Author: admin
Team Melli squad for European tour announced.
Team Melli Squad
| Name | |
| 1 | AMIRI, Vahid |
| 2 | ANSARIFARD, Karim |
| 3 | AZMOUN, Sardar |
| 4 | BEIGZADEH, Hashim |
| 5 | BIRANVAND, Alireza |
| 6 | DEJAGAH, Ashkan |
| 7 | EBRAHIMI, Omid |
| 8 | GHAFOORI, Vourya |
| 9 | GHOOCHANNEJAD, Reza |
| 10 | GORDANI, Habib |
| 11 | HAGHIGHI, Alireza |
| 12 | HAJSAFY, Ehsan |
| 13 | HASSANZADEH , Masoud |
| 14 | HEYDARI, Khosrow |
| 15 | HOSSEINI, Jalal |
| 16 | JAHANBAKHSH, AliReza |
| 17 | MAKANI, Sousha |
| 18 | MONTAZERI, Pejman |
| 19 | NEKOUNAM, Javad |
| 20 | POURALIGANJI, Morteza |
| 21 | REZAEIAN, Ramin |
| 22 | SADEGHI, AmirHossein |
| 23 | SHOJAEI, Masoud |
| 24 | TEYMOURIAN, Andranik |
Omid Team Squad announced
Omid team beats Kuwait in a friendly.
Iran's Omid Team defeated Kuwait Olympic team 1-0 in a friendly match played in Kuwait today (Thursday) The only goal of the match was scored by Behnam Barzay from a spot kick after Arsalan Motahari was fouled in the box in the 40th minute of the match.. The result and the performance of Omid Team revived the unsavory events of the Omid Team in Asian Games 2014 Although Iran's controlled the match from the onset they failed to translate it into goals against a Kuwaiti team that had very little to offer and failed to create even a single scoring chance in the 1st half. Majid Hosseini , Iran's best defender was marsheling the defense perfectly well but his dismissal in the 77th minute of the match, highlighted a serious flaw in Omid team, lack of pace. Hosseini was red carded after two consecutive yellow cards and ironically due to the same reason. Hosseini despite his superior display against the Kuwaiti players, lacked pace and was easily beaten by the substitute player who passed him with ease so Hosseini fouled him for his 1st caution. A few minutes later a similar situation developed and again a Kuwait player dribbled and accelerated past him , again Majid Hosseini fouled and got his 2nd yellow card and marching orders. It was apparent from this display that the playing style remains quite similar to the team coached by Vingada's team that failed to progress past the group stages in the Asian Games Incheaon despite so many changes. Superior ball control and individual techniques failed to yield a satisfactory result with the Omid team forwards failing to score as they deserved. Omid Team finishing left a lot to be desired against a very ordinary Kuwaiti team lacking in tactics. Time after time , omid players easily reached Kuwait penalty box , but a combination of some heroics by Kuwait keeper and feeble last touches , prevented the players to convert their superiority into goals much , rekindling the performance of the Asian Games. It was alarming how many time the players missed easy chances to put the game to bed. There was little change in style and game plan from the last omid team. Mohammad Khakpour has failed to leave any impression on this team , not that much can be expected from a rookie inexperienced coach given a mammoth task. The passing game and the players finding each other with easy flowing style was quite pleasing but put to test against a team which lacked punch , finesse and certainly is a few steps lower in standard than Iran's Omid team , the result was concerning.
Omid Team prepare for Kuwait match.
Iran's Omid team continue the training camp ahead of Thursday's match against Kuwait Olympic Team ( U23) in Kuwait.
in an interview with Mehr News sport correspondence Mohammad Khakpour , the head coach of Iran’s Omid team (U23) declared that his team is in a desperate need of full support in order to achieve the aspiration of the football federation and Iranian fans.
“Qualifying for the Olympics needs the cooperation of everyone involved in Iran’s football. Without the full support and with reservations and objections on our requests, I do not think we can achieve such aspiration.” Khakpour said while preparing the team in Kuwait ahead of a friendly match against its Kuwaiti counterpart. On the status of the camp, Khakpour said “This is our last stage of preparation before the qualifying matches begins. The camp is going fine although we do suffer from the absence of several good players like Moradmand and Cheshmi due to Visa issue reasons (!!). We have also invited Azmoun and Jahanbakhash but nether of their clubs released them as they are not obliged to under FIFA rules.” When quizzed by the reporter what is the reason for players’ Visa problem, which should be a routine procedure for any team travelling abroad, Khapour said he was not aware of the procedures and the measures taken by the responsible personnel in the FFIRI to obtain visas. “Both Cheshmi and Mordmand were in the list , but negligence of the staff resulted in their name not being sent to the Kuwait embassy. Abdollahzadeh’s name has always been in the list, and I am thankful that he eventually got the entry Visa at the last minute at the airport.” Khakpour categorically denied that he had any meeting with Queiroz after Team Melli head coach returned back to Tehran a few days ago. “The last time I saw Queiroz was about a month and a half ago when Kashani and myself inadvertently bumped into him in the FFIRI offices. At that time he said to us that he cannot release Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh for Omid Team and also mentioned that he himself was not sure of continuing with Team Melli !” Khakpour added. “ We had no meetings with Queiroz since neither was there one arranged since then.” Asked if his insistence of having these two players and the public commotion that he and Kashani have created would not negatively affect the other team players morale, the head coach of Omid Team defended his stand and said. “At this age level, I do not believe there is a great difference in players’ standards; the only difference is international exposure. I have not made a big deal of the issue of Azmooun and Jahanbakhsh but as the head coach, it was my duty to do whatever I can to secure their services.”
Omid team's Abdollahzadeh is deported due to management blunder!
A blunder created by Habib Kashani and Mohammad Khakpour , forced Omid Team player Ahmad Abdollahzadeh to be deported from Kuwait after the player arrived in Kuwait without a visa!
Omid Team Coach Khakpour listed Abdollahzadeh in the squad list that was sent to the Kuwaiti authorities for issue in the visa, however , he requested the name of Abdollahzadeh to be dropped due to injury. Subsequently Ahmad Abdollahzadeh was not issued a visa. Somewhere along the line and a few days before the departure of the squad , Khakpour changed his mind and included Abdollahzadeh in the squad.
Without being prudent nor considering the consequences of a person travelling to a foreign country without a visa, Abdollahzadeh boarded the plane along with other members of the squad with the approval of Habib Kashani. Omid Team manager concurred with Khakpour’s decision and vowed to sort out Abdollahzadeh’s nonexistence of a visa on arrival at Kuwait airport!
As expected, Abdollahzadeh was denied entering into Kuwait without a visa and all the hype by Kashani , who thought that by haggling and dealing , he can manage to slip someone in a foreign country without a visa, has miserably failed. The team was left waiting for hours awaiting conclusion of the problem created by Kashani and Khakpour. Eventually , the team was allowed to leave to the hotel while Abdollahzadeh was stuck at Kuwait airport for hours awaiting a flight back to Iran as he was eventually deported.
This is yet another blunder that seems to typify the management of football in Iran. Kashani’s farce promise that he can confidently sort out a player who does not carry a valid visa is archetypical of managers who have unrealistic expectations and at times clueless about the laws and regulations.
For years, Omid team in particular has been the object of so many managerial errors but nothing worse than the last edition when a suspended player was used against Iraq in the qualifying rounds of the London Olympics in the Omid team win in Iraq. The result was over-turned into a loss and subsequently Omid team lost the home game as well and was eliminated. .
The names might have changed but the problems of Omid Team incompetent managers remains the same.
Omid Team is setting up a training camp in Kuwait where two games was originally scheduled to be played. However, one game was cancelled as the Omid team will be playing against its Kuwaiti counterpart on Thursday 12th March 2015.
What is behind the Chile game cancelation talk?
Queiroz "Possible cancellation of Chile match is a big blow for Team Melli"
UAE wins AFC Asian Cup 2019 hosting rights
Two AFC Member Associations, the United Arab Emirates Football Association and the IR Iran Football Federation, had submitted final bids to host the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
The Executive Committee, during its meeting in Manama, Bahrain, awarded the hosting rights following a transparent, detailed and highly competitive bidding process, which began with 11 competing Member Associations. The decision was based on the respective merits of the bids which covered a range of objective criteria including stadiums, transport, infrastructure, hotels, visas and various other sporting, logistical and administrative issues. The AFC Competitions Committee was involved in all stages of the bid process.
At the end of the meeting, AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa signed the AFC Asian Cup 2019 hosting certificate together with UAE Football Association President Yousuf Yaqoob Yousuf Al Serkal.
AFC President Shaikh Salman said: “I would like to congratulate the UAE Football Association on their successful bid to host the AFC Asian Cup 2019.
“The AFC Executive Committee was convinced by the merits of the UAE bid. I firmly believe that the UAE Football Association will host a tournament that could match and potentially even surpass the stunning AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia that we have all just witnessed.”

