Category: News

Azmoun scores his first goal for Roma.

Team Melli center forward, opened his scoring account for his club AS Roma in the Italian league this evening when Roma beat Lecce 2-1 in a thrilling encounter at Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

AS Roma were trailing their guests 0-1 with a goal scored in the 72nd minute from Almqvist. However, two minutes into injury time, a cross from Roma’s Nicola Zalewski found Sardar Azmoun who headed into the net for the equalizer.

Two minutes later, Lukaku scored the winner deep into the injury time to the delight of Roma’s fans and its beleaguered coach Jose Mourinho.

Azmoun, who is been occupying the bench for most of the season, came in as a substitute in the 72nd minute. Mourinho’s first choices forward have always been the Belgian Romelo Lukaku and the Argentine Dybala. Azmoun is number three in the pecking order.

Roma had to drop Azmoun’s name from the European competition squad in order to comply with the foreign player’s quota registration by UEFA. That has taken the chance for Team Melli forward to at least play in the Europa Cup which Roma is involved in.

AS Roma is currently in 8th place in Serie A after 11 games and 11 points behind league leaders Internazionale (Inter Milan)

Ghgalenoei hits out at his critics.

“Enough is enough” bemoaned Team Melli’s head coach, following widespread criticism of Team Melli’s performance under his command.

” We played 5 games, 4 of which were away from home. We won two finals and conceded only one goal, but look how much we were battered. These attacks are reminiscent of 2006. Manchester City, which has not achieved good results in the last 2-3 weeks after winning the English and UEFA Champions League, has not been attacked as much as we have been!” Ghalenoei said of the recent criticisms of his playing tactics, player selections, poor defensive and midfield composition, and finally his high age average team., all of which he labeled as attacks!

In defense of his record, the head coach of Team Melli said ” If you look at the statistics of the games we played against Jordan, they have managed to defeat us in Tehran and we defeated them in their own country, we beat them at home with a of 2 goals difference. Are these criticisms justified? We have a problem and we accept it, no team or player in the world can play 30 games consistently at the same level, and things happen anyway. In that game, the grass was of poor quality and damaged and one or two players made individual mistakes. In the finals, we also beat Uzbekistan and Qatar, which are great teams, and you will definitely see them in the AFC Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers.”

Ghaleneoi, who has never been too comfortable with criticism and has demanded that for the sake of Team Melli the media and the fans should refrain from mentioning the negatives and instead pray and support the team, continued ” They say that Team Melli is old, but do they produce players at the senior levels? it is the duty of other youth teams to produce the players(…) “

Ghalenoei also lamented the fact that in Iran, greed and jealousy are rampant.

“since 2006, you judged me and did whatever you wanted against me. I was on constant trial. in these 80 days for the sake of the people, support the national team. The way to success is interaction. The difference between other countries and us is that they care about their country and we have love and hate relationship. The pens that were used against me in 2006 were a kind of cruelty. Now they say the same things in a different way” Ghalenoei whined in reference to similar criticism before his departure to Malaysia for the AFC Asian Cup 2007.

It is clear that Ghalenoei is back to his sulking best. He never offered a sensible reason for insisting on selecting the same squad that has failed to achieve any meaningful victory for the best part of a decade now. He had no excuse to have a player like Ansarifard, while Ghaedi, Sayyadmanesh, and many other younger and promising forwards were available. Although he mentioned Japan as an exemplary footballing nation with a long-term plan to produce an abundance of young players, he has yet to explain his clear ignoring of plenty of Omid Team players who deserve trials in Team Melli.

The fear of failure has already put Ghalenoei on the defensive. Ghalenoei like many other Iranian coaches , has yet to learn how to deal with criticism, normally attacking the critics while offering no solid defense for his actions.

Oladghobad wins AFC Futsal Player of the Year 2023

Iran’s Moslem Oladghobad was confirmed as the AFC Futsal Player of the Year after guiding his nation to the Final of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ Kuwait 2022, where he was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

The 27-year-old player is currently playing in Spain with Palma in the Primera División de Futsal. He was a member of several major teams in Iran like Giti Pasand, Mes Sungun, and Alvand Crop before moving on to Spain.

In the annual AFC award ceremony for the best of players in several categories, Salem Al Dawsari of Saudi Arabia and Australian icon Samantha Kerr have clinched the prestigious AFC Player of the Year Award in the men’s and women’s categories respectively at the AFC Annual Awards Doha 2023 on Tuesday at the Qatar National Convention Centre’s Al Mayassa Theatre.

Mehdi Taremi was a candidate but fell short of the selection in the AFC Asian International Player of the Year: award which went to Bayern Munich and Korea Republic player, Kim Min-jae.

Iran also had a candidate for the AFC Asian Youth Player of the Year, who was Amin Hezbavi but the award went to the Japanese Kuryu Matsuki .

Two young defenders are to be added to Team Melli’s squad.

After lots of criticism of Amir Ghalenoei for his aging squad, the injury to Morteza Pouralgangi, and his subsequent operation which will put him out of action for six months, forced Ghalenoei to pick a replacement for the defender. The Team Melli head coach finally remembered that the team requires f much-needed youth energy to this geriatric team.

Amin Hezbavi, the Omid and the Qatari Al Sadd defender is now included in the squad. The 20-year-old Khuzestani player (born in Ahvaz) joined Al Sadd club in 2023 and has featured in this team as a fixed player despite his young age. Hizbavi has already scored a stunning header for his club in the Qatar Star League. Hizbavi has played for the Omid team and was one of the stars.

The Other addition is Gol Gohar and Omid Team defender, Saman Fallah. Despite the failure of the team under Reza Enayati, Fallah displayed some impressive football work on the flanks as a winger. The 22-year-old player from Sari is playing his football in Peykan but it is only a matter of time before one of the three big clubs in Iran will lure him, or if he gets the proper advice and opportunity, will head towards professional football in the Persian Gulf states or Europe.

Pouraliganji, who was looking for the third appearance in the AFC Asian Cup with Team Melli, will now be a TV spectator watching Iran matches in Qatar.

The selection of Pouraliganji’s successor in Team Melli has become a subject of many discussions in the last few days. Majid Hosseini, the Kayserispor of Turkey, is mentioned as a candidate. However, Amir Ghalenoei opted to invite Amin Hizbavi and Saman Fallah instead. That is quite a move from the head coach of Team Melli, who disappointed many fans and critics with his last selection for the Jordan 4 side tournament. His selection of Karim Ansarifard was a particularly disappointing and a step backward move for a team that is in dire need of rebuilding and decreasing the average age.

Team Melli will play two matches in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers against Hong Kong and Uzbekistan this year and then head to Doha for the AFC Asian Cup 2023.

Team Melli defeats Qatar by four goals.

In Amman, the final match of the four nations tournament was held with Team Melli facing their former head coach, Carlos Queiroz. A brace by the substitute defender Hossein Kananizadegan, and a goal each by Ali Jahanbakhsh, and Sardar Azmoun all in a ten-minute period in the second half assured Iran an emphatic win and another regional title.

Ghalenoei, started the match with three changes, leaving Kananizadegan, Nourollahi, and Hajsafi out of the starting lineup. Ghoddos, Milad Mohammadi, and Morteza Pouraliganji were the rep[lacements.

The first half was a scruffy affair with Iran having more opportunities, but the finishing did not complement the good moves. Qatar, true to Queiroz principles, formed a solid defense and made life difficult for the central forwards’ pair, Azmoun and Taremi who were disjointed and lacked understanding. There was hardly a pass between them. To make matters more worrying, the body language between the two was far from assuring.

In the second half, both coaches stuck to their game plan. The first real event was the injury to Pouraliganji which looked serious. He was substituted and taken out on a stretcher. Kananizadegan was a direct replacment.

With Iran having more of the possession and having better control of the midfield with Ghoddos directing the play, and Ezatoolahi improving his game despite many passing errors, it was a matter of time before Iran would score.

The first goal was scored in the 69th minute from a corner taken by Rezaeian which was powerfully headed into the net by Kanani. Four minutes later (73), a result of some fine and intricate work on the left side by Miald Mohammadi ended in a square ball into the box to the unmarked Jahanbakhsh, who slotted the ball into the net. 2-0

Two minutes after the second goal, Milad Mohammadi was again the provider from the left flank, this time he found Azmoun in the box, and the AS Roma player scored on a half-turn in minute 75.

Kananizadegan finished the scoring four minutes later for his second goal and Iran’s fourth with another far post header from another Rezaeian assist.

a four-goal blitz in ten minutes was the second-biggest win of Iran against Qatar and a big disappointment for Querioz. Despite the big margin of victory, Team Melli is still not running on all cylinders.

The defense and the midfield improved but not by much. It is always hard to criticize a team that has won by a four-goal margin, but the real test has to be in the Asian Cup when Team Melli faces the might of teams such as Japan or South Korea.

Due to the criminal bombardment of a hospital in Gazza by the Israeli regime, just a few hours before the match, over 500 casualties were reported with a large number of deaths including women and children, no ceremonies were held after the final whistle.

IRAN- QATAR: Match preview

Team Melli will meet Qatar in the final of the Four Nations International tournament in Amman Jordan. The match is scheduled to kick off at 9 PM local time and will be played right after the third-place match between Iraq and host Jordan, in Amman International Stadium.

The match will be the first time that Carlos Queiroz will be playing opposite the team that he coached for 8 years in which he became a household name but not short of controversies that he created now and then in Iran. Team Melli is now under Amir Ghalenoei who is still undefeated since the start of the year.

Much hype has been made out of the fact that Querioz will face off against Iran, a team he left with the majority of players that he picked, still active in the team. The real issue of this match is the expectations from Team Melli after the collective criticism by everyone concerned in Iranian football on the performance of the team in the last match against Jordan. A shakey defense, a lethargic display, error-prone players, and just about a non-existent midfield all combined to paint a gloomy picture of the prospects of Team Melli in the AFC Asian Cup in less than three months from now.

Ghalenoei must have undergone a shock watching Jordanians dribble past his players with such ease. He certainly will not accept such a performance as he is a coach with high expectations and demands the best. Changes will be inevitable, but the fact remains that in Midfield, his choices are limited, while he still has a few cards in the defense zone.

From what we have seen from the Qatar Team, the defending AFC Asian Cup champions.is hardly anywhere near the form that brought them glory fours years back. Like Iran, they are stuck on several senior players who are aging while very few young names have emerged from their strong league. Some of these Qatar players might have lost much of their appetite and skills in the last couple of years. A win for Ghalenoei will not be a great achievement against Qatar, but more important than a victory is the overall teamwork, individual performance, and the general attitude of the team. Ghalenoei desperately needs to have the fans and media behind him and a good display against Qatar will be a good starting point.

HEAD2HEAD

H / A / NMatchesWDLGoals+ / –
HOME862019 – 4+15
AWAY1593318 – 12+6
NEUTRAL11002 – 1+1
Total24165339 – 17+22

LAST MATCH

31. Dec.2018FriendlyA2 – 1Khalifa Stadium, Doha2 – 1
* behind closed doors

Current squad scorers against Qatar

Sardar AZMOUN (2)
Mehdi TAREMI (2)
Ali JAHANBAKHSH (1)
EhsanHAJSAFI (1)

Team Melli’s performance is worrying!

Not surprisingly, Team Melli’s performance against Jordan created a large number of criticisms from experts and media alike.

One of those critics was Massoud Eghbali. A longtime trainer and currently a coaching lecturer with the Asian Football Federation AFC. Speaking to Mehr reporter regarding the match against Jordan, he said: “We have seen a frustrating game from the national team players. We are weak in all areas, and if the Jordanian players had made better use of their chances and their finishing was even average, we might have lost the match.”

“One of the major problems of Team Melli is the lack of a young player in the team. The majority of the players are old, and this fact reflects the Iranian team’s shortfall and lack of in-depth long-term strategy. Ghalenoei should adjust and re-think player selection because if this trend continues, he will definitely lack energetic players capable of playing in a demanding tournament in a short span of time like the Asian Cup and the World Cup. Iran’s Team Melli will be remembered as an old man’s home.”



The AFC lecturer noted: “Team Melli has a lot of weaknesses in the defensive structure, while we saw that during Queiroz days, Iran was renowned for its solid defensive structure. Instead of making progress, Ghalenoei’s team has regressed and this is not promising.”

He added: “The form of Team Melli with this style of the game is not satisfactory at all, and although most of these players have played together in recent years and have had a history of being in the World Cup, they were very sloppy, casual and lacked focus. One of the reasons may be the mentality of the players, who probably thought that the match was done and dusted in the first half as they were ahead by 2 goals. I strongly believe that the players should be motivated all the time. It seemed that they (players) lacked the motivation to play in these matches and need professional sports psychologists in order to guide them so that we don’t have to face motivational problems in the Asian Cup,” Eghbali said.

In response to the final match against Qatar, Eghbali said “I do not have an in-depth knowledge of the Qatar team under Queiroz. However, in this tournament in Jordan, they have shown that they are far from Asia’s top-level teams and were unable to score, only winning against Iraq on spot kicks. Hence, the coming match against this team cannot be a true test for the players. We must definitely face teams that challenge us, We need much stronger oppositions, teams that can rattle us and expose the weaknesses”

Comparing the programs of teams such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Saudi Arabia in FIFA Day with Team Melli’s program, Eghbali said “Teams like Japan, have reached a level of strength, where they can easily play against the best in the world and beat them comprehensively too, surely they are now believing in success at the next World Cup 2026. If the same teams from Japan, South Korea, Australia, and so on, turn up with their best players to compete in AFC Asian Cup 2023, we are unlikely to create a threat against them, and failure is a possibility.”

He continued: ” Ghalenoei is a good coach who does not like to lose, and the teams with whom we played against in the friendly preparatory games is a proof of this. The driving force of every team is its young players, Iran does not have such players in its squad. We have a high age average team, and if we factor in the Asian Cup, we should seriously think about the next World Cup.”

In the end, Eghbali stated: “The national team is in dire need of an overhaul, and the way players are selected should be reconsidered. We were not good at all against Jordan and the defensive duty players, holding midfielders and defenders, performed very poorly and were error-prone, so I hope we will not see such games from the national team in future matches.”


Players rating vs Jordan.

The match against Jordan, despite a 3-1 win, was far from convincing and has resulted in criticism from the media and ex-players. Ghaenoei’s players played ugly yet won against a weak and tactically naive team in Jordan.

Here are the players’ ratings:

1 –Alireza Beiranvand: confident and assured, although he has hardly put to the test thanks to the misfiring Jordanian players. He could not do much about the goal conceded as his defenders made a blunder out of a simple clearance. [7.6]


3-Ehsan Hajisafi: Worked hard and covered well when needed. However, he has lost some of his pace and agility. He was caught off-guard several times. [6.5]
23 Ramin Rezaeian: His fine work on the right flank resulted in Iran’s first goal, however, he was also a savior when he blocked a certain goalbound ball by a Jordanian forward preventing a goal. The shortfall was how easily the Jordainain dribbled past him [7.6]
4 Shojaa Khalilzadeh: Another defender who is short of pace and agility. It is undeniable that this defender gives it 100% on the pitch, but younger more agile, and stronger forwards can easily pass him. One did, in this match, but Shojaa used trickery to hold on to him and for this, he got a yellow card. [6.3]
13 Hossein Kananizadegan: He was guilty of the goal conceded along with Ezaatolahi who could not deal with a simple clearance. He got another yellow card after being dribbled by the Jordanian midfielder and resorting to shirt-pulling to prevent an attack. Not as steady and confident as seen before. Overall an acceptable but below-par performance. [6.1]


21 Ahmad Noorollahi: Hardly showed up in this match and hardly supported the front line. Whatever is holding up Noorollahi must be addressed by the coaching staff [5]
6 Saeid Ezzatolahi: by far the poorest of all the players on the pitch. He has hardly contributed to any of the goals and was lost in the midfield. He stumbled on the ball and clashed with Kananizadegan in the box to give away the goal. This is not the first time that Ezzatolahi has played such poorly The enigma is how is this player maintaining his place in the starting lineup with such poor performances. [3.5]
19 Mohammad Mohebi: Disappointing performance from a promising player. He had no contribution in any of the three goals scored and generally lacked enthusiasm and drive [5.5]

9 Mehdi Taremi: Scored and provided an assist. One cannot ask for more than that from a player of his caliber, however, he could have contributed more and scored at least one more goal. [7.9]
20 Sardar Azmoun: Scored a beautiful opener with a side foot-half volley. His one-on-one in the second half, where a player of his standard should have easily scored, was a black mark. Much better finishing and control were expected from him in that missed opportunity. [7.8]
7 Alireza Jahanbakhsh: Another player who was disappointing and a point of concern for the team. There are considerable expectations from Jahanabakhsh in the AFC Asian Cup, but so far this year, he has been a shadow of himself. Lack of confidence, hesitancy, inability to create chances for the forwards, and many more shortfalls marred his game against Jordan. Another player that needs to be analyzed and coached. [4.5]

Substitutes

Rouzbeh Cheshmi: Replaced Noorollahi in the second half and managed to slightly improve the center, but Jordan was having the best of time leaving Cheshmi to be confined. Provided a beautiful assist to Mehrdad Mohammadi for Iran’s third goal. [7.3]


Saman Ghoddos: Replaced Azmoun on minute 67′. A classy player and possibly the only one in the midfield with vision and finesse. However, His contribution was overshadowed by the Jordanian forcefully pressing Iran to look for goals. He was confined to defensive duties. [6.5]

Mehrdad Mohammadi: came in to replace the dysfunctional Jahanbakhsh. He scored with a beautiful chip in the dying minutes of the match despite lacking support from the midfield [7.8]

Morteza Pouraliganji: Not rated


Coach: Amir Ghalenoei: If the former Esteghlal and Sepahan coach looks to repeat his success at the club level, he needs to be much more aggressive in many areas. He also needs to be more adventurous. Must ensure the team plays as a group and must work on improving the defense and Midfield as they could be the source of Team Melli’s failure. His substitutions were fine and yielded results. Faced with an aging squad, Ghalenoei needs a major tactical adjustment.

Ghalenoei’s comment on the match.

Amir Ghalnoei, the head coach of Team Melli said “Fair criticism is what football needs, but the problem will not be solved by “hitting” the football federation and the national team.”

In comments published by FFIRI official website, Ghalenoei, following Iran’s 3-1 victory over Jordan, added “Jordan has been in good form for the last two years and has not lost to any Asian team except Australia. The fact is that this pitch was not in good condition and the match played earlier before ours, made the conditions even worse. This poor-quality pitch had a great impact on our game.”

He added: “Overall, I am happy that we won the match and advanced to the final. Of course, I am not satisfied with the way the team played and I expected to play much better quality football, but the fact that we beat Jordan by two goals margin is important. We had some flaws in the defense format that we need to analyze and fix our weaknesses”

Referring to the country’s football’s need for empathy for the success of the national team, Ghalenoei said: “There is a saying that collective consensus is equal to success. We have less than 100 days until the AFC Asian Cup and I say let’s all come and help. Weakening each other does not happen anywhere in the world. Criticism is not the same even if we want to express some other issues. The football federation is struggling. We have difficult financial conditions, but Mr. Taj, Mr. Nabi, the board of the Football Federation, we are all trying to solve the problems. Many others are also helping. My request is that we all get together and criticize fairly if there is any issue so that the national team can be better prepared to solve the problems. Attacking each other will not solve the problem. There is nothing wrong with constructive criticism, but it is not right to say things that are detrimental to the federation and football in this situation. Let’s all help each other and be sympathetic to the country’s football so that, God willing, we will be better prepared for the Asian Cup.”

On the next match against Qatar, the Team Melli head coach said ” Congratulations to the Qatar team and Queiroz for advancing to the final match. Queiroz has worked hard for our football. I hope the match against Qatar will be a good game, but the reality is that the quality of the pitch is not desirable. You saw the Iraq-Qatar game, which ended 0-0 and there were very few opportunities, but our game against Jordan had four goals and could have had five or six more goals. I am happy that Team Melli plays beautiful football and scores three goals even on a bad day. Of course, the problem is in the defense structure, which we will fix, God willing.”

FACT CHECK: Jordan was beaten 5 games in a row including a 6-0 thrashing by Norway. The last win for Jordan was over a year ago, in September 2022, when they beat Oman 2-0. In the process, Jordan FA sacked the coach and appointed the current one, Hossein Amoota, who is still winless after three matches. So, one should take Ghalenoei’s comment about how good the Jordan team is, with a pinch of salt.

Despite the admission by Ghalenoei that Team Melli’s performance was not satisfactory, especially the defense line, he has not mentioned the full reality, which is a right he reserves, of course. The problem is more than the defense and starts at the poorest line of the three and that is the midfield. Lack of creativity, vision, pace, and poor basic techniques such as passing, was so obvious in the midfield players, that they might as well have dispenced with it and only stuck two lines for Team Melli, defense and Forward.

A player like Saeid Ezatollahi should have no place in Team Melli. It is amazing how his successive poor displays for the team have been camouflaged for years and can still make the starting lineup ahead of Cheshmi and Sarlak to mention a few. As a defensive/Holding midfielder, his only good attribute is his physique, nothing else. Ahmad Nourollahi has hardly been noticed in this match but at best he is not a creative midfielder and a leader who can turn the match around. Jahanbakhsh continues his sub-standard form and gradual deterioration at club and country level. Surely lack of competitive matches has affected him as he is a bench player in Feyenoord.

The fact is, the group of players that both Queiroz and now Ghalenoei had faith in, is aging and some have passed their sell-by dates. These players are not going to be able to compete at the highest levels and when Iran plays against the might of Japan, Korea, or Australia, they will struggle badly. Since there are less than 100 days to the Asian Cup, there is little likelihood that Ghalenoei will introduce any young Iranian players to the team. That is why Ghalenoei, in semi-desperation, is asking the public to refrain from criticism, and the full support of the fans and the media, while it is his responsibility to select the squad, ensure the correct game plan, and utilize his best resources comes the crucial matches.

It is rather silly to blame the pitch for the poor performance of Team Melli, but again, Ghaleneoi like the rest of the Iranian coaches, has his little book of justifications. Regardless, what is important is that Ghalenoei accepts his team played badly and is going to do something about it. The fans hope that such a positive attitude and thinking will refect on the teams’s prospects.

Jordan 1-3 Iran: Match report.

Iran’s Team Melli defeated Jordan 3-1 on Friday evening to reach the final of the 4 nations international tournament and set up an interesting encounter against Qatar coached by the former Team Melli coach, Carlos Queiroz.

Iran opened the scoring early when Mehdi Taremi fed a nice through ball to his partner Sardar Azmoun, who nicely side-footed the ball into the net in the 8th minute. Taremi scored the second from a brilliant pass from the right flank by Ramin Rezaeian which the Porto striker placed on the far side of the Jordanian keeper.

In the first half, Iran did not face much of a problem distributing the ball with ease and patience, however, in the process, some easy chances were also missed by the Iranians due to some poor finishing and overconfidence.

The second half was totally different story. Jordan was the better team by far while Iran crumbled and the defense was leaky. The middle of the field was totally taken over by the hosts and if it was not for the poor finishing of the Jordanian players, Team Melli would have been a few goals behind.

Team Melli’s poor defensive play, with suspect marking, combined with Jordanian players’ determination to show themselves as a better team than the result suggested, eventually paid dividends as Jordan scored in the 74th minute from a horrible blunder by Saeid Esatollahi and Kananizadegan. After the goal, Jordan pressed on, leaving the Iranians nervous and in disarray which led Ghalenoei’s players to resort to long balls and hasty clearances. It is safe to say that the second half was one of the worst teams Melli performances in many years.

Jordan’s pressure eventually paid off as a soft penalty was declared by the Saudi referee late in the second half. Jordan’s Ehsan Haddad’s right foot kick from the spot went airborne and was nowhere near the goal. It was indeed a bad spot kick and consistent with Jordan’s performance as a set of talented players who have great problems shooting straight and finishing.

And as Jordan was still hoping for a late equalizer leading to penalty kicks to decide the winner, in came Mehrda Mohammad a substitute in injury time to score the third for Team Melli with a pretty good-looking chip over the Jordanian keeper. Cheshmi provided Mohammadi with the ball from a long clearance.

This was yet another win for the undefeated Ghalenoei, but one doubts that he was proud of his player’s performance this evening. There were more negatives than positives in this game for Iran. Not that Qatar will be a great threat on the 17th when they play in the final match, but this type of performance, leaves a lot to be desired and reduces the faith of the fans to be a leading title contender comes January 2024 in the AFC Asian Cup 2023. As of now, and with such a scruffy display, Iran’s chances to win the AFC Asian Cup is relegated to the third or fourth level, while Japan remains the top favorite.

Lots of work needs to be done. The midfield was embarrassing, the normally dependable defense was falling apart and the two stars at the froing were the saving grace, although both were far from their best.