Iran’s football woes continued with the announcement of the latest FIFA ranking for December 2012. With the feeble results by Team Melli , a drop in the FIFA ranking was expected, however a 15 places drop is a severe setback.

Iran has dropped to 59the rank in the world just behind Honduras, and ahead of Guinea. Last month and despite not so optimal results , Iran managed to climb up the ranking to 44.

Despite this big drop , Iran still managed to maintain its continental ranking as it remains 4th behind Japan , Australia , Korea Republic and just ahead of the fast advancing Uzbekistan which occupies the 5th place in Asia.

After the loss against Uzbekistan , it was hoped that Team Melli will recover by making a successful appearance in WAFF 2012, a tournament that Iran has won 4 times, However , Iran ended its campaign early and was knocked out by Bahrain hence failing to go beyond the group stages for the first time in the history of this competition.

FIFA ranking , is a monthly list issued by FIFA based on the results of official matches between the member countries at full level. The computerized ranking is weighted and has different factors for important matches and stronger oppositions.

Monday, 17 December 2012 11:13

TEHRAN TIMES – TEHRAN, Iran football coach Carlos Queiroz says it’s time for the team to unite in order to advance to the 2014 World Cup.

Iran failed to qualify for the semifinal round of the 2012 West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Championship. However, Queiroz insisted on Monday that he took advantage of the game and would pick up some young players for the World Cup qualifier.

“We had not enough time to prepare for the competition but I found that some players could help us to pave the way for the World Cup. The competition helped us to get more knowledge of our young players. We had not gone there (Kuwait) to get results,” Queiroz was quoted as saying by Iran Football Federation site.

“Iran participated in the tournament with young and inexperienced players and they showed their potential in the event. They need to play more in the international games and these kinds of tournaments will help the staff to know about new players,” Queiroz stated.

“At the moment, we have to be united since the Iran football team has three important matches against Qatar, Lebanon and South Korea in the World Cup qualifications. I believe in my team because we defeated Uzbekistan at their home soil and beat the Koreans with a 10-man team. From now, all of us must concentrate to defeat Qatar,” the 59-year-old Portuguese added.

Iran completed a new humiliating low under Carlos Queiroz by being eliminated from the group stages of the 7^th WAFF men’s football competition despite winning its last match against Yemen on Saturday.

The match ended 2-1 for Iran , but Bahrain defeating Saudi Arabia on the other group match played at the same time , meant the tiny Persian Gulf island heading the group with 7 points and joining Oman and Kuwait from Group A in the semi-finals.

In a lackluster half , Iran had a slight edge without creating serious scoring opportunity. Team Melli’s game was marred by erroneous passing and being caught offside on several occasions, Dehnavi being the culprit most of the times.

Despite  Iran’s slight edge in this half , the offenses were not showing much serious threat on Yemen’s goal , a fact which encouraged the bottom of the group team to push forward and capitalize on the weak Iranian right flank.

Vahid Esmael-Beigi , the right back had problems controlling the Yemeni winger and had to resort to fouling to stop him. Esmael-Beigi eventually was awarded a yellow card for his efforts.

5 minutes before the end of the half , Omid Nazari pounced on a loose ball from outside edge of the box to score Iran’s first goal in the competition. However , the  weakness on the right defense of Team Melli proved to be Iran’s downfall once again when Esmael-Beigi  fouled the Yemeni winger to stop his progress. The debutant defender was lucky to escape a sending off by the Lebanese referee . Iran was , however, not lucky on the subsequent resulting free kick which ended in the Yemeni equalizer from a deflected header in the injury time of the first half.

First Half finished 1-1.

In the second half , the beleaguered Carlos Queiroz appeared on the bench , something that he has not done during this tournament. It appears that he wanted to take over and make drastic changes in order to win. The Portuguese appearance seems to be effective as Iran started the half with much resolve and plenty of desire. Waves of attacks resulting in the series of corners.

On 53^rd minute , substitute Payam Sadeghian fed Dehnavi with a nice pass on the right. Dehnavi continued his run before sending an immaculate diagonal ball to the on rushing Karimi , who blasted the ball into the net. 2-1 for Iran.

Iran was still on the offensive with a few missed opportunities

Ouladi’s holding of the ball far too long ,  robbed the team from a golden opportunity meters away from the Yemeni goal.

On 74^th minute, another weighted pass by Dehnavi was met by Sadeghian who beat the offside trap but blasted the ball skywards. Iran continued domination with flashes of brilliant teamwork and passing. However, there was no third goal and the result meant Iran, and for the first time in this tournament history, failing to qualify beyond the group stages.

Man of the match : Yaghoub Karimi.

Team Melli will be battling for survival in today’s match against bottom team Yemen. In the last group B match of the 7th WAFF championship currently being held in Kuwait, Team Melli is in a desperate position and fighting for survival as a win by two goals or better is required in this match for Iran to have a chance to head the group. However , a win is not a guarantee for qualification as the other group match between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain need to end in a draw for Iran to qualify. The two matches are being played at the same time.

A win by any of the 2 teams in today’s other group match will spell the end of Iran’s participation in this edition of the tournament and the elimination from group stages would mean the worst ever result for the Iran , which has dominated this competition since its inception.

Iran has won 4 out of the six tournaments , only Iraq and Kuwait managed one championship each. The latter is the defending champion.

Carlos Queiroz and Omid Namazi have exhausted all their resources and there is no more tricks up their sleeves for today’s match against Yemen. Despite the strengthening of the team by introducing two established Team Melli players , Pejman Montazeri and Ehsan Hajsafy , the team failed to break the defenses of 10 man Bahrain in the last match despite controlling the match especially in the second half. Team Melli has failed to score a goal in its third consecutive match in an official competition.

It is expected that the coaches will be playing with two forwards for maximum  offensive game play in a desperate hope of ending the goal drought. Mehrdad Ouladi and Ahmad Hassanzadeh should be playing up front although the latter revived a slight knock in the last match. Payam Sadeghian is another option to partner Ouladi up front.

The rest of the line up should not be much different from the last match and Yaghoub Karimi, and Omid Ebrahimi two of the better players in this tournament , should keep their places for the match.

In its second match of the WAFF competition , Team Melli failed to take advantage of Bahrain shortage from the 27th minute, and was held to a goal-less draw. The match held in Al Kazma Stadium was a drab affair in its first half until late in the half when a sending off changed the games pace.

With Team Melli needing all the 3 points of this match to ensure qualification to the next round , the coaching staff elected to field their strongest line up. In the starting period of the match, Iran managed to get a good grip on the match but without much serious moves on the opposition goal. Team Melli’s performance was marred by sub-standard passing and ineffective finishing.

The turnaround of the match was in the 27th minute when Veteran Bahrain player , Mohammed Salmin was shown the second yellow card for diving and subsequently sent off. Iran failed to capitalized on the numeric advantage as the first half ended 0-0.

In the second half , Team Melli desperate for the 3 points and sensing the advantage , went on all out attack. The majority of the second half was played in Bahrain’s half, The combination of Mehrdad Ouladi , Mohammad Hadi Nazari and Ahmad Hassanzadeh creted many offensive threats to Bahrain , but the post , excellent goalkeeping and some feeble finishing , prevent Iran taking a lead.

As the match went on , the Iranian players were looking more desperate. Amongst the few nice moves and quick passing , there were far too many shortcomings from this inexperienced line up. Ouladi was caught offside numerous times , so was Nazari. The Bahraini’s piling up the box took most of the shooting opportunities from Iranian players and the few that were actually not blocked by the Bahrain defenders , were easily handled by Bahrain excellent keeper.

Closer to the end , Team Melli forwards ran out of ideas and with the match reaching the end , there was a real scare when Iran’s keeper Haghighi , who was idle for the majority of the half , came out of his area and was nearly caught out by a long ball that missed the empty goal and was off target.

Bahrain is leading the group with 4 points, with Iran temporarily in second spot with two goalless draws.   The situation is becoming more critical as Team Melli’s fate would be in the hands of other teams since it has failed to take much out of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia will be playing Yemen right after this match. A win for the former will complicate Iran’s position and will most certainly mean the practical elimination of Team Melli even if they win their last match against lowly Yemen

Kuwait.

Team Melli played a goal-less draw against Saudi Arabia in the first match of the WAFF 2012 championship played in Friendship & Peace stadium in Kuwait.

In a dull first half devoid of any serious scoring opportunities, the two teams both fielding a large number of fringe players, The Saudis were more in control but with little effect while Team Melli was content with defending and counter attacking in the rare occasions.

The second half was quite different as Team Melli took the initiative and was clearly going for a win and three points. Majority of the attacks were from the left flank where the combination of Pooladi and Ouladi created several chances.

Ouladi , clearly the most effective attacker , created several opportunities including a powerful header that just cleared the post. With several changes in the line up including the introduction of Hassanzadeh , the coaching team of Omid Namazi & Markar Aghajanian were trying to vitalize the offensive force taking advantage of the Saudi’s retreat , but to no avail.

The goal-less draw and the sharing of  points between the two powerful team , gives advantage to Bahrain which is taking part in this competition with the full A team squad , playing later on against Yemen.

Tehran.

Carlos Queiroz , Team Melli’s coach said that his duty is to open his eyes and ears to monitor everything around Team Melli while differentiate between illogical view points and the reasonable advice that can benefit the team. He continued his statement about Team Melli by asking the media to allow him to do his job and qualify for the finals of the World Cup and then he will expose those people who work behind the scene for Qatar !

Queiroz was speaking to the press during the first Training session of Team Melli which is preparing for the WAFF tournament in Kuwait. The players carried out their first training in the Futsal Arena of Team Melli camp. The coach emphasized the point that this tournament is a very good opportunity for him to assess the potential of many players who have not featured in Team Melli and give the others who played limited time a chance to show their full potential.

Asked why he did not select the U23 team for this tournament , Queiroz said that “the regulation of this tournament prohibits the participating countries from taking a weakened or second rate teams, however , the team we are taking to Kuwait is a mixture of youth and experienced players”. Quieroz said that he personally wants to lead this team as he is looking for players that can fill some roles and play in the first team. A few of the players in the squad have already featured for Team Melli , and this will be an ideal opportunity for them to support their claim for a much more important roles in the near future. “It is up to these players to proves themselves , and if they do  then they will have a good chance to feature in the rest of the World Cup Qualification games” Queiroz added. He mentioned Yaghoub Karimi and Mehrdad Ouladi as examples of such players with potential.

Queiroz spoke about the absentees and stated that Jalal Rafkhaei is doubtful as he is not fully fit for the tournament, hence the introduction of Mehrdad Ouladi, his Malavan teammate. He also added that Perspolis defender, Hossein Mahini has requested a leave of absence from him which was approved and hence he will not accompany the team to Kuwait. Arash Afshin is in the process of negotiating a contract with a European team and consequently he asked Queiroz to be excused from WAFF in order for him to focus on the negotiation and high possibility of a transfer which might occur in the January transfer window. Querioz said that he always supports players who can succeed in signing for European clubs. He said “if we have 5 , 6  or even 10 players playing the European leagues , it will benefit Team Melli as the exposure there and the style of play will enhance their abilities and skills.” He said that he wishes the players well and hope they succeed ion signing contracts with European teams.

 Queiroz commented on the critics voicing concern about Team Melli performance and weak results by saying that “there are always those people who like to show off during the matches of the national team. Similar things occur on regular basis in Portugal and France.” “In reality , very few listen to them but they still continue and criticize regardless (…), saying that, I do like to differentiate between the illogical unfounded criticism and those critics who might have a valid point or two up their sleeve.” The Under-fire Portuguese coach added.

Queiroz was asked by a reporter about the rumors of his cooperation with Qatar Team, in which the coach responded “Yes…I also heard such talks. Does that mean that someone from Korea is also working for the Qatari’s or maybe Lebanon and Uzbekistan have similar people? Please allow us to focus on our objective and finish our mission, only then I will tell you who, in fact, is cooperating with the Qataris”

Team Melli will be participating the WAFF tournament and is grouped with Saudi Arabia , Bahrain and Yemen.

Team Melli squad is as follows.

Goalkeepers: Alireza Haghighi (Rubin Kazan, RUS), Sousha Makani (Naft Tehran), Hamed Lak (Saba Qom)

Defenders: Vahid Esmael-Beighi (Mes Kerman ),  Milad Fakhreddini (Tractor Sazi Tabriz), Pejman Montazeri (Esteghlal Tehran), Shoja Khalilzadeh (Mes Kerman), Mohammad-Reza Khanzadeh (Persepolis Tehran), Mehrdad Pouladi (Persepolis Tehran), Ehsan Hajsafi (Tractor Sazi Tabriz)

Midfielders: Omid Nazari (Ängelholms FF, SWE), Omid Ebrahimi (Sepahan Esfahan), Ghasem Dehnavi (Tractor Sazi Tabriz), Milad Nouri (Saba Qom), Mohsen Mosalman (Zob Ahan Esfahan)

Strikers: Payam Sadeghian (Zob Ahan Esfahan), Mehrdad Ouladi (Malavan Anzali), Ahmad Hassanzadeh (Mes Kerman), Yaghoub Karimi (Naft Tehran)

Iran’s football continued its setback during the AFC Awards ceremonies held in Kuala Lumpur to honor top footballers , teams and officials of Asian football. Ali Karimi was short-listed for the coveted AFC PLAYER OF THE YEAR , while Iran’s futsal was represented by the Captain of Team Melli futsal, Mohammad Keshavarz in AFC FUTSAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

 Iran had two more nominations as AFC MEMBER ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR and Alireza Fagahni in AFC REFEREE OF THE YEAR , while Iran’s Futsal Team Melli was nominated in the AFC FUTSAL TEAM OF THE YEAR categories .

At the end of the ceremony , Iran’s football was awarded one of the 6 nominations with the IRIFF selection as AFC MEMBER ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR.

Iran had no nomination in the Women section while it was absent ion the other coveted sections of Young player and the best clubs.

As the year is coming to close, this ceremony award had typified the pitiful status of football in Iran in 2012. Bitter loses at all levels have highlighted the football federations failure to deliver the success that has been far too long coming. The losses have dented the confidence and the trust of the football supporters in Iran which is one of the largest fan base in Asia. For a nation that has an eternal passion for football, Iran’s trophy cabinet has a dearth of silverware, and has failed to win the Asian Cup since 1976, while also failing to qualify for the Olympics or winning the Asian Youth title (U19) cup since the revolution in 1979.

 The full list of winners can be found at the Asian Football Confederation site.

The Former head coach of Team Melli , has rejected any ideas of him coaching the national team and said that “ I have already been there twice and I’m not hungry for a third term”. Mohammad Mayeli-Kohan was responding to questions ahead of his club Gahar Doroud league match. Mayeli-Kohan who was the coach of Team Melli in Asian Cup 1996, criticized the federation and said that instead of these gentlemen doing their proper due diligence specially when it came to the contract , they we far too excited  with Queiroz and instead , they all lined up to take  pictures with him.

“I have said repeatedly that the team does not play well, no progress, no results and this is one of the main problems in our nation’s football.”  “However, qualification to the World Cup is quite difficult now and lots depend on others results in the group. Making it to the Finals would not be considered the greatest achievement, while failing to qualify is not a disaster, either. Not everything depends on our qualification to the World Cup. We’re looking forward to see our team play a nice game to start with.” Added Mayeli-Kohan

Gahar Doroud football coach continued his comments on the status of Team Melli and said that “We should have studied the clauses of contract before agreeing  terms with Carlos Queiroz , instead the gentlemen were far excited and lined up in turn to take picture with their prize catch rather than doing their due diligence.”
“So , we ended up paying  lots of money, we have lost our pride and dignity and lost our reputation at  international level.  Can anyone tell me of one proper instance that the recruitment of a highly paid foreign coach assisted in developing of our team or gaining a much needed result? Also, anyone can tell me the value of bringing foreign-based players? We should have been much smarter in signing the contract, unfortunately we fell far short.

Mayeli-Kohan did not specifically point to any clause in the contract between IFF and Carlos Queiroz that seems to be a matter of concern to him or the public.

Gohar coach noted that the Team Melli has no manager for administration, has no Public Relation and media manager, no one to liaise with , officials , TV and the Press. The result of such poor management an absence of a man with such responsibility backfired immediately,  that happened in the home game against Uzbekistan. Did you not see how Team Melli started the second half with one man short ? Because there was no one competent to prepare the players’ substitution form ! That was comical and if it was an Iranian coach in charge with such mistake happening, you reporters would have buried him with barrages of criticism, showed the clip over and over again in that famous TV program ,  but with Queiroz , no one dared to question him , not even that TV program!” Mayeli-Kohan added.

“ I have a question for you. Our national team defender Hadi Aghili was one of the best defenders in the country and the highest defender goal scorer in the history of our football team, where is he? Why was he not invited to the national team? I think the neighbor’s chicken is a goose. Your media people have an obsession with foreign coaches. You think they are geese and for me, the foreign reporter is!” Concluded the outspoken and frequently trouble seeking coach.

Futsal Team Melli Captain , Mohammad Keshavarz has been nominated once again for the AFC Futsal Player of the Year award 2012. Keshavarz joins Ali Karimi who is nominated in the best football player award. Karimi has won the award in 2004.

It will be a historical first for both the players , as no Iranian player has managed to grab the award on two different occasions.

Ali Karimi , has played for Bayten Munic and Schalke 04 after his succes in the Asain Cup 2004 where he was sel cted as the tournament best player and also the top scorer.  Karimi also played for Qatar FC , Steel Azin before setteling in Perspolis.

Mohammad Keshavarz has played for several clubs in the last 10 years. The 30 years old Captain of Iran’s Futsal team has played for Kowser,Shensa Saveh, Shahid Mansouri, Foolad Mahan, Shahid Mansouri before moving in 2011 to Giti Pasand, where his is currently the captain.