on 23-November-1982 .
He played 16 matches for Team Melli in the period of 9 years scoring two goals in the process. After his retirement , he coached in Esteghlal and several other teams.
Iran's Omid Team defeated China 3-2 to qualify for the quarter-final of the AFC U-23 championship .
Iran scored through Arsalan Motahari (38'), Ehsan Pahlavan ((41') and Mehdi Torabi (48) to assure a second place position in the group and set a meeting with Group B leader Japan.
Like the other two group A matches against Syria and Qatar, Khakpour arranged another different line-up to face the point-less China.
Iran's starting line was :
Mohammadreza Akhbari; Ali Abdollahzadeh, Reza Aliyari, Roozbeh Cheshmi, Hossein Kanani, Milad Kamandani, Ehsan Pahlavan, Mahan Rahmani, Shahin Saghebi , Mahdi Torabi, Arsalan Motahhari.
Again like the other two previous matches, Omid quickly took control of the match and at one stage the ball possession exceeded 70% of the half. The Chinese were content with defending in numbers and parking the bus against the more agile , and more skilful Iranian players.
Despite the effort and majority of the ball possession , Omid fail to break the Chinese wall until late in the half , when Motahari was at the end of a blunder by the Chinese keeper and slot the ball into the neet. It was less than two minutes when the Chinese forward Chang Feiya passed two Iranian defenders with amazing ease and then his shot hit Cheshmi to deflect pass the wrong-footed Akhbari's into goal. It was 1-1 with 5 minutes to half time, but Iran came back with a vengeance and scored the second goal by Ehsan Pahlavn with a neat placed shoot.
The first half ended 2-1 for Iran.
At the beginning of the second half , Iran extended its lead and took the match by the scruff of the neck through a remarkable free kick goal the star of the team , Mahdi Torabi. In the 70th minute , another poor defending coverage and unnecessary foul by Abdollhzadeh resulted in a penalty which China's Liao Lesheng converted with a power kick into the net.
Despite the Iranian superiority and a much better passing game, Omid still suffers last-minute poor ball control with some bad passing in crucial timings. The margin of victory could have been easily increased by 2 to 3 goals with better ball control and calm playing.
On Friday , Japan will be a tough nut to crack. Although hardly a formidable team, the Japanese tend to stick to their principles and football ideology making them solid at any age level. Their high work ethics, team work, solid defending and fast transition has already given them the upper hand in Group B . Omid Team , will be dealing with a high caliber opposition. Omid needs organization especially the back four who are expected to suffer greatly from the speed of the Japanese.
Doha: Qatar moved a step closer to the knockout rounds of the AFC U23 Championship on Friday with an impressive 2-1 win over Iran at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium that sees them take command of Group A.
Ahmed Alaa and Abdelkarim Hassan claimed a goal in each half to secure all three points for Felix Sanchez’s side and leave Iran – who missed a penalty through Roozbeh Cheshmi – needing to win their final group game against China on Monday.
Ali Karimi scored on the stroke of full-time for Iran, but it was not enough to deny the Qataris a deserved victory.
“To reach six points after two games is the best situation, but we’re still not qualified for the second round,” said Qatar coach Sanchez.
“It was a tough game from the beginning.
“Iran is a great team, one of the best in the competition, but I think we played a good game and we deserved the three points. Now is the time to enjoy it because we have our final [group stage] game in three days.”
Ali Asad was, as expected, included in the starting line-up after shining when he was introduced from the bench in Qatar’s opening 3-1 win over the Chinese and he impressed once again in an enthralling midfield battle the Qataris eventually won.
The home side claimed their rewards for their increasing dominance in the 34th minute when Akram Afif’s quick feet allowed him to clip his pass behind the Iranian defence and into the path of Alaa (pictured), who slipped his shot between Mohammadreza Akhbari’s legs to score.
Five minutes before the interval, Asad went close to doubling Qatar’s advantage, only for Akhbari to palm his shot from the tightest of angles away to safety while with seconds remaining in the half, Arsalan Motahhari headed Iran’s first chance of the game over the bar.
Motahhari carried Iran’s principal threat and, five minutes into the second half, the Naft Tehran forward forced Muhannad Naim into action, firing off his effort from a tight angle that the goalkeeper pushed out of harm’s way.
Qatar, though, always looked the more likely to score and, in the 55th minute, Afif caught the Iranian defence on their heels as his pace continued to cause problems, only for Mohammad Khakpour’s team to concede a corner.
From the resultant set piece, though, Qatar doubled their lead when Hassan expertly lost his marker before side footing Ahmad Moein’s centre into the bottom corner.
Motahhari continued to push forward for Iran, twice going close with headers before being brought down in the area by Ahmed Yasser, who gave Malaysian referee Mohd Amirul no option but to point to the spot.
Iran captain Cheshmi, however, saw his attempt from 12 yards saved by Naim, with the goalkeeper diving to his right to push the ball to safety.
Substitute Milad Kamandani sent his rising shot from the edge of the area just over the Qatari crossbar with eight minutes remaining before Karimi finally found the back of the net in the 90th minute when he raced in and slotted the ball past Naim but it was too little too late for Iran.
“We dominated the game but at the end they’re not going to give any points to the better players, but to the team that scores the most goals,” said Khakpour.
“My captain, I’m really proud of him and the other players because they did their best, they were putting 100 percent into the game and missing the penalty is just part of the game. It happens and many great players in the world have missed penalties.
“But I’m so proud of them because they played a great game tonight. They sacrificed for each other and that’s good enough for me.”
Iran Omid team started the AFC Asian U-23 Championship 2016 on the right track by defeating Syria 2-0 in Doha, Qatar.
In the match that was played on Tuesday at Al Sadd stadium, which finished goalless in the first half, Amir Arsalan Motahari opened the scoring in the 63rd minute with a fine individual goal , while Mehrdad Mohammadi (71 minutes) made it 2-0 with an excellent finish beating the Syrian keeper with a shot on the far end of his right.
Omid's team performance, however, was from convincing. With 5 Team Melli players and along preparation including several camps and tournaments, the expectation from this team was much higher against a team that lacked preparation coming from a country which is war ravaged.
Knowing their limitation, It was clear that Syria was in the match for damage limitation. Their piling of the defense , sometimes as much as 8 players on two layers in front of their keepers, was meant to not to concede any goals and then hit Iran on the break. Iran's Omid team midfield was far superior than the opposition and controlled the match at will, however, tension, lack of confidence and some poor passing spoiled any chance of Omid team translating this supremacy into goals that they deserved.
Failure to set up a string of 3 or more passes marred Iran Omid's team game despite the poor standard of the opposition.
The second half goal scored by Motahari , beautifully slicing through the Syrian defense before hitting the keeper with a close range shot, augmented the team confidence. The passes started to flow much efficiently between the players. Mehdi Torabi was magnificent on the left flank majestically controlling , dribbling and with his burst of speed, passing the Syrians with ease.
It was only a matter of time before the second goal and more would be coming. Mehrdad Mohammadi was at the end of a beautiful diagonal pass from Karimi The Rah Ahan midfielder switched legs , control ed the ball and sent a powerful unstoppable shot to the far right end of Syrian keeper.
Iran could have easily scored another two in the last 15 minutes, but combination of complacency and poor concentration prevented a rout of the uninspiring Syrian team.
Despite the win, and the boost in the confidence, the teamwork needs much improvement against the much stronger next opposition; host Qatar on Friday. For the team to have a genuine chance of qualifying from this group, much work is needed. There was some fine individual performances by Omid Team players, especially Mehdi Torabi, Mehrdad Mohammadi and Amir Arsalan Motahari, however , Khakpour has much work left to convert these talented players into a force to be reckoned with.
thesportscampus.com | , Jan 05th
U.S. Soccer has appointed three-time World Cup veteran Brad Friedel as Head Coach of the U-19 Men's National Team and former Iran National Team assistant coach Omid Namazi to lead the U-18 MNT program.
"We are thrilled to bring on two guys who have such tremendous experience," said U.S. Men's National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. "Brad Friedel played at the highest level for almost two decades, and his knowledge will be a huge benefit to our young players. Omid Namazi has not only been a professional player at all levels in the United States, he has worked as a coach both here and overseas which adds important perspective. They have both been assistant coaches in our Youth National Teams, so this is another important step in connecting the dots between our teams."
Friedel earned 82 caps for the United States during his 13-year international career, starting all five matches in the USA's historic run to the quarterfinals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. One of the top performing U.S. professionals for more than 20 years in MLS and Europe, Friedel played for the Columbus Crew in MLS and at Galatasaray, Liverpool, Blackburn, Aston Villa, Tottenham and others. He holds the Premier League record for most consecutive appearances (310). Holding a UEFA 'A' coaching license, Friedel has served as an assistant at various Youth National Team camps and worked with players at the Tottenham academy.
"I look forward to the opportunity to help develop our young players into professionals and full internationals," said Friedel. "The last four years I have focused my coaching at the academy and development levels, and I'm excited to work with the entire group of committed Youth National Team staff members to increase our levels of development here in the United States."
Omid Namazi takes the helm of the U-18 MNT after having served as an assistant coach of the U-20's for the last two years. Namazi brings an extensive coaching career that began in 1999, as well as an 18-year career as a professional player during which he played at all levels in the United States. He served as an assistant coach for Iran from 2011-2014, and helped the team qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
"I look forward to leading such a critical age group in our Youth National Teams set up," Namazi said. "My experience with the U20's in the last two years will certainly help me develop the type of players we need to compete at the highest levels professionally and internationally."
Namazi's first camp will be a domestic training camp with 36 players from Jan. 17-23 at Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, which will serve as preparation for international games in Argentina in early March.
"Brad and Omid are very important additions as we continue working towards a more integrated National Team Program," said U.S. Soccer Youth Technical Director and U-20 Men's National Team head coach Tab Ramos. "They both played key roles in the recent success of the U-20 National Team and we're looking forward to working closely with all of our National Team coaches and professional leagues to continue to develop players to be ready to compete at the highest level of the game."
The U-19 Men's National Team's first-ever event will be from Jan. 27-Feb. 6 in Las Palmas on the Canary Islands, taking part in the Copa del Atlantico four-team tournament with matches against Spain, France and the Canary Islands. The U-19 MNT program has been added to men's youth programing this year and features players born in 1998, who are coming off playing in the U-17 FIFA World Cup in Chile in October.
Friedel and Namazi are the most recent additions to the Youth National Team programs, following the hiring of John Hackworth as the new head coach of the U-17 MNT.
Persepolis and Team Melli goalkeeper , Sousha Makani has been arrested after being summoned to a police station.
The real reason for his arrest is unclear , but several sources have related his arrest to the publishing of photos of Makani in social media which the strict laws of clergy in Iran deems unacceptable.
Makani is a notorious for his misconduct on and off the field and he seems to be not very far from trouble and negative headlines. He was suspended by the club on several occasions and once even considered a persona non grata by the former coach Hmid Derakhshan. Jafar Kashani , Persepolis board member has threatened to sack Makani from Persepolis if he is indicted in the case of morality!
With January’s AFC U23 Championship edging ever closer, join the-afc.com as we continue our look at the teams who will be vying for honours in Qatar, at a tournament that also doubles as the qualifiers for the men’s football tournament at the 2016 Olympic Games.
A long tradition of developing talented youngsters and an impressive performance in Group C of the qualifiers sees Iran head into the AFC U23 Championship as one of the genuine title contenders.
While their qualification campaign did end with a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in a top-of-the-table clash, emphatic victories over Nepal (5-0), Palestine (3-0), and Afghanistan (6-0) ensured Iran qualified comfortably for Qatar as one of the five best group runners-up, with their record second only to that of Group G’s second-place finishers Thailand.
Four of those goals came courtesy of the impressive Sardar Azmoun, who has already been in eye-catching form for the senior Iran national team, with the Russia-based forward also scoring four times in the joint qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup and twice during the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia, which included a sublime individual effort against against Qatar.
Meanwhile, Arsalan Motahari has been making his mark as a potential Team Melli star of the future with a standout performance as Iran won the inaugural WAFF (West Asian Football Federation) U-23 Championship, which was also hosted in Qatar.
The Naft Tehran front man, who scored three times in the AFC U23 Championship qualifiers, netted the second goal as Iran defeated Syria 2-0 in the WAFF U-23 final and was also named the tournament’s best player at the regional competition back in October.
Iran’s Group A Fixtures January 12: Iran v Syria (Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha) January 15: Iran v Qatar (Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha) January 18: Iran v China (Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha)
After a disappointing debut at the inaugural tournament two years ago, when they finished bottom of their group after three successive defeats, China will be determined to put in a better showing in Qatar after qualifying for the 2016 AFC U23 Championship in impressive fashion.
China kicked-off their qualifying campaign with back-to-back 5-0 victories over Mongolia and Singapore to set up a top-of-the-table clash with Group J hosts Laos, which the ended with a comfortable 3-0 win for the East Asians as Fu Bo’s side departed Vientiane with a 100% record.
China’s 13 qualifying goals were spread throughout the team with five players scoring twice while coach Fu also has at his disposal three squad member who have experience with clubs in Europe namely Zhang Yuning, who signed for Dutch side Vitesse last July, and substitute goalkeeper Yeerjieti Yeerzati and defender Chen Zhechao, who play in the Portuguese lower leagues with Gondomar and Torreense respectively.