Category: Futsal

Miguel Rodrigo turns down Futsal Team Melli assistant coach post.

Vahid Shamsaii after being appointed as the head coach of the Iranian national futsal team said they will have a Spanish coach on the technical staff cadre. In this regard, negotiations were held with several Spanish coaches, but some of them refused the offer to join the technical staff of the Iranian national futsal team. One of them is Miguel Rodrigo, a 51-year-old experienced Spanish coach. Miguel, who has worked for the national futsal teams of Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam and has comprehensive knowledge of Asian futsal, refused to work as an assistant in the technical staff of the Iranian national futsal team. In a conversation with Mehr reporter, while confirming the negotiations has been held between him and the FFIRI, this coach explained the reason for rejecting Vahid Shamsai’s offer by saying  ” I am a head coach and not an assistant. I thanked him for this offer, but I am not interested in being Shamsaii’s assistant.”

The news increases the pressure on the futsal team as many critics have questioned Shamsaei’s appointment. While none deny his legendary status as a player with world-class quality, very few believe he is ready to coach Iran’s futsal team into continental and world competitions. The appointment of a quality coach to cover his coaching skills and lack of experience seemed to be the proposed solution.

Vahid Shamsaei appointed as head coach of Iran’s Futsal team.

The former captain of the national futsal team Vahid Shamsaei has been appointed as the head coach of the National Team and a successor of Nazima al-Sharia.

The football Federation FFIRI after the meeting of the Board of Directors this morning (December 12) at the National Football Center, reached this decision and was subsequently announced to the public. Meanwhile, Ali Sanei was also appointed as the head coach of Iran’s national under-19 futsal team.

Iran’s last participation in the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2021 was deemed as a disappointment after losing to Kazakhistan in the quarter-finals. Nazima al-Sharia came under heavy criticism after the elimination of Iran and failure to repeat the achievement of the last World Cup.

 Shamsaei, a legend in his own right, began his coaching career with Tasisat Daryaei in 2014 in a Player/coach capacity. In 2020–2021 season he moved on to Giti Pasand also as Player-coach. Shamsaei is the world’s top futsal scorer, with 392 in 189 appearances for Futsal Team Melli. He is officially the world’s Top Futsal Goalscorer with 82 goals ahead of Manoel Tobias of Brazil national futsal team, the previous holder of the title with 302 goals.

Shamsaei has won two titles with Tasisat Daryaei.

Iran futsal players candidates of the best in the world.

Iran’s Futsal is enjoying a successful period and is considered one of the top teams in the world. It is now ranked 6th and many players have enjoyed success as legionnaires too, Futsal Planet website which sponsors the annual best-of Futsal players has nominated Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh as the candidate for the best player of the year while his compatriot and national teammate Salar Aghapour as the candidates for the best young player of the year. Soheila Molmouli is also on the list of the best women futsal players.

The prestigious site of Futsal Planet is the global reference for futsal and the list of this year’s candidates includes the top layers in the world of futsal.

Additionally, Mes Sangoon is nominated as one of the best clubs in the world.

Italy beats Iran futsal in the second match.

After the defeat in the first of the two friendlies matches in  Salsomaggiore Terme, the Italian national futsal team redeems itself in a big way by surviving a late challenge, in the match against the powerful Iran team, ranked seventh in the world.

Italy’s approach to the game was promising, so much so that in the middle of the first half  Gui, perfectly assisted by the usual Merlim unlocks the challenge with a flying torpedo. The second goal comes at a tight turning point, with the same Gui serving Caponigro who, as soon as he enters, invents a brilliant backheel shot that is worth doubling. 2-0 for Italy.  For the Feldi Eboli player, it is the first goal with the Italian national team shirt. The first half of the Bellarte team was at the limits of perfection, but Iran is a great team and in the final minutes manages to equalize the match from the double of the regular scorer Abbasi.

In the second half, however, it is still a great Italfutsal, with Bellarte playing the wild card Berthod: the Goalkeeper of the Under 19 plays with a great personality in the second half. In the fifth minute, Nicolodi finishes a super action of Musumeci to put Italy ahead 3-2, then right from the feet of Berthod the maneuver of the new double advantage is born. The Aosta goalkeeper throws with a perfect assist, for De Oliveira who pushes the ball into the net. The score is now 4-2 for Italy which tries to control the pace of the game, but Iran activates the powerplay movement, always managing with Abbasi to bring the score back to 4-3. That was a warning that Iran was on the brink of a comeback. Merlim and his teammates defended with the grit of their teeth until the final whistle, taking home a sweet-tasting victory in the last outing before focusing on Euro 2022.

ITALY-IRAN 4-3 (2-2 p.t.)
ITALY : Pietrangelo, Murilo, Fortini, Merlim, De Oliveira, Nicolodi, Caponigro, Musumeci, De Matos, Gui, Arillo, Stringari, Podda, Berthod, Molitierno.

Coach: Massimiliano Bellarte

IRAN: Sepehr Mohammadi, AliAsghar Hassanzadeh, Hossein Tayyebi, Mehdi Karimi, Alireza Rafeipour, Hossein Derakhshani, Jamedi, Moslem Oladghobad, Ahmad Abbasi, Mohammad Shajari, Shavardazi, Salar Aghapour, Bagher Mohammadi.

Coach: Nazem Al-Sharia

GOALS: 9’06” p.t. Gui (IT), 11’02” Caponigro (IT), 19’00” and 19’49” Abbasi (IR), 5’06” s.t. Nicolodi (IT), 8’14” De Oliveira (IT), 16’12”

Abbasi (IR)

Yellow cards: Murilo (IT), Arillo (IT)

NOTES: al 12’03” s.t. Merlim (IT) fails a free throw

REFEREES: Dario Pezzuto (ITA), Giulia Colombin (ITA), Simone Zanfino (ITA) CRONO: Giovanni Zannola (ITA)

Iran defeats Italy 6-4 in a friendly futsal international.

the Iranian national futsal team defeated Italy 6-4 today Monday in the first international friendly training match. In this game, which was held at 20:45 (Tehran time) in Salsomajore, Mehdi Karimi (three times), Mohammad Shajari, Hossein Tayyebi, and Saeed Ahmad Abbasi scored for Iran. The goals of the host team were also scored by Alex Merlim, Gabriel Motta, De Matheos, Morillo.

In the first of the two friendlies with Italy, missing Mammarella due to injury and on the day of the 100th appearances of Alex Merlim’s the host Italy, lost 4-6 at the end of a challenge of rare intensity against the seventh-ranked team in the Wolrd, Iran. Spectacular and fun game, with many reversals of results. First half – Iran, looking ready and strong immediately put the Azzurri under pressure; after just one minute and forty seconds, Karimi unlocked the Italian goal by overcoming Molitierno for 1-0.

Mehdi Karimi

– MEHDI KARIMI –

Molitierno had to drop the shutter on a couple of other occasions, and Iran found the way to double the score, bagging again with Karimi the net of 2-0 at the thirteenth. In the most difficult moment of the first half, Murilo gets a penalty kick that Merlim converts the Penalty kick for 1-2 which puts Italy back in the game. Iran puts fierce pressure on the possession of Merlim and his comrades, but it has the only demerit of charging itself with fouls. Two minutes before half-time, with Nazem Al-Sharia’s team in bonus, Motta took advantage of the free throw and scored the equalizer. Thirty seconds later, Musumeci provoked the direct red of the Iran keeper Bagher Mohammadi, but Merlim did not take advantage of the following free. Like the extra man, however, Merlim redeems himself by creating the assist for Cainan: the goal of the Azzurri put them 3-2 with half a minute from the end of the first half.

Second half – The start of Iran’s recovery is sumptuous. Still, Karimi, with the personal hat-trick, puts the match back in parity after just seventy seconds and in the sixth, it is Shajari who creates the counter and scores.  with a goal behind (3-4) Italy suffers in the dribbling phase, with the Iranians continuing to put a suffocating defensive pressure. Bellarte’s team, however, has the strength to rebalance the challenge with Murilo’s touch under goal for 4-4 in the ninth minute. However, it is still Iran that scores by putting its head forward with Benfica star Hossein Tayyebi. Bellarte responded by immediately putting the goalkeeper in action for power play, but the hopes of a draw were shattered on the saves of the substitute Sepher Mohammadi and on the post hit by Motta 50 “from the end. Just on the counter Abbasi, taking advantage of the 5 vs 4, scores the definitive sixth for guests Iran (4-6) with an empty goal. For the Azzurri, however, a test of character against one of the strongest teams in the world.

Tomorrow the match between the two teams at 5 pm will be repeated in the same venue at the Palasport of Salsomaggiore Terme.

Italy is preparing for the Euro 2022 championship and the match against Iran will be the team’s last preparation game.

Tayyebi’s super goal for Benfica.

Futsal Team Melli player, Hossein Tayyebi scored a goal a stir in the sport’s media this week.

Benfica’s Futsal team defeated Hungarian side Haladás 8-3 in the Futsal Champions League on Wednesday. The real talk of the town is the incredible goal scored by Benfica’s Hossein Tayyebi. The Iranian pulled out some exquisite trickery to score Benfica’s third goal. Check out this Tayyebi goal.

Read some of the reactions to Tayyebi’s magic goal.

“I don’t know if this trick has been done in the history of the sport. From this moment forward I will call it the Iranian Top-Tier Cranium. Tayyebi can change the name if he so chooses.”

“The 33-year-old has a litany of futsal awards in his career, including a third-place finish with Iran at the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup. This fancy trick of his with Benfica might just be his finest.”

“If there’s a cheesy “Tricks and Skills” video of a player with some awful non-copyright music playing in the background, then that player has made it. The good news for Tayyebi is that he qualifies for this”

An incredible definition was scored by Benfica in the futsal Champions League.

One of the most spectacular goals could be seen in the futsal Champions League and it was courtesy of Benfica’s player, Hossein Tayebi, who got a point thanks to a display of incredible skill in a definition that was difficult to see again and added to the little angle he had.

The Iranian received the ball close to the baseline and had his back to the goal, so he decided to solve in a spectacular way by turning around controlling his right leg and having a small space, he fired with his left to send it to the back of the net.

On the court, everyone was amazed at the incredible resource that the Asian brought up with his resolution. The rivals were obviously impressed and incredulous as his teammates ran to congratulate him on the impressive technical gesture that served to mark the temporary 3-1.

Tough test for Futsal Team Melli against Kazakhstan

Iran will face their toughest test yet when they play Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021 at the Kaunas Arena on Monday.

In what promises to be a thrilling encounter, Kazakh fans will be hoping that the quarter-final is decided in normal time, as Team Melli won two penalty shootouts and another match after extra-time at the last Futsal World Cup.

On the other hand, Iran might want to avoid another open encounter like their Round of 16 epic against Uzbekistan, as scoring against Kazakhstan and their formidable goalkeeper Higuita, aided by defensive stalwart Douglas, has proven extremely difficult in Lithuania 2021.

 

  • Uzbekistan v IR Iran - FIFA FWC2021 (1)
    FIFA Futsal World Cup

 

Team Melli opened their campaign with a narrow 3-2 victory over Serbia before seeing off the United States 4-2, with a 2-1 defeat against Argentina being their only blemish as they finished second in Group F behind the South Americans.

In the Round of 16, Uzbekistan found a chink in Iran’s armor going toe to toe with the 12-time Asian Champions in a nail-bitting 9-8 scoreline in the Iranians favor.

Missing from the Iran line-up is Hossein Tayyebi, who featured in the two previous editions but captain Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh has still not lost his deft touch – evident in his cheeky lob over Argentina goalkeeper Lucas Farach.

Kazakhstan

The Falcons boast the best defensive record of the tournament, having conceded just two goals in four matches.

In Group A, Kazakhstan flexed their muscles in their opener against Costa Rica winning 6-1, and a 3-0 victory against hosts Lithuania followed before being held to 1-1 draw by Venezuela to top their group.

Kazakhstan advanced to the last eight stage in style with a 7-0 win over ASEAN heavyweights Thailand in the Round of 16.

They have the best defensive record among the quarter-finalists and Iran, who have been in fine form up front, will have to be at their sharpest if they are to make the semi-finals for the second successive FIFA Futsal World Cup.

 

Head to head.

Iran never lost to the Kazakh before. Their first meeting was in the final of the AFC AFutsal Championship 2000 on 12th May. Kazakhstan was a member of AFC then before switching to UEFA.  Team Melli won 4-1 to lift yet another title. From then on, the two teams met 4 times with Iran winning 3 and drawing one. All the wins were with a margin of one goal.

 

Iran’s concern.

 

Despite winning a thrilling match against Uzbekistan and scoring 9 goals at this stage of the Futsal World Cup, all was not well with the team.

By now the whole world knows how Iran is vulnerable in defense during the power play as every time Uzbekistan deployed that plan, they scored at will! The reason for such failure is tactical and psychological.

In football and futsal for that matter, it is common knowledge that a team is most vulnerable to be scored against right after they score a goal. Elation and celebrations of the players put them at risk of forgetting their tasks. This happened repeatedly against the Uzbek team who cleverly took advantage.

The more serious of the issues, however, is the tactical shortfalls. It seems that the coaching staff was caught off guard and did not prepare the team well to counteract the power play of the opposition. Clearly, the marking was poor with goals being easily scored due to the abysmal marking.

If Nazim Al-Sharia wants to enhance the chances of Iran qualifying for the last four, he and his coaching staff must organize the defenses much better, especially during the power play. In fact, Iran’s defense was suspect through the whole tournament with the goalkeeper being the culprit in a few goals. The only decent defensive performance was against Argentina which Iran narrowly lost 2-1 to the defending champion.

There will be a lot of pressure tomorrow Mental strength and discipline have to be priorities else no tactical masterplan can help against the best defensive team of the tournament.

Injury List

Farhad Fakhim ( injured for the rest of the championship)

Hossein Tayebi (On the recovery, possible brief playing time)

 

Iran v Kazakhstan
Venue: Kaunas Arena
Kickoff: Monday, 20:00 (UTC+3)

 

Gelareh Nazemi The Iranian female futsal referee.

In the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2021, Iran is not only being talked about in terms of wonderful goals, being the only Asian team amongst the best 8 in the world, wonder goals by Asghar Hassanzadeh and Mahdi Javid, there is also a lady presence that has enhanced the name of Iran amongst the global audience.

Gelareh Nazemi, the Iranian FIFA futsal referee has been short-listed for the ne3xt round of the competition until the final match. 15 referees are in the list while the rest have to say farewell to Lithuania and depart to their homeland.

In an exclusive interview with Tehran Times, the Iranian official talked about the experience of officiating in the men’s competitions:

“It’s a great feeling to be the representative of Iranian futsal – and football– in the World Cup. It was the target that I set for myself after whistling the final match of the 2018 Youth Olympics Women’s Futsal Tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Now I am grateful that I’ve been able to make my dreams come true.

“I have officiated in the men’s futsal competitions in the past. It is more difficult than whistling in women’s matches. In terms of physical contact and the game’s speed, you will face more challenges in male competitions.

“Also, as a referee who has worked both in football and futsal, I can say that refereeing in futsal is much more difficult than in football because it’s full of clashes and you have to decide in a fraction of a second!” she said.

Nazemi has also officiated in the AFC Women’s Futsal Championship and the UEFA Women’s Futsal Euro 2019 semi-final contest between Spain and Russia in Portugal.

She explained the difficulty that she has faced on the way to glory: “It is a path that I started 20 years ago. During all these years, I tried with perseverance and motivation to fight all the problems in my path because I believed in my goal. People have often said that women aren’t good referees. I used it as a motivating tool. I’m sure that it will not take 20 years for those who have followed this path after me, and they will reach their goal much sooner. It is because that some of the problems that I faced in my career have been solved over the years. However, the situation is still difficult for the Iranian female referees,” Nazemi concluded.

Practicing sport with the whole cover Islamic outfit is not to the taste of everyone in Iran. In some sports, they really look quite ridiculous and handicapped thus depriving them of their true potentials. Despite the claims of the regime’s propaganda that Islamic outfit is no hindrance to practicing sports, the reality and physics say otherwise . Gelareh Nazemi, however, is the odd one out. In spite of her Hijab and refusing to shake hands with men, a tradition in a sport that has been practiced for centuries, she does look the role and hardly out of place with her uniform

Nazemi is a confident referee who was not intimidated by the occasion and the atmosphere around her In the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2021. Selection for the final rounds of the tournament is a sign of approval by world Futsal Governing body FIFA for the quality of her work. Nazemi has done her country proud.

A thrilling victory for Iran’s futsal.

Futsal Team Melli defeated its regional rival Uzbekistan 9-8 in one of the most exciting and thrilling of World Cup matches to qualify for the Quarter Finals of the competition of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021

In a spectacular encounter between two of Asia’s biggest teams, 12-time Asian champions Iran walked away winners to set up a quarter-final tie against Kazakhstan.

The all-Asian affair got off to an exciting start right from the get-go with both sides battling for possession with Iran opening the scoring in the first minute through captain Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh, before Mahdi Javid doubled their lead in the fifth minute, courtesy of Farhad Fakhim’s assist.

The two teams last met in the 2018 AFC Futsal Championship with Iran emerging 7-1 winners but Uzbekistan – bolstered by reaching the Round of 16 for the first time – refused to be overawed and pulled one back in the ninth minute through Khusniddin Nishonov.

Uzbekistan v IR Iran - FIFA FWC2021 (5)

Iran restored their two-goal lead when Hassanzadeh turned provider for Saeid Ahmad Abbasi to find the back of the net in the 16th minute, but Uzbekistan’s persistence saw them score quick goals through Dilshod Rakhmatov and Ikhtiyor Ropiev in the 17th and 18th minutes respectively to level the tie.

Iran called their first time-out to take the edge out of Uzbekistan, which proved to be a successful move as Farhad Tavakoli struck moments into the restart.

Uzbekistan v IR Iran - FIFA FWC2021 (3)

Team Melli maintained their high tempo in the second half with Abbasi and Javid scoring their second goals of the evening in the 22nd and 25th minutes respectively.

The scintillating match continued with its thrills as Anaskhon Rakhmatov reduced Uzbekistan’s deficit in the 28th minute, but Iran’s reply was immediate through Hassanzadeh, before Moslem Oladghobad scored two minutes later to make it 8-4.

Uzbekistan v IR Iran - FIFA FWC2021 (6)

Uzbekistan, however, refused to back down and closed the gap with Ilhomjon Hamroev and Nishonov beating Iran goalkeeper Alireza Samimi in the 31st and 33rd minutes.

The goals galore, however, were not yet over as Abbasi completed his hat-trick in the 37th minute but Uzbekistan fought back with Anaskhon and Hamroev giving their side hope only for the clock to run out on them.

 

Iran Scorers

First Half

Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh (1′), Mehdi Javid (5′), Saeed Ahmad Abbasi (16′) and Farhad Tavakoli (18′)

Second Half

Saeed Ahmad Abbasi (22′), Mehdi Javid (25′), Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh (29′), Moslem Oladghobad, Saeed Ahmad Abbasi (39′)

 

 

 

 

Iran Futsal path ahead.

Futsal Team Melli successfully navigated the group stages of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021 with two wins and a loss. By virtue of becoming second behind Argentina, the path to the semi-finals and a repeat performance of the last FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 can be achieved again.

Uzbekistan, a well-known team for Futsal Team Melli will be the opponent in the Round of 16 of the Championship. The Asian rivals will play in Vilnius on 24th September. Assuming Iran defeats Uzbekistan, they will meet the winners of Kazakhstan and Thailand in the quarter-finals.

Although they are no easy matches at the World Cup, it looks like a pretty attainable road to the semi-finals when they really will meet teams above them in the World Ranking, i.e. Spain, assuming no surprises there and the European powerhouse can defeat the opponents in the two rounds before the Semi.

 

 

Bracket

 Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
22 September – Kaunas
 Venezuela
26 September – Vilnius
 Morocco
Winner Match 38
23 September – Kaunas
Winner Match 39
 Brazil
29 September – Kaunas
 Japan
Winner Match 45
22 September – Vilnius
Winner Match 46
 RFU
26 September – Kaunas
 Vietnam
Winner Match 37
23 September – Vilnius
Winner Match 40
 Argentina
3 October – Kaunas
 Paraguay
Winner Match 49
24 September – Vilnius
Winner Match 50
 Spain
27 September – Vilnius
 Czech Republic
Winner Match 43
24 September – Kaunas
Winner Match 42
 Portugal
30 September – Kaunas
 Serbia
Winner Match 47
24 September – Vilnius
Winner Match 48 Third place match
 Uzbekistan
27 September – Kaunas 3 October – Kaunas
 Iran
Winner Match 44 Loser Match 49
23 September – Kaunas
Winner Match 41 Loser Match 50
 Kazakhstan
 Thailand

 

FIFA Futsal World Ranking

Ranking

Team

Points
1  Spain 1820
2  Brazil 1804
3  Argentina 1719
4  Russia 1668
5  Iran 1629
6  Portugal 1599
7  Kazakhstan 1569
8  Italy 1510
9  Croatia 1500
10  Paraguay 1472

 

Iran Scorers:

2 Goals

 

1 goal