According to Sporte360 website, Mohammed Reza Khalatbary, the much travelled Iranian player, has signed with Ajman Club of the UAE.

The website reporting from Dubai, said that “Ajman have completed the signing of former Al Wasl forward Mohammad Reza Khalatbary while coach Abdulwahab Abdulkadir and striker Boris Kabi have both signed contract extensions.

Khalatbary – who spent six months on loan at the Zabeel Stadium under Diego Maradona – has joined the Orange Brigade on a one-year deal from Sepahan.”

There was strong rumors that the Iranian sport authorities have vetoed all transfers of Iranian players to the UAE after this country, notorious for its political intimidation and taking every opportunity to enroll political issues into football affairs, has called their league “Arab  Gulf” in defiance to Iran and international conventions. This unconfirmed move by the Iranians apparently stopped several Iranian players’ transfers. Players such as Javad Nekounam , Pejman Montazeri and Arash Borhani amongst others, were in active negotiation with different UAE Pro League clubs.

FIFA rules clearly stipulate that political interferences and influences are not permitted in football and have strongly applied such rules globally.

The problem is that FIFA statutes and those of Third World and totalitarian countries, where government and sporting officials are often one and the same, can be in direct conflict. Article 13.1 (g) of FIFA’s official rule book states that national federations are obliged “to manage their affairs independently and ensure that their own affairs are not influenced by any third parties.”

In all of the Middle East countries and without any exception, the football associations are all extensions of the government authorities and strictly follow the government party line without prejudice.

UAE foreign policy has a marked anti-Iranian flavor to it, partially due to the UAE claims to the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf. Such policies and the UAE government rhetoric have influence several un-sportsmanship and illicit acts by the UAE football federation such as canceling a friendly match against Iran (read official announcement below), cancellation of a match between Iraq and Iran in Dubai and banning of Iranian players transfer to UAE league. To circumnavigate a possible reaction by FIFA the UAE government quietly told the clubs that it will not issue visas and resident permits for Iranian players, which effectively meant the clubs were unable to recruit Iranians.

 The announcement of Khalatbary’s transfer to Ajman is hence quite a surprise taking into the consideration the prevailing circumstances and the volatile

Yousef Al Serkal, Chairman of the Interim Committee of the UAE Football Association has announced the cancellation of a friendly match of the UAE’s first national football team against Iran, which was scheduled for next Tuesday, April 17, at the Fujairah Club Stadium in preparation for future ties.

The cancellation of the game has appeared on the website of the UAE Football Association, in solidarity with the official position of the state on denouncing the visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the UAE Island of Abu Musa, which has been occupied by Iran since 1971. – Emirates News Agency, WAM

Lebanon national football team arrived in Tehran on Saturday missing 7 players due to either suspensions or injury. Lebanon who is already eliminated from the FIFA World Cup competition is playing its final match against Team Melli in Azadi on Tuesday. The Lebanese team and football is in turmoil due to the bribery scandals that hit the national team players and some clubs taking part in official competition. Several players and officials have been handed severe suspension , including life for accepting bribes and selling matches, including the two FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Qatar.

Despite such circumastances, the new look Lebanses team gallantly fought against the mighty Koreans in Beirut last Tuesady. Lebanon was one goal ahead until deep in the stoppage time awarded by the AUstralian referee. Korea eventually scored in th 97th minute from a free kick which took a deflection and wrong footed the star of the match , Lebanon’s goalkeeper Abbas Hassan.

Attempts by the Lebanese football federation to register the 20 years old upcoming star Soony Saad, an American Lebanese who is currently playing for the MLS team Sporting Kansas City has failed and hence he will be illegible to play against Iran. The promising youngster already made his debut for Lebanon against Oman, in a friendly game on May 29, 2013. Saad scored in his debut.

The absent players for Lebanon are: Abbas Atwi, Mohammed Yusif, Mohammed Haydar, Waleed Ismael, Bilal Najarin, Ali Hammam,and Amer Khan. The German coach of Lebanon had to call some new players in replacement and announced an 18 players squad to Tehran as follows:

[button-orange text=”Goalkeepers” ]

Abbas HASSAN [IF Elfsborg (SWE)] , Lary MEHANNA [AlAnsar] , Mehdi KHALIL [AlSafaa]

[button-orange text=”Defenders” ]

Mootaz JOUNAIDI [AlAnsar], Nour MANSOUR [AlSafaa] ,  Mohammad ZAIN TAHHAN [AlSafaa], Hussein AWADA [AlAhd], Mohammed HAMOOD [AlAnsar], Hassan DHAHER [Shabab AlSahel]

[button-orange text=”Midfield” ]

Abbas Ahmad ATWI [AlAhd], Nader MATAR [ACD Canillas (ESP)], Mohamad ATWI [AlAnsar], Mouhamad CHAMASS [AlNajma],  Hamza SALAMAH [AlSafaa]

[button-orange text=”Forwards” ]

Hassan MAATOUK [AlShabab (UAE)] , Hassan CHAITO [AlAhd], Fayez CHAMSINE [AlIjtimaei], Mahmoud KOJOK [AlAnsar],

Iran first match against Lebanon was not played until 1996.  Lebanon had always been one of the lessor footballing nations of the Middle East. Predominantly a Basketball following nation , Lebanon only emerged in the highlights in the last few years. The beating boy of the ares suddenly started to raise eyebrows with some stunning results including the defeat of the stronger and more established neighboring Arab nations , but more significantly was defeating two of Asia football powerhouses, Korea Republic and Iran. The two former Asian Cup winners fell victims to the Lebanese.

In the head to head with Team Melli , Lebanon registered one win only and the rest was simply more like drubbing exercise , including the last meeting in Tehran when the Lebanese left packing with five goals in arrears.

Ali Daei remain the top scorer with 6 goals, Nekounam is currently 2nd with 4 but could  very well exceed the record of Daei.

[table “6” not found /]

BEIRUT (AP) — As Theo Buecker prepares an almost entirely new team for the last match of Lebanon’s World Cup qualifying campaign, he struggles with memories of a former squad that had given him reason to believe that they’d all create history.

“If our boys had not sold the two matches against Qatar, we’d reach Brazil,” Buecker said. “We’d go to the World Cup next year.”

That’s not going to happen this time.

The discovery in February that 24 players – including six involved in World Cup qualifying matches – had been implicated in a match-fixing scandal has shocked Lebanon.

Under German Buecker’s leadership Lebanon, with a population of 4 million, had managed to beat stronger, much better-resourced teams including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in the past year. And that followed wins over even stronger Asian powers like South Korea and Iran in the previous qualifying round for the 2014 World Cup.

The national team was helping to unite a population slowly trying to heal divisions after 15 years of sectarian war that left the place in ruins when it ended in 1990.

Then it all went wrong in the two qualifying matches against Qatar.

Lebanon lost the home and away games with their opponents scoring one goal in each match, angering their fans and frustrating Buecker.

“If you see how we lost, it’s just ridiculous,” Buecker told The Associated Press in an interview. “One player, how many times he was trying to be successful with the right pass to the opponents’ center forward, to put him in a position where it was easy for him to score. Unbelievable!”

Buecker said he had no idea at the time that players — all of whom were close with the coach — had been playing to fix the matches, not win them.

A few weeks before Buecker’s side lost to Qatar 1-0 in Doha in November, Lebanon’s Football Association launched an investigation into allegations of match-fixing in international and continental games. A three-member committee investigated players, officials and referees and the outcome was startling: some players took money from gambling syndicates and intentionally lost games.

The LFA banned international players Ramez Dayoub and Mahmoud al-Ali and club official Fadi Fneish for life. The investigation was led by the general secretary of the West Asian Football Federation, Fadi Zreiqat. Another 22 players were also sanctioned for their part in match-fixing in games involving Lebanese clubs in Asian League matches.

Midfielder Dayoub has played for Selangor in Malaysia, and striker al-Ali has played for Persiba Balikpapan in Indonesia. Fneish is an official with Beirut-based Al Ahed club who also served as a translator for Lebanon’s national team.

When Beucker returned to Beirut from the Qatari capital after one match, his wife told him that the fans, who had rallied behind the national team in a rare show of unity, were angry because they were convinced Dayoub sold the match.

“We had a fight and I said it was not true,” he said. “But I did watch the match again, and you can see clearly, Ramiz is really focused, intently looking, looking, looking for the player of the other side and then passing the ball to him,” Buecker said.

He said there were some on the team who had their suspicions at the time, but “nobody in the right mind assumed it was deliberate bad behavior,” Buecker said.

“Ramiz played a couple of passes into our defense, to our opponents, and we thought, is the guy blind? What is he doing?” the coach recalled. He then reviewed other matches, including Lebanon’s home match against Qatar last June.

“We were the dominating team, we were controlling the match, we had good possession of the ball but in a very funny way, in front of the goal we look like we’ve all broken our legs,” Buecker said. “I just could not believe it.”

Buecker went on to watch all the World Cup qualifying matches, including the two pre-qualifiers Lebanon played against Bangladesh in July 2011.

“Even in Asia, Lebanon is not a top team, but with all due respect, it’s nothing but a clean victory that is expected against Bangladesh,” Buecker said. Lebanon won the home match 4-0 in November 2011, but five days later lost 2-0 in Dhaka.

“I could not believe it,” Buecker said. But after watching that match again, he said “there was my close friend Mahmoud Ali, who in a ‘technically brilliant’ way was able to be nine times in front of (the opponents’) empty goal and managed to miss the goal.”

Last month FIFA extended the life bans for the two players and the official worldwide. Both players denied the allegations and told the investigators they were not involved in match-fixing.

The Asian Football Confederation said it reviewed a summary of the report from the investigation in Lebanon, but found no evidence that Dayoub played a role in helping Qatar beat Lebanon in the World Cup qualifiers (…)

Note: Asian Football Confederation did not find anything wrong in Bahrain’s 10-0 defeat of Indonesia during the FIFA World Cup qualifers final game !

Buecker, who was recruited by the LFA in 2011 to help Lebanon qualify for the 2014 World Cup, had to put a whole new team together for the remaining qualifiers. In a match against South Korea June 4, the German coach fielded only two players from the pre-scandal team. The match in Beirut ended 1-1 after the guests equalized deep into injury time.

With five points, Lebanon is at the bottom of Group A before Buecker’s side travels to Tehran to play its last World Cup qualifier against Iran June 11.

“We are now a clean team and everyone is clear that match-fixing people have nothing to do with football,” Buecker said. His contract with the national team is due to end after the Iran match. He said he is not sure whether he will remain Lebanon’s coach, but when he talks about his plan for the team’s future, he doesn’t sound like somebody ready to abandon his adopted country’s national team any time soon.

In addition to educating Lebanon’s talented youth in football, Buecker said he’d like to see more support for the national team from the clubs that are mostly owned by the country’s sect-based political parties or their patrons. He’d like to see “less religion and politics” in football, better training conditions for the national team, including at least one grass training field in the country, where is the only fully licensed coach.

There is no professional football in Lebanon and an average monthly salary paid to the players by the clubs is up to $1,500 dollars, including the $500 dollar bonus for the national team players, Buecker said. A handful of top players, including Dayoub and al-Ali until their ban, have earned up to $4,000 dollars a month.

Better salaries alone will not make aspiring Lebanese players more professional, Buecker said, adding that they need to invest more educating coaches that could produce better players.

“They think you have to be paid millions to be a professional football player,” Buecker said. “I keep telling my boys, particularly these young ones who came to the national team recently and are a bit scared by what happened, ‘You are earning money by playing football. No matter how small the salary is, you are a professional football player.'”

Team Melli endured a torrid spell with goalkeepers in the last few years, according to Esmael Ardalan the ex-goalkeeping coach of Paykan and Sepahan. He pointed out that there is no inclination to correct this problem either.

In a statement to the MehrNews sport editor, Ardalan said “replacing the long serving Mehdi Rahmati in such a critical game for Team Melli, created much pressure and stress on Rahman Ahmadi and that is why he did not perform to the level he displays at club on consistent basis”

“ During the Qatar game, there was 4 or 5 real chances for the Qataris that did not result in any goals, but it also underlined some hesitancy in Rahman Ahmadi timing out of his area and crosses.” The ex- Team Melli player added. “If we need to have a reliable goalkeeper, we must ensure that Ahmadi performs to high standard particularly during the opposition attacks from the flanks.”

“Expectation of Rahman Ahmadi to reach the ideal form and be on the same wavelength as his defenders , is not fair in such a short period of time. The goalkeeper needs time to work with the coaches and the defenders to synchronize well during the matches. The goalkeeping coach has a crucial role to play in this area and requires much work on the psychological side in addition to the tactical. Boosting the confidence of the keeper is a crucial issue.” Ardalan said.

“Recently , Team Melli had a long history of goalkeeping problems. We have failed to produce high class goalkeepers and that has cost us dearly. In order to rectify this shortcoming, a long term program needs to be set to produce a group of high quality keepers. We have offered such program, but no one seems to be interested.”  Esmael Ardan concluded

Since the days of Ahmadreza Abdezadeh , who was perhaps the last of the great Iranian goalkeepers , Team Melli went through several goalkeepers. From calamitous Ebrahim Mirzapour to the erratic Mehdi Rahmati.

In one of its worst drops in recent years, Iran dropped 10 positions to 67th position in the latest FIFA ranking accumulating 506 points. This is the worst result of Iran for 17 years  since Team Melli dropped to number ranked 83 in 199.

The drop is attributed to the inactivity of Team Melli as is sat idol while other teams were either involved in official competition matches or arranged friendlies to enhance their standing. Team Melli had a bye in the last round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, while playing its first FIFA World Cup qualifier of 2013 last Tuesday in Qatar.

3 valuable points from Qatar will enhance the points tally for Team Melli in the next ranking while a similar 3 points against Lebanon will even make it better.

#	Player Name
11	HAJSAFY, Ehsan 25-Feb-90 21 years Sepahan Defender
20	NOSRATI, Mohammad 10-Jan-81 30 Years Tractorsazi Defender
5	AGHILI, Hadi 15-Jan-81 30 Years Sepahan Defender
4	HOSSEINI, Jalal 03-Feb-82 29 Years Perspolis Defender
6	NEKOUNAM, Javad 06-Sep-80 31 Years Osasuna Midfield
1	RAHMATI, Mehdi 02-Feb-83 28 Years Esteghlal Goalkeeper
14	TEYMOURIAN, Andranik 06-Mar-83 28 Years Esteghlal Midfield
19	GHOLAMI, Mohammad 13- Feb-83 28 Years Steel Azin Foreward
7	REZAEI, Gholamreza 6-Mar-84 27 Years Perspolis Midfield
10	ANSARIFARD, Karim 03-Apr-90 21 Years Saipa Foreward
2	HEYDARI, Khosrow 14-Sep-83 28 Years Sepahan Defender
9	KHALATBARY, Mohamad Reza 14-Sep-83 28 Years Zob Ahan Forward
18	NOURI, Pejman 3-Jul-80 31 Years Malavan Midfield
8	SHOJAEI, Masoud 09-Jun-84 27 Years Osasuna Midfield
23	MOBALI, Iman 03-Nov-82 29 Years Esteghlal Midfield
17	NOURI, Mohammad 09-Jan-83 28 years Perspolis Midfield
21	AFSHIN, Arash 21-Jan-89 21 years Foolad Khuzestan Foreward
13	BENGAR, Mohsen 06-Sep-79 32 years Sepahan Defender
22	GORDAN, Shehab 22-May-84 27 years Zob Ahan Goalkeeper
15	HADDADIFAR, Ghassim 12-Jul-83 28 years Zob Ahan Midfield
3	TALEBI, Farshid 24-Aug-81 30 years Zob Ahan Defender
16	NOUROZI, Reza 21-Sep-82 29 years Foolad Khuzestan Foreward

The atmosphere in Iran football was more than positive in the aftermath of the Team Melli victory away to Qatar. Joy and celebrations was aplenty in Iran’s football circles after the crucial victory , despite the fact that Queiroz said that there is still  a lot of football and work to be done. “ we will hold on to the celebrations until the end of the match against Korea Republic.” The jubilant Portuguese announced to the media.

The media in Iran was full of praise for the performance and result that was achieved by Team Melli beating Qatar 1-0 in Doha. The majority of the reports talked about the methodology and the tactics employed by Queiroz used that lead to what was comfortable win in the end. Iran deserved a better goal margin victory , according to the press but the majority seem to be content with that solitary goal.

Heshmat Mohajerani, the legendary Team Melli coach who was the first coach to lead Iran to the World Cup 1978 in Argentina, said “ this match was the best I have seen of Team Melli since Carlos Queiroz took over at the helm of the team.”

Mahmoud Yavari, another ex-Team Melli coach and player believed that Queiroz preparation of the team , mentally and physically was a winner. The veteran coach praised the media in Iran which supported Team Melli till the day of the match. “There was lots of room for criticism especially after that embarrassing losses in a friendly against Oman, but to their credit , the press had been marvelous backing the team and the coach.”

Afshin Peyrovani , ex-Team Melli player and Captain said that Queiroz decision to employ the skeleton of the Esteghlal defense was a ingenious decision. The Champions Esteghlal , had the best defense in their way to win the title and using 3 out of 4 of their players proved to be a wise move.

Karim Bagheri and Khodadad Azizi , the scorers of the goals in Melbourne which took Iran to 1998 World Cup finals, were special guest of the federation for the match in Doha. Azizi express his delight with the victory and believes that “beating Lebanon next Tuesday should not be a big deal, but unless Queiroz patches up the team with more sharp and stronger players, we will have a tough time against the powerful Koreans.”

Reza GhoochanNejad the scorer of Iran’s solitary goal believes the team played quite well “I am happy that I managed to convert the supremacy of the team and the good work of the players into a deserved goal for us”

Amongst the many cheerful voices, there was some that advised caution against Lebanon. In the midst of that sweet victory in Doha, the team can easily lose focus and be surprised by a Lebanon that has no aspiration but also nothing to lose either.

* Ghoochannejhad’s goal boosts Iran’s campaign

* No celebration yet, says assistant coach

* Qatar’s hopes all but over after narrow defeat

June 4 (Reuters) – Iran got their World Cup qualifying campaign back on track after Reza Ghoochannejhad’s 66th-minute strike gave them a 1-0 win against Qatar at Doha’s Al Sadd Stadium on Tuesday.

Carlos Quiroz’s team stay third in Group A on 10 points from six games, a point behind second-placed Uzbekistan and leaders South Korea, who drew 1-1 with bottom side Lebanon in Beirut.

“We will not celebrate as we have still two matches remaining,” Iran’s assistant coach Antonio Simoes said.

“We have achieved an important three points and a good victory and I want to thank the players who followed the tactics and this helped us to get a positive result.”

The defeat all but ended Qatar’s hopes of a first World Cup finals appearance as they are now three points behind Iran and have only one game left away to Uzbekistan.

The top two from the group qualify directly for next year’s finals in Brazil, while the third-placed team will still be in with a chance of joining them via the playoffs.

There was little goalmouth action in the early stages in Doha with Mojtaba Jabari’s 21st-minute effort for Iran from the edge of the box presenting the first goalkeeping test.

The hosts maiden opportunity came when Ibrahim Khalfan rolled the ball to Hasan al Haydos but his effort hit the bar.

Qatar keeper Qasem Burhan then made two outstanding saves, tipping Masoud Soleimani Shojaei’s curling free-kick over the bar and beating out Ghoochannejhad’s point-blank header with one hand while moving in the other direction.

The second half was more physical and Iran’s sustained pressure eventually paid off when a defensive error sent the ball to Ghoochannejhad who scored past the advancing Burhan.

Iran could have doubled their lead in the 79th minute but this time Ghoochannejhad could not beat Burhan who charged out of the box, earning himself a yellow card for a foul on the forward but denying the visitors another goal.

Qatar coach Fahad Thani said a draw would have been fair, adding: “Iran were physically strong and were good in defence. We played well but didn’t take advantage of the chances we had as we were without the player who could finish those chances.

QATAR 0 – 1 IRAN

AFC.COM

Reza Ghoochannejhad strengthened Iran’s hopes of securing a fourth appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals with the only goal of the game as Carlos Queiroz’s side saw off Qatar at Al Sadd Stadium on Tuesday.

Ghoochannejhad’s 66th minute strike (pictured) earned the Iranians all three points and moves them on to 10 points from six games while Qatar’s chances of reaching Brazil 2014 suffered a blow.

Fahad Thani’s side are three points adrift of the Iranians in fourth place in Group A with just one game remaining while Iran have a game in hand over the Qataris. The top two nations qualify automatically for the finals while the third place side in the group progresses to a playoff.

“We deserved to win today as we played well which helped us to get three important points. We took advantage of our good preparations and the team had a good show in the match today,” said Iran assistant coach Antonio Simoes.

“We will not celebrate as we have still two matches remaining. We have achieved an important three points and a good victory and I want to thank the players who followed the tactics and this helped us to get a positive result.”

Sebastian Soria was not available for the home side after picking up a suspension and the Qataris missed the Uruguay-born forward’s presence in attack, despite the enthusiasm and positive running of former AFC Player of the Year Khalfan Ibrahim.

After a tepid opening 30 minutes, Qatar were just inches away from taking the lead when Ibrahim slipped the ball into the path of Hasan Al Haydos, but his shot came back off the woodwork with Rahman Ahmadi beaten.

Qatar monopolised possession but had little to show for their time with the ball and, in the dying minutes of the half, Iran twice went close to taking the lead.

With three minutes left in the period, Masoud Shojaei’s free kick almost caught out Qusam Burhan, only for the goalkeeper to readjust his positioning as the ball swung towards goal to tip the ball to safety.

The resultant corner led to Ghoochannejhad stealing in at the far post to head goalward, only for Burhan to pull off a fine save to deny the Standard Liege forward.

Iran’s ascendancy in the dying minutes of the first half continued into the second half and, by the 66th minute, the three-time Asian champions had taken the lead when Queiroz’s team took advantage of a defensive error.

Ghoochannejhad was on hand to capitalise when the ball ricocheted off Ibrahim Abdulmajed and into the path of the forward, who made no mistake as he slotted the ball calmly beyond Burhan’s reach.

Qatar grew increasingly desperate as time ran out, throwing the ball forward at every opportunity but the Iranian defence held out to secure a third win of the final phase of qualifying and improve the nation’s hopes of a place in Brazil next year.

“The fair result tonight would have been a draw as we did not expect to lose tonight especially as we had many chances which we didn’t take advantage of. Iran were physically strong and they were good in defence,” said Qatar coach Thani.

“We played well but we didn’t take advantage of the chances that we had as we were without the player who could finish those chances.

“We knew that the match would be very hard and we were hoping to get a better result.”

*****************************************************************************

AFP report:

Iran boosted their chances of clinching an automatic berth from Asia at next year’s FIFA World Cup™ with a 1-0 win over Qatar in their crucial qualifying game tonight.

Iranian-Dutch striker Reza Ghoochannejhad struck the vital goal in the 66th minute to end 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar‘s hopes of reaching the finals.

It was the first time Iran had beaten Qatar in four qualifying matches for Brazil 2014. Their three previous matches, including two in the third and penultimate phase of qualifying, had ended in draws.

Tuesday’s victory took Iran to ten points in Group A, and with two more games in hand, the Asian giants look set for their fourth appearance in the FIFA World Cup finals.

Qatar‘s already slim hopes of qualifying for football’s showpiece event relied heavily on a victory over Iran, and for the better part of the first half they appeared on course with speedy moves that occasionally caught the Iranians napping.

Former AFC Asian Player of the Year Khalfan Ibrahim came close to beating the Iranian defence on a couple of occasions, but Qatar‘s first real chance came in the 30th minute when Hassan Haydos found himself clear just inside the penalty area. However, much to Qatar‘s dismay his cracking shot slammed the crossbar.

Qatar goalkeeper Qassem Burhan then brought off two splendid saves in quick succession – blocking a dipping free-kick from 25 yards by Masoud Shojaei and then producing a reflex save to stop a Nournia header from close range.

Iran, however, moved up a gear in the second-half. Playing with more purpose and speed they kept probing at the Qatari defence and eventually it cracked under pressure when a move initiated by Qatar-based Andranik Teymourian saw the ball come Nournia’s way and the former Dutch U-19 international made no mistake from close range. Qatar tried their best to get the equaliser but the Iranians held firm to deny the hosts.

 

The worst Iran can do at this stage is to qualify as the third team for the play-off series, it is a hard and challenging task which will probably involve travelling a long distance to the other side of the World to Latin America. At the moment, both Lebanon and Qatar are realistically out of the competition for the top three spots, although mathematically Qatar is still in with a slim chance provided Iran loses against Lebanon in Azadi while Qatar scores a wide margin victory in their last match away against Uzbekistan. Such victory will take them to 10 points and in par with Iran who still has a match to play against the Koreans. Any points from Korea by Iran, and Qatar is out.

 More realistically, the competition will be between the three current top teams in Group A,  Korea Rep, Uzbekistan and Iran.

Next Tuesday will see the two top teams, Korea Rep and Uzbekistan facing off in Seoul. While Iran would be entertaining the bottom team Lebanon whom they have already trounced this year 5-0 in the 2015 Asian Cup qualifiers. Assuming Iran wins the match against Lebanon by any margin making their points tally 13 , the hopes are for the first match to end up with a draw giving Korea Rep 12 pts ( GD +6) , Uzbekistan 12pts (GD +2) and Iran 13 pts (GD +2 or better).

That will make the last round; the decider round between the three teams concerned where Iran will travel to Korea for their last match and Uzbekistan will face Qatar at home.

Iran needs a draw from Ulsan to qualify directly to Brazil accumulating 14 pts to Koreas 13 ( or 14 pts if they beat Uzbekistan in the previous round). Uzbekistan needs to beat Qatar by any goal margin to accumulate 15 pts to qualify ( assuming they drew with Korea previous round). with 14 points (if they lost to Korea), the Uzbeks might be looking at goal margin.

 

In case Korea Rep defeats Iran in Ulsan (15 pts) against Iran’s 13 pts.  Uzbekistan needs to beat Qatar to get 15 pts,  Iran will be playing in the play-off against the third rank team of the Group B.

If Either of the teams Korea Rep or Uzbekistan win that match next week ( the winner gets 15 pts (loser still on 12) , then Iran need to draw at least in the last round against Korea to make it directly (14 pts).

In all cases , to ensure Iran qualifies directly, they need a win in Azadi versus Lebanon and at least a draw in Ulsan against their nemeses Korea Rep.

Doha

Team Melli revived its chances to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup by defeating Qatar 1 -0 in Doha. The only goal of the match was scored by Reza Ghoochannejd in the second half (66′) when he received a lose ball sent by Jabbari and neatly slotted in under the advancing Qatari goalkeeper.

Iran has 10 points with two more matches to play. Iran’s next match will be at Azadi against Lebanon.

Queiroz , who was serving his second match ban , elected to play with a relatively new defensive line up. The Team Melli coach selected 3 Esteghlal players to cement the defenses in addition to the veteran Jalal Hosseini. Amir Hossein Sadeghi, partnering Hosseini in center of defense,  was recalled after 6 years while Beighzadeh, who was playing left back,  last featured for Team Melli in 2010.

The match kick off time early evening , eased the worry that high temperatures and specifically the humidity , will be a handicap for Iranian players. With Doha enjoying a mild summer, the weather was relatively pleasant under the circumstances.

The first 30 minutes of the first half saw Team Melli control most of the play by taking the initiative on offensive moves and controlling the rhythm of the match, while not allowing the hosts to create any real chances. Qatar was content to defend while depending on the pace of their wingers for the counter attack. Iran played its usual game plan that they have stuck to throughout the qualification matches. The offensive moves was based on crosses from the flanks , mostly by the lively Khosrow Heydari on the right while on the left wing , Shojaei was lethargic and his contribution was minimal.

Despite the various attempts and the crosses that Heydari sent from the right , most such crosses ended up long or collected by the tall and towering Qatari GoalKeeper Qassim Burhan. The only variation to TM tactic was a single long range attempt shot by Capt Nekounam which was comfortably collected in two attempts by Qatar Keeper Burhan.
But after the half hour, things changed dramatically as Qatar got a new lease of life and initiated several attacking moves on Iran’s goal one of which was chipped by Hassan AlHaydos but hit the bar to safety. However , the Qatari attacks did not last long as Iran once again took control of the match under the end of the half.

The second half was a carbon copy of the first with the host hardly getting any chances while Iranian enjoying most of the possession as it continued controlling the pace of the game. The first fifteen minutes saw Team Melli launch several attacks while the Qatari’s were on the defensive. The most clear chance fell to Shojaei who was put cleared by a neat through ball to face Qatar goalkeeper, but the Osasuna player was far too slow to pull the trigger as the ball was cleared in front of him by young defender Misa’ab.

Iran’s supremacy paid dividend in the 66th minute when Nekounam put a nice through ball to Jabbari who squared the ball to Ghoochannejad through a deflection. The Standard Liege forward neatly controlled the ball and slotted under Qassim Burhan to score the only goal. It was a cool and clinical finish no more than Iran deserved.

The rest of the match saw team Melli play logical game and had little problem controlling the game with a sterling display from the midfield and particularly an outstanding from  Ando Teymourian who was one of the stars of the match.

in the injury time of the match, the Qatari’s were throwing all to score the equalizer but their desperate efforts did not result in a goal.
Despite what was commonly believed, Nelo Ningada did not sit on Iran’s bench but accompanied Queiroz in the stands of the Al Sadd Stadium.

In the other group match today , the South Koreans scored deep inside the injury time to secure a point at Beirut after Lebanon surprise the fancied Koreans with a goal in the first half.Korea leads the table on goal difference with Uzbekistan.

Next week’s matches.

• 11th June 2013  Korea Republic vs. Uzbekistan  11:00 GMT
• 11th June 2013  Iran vs. Lebanon                        16:30 GMT

#	Player Name
	ARAB, Mostafa 13-Aug-41 31 years Oghab Defender
20	ASHTIANI, Ebrahim 04-Jan-42 30 Years Perspolis Defender
5	BEHZADI, Homayoun 20.Jun.42 30 Years Perspolis Foreward
4	GHURAB, Javad 30.Jul.50 22 Years Taj Defender
6	HALVAEI, Majeed 007-Feb-48 24 Years Pas Defender
1	HAGHVERDIAN, Karo 11-Jan-46 26 Years Esteghlal Midfield
14	HEJAZI, Nasser 14-Dec-49 23 Years Esteghlal Goalkeeper
19	IRANPAK, Safar 03.Dec.47 25 Years Perspolis Foreward
7	JABBARI, Ali 20-Jun-47 25 Years Taj Midfield
10	KALANI, Hossein 23-Jun-40 32 Years Perspolis Foreward
2	KARGARJAM, Akbar 6.Dec.1944 28 Years Taj Defender
9	KASHANI, Jaffar 04.Mar.45 27 Years Perspolis Defender
18	MAVADAT, Bahram 30.Jan.50 22 Years Perspolis Goalkeeper
8	MAZLOOMI, Gholamhossein 13-Jan-50 22 Years Taj Foreward
23	MONAJATI, Mehdi 29-Jun-47 25 Years Pas Midfield
17	GHLEECHKHANI, Parviz 04.Nov.46 26 years Pas Midfield
21	SHARAFI, Asghar 22-Dec-42 30 years Pas Foreward
13
22
15