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Team Melli lifts the CAFA Nations Cup 2023

Iran’s national football team defeated host nation Uzbekistan in the final of the CAFA tournament to lift the inaugural championship

A goal by the second leading goal scorer of the tournament, Sardar Azmoun in the 48th minute from a nice assist by Mehdi Taremi settled the match early in the second half.

While the two teams were testing each other, a cross from the Uzbek winger saw the clumsy Beiranvand rushing out in an attempt to punch the ball clear without an awareness of the position of his teammates, as such he managed to punch the ball and the head of Saeid Eztollahi leaving the midfielder bleeding in the head. Beiranvand himself was also injured and could not continue. He was replaced by Payam Niazmand. A repeat performance for Beiranvand against England in the FIFA World Cup.

The physical nature of the game against Uzbekistan led by the absent Serco Katanic, due to illness, caused the referee to repeatedly blow his whistle for fouls.

The most serious threat of the first half was the Uzbeks’ counterattack by Uranov in the 43rd minute, where the ball hit the post. Apart from that, no real action was created by the two sets of forwards.

in the second half, Vahid Amiri replaced the ineffective Mehdi Ghaeid in order for the two strikers to get a better service from the flank. Ghalenoei’s change of plan paid off soon after the re-start for the second half. Taremi got the bell from the left flank and saw Azmoun free right in the box, his pass was well controlled by Sardar who then composed himself to shoot powerfully into the net to announce the first goal.

After this goal, Team Melli tried to control the game’s pace rather than go out on an all-out attack. They played a logical possession football with some intricate passing that was delightful. Niazmand was hardly tested by the Uzbeks players who were getting frustrated as the time went on.

Next, the Uzbeks tried to threaten the depth of the Iranian national team’s defense with their long passes, realizing the slow pace of the defenders, especially Hajsafi and Pouraliganji. In one attack, they nearly managed to score when the Uzbeck player found himself in plenty of space left behind Hajsafi and then a dribble past Poyralganji but haste and Nizamand’s timely interception prevented the Uzbel player from scoring.

In a match that neither team managed to take control of and which was about to end victoriously and peacefully for Team Melli, a petulant act from the notorious Hossein Kananizadegan nearly threatened to erupt the match right at the end.

Kananizadegan, who was earlier cautioned by the Russian referee for one of his silly and totally uncalled-for fouls when he pushed the Uzbek keeper, Yusupov, while he was trying to shoot, The center back got the second card in the 90th minute when he started a childish protest against something that he did not like demanding a penalty. His zealous protest led the Russian referee to award him another yellow card and subsequently the red and the marching order.

The center back, sulking and crying foul refused to leave the field and instead, he sat down on the lawn in protest. This aggravated the Uzbek players, a couple of whom tried to lift Kananizadegan up and force him out of the field where he should be rather than on the lawn. An altercation between the two teams’ players followed and if it was not for some cool heads from both sides, the situation could have turned quite ugly scenes.

After Kananizadegan’s petulant act and his dismissal, Ghalenoei did not risk it and replaced Mohammad Karimi who himself replaced Azamoun in the 75th minute, with Majid Hosseini to secure the heart of the defense.

The match ended 1-0 and was a deserved victory for Team Melli.

Oman took third place after defeating Kyrgyzstan 1-0

Ghalenoei Ivankovic Nabi in Tashkent Jube 2023

Brank Ivankovic visits Team Melli camp

The former Head Coach of Team Melli, Branko Ivankovic, paid a visit to the training camp of Team Melli in Tashkent and had a cordial chat with Team Melli head coach Amir Ghalenoei and several players including Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi.

The Croat is considered one of the most popular foreign coaches of Team Melli who later also coached Persepolis. He started working in Iran as an assistant to the late Miroslav “Ćiro” Blažević who coached Team Melli in 2001. Branko followed Blažević as head coach of Iran from 6th February 2002 to 19th September 2002. He was back at the helm a year later when Homayoun Shahroukhi was removed for Ivankovic to take over on 12th October 2003.  Team Melli enjoyed a successful period under Ivankovic and managed to qualify for the World Cup 2006 in Germany after which he left the Team again.

Ivankovic has been coaching Oman National team since January 2020.

Both Iran and Oman are taking part in the CAFA Nations Cup 2023 with Iran scheduled to play host Uzbekistan in the final while Oman is playing Kyrgyzstan in the playoff match in Tashkent.

Iran U17 aiming for a place in the quarter-finals.

After defeating Afghanistan 6-1 in AFC U17 Asian Cup 2023 currently held in Thailand, Team Melli U17 will face Qatar today to book a place in the quarter-finals of the competition. The serious rival of the group, South Korea, defeated Qatar with the same margin, 6-1 and is playing Afghanistan in the second round.

Afghanistan proved no match for the young Persians coached by Hossein Abdi as H. Nafari 28′, E. Gholizadeh 32′ and 51′, K. Taheri 48′ and 49′, and R. Ghandipour 89′ scored for Iran. Afghanistan scored its only goal from an Hakim Khan Niazi 36′ strike.

Lineup vs Afghanistan:
[1] Arsha Shakouri: [2] Nima Andarz, [3] Husam Nafari ,[5] Erfan Darvish Aali, [23] Abolfazl Zoleikhaei (17 R. Ghandipour 60‎’), ‎[7]Esmaeil Gholizadeh, [14] Z. Saadavi (16 Abolfazl Zamani 46‎’), [8] Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia, [9] Yaghoub Barajeh (A. Homaeifard 60‎’)
[10] Kasra Taheri (11 A. Sharifi 77‎’), [15] M. Askari (18 Mahan Sadeghi 70‎’)

WAFF U23 2023

Omid team to meet host Iraq in the final of WAFF U23 Cup.

Omid Team (Iran U23) defeated Jordan in a penalty shootout to book a place in the final match against host Iraq.

The match was a dour affair with neither of the teams impressing in a match that only saw two serious attempts at scoring. The extra time was not played as usual as after the goalless draw the match went directly to penalty Shootouts which ended 4-3 in favor of Iran.

Reza Enayati, the head coach of the Omid team said: “As of now, our celebration and joy period happiness is over and we are only thinking about the final.” said in the press conference after the win against Jordan and advancing to the finals of the West Asian Under-23 Championship ” Jordan is a good team and we had a tough game. I have to thank the players of the team who showed zeal and were able to achieve this result.”

He continued:” Now the joy of winning in the semi-final is over and we should only think about the final. It doesn’t matter to us whether the opponent is Iraq or Oman. We strive for success. In response to a question about the physical pressure on the team’s players at the end of the second half, Enayati said: This was predictable because we play every other day. Of course, our players managed the game well in the second half. He added: ” We went through difficult training conditions. We had to practice in Karbala from 5 to 6 o’clock, which caused a lot of physical pressure. In the matter of recovery, there was also a problem of compression of matches.”

Iran Omid Team led by the brilliant Yasin Salmani, is looking to take back the trophy last won by an Iranian team 14 years ago in Amman.

Host Iraq narrowly defeated Oman 1-0 to set up the final on Tuesday in Karbala at 21:30 local time.

Omid Team in WAFF Semi-Finals

The lineup for the semifinals of the 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship is complete after Iraq, Oman and Iran won their respective groups and Jordan joined them as the best second-placed team of the round.

The semifinals of the three-group, nine-team tournament — organized by the West Asia Football Federation — will be played on Sunday with Iraq facing Oman and Jordan taking on Iran.

In Group A, hosts Iraq cruised to a 3-0 win over the UAE to finish top of the standings with four points, ahead of runners-up Jordan only on goal difference.

Group B saw a dramatic end as Palestine led Iran 1-0 deep into stoppage, a scoreline that would have ensured progress to the last four with a maximum of six points from two matches. However, Iran equalized through Arya Barzegar in the 97th minute to break Palestinian hearts and finish top of the group instead.

Despite still claiming four points and second place, the Palestinians missed out on a semifinal spot as Jordan — who also finished with +1 goal difference — had scored more goals in Group A.

Meanwhile, in group C, Yemen defeated Lebanon 2-1 in what turned out to be a dead rubber as both teams were eliminated. Oman had already guaranteed the top spot with six points from their two matches.

18-June-2318:00IRAN U23JORDAN U23
18-June-2321:00IRAQ U23OMAN U23

All times GMT + 3

Al-Madina International Stadium, Baghdad

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Second victory for Team Melli in CAFA Nations Cup 2023

Team Melli faced Kyrgyzstan in the final group match of CAFA Nations Cup 2023 this Friday evening. The match ended 5-1 for Iran with Mehdi Taremi scoring a hat trick (34′, 39′, and 56′) and Sardar Azmoun helping himself to a brace (56′ and 66′). Morzaev (52) scored the only goal of the host.

It is the second game in a row by Amir Ghalenoei players which was accompanied by a high-scoring victory, while the possession of the ball and the field was completed in the hands of the Iranian national team.

This team was able to score two goals in the first half by using the players’ tactical intelligence and the combined efforts of Mehdi Taremi. The second half was accompanied by the Kyrgyz shock. A blunder by Morteza Pouraliganji’s in clearing the ball in the box, and Beiranvand poor positioning and awareness, allowed the Kyrg striker to score their only goal of the match, to the delight of about 10,000 spectators present at the “Dolan Omurzakov” stadium in Bishkek.

It was for the second consecutive game against that the second-ranked team in Asia, that Team Melli has been breached with ease due to a combination of factors. That fact that Team Melli was easily scored against must have raised a few alarms in the coaching staff.

Amir Ghalenoei has some serious work to do on the defense.

Also, a point of concern was the failure in the game plan to change offensive moves, as the team tactics is becoming obvious. There has to be a combination of plans to attack as the stronger teams will not be so easily defeated by crosses from the flanks.

Mehdi Taremi showed his high quality when he again scored a hat trick for the second consecutive game.

The introduction of Sardar Azmoun to replace the ineffective Reza Asadi changed the game up front. the Pair Azmoun and Taremi scored three times.

Team Melli has now qualified for the final match to be played against Uzbekistan next Tuesday.

Apart from the strikers Azmoun and Taremi, Mohammad Mohebbi played a solid game as well. Ramin Rezaeian, Mehdi Torabi, and Omid Nourafkan were also at their best. Reza Asadi, Pouraliganji, Beiranvand were the weak links.

Match Preview: Iran v Kyrgyzstan

Team Melli will face host Kyrgyzstan in the final group match of CAFA Nations Cup 2023 today Friday 16th June at 18:30 Iran time.

The winner of this match will go through to the CAFA Nation Cup 2023 final as the leader, while the losing team will play in the ranking match.

Iran leads the group on goal difference with three points and a goal difference of 5 and Kyrgyzstan with three points and a goal difference of 3 as both assured a trip to Uzbekistan for the next stage. The third team, Afghanistan lies at the bottom of the table without any points. If Iran needs only a draw against Kyrgyzstan, to qualify for the Final match which will be against Uzbekistan.

in Group A, Uzbekistan has qualified for the final match by heading the group while one team from among the teams of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Oman will be playing the 3rd playoff match.

Iran and Kyrgyzstan have faced each other three times before today, which resulted in three victories of 6-0 (1995), 3-1, and 7-0 (1976) for Iran.

H / A / NMatchesWDLGoals+ / –
H22009 – 1+8
A00000 – 0+0
N11007 – 0+7
Total330016 – 1+15
DateComp.H / A / NFinal scoreStadiumAttendance
07.06.2016FriendlyH6 – 0Azadi Stadium, Tehran4500
09.06.1997World Cup Qualifier / Group 2H3 – 1Azadi Stadium, Tehran50000
04.06.1997World Cup Qualifier / Group 2N7 – 0Al Abbasyeen Stadium , Damascus25000

This is Iran’s first participation in CAFA Nations Cup and regardless to the results, it would be a confidence booster for Team Melli preparing for AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023. In the first game, Team Melli defeated Afghanistan 6-1 to head group B table and did not have a hard time against its rival. For the second game, Team Melli will face a team that is ranked 97th in FIFA, and in the last meeting between the two teams in 2015, they won 6-0 against the Kyrgyz Republic. In that meeting, Mehdi Taremi, Mehdi Torabi, Sardar Azmoun, Masoud Shojaei, and Karim Ansarifard scored for Iran.

Despite needing a draw only to face Uzbekistan in the final, Team Melli under Amir Ghalenoei will be aiming for a win in Bishkek in front of an expected full-capacity stadium. The Kyrgyz national football team, the host of the CAFA Nations Cup 2023 Group B, has made good progress compared to previous years. In their first game, they won 1-0 against Afghanistan, and the only goal of the game was scored in the 97th minute, which did not amuse the Afghanistan team. While the team protested an ugly scene led by the Kuwaiti coach Abdulla Mutairi ensued. He forced and pushed the Afghan Player to leave the field.

As a result, according to the decision of the disciplinary committee of the tournament, Kyrgyzstan was declared the winner 3-0, despite scoring one goal only. Kyrgyzstan needs to defeat Iran to advance to the final while it is assured a place in the top four. According to local media, the match is sold out hours before the start with Kyrgyz spectators grabbing the most. Their fans are hoping for a miracle from their country’s team and a famous victory against ran.

Omid team defeats Syria in WAFF U23 championship.

Iran’s Omid football team defeated Syria 3-1 in its first match in the under-23 West Asia tournament played in Karbala Stadium (Karbala), Iraq.

Yasin Salmani (9 and 45) and Ahmad Shariatzadeh (15) scored Iran’s goals. Also, Mohammad Al-Asoud (45) scored the only goal for the Syrians

The Syrians embark on a tough physical and at times violent game in the final minutes of the match. This issue caused tension between the players of the two teams as well as the bench with Omid coach Reza Enayati clashing with his Syrian counterpart. This was Enayati’s first experience at the international level which he has no experience before as a coach. It was a sweet victory for the rookie coach and a firm step in the tournament. Iran Omids Team is counting on a good performance in preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The 4th WAFF U23 tournament is held in Iraq and has 3 groups. It was first held in Qatar in 2015, Iran was absent.

Group A features UAE, Jordan, and Iraq

Group B features: Syria, Palestine, and Iran

Group C features: Yemen, Oman, and Lebanon

Iran’s Omid team will play Palestine on Friday at 19:45 local.

Team Melli trounces Afghanistan 6-1

Team Melli outplayed Afghanistan at Dolon Amorzakov Stadium in Bishkek in its first match in the CAFA Nations Cup 2023 winning 6-1.

With that result, Iran takes a commanding lead in Group B of the tournament as it only requires a draw against Host Nation Kyrgyzstan next Friday to qualify for the final match in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Mehdi Taremi scored a hat trick in the match which included a penalty, while Azmoun, Jahanbakhsh, and Asadi helped themselves to one goal each.

Contrary to expectations, Amir Ghalanoei preferred to use most of the main players in the match against the 155th FIFA ranking team in order to get familiarized with the players that will most probably form the core of the starting lineup in the AFC Asian Cup next January.

As predictable, the game was dominated by the favorites Iran from the first minute, and by the 3rd minute, Team Melli could have scored with Mehdi Taremi’s shot on Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s pass, but Afghanistan’s goalkeeper blocked the ball. Iran’s pressure finally paid off in the 20th minute, with Sardar Azmoun opening the score tally after a cross from the left by team captain Ehsan Hajsafi’s cross. Azmoun neatly headed the ball into the net to give Iran a 1-0 lead. One minute later, Team Melli scored again, and this time Mehdi Taremi did the trick to make it 2-0.

Five minutes later, a foul by the Afghan goalkeeper Faisal Hamidi on Tarimi in the penalty area resulted in a penalty, which Taremi himself dispatched cooly into the net in the 28th minute. In the last minutes of the first half, Afghanistan caught the Iranian defense napping and could have scored in their first real attack of the match, when Musawi passed the ball in front of an empty goal but Niazmand managed to grab it just before passing the goal-line.

In the 45th minute, Azmoun skilfully dribbled his markers in the box and sent a neat pass to Taremi, who stepped over the ball and left it to the on-rushing Jahanbakhsh. The Feyenoord winger scored Iran’s fourth goal with a precise shot.

In the second half and in the 51st minute, Mehdi Taremi completed his hat trick when he scored his third goal and Iran’s fifth from a deep pass by Omid Nourafken. In the 57th minute, a foul was committed by Saeed Ezatollahi on the Afghan forward right on the edge of the box, where the Iranian midfielder was left for dead by the nifty Afghan’s dribble. Ezatollahi had no choice but to foul him for a free kick. The resulting shot produced the best goal of the match which was scored by the Afghan captain Farshad Noor with a ferocious shot into the roof of the net. Niazmand had no answer to that shot.

That spectacular free-kick goal made the result more respectable and precious for the underdogs. However, 10 minutes later, Iran scored the sixth goal by the substitute forward Reza Asadi who recorded his first national goal on a back pass by Sadegh Moharrami. In the rest of this match, the efforts of both two teams did not yield results, as Iran came out with a clear 6-1 winner.

Team Melli will face the Kyrgyz team on Friday, June 26 at 18:30 Iran time in the second game of the CAFA Nations Cup 2023.

starting line-up.

Iran: Payam Nazam, Ehsan Hajsafi, Sadegh Moharrami, Mohammad Hossein Kanaanizadegan, Seyed Majid Hosseini, Saeed Ezzatollahi, Omid Nourafkan, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mohammad Mohebbi, Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi.

Head coach: Amir Ghalenoei

Afghanistan: Faisal Hamidi, Farshad Noor. , Amanullah Sardari, Mehboob Hanafi, Farzad Ataei, Mohammad Saharani, Basit Mushtaq, Ali Basit Nazari, Tofi Eskandari, Yama Sharzad and Omid Mousavi. Head coach: Abdullah Motairi. who was suspended for the rest of the tournament and was watching the match from the stands.

CAFA Nations Cup 2023 Diary.

Taremi’s attack on CAFA!

After the training session of Team Melli under Ghalnoei yesterday, Mehdi Taremi was quizzed by a horde of journalists and reporters on his view n Team Melli. After the customary praise of the head coach, effusing about the qualities of Amir Ghaleneoi. whom he never worked with in his club career, the interesting part was Taremi’s comment on the Technical value of CAFA Nations Cup. ” Such a tournament has no value for The National Team.” The Porto forward decried, albeit indirectly, pointing to the low standard of the participating team, while he said added that he understands that taking part in the tournament is a commitment and needs to be respected.”

When a reporter reminded him that Team Melli has always lagged behind others in the preparation and organization of friendly practice games, Taremi was unimpressed and stuck to what he said!

Perhaps not the wisest of characters on and off the field, as a professional who plays in the top league in Europe, his declaration that it CAFA has little value lacks insight. During the preparation for the FIFA World Cup, Iran managed only two quality friendlies while Japan, Korea, and Saudi Arabia tripled that number.

Taremi forgets that it is not winning in these matters that matter, it is a big chance for the coach in his new job to understand, evaluate, and familiarize himself with the qualities of his players and their capabilities in different formats. What better than a handful of games in a matter of a week or so?

Sardar Azmoun also gave a brief interview after the practice session on the same subject of CAFA. Asked about the value of this tournament for Team Melli’s preparation, Azmoun said that “We have all the respect for all participating teams, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan Oman, and the rest. Our mission as players is to execute what the management has planned, It is not for me to answer that question, you need to direct it at the federation leaders, not players. Our job is to play and represent our country at international levels”

The rebel Kuwaiti coach of Afghanistan makes headlines

The video where the head coach is directing his players to leave the pitch is going viral across social media.

Abdullah Al Mutairi, a mediocre Kuwaiti coach at best with hardly any achievements in his coaching career, beckoned, or rather, forced the Afghan players to leave the field after Kyrgyzstan scored the winner deep into injury time.

The game was level at 0-0 when Kyrgyz Republic found the winner deep in minute 97 of the match which gave them a huge chance of winning the match. However, a massive controversy took place immediately after the goal as Afghanistan’s head coach, in protest, forced his players to leave the playing area before the final whistle. Despite a few attempts by the referee to simmer down the heated situation, the former head coach of the Nepal men’s national team was not in a mad state signaling the referee has been bribed!!.

The sight that followed the walkout by the Afghanistan men’s national team was embarrassing. Kyrgyz Republic’s players celebrated their opponents leaving the pitch while Abdullah Al-Mutairi applauded sarcastically.

People like Al Mutairi with zero credibility as a coach and a track record for controversy, should be put away from football. There is no place for such characters in the beautiful game. Granted, football has become tarnished in the last few years as it is not the purist game, with commercial interests, bribery, and corruption in the World of Football making headlines, the beneficiaries are most the leaders at the top. depriving young footballers of playing their beloved game is bigger than anything. This is why the like of Al Mutairi needs to be made an example with FIFA, AFC, and CAF need to act by giving him the heaviest sentence possible. Long, preferably permanent, suspension from the game should be applied.