Category: AFC Asian Cup 2015

Iran finish on top against Iraq.

IRAN finished their Asian Cup preparations on a high note with a gritty 1-0 win over Middle Eastern rivals Iraq at WIN Stadium on Sunday.

Battling wet and windy conditions, the Group C powerhouse used a second half strike from Sardar Azmoun to tentatively confirm their status as a contender for the tournament.

Sardar pounched first on a loose ball near the centre circle ten minutes after the break to race away and poke home the winner.

It was a cruel blow for Iraq, who put in a spirited display and could have got more from the game.

Their skipper Younus Mahmood had a chance to level the scores from the penalty spot just minutes after the goal but tried to be too cute from 12-yards and chipped his attempt over the top.

He almost made amends shortly after but fired his effort into the post.

It punctuated a frenetic second half for both sides, who could have very well delighted the 5,745 people in attendance with another goal.

It wasn’t the case for much of the opening half, which looked to be plotting a similar course to the 0-0 between the Newcastle Jets and Sydney FC 24-hours earlier at the same venue.

Iraq had most of the ball throughout the opening quarter of an hour but rarely crafted any major opportunites. Striker Alaa Abdulzehra was the only player who really tested Iranian keeper Ali Reza Beiranvand but his tame header was easily dealt with between the sticks.

Their early dominance quickly faded as the higher FIFA-ranked outfit began to impose themselves of the match.

Vahid Amiri should have opened the scoring for Iran following a swift counter attack on 20-minutes. When the ball broke on halfway, Sardar latched onto the counter on the right and found Amiri, who somehow managed to fire over from close range.

He looked to make up for the miss before the half when he was allowed to cruise towards goal by some standoffish Iraqi defence. His long range attempt was eventually parried away into the path of Vorya Ghafouri, but again the chance was put over the top.

Amiri’s night was summed up in the final seconds of the match when he again put his attempt over the top when it seemed easier to score

five star players and five must-see games

Sebastian Hassett

 , The Sydney Morning Herald , Football reporter

 

Quick on the ball: Attacking midfielder Ashkan Dejagah will be a threat in Group C for Iran.Quick on the ball: Attacking midfielder Ashkan Dejagah will be a threat in Group C for Iran.

 

FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Ashkan Dejagah (Iran) 

Iran v Nigeria: Group F - 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil
One to watch: South Korean superstar Son Heung-Min dazzles against Paraguay. Photo: Getty Images

You might have seen Dejagah before, for his two years with Fulham in the English Premier League will have many fans well-aware of his dazzling talents. Granted, they weren’t enough to keep the Cottagers in the top flight, and Dejagah duly swapped the rigours of the Championship for the riches of Al-Arabi. The Qatari club didn’t mind shelling out to get him, either – they had to pay up to $12 million to bring him across. He’s worth every cent. Probably the quickest player on the ball in the entire continent, with his blistering pace on the ball arguably the biggest weapon Iran has at their disposal. Dejagah is at his best when he’s given room to move out wide and he’ll give great service to Iran’s front line, led capably by Reza Ghoochannejhad and Karim Ansarifard. He hasn’t always produced his best form for Team Melli but they certainly need him to this January.

Khalfan Ibrahim (Qatar) 

Flashback to 2006 and the Asian football world was more than a little shocked at the AFC awards night when the name Khalfan Ibrahim was named as Asian player of the year. He’d only made his international debut that same year, aged 18, although it was the year Qatar won football gold at the Asian Games and Ibrahim was the key player. He would throw in the occasional starring role thereafter but apart from a blinding 2008-09 season with Al Sadd (scoring 15 goals in 21 games), his potential probably wasn’t being realised. But after rediscovering his scoring boots in 2011, he hasn’t looked back, landing some incredible goals for club and country (his one-man “Maradona” effort against Al-Rayyan is a must-see on YouTube). He’s only ever played for Al-Sadd (his father’s club) but would cut it any league in the world. Expect to find him on the left-side of the attacking front three – and expect to see him dazzling the crowds with his dribbling and finishing.

Son Heung-min (South Korea) 

There’s a fine tradition developing of young Korean and Japanese footballers plying their trade in Germany and Son may very well be the best of them. Since swapping Hamburg for the mighty Bayer Leverkusen in 2013, his career has gone from strength to strength. Still only 22, who knows how good he’ll become in the coming years. He’s been linked in the past few weeks with a $38 million switch to the premiership – where Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham are said to be potential suitors. Not a bad list of admirers, although Bayern Munich would surely fancy him as potential replacement for their ageing wingers. This is the youngest South Korean team seen for some time and it looms as the most exciting generation since the 2002 side that went all the way to the semi-finals of the World Cup on home soil. Without question, Son will be their creative inspiration for years to come.

Keisuke Honda (Japan) 

Has probably wrestled back the “best player in Asia” tag after Shinji Kagawa’s recent troubles at club level. After struggling at first in Italy, he’s now adjusted and is arguably the best player at AC Milan and one of the best in Serie A. What makes Honda so good is simple: his razor-sharp technique is up there with the very best in the world. That amazing first touch and control means he is rarely thrown off, even by very physical players. He’s adept as a big-game player and loves the grand stage, as evidenced in winning the Asian Cup golden ball four years ago. He’s now 28 and has only improved as a player since, maturing into a world-class playmaker. Deadly from set-pieces, he’s also a huge goal-scoring threat, and is just as capable splitting open a defence with the deftest of passes. He’s got a certain swagger – confidence or arrogance, depending on your view – that some find off-putting but when you’re this good, why not?

Omar Abdulrahman (United Arab Emirates)

Big hair, bigger talent. Is coming into this tournament under an injury cloud but if he’s anywhere near full-fitness, watch out world. This is the guy who might just change how you think about Middle-Eastern footballers. There are probably only a few clubs in the world who could fork out the transfer fee his club, Al-Ain, will seek. Not that the club’s owner, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, needs to sell a player of his huge talent – although Manchester City (also owned by Abu Dhabi royal family) are tracking him and may be an obvious fit. The worry is that he hasn’t played since picking up an ankle injury in the Gulf Cup semi-final against Saudi Arabia in November and has scarcely trained since. Be hopeful he’s feeling on his game: his ability to control a match makes him a contender to knock off Honda and co as the best player in Asia. In this Asian Cup, the Emirates’ destiny lands on his shoulders.

Iran has footballing spirit money can’t buy.

THE AUSTRALIAN

JANUARY 03, 2015 12:00AM

Sports Reporter
Sydney

“IF you go to Iran, you will see football in the DNA of the people,” Iran’s coach Carlos Queiroz tells The Weekend Australian.

“They have football in the blood. The passion in the people is real. This is our strength. My players have the passion and the spirit to play the game. With the right support like the other nations have, which we do not have, we could reach fantastic levels in football. But without support, ­because of the financial problems Iran is facing with economic sanctions, it is not possible for us.”

Iran’s Asian Cup campaign starts tomorrow with a practice match at Wollongong, south of Sydney, against Iraq. Iran versus Iraq. Is this a friendly?

The far-reaching impact of UN Security Council’s sanctions against Iran for nuclear activities has triggered the slashing of funding and resources for Queiroz’s Team Melli.

“The international sanctions are a factor in sport,” he said. “They’re a factor in the football federation. If you want to play a friendly game, you don’t have money to travel, you don’t have money to buy the tickets, you don’t have money to pay the team. We come to this tournament after one game against (South) Korea   in November.

“They offered to play us for free, so we took the opportunity. But in our pool in this tournament, we are competing against Bahrain, who have 12 games in the legs. We are playing Qatar, who have 15 games in the legs. UAE have 14 games in the legs from June until now. We can’t do that because we don’t have the resources and we don’t have the support. We have one game in the legs.”

Thirteen of Queiroz’s 23-man squad are from the Tehran-based Persian Gulf Pro League. It ain’t overly pro.

Iranian players celebrate beating the Socceroos in 1997.

 

“Most of our players are professionals in the sense that they do receive salaries to play football,” he said.

“But you can’t compare the professionalism in Iran to the professionalism of players competing in England, Germany and Spain. It’s like day and night.

“So when you face a team with eight or nine starting players from Bundesliga, with the demands on those players for preparation and intensity and training, you cannot compare them to us.

“It’s like sometimes you can have two cars that look the same, but the power of the ­engines is completely different. Players who are used to European football are ready to play 90 minutes at one level, but other players cannot do that.”

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz takes a break from training for the Asian Cup at Narrabeen in Sydney’s north.

Sport is forged on manufactured rivalries. England and New Zealand as real-life foes? Hardly. Australia and Iran after the Socceroos lost a place in the 1998 World Cup when the visitors from Tehran scored two late goals? Not exactly. Ill-feeling and bruising from cricket’s Bodyline series in the 1930s hardly compares to a million casualties during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s.

The fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003 began a normal­isation of relations, but Queiroz conceded a deeper layer of intensity was inevitable between the Persian neighbours.

“Of course, there is still a lot of pain,” Queiroz said.

“I can still see and feel that there is a lot of pain, for sure, on both sides. When we play football, those things in the past don’t interfere in the spirit of the game. You can only try to understand that it is the past.”

AFC Asian Cup Group ‘C’ review

Source: http://www.soccernews.com/

World Cup participants Iran are the drawcard of what is set to be an evenly contested group at the 16th Asian Cup in Australia.

Iran – Australia’s arch-nemesis after cruelly preventing the Aussies from qualifying for the 1998 World Cup on away goals in Melbourne – will be led by Portuguese boss Carlos Queiroz once again as Team Melli continue in their efforts to reclaim the mantel as Asian’s leading football nation.

The three-time Asian Cup champions must first get past Gulf Cup winners Qatar, emerging nation United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The favourites – Iran, Qatar

Though Iran did not make it out of their group at the World Cup in Brazil, Quieroz’s men were more than a match for their opponents on the South American continent.

After playing out a goalless draw with Nigeria in their group opener, Argentina captain Lionel Messi struck a 91st-minute injury-time winner to break the hearts of Iran, who went on to lose 3-1 to Bosnia-Herzegovina in the final match.

Iran – ranked 51st in the FIFA rankings – have only managed to play one game since the World Cup, defeating South Korea 1-0 in an international friendly in November. A friendly scheduled for December 28 against Palestine was cancelled due to “technical” problems.

Despite the lack of preparation and the sudden departure of assistant coach Ali Karimi, Iran are determined to relive the glory days of the 60s and 70s, which saw them win three consecutive Asian Cup titles between 1968-1976.

Qatar arrive Down Under in red-hot form after overcoming Saudi Arabia 2-1 to clinch the Gulf Cup title in November.

Goals from Al Mahdi Ali and Khoukhi Boualem at King Fahd Stadium saw Qatar win the tournament for the third time, providing the perfect springboard for a serious assault at the Asian Cup.

Prior to that run in the Gulf Cup, Djamel Belmadi’s Qatar – ranked 95th – had won four successive games, including a shock 1-0 victory over Asian Cup hosts Australia in October.

The outsiders – United Arab Emirates, Bahrain

Once the whipping boys of Asian football, United Arab Emirates – led by Mahdi Ali – are slowly emerging as a threat to many teams.

A goalless draw at home to Australia in October inspired a spirited run at the Gulf Cup, where they made it to the semi-finals, eliminated by Saudi Arabia.

Their improvement on the pitch is reflected in the FIFA rankings, with the UAE 85th in the world.

Bahrain have barely made an impact at the Asian Cup, having only made it past the group stage in 2004, when they finished fourth.

They were, however, a tricky opponent throughout World Cup qualifying as they fell a mere point shy of the fourth round.

Omer Abdulrahman

Star Player – Omar Abdulrahman

He may not be playing for Iran or Qatar, but UAE midfielder Omar Abdulrahman is expected to set the Asian Cup alight in 2015. At 23 years of age and 26 internationals caps to his name, Abdulrahman has already trialled at Premier League giants Manchester City and resisted the glitz and glamour of Europe to remain with Al Ain in his homeland. Some of Europe’s elite continue to monitor the little afro-wielding magician, and a stellar showing at the Asian Cup could finally see him make the leap.

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Crunch match – Qatar v Iran

The clash between Qatar and Iran in Sydney on January 15 could well decide top spot in Group C.  Winning the group could well prove pivotal to the pair’s cup hopes, with defending champions Japan expected to dominate in Group D ahead of Jordan, Iraq and Palestine.

Matches

11 January 2015 – United Arab Emirates v Qatar (Match 6), Canberra
Iran v Bahrain (Match 5), Melbourne
15 January 2015 – Bahrain v United Arab Emirates (Match 13), Canberra
Qatar v Iran (Match 14), Sydney
19 January 2015 – Iran v United Arab Emirates (Match 21), Brisbane
Qatar v Bahrain (Match 22), Sydney

Iran vs Iraq friendly match details.

Team Melli will be meeting Iraq in an international friendly match in Wollongong , New South Wales on Sunday as part of both te teams preparation for the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia..

Carlos Queiroz will be using this match to play his full team for at least one half on order to check on the readiness of the first choice players against one of the better teams in Asia. Iraq , which won the AFC Asian Cup in 2011 is grouped with defending Champions Japan, Jordan and Palestine and considered as favorite to qualify from Group D along with Japan. The teams last encounter in the last edition of the Asian Cup in Doha 2011 , ended in a 2-1 victory for Team Melli with goals coming from Gholamreza Rezaei. and Iman Mobali.

Team Melli has been going through practice at a rate of two per day, morning and evening sessions in Sydney. In the last camp in South Africa, Iran failed to arrange friendly international matches against quality opponents , playing with reserve teams of the 3 different South African league teams. Both Iraq and Iran teams have set camps early in Australia as an acclimatization program. Iraq is coached by Radhi Shenaishel after the Iraqi FA replaced Hakeem Shaker as head coach of Iraq. One of the best Iraqi players in the last few years , Karrar Jassim , to happens to be playing with Esteghlal Tehran , was not picked for the squad this time. Captain Younis Mahmood , who is not attached with any club and currently is a free agent, was picked as a last-minute choice.

 

Iraq v Iran

WIN Stadium, Wollongong, NSW

Sun 4 Jan 2015, 06:00 PM

Team Melli continued its daily practice sessions in Sydney under head coach Carlos Queiroz. Part of the training was allocated for tactical work and part on building the physical side of the team players. Iraq match is also on the horizon in 3 days’ time and a good result in that match is essential in boosting the morale of Team Melli players who have not been blessed with good news in the last few months.

Queiroz briefed the players before the start and then Javad Nekounam had a few words to say beginning with relaying the good wishes of all players to the Christian members of the squad , Queiroz, Oceano , Dan Gasper . Mico , Diego and the two Iranians Andranik Teymoirian & Markar Aghajanian  on the occasions of the new year.

The squad then congratulated Sardar Azmoun on his 20th birthday.

Sydney weather on the day of the practice was rather warmer than usual which suited Queiroz.

Meanwhile the jersey numbers for the team has been allocated.

 

# Name
1 HAGHIGHI, Alireza
2 HEYDARI, Khosrow
3 HAJSAFY, Ehsan
4 HOSSEINI, Jalal
5 SADEGHI, AmirHossein
6 NEKOUNAM, Javad
7 SHOJAEI, Masoud
8 POURALIGANJI, Morteza
9 EBRAHIMI, Omid
10 ANSARIFARD, Karim
11 GHAFOORI, Vourya
12 FOROUZAN, Mohsen
13 AMIRI, Vahid
14 TEYMOURIAN, Andranik
15 REZAEIAN, Ramin
16 GHOOCHANNEJAD, Reza
17 RAFIEI, Sourosh
18 JAHANBAKHSH, AliReza
19 BEIGZADEH, Hashim
20 AZMOUN, Sardar
21 DEJAGAH, Ashkan
22 BIRANVAND, Alireza
23 POOLADI, Mehrdad

 

 

Bahrain hammers Saudi Arabia 4-1 in a friendly

Bahrain National football team hammered its Saudi Arabian counterpart 4-1 in a friendly match played on the Australian soil.

Bahrain is in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 along with Iran , Qatar and the UAE. The result was a severe setback for the Romanian Cosmin Olăroiu who has recently stated that his team is in Australia to challenge for the title.  Saudi Arabia failed to win the Gulf Trophy at home losing the final to Qatar. Bahrain , on the other hand , suffered a heavy defeat only a month ago in the Gulf Cup against the same Saudi Team 3-0 , a result that lead to the sacking of the coach.

Meanwhile , the Saudi  striker Nassir Al Shamrani, who is the AFC Player of the Year  2014, created yet another controversy when he physically assaulted a Saudi fan before the match with Bahrain. Al Shamrani , who plays for Al Hilal club in Riyadh , was offended by the the fan carrying a rival team flag. The player did not take kindly to the fan and decided to teach him a lesson. Nassir Al Shamrani, a volatile and undisciplined player is already suspended by AFC disciplinary committee for 8 matches for attacking an Australian player in the final of this years AFC Champions League.

Kudos to AFC for ignoring sportsmanship and fair play by selecting this violent player as the best player in Asia !!

Bahrain is currently being coach by a replacement coach Marjan Eid who took over in Riyadh after the sacking of the Iraqi coach Adnan Hamad.

Bahrain plays Iran January  11th in the first appearance for both teams in the AFC Asian Cup 2015 at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

Alireza Mansourian pledges full support to Queiroz

Naft Tehran coach and a former Team Melli player, Alireza Mansourian pledged his full support to Team Melli and Coach Carlos Queiroz. Mansourian was present at the farewell ceremony of Team Melli to wish them well before departure to Australia.

In a short statement to the press at Team Melli camp site, Mansourian said “I came here to show my support to the boys, and Carlos Queiroz. It is my duty to do so and I sincerely wish Team Melli all the best in their difficult task in Australia. Yes, it is not an easy job by any means but the boys are well up to it.”

“Queiroz has been trying his best for the team, however the preparation was less than ideal and there is no denial in that. However some might justify the circumstances and whatever was said; we must admit that the preparation of Team Melli was well below Querioz’s expectations and definitely way below our competitors’.”

Mansourain , who has 3 players in the squad Biranvand, Amiri and Pouraliganji added “I believe that Queiroz and Team Melli in general were victims of the disputes between the Ministry of Sports and the football federation. That should not have happened but the reality was, a high tension between these two organizations resulted in Team Melli being hurt by it.”

Alireza Mansourian urged all the fans and the media to be behind Team Melli and support the team to the end.

Team Melli stuck in Melbourne !

Emirates Airlines flight carrying Team Melli to Sydney , Australia was stuck in Melbourne airport for as long as three hours.

The flight originating from Dubai airport departed nearly two hours behind schedule enroute to Melbourne, then Sydney. This late arrival of the aircraft meant that the next flight could not depart to its final destination due to the local noise abatement regulations. The flight had to remain in Melbourne until morning, 6 AM for it to continue to fly to Sydney which was some 3 hours later.

Many Iranian fans in Sydney (Kingsford Smith) airport waiting to receive Team Melli were disappointed and returned back home.

Team Melli is in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia along with the UAE , Qatar and Bahrain.