Category: News

Iran Youths qualify for AFC U20 Asian Cup 2023 finals in Uzbekistan

Bishkek: Iran found their scoring boots in the second half to defeat the United Arab Emirates 2-0 to finish top of Group J of the AFC U20 Asian Cup™ Uzbekistan 2023 Qualifiers on Sunday.
Kyrgyz Republic defeated Brunei Darussalam 6-0 to finish as the Group J runners-up, keeping alive their hopes of advancing to the Finals as one of the five best second-placed teams.
UAE 0-2 IR Iran
Iran came into the tie only needing to avoid defeat to book their place in the Finals following their earlier wins over the Kyrgyz Republic and Brunei Darussalam. 

Only a win would do for UAE, having lost 2-0 to the Kyrgyz Republic on Friday after having kicked off their campaign with a 5-0 victory over Brunei Darussalam.

A tight first half meant neither side was able to find the back of the net but that changed in the second period with Iran taking control of proceedings. 

The Central Asian side’s persistence was rewarded in the 71st minute with forward Saied Saharkhizan slotting home. 

A desperate UAE tried to find their way back but their hopes were dashed in the sixth minute of added time with Amir Ebrahimzadeh scoring Iran’s second. 

Amir Ebrahimzadeh scored five goals as Iran, who were made to work hard for their opening day 1-0 win over the Kyrgyz Republic, strolled to victory against Brunei Darussalam at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium.

Midfielder Mohammadreza Torabi put Iran ahead in the 23rd minute and that paved the way for total domination as Ebrahimzadeh (27th) and Mojtaba Fakhrian (45+1) secured a comfortable lead going into the break.

Final list for AFC Futsal Cup Kuwait 2022

Iran’s national futsal team, on returning from the 6-side Intercontinental tournament in Thailand, published the list of players who will take part in the Asian Cup in Kuwait.

This camp will resume training after the team’s two-day rest. The technical staff of the national futsal team invited 16 players to the tournament in Thailand. This list has been reduced to 14 people for the AFC Asian Cup Kuwait 2022. Vahid Shamsaei will be coaching for the first time in the Asian Futsal Cup hoping to lift the title for the first time as a head coach. He has already won eight AFC Futsal Championships with Iran.

Iran has one the title 12 times since the inception of the championship. Iran is also the Champion of the last edition.

# Player Post DOB and Age Club
1 Alireza Javan FW 2 February 1995 (27) Crop
2 Alireza Rafieipour DF 9 October 1993 (28) Crop
3 Hamzah Kodkhodaei MF 2 February 1997 (25) Mes Sungun
4 Hossein Tayyebi (captain) FW 29 September 1988 (33) Palma
5 Mehdi Asadshir Sunich Saveh
6 Mehdi Karimi MF 28 January 1997 (25) Giti Pasand
7 Mohammad Hossein Baziar MF 29 November 2003 (18) Sanaye Poshtiban
8 Mohammad Hossein Derakhshani MF 1 April 1993 (29) Giti Pasand
9 Mohammad Reza SengSefidi MF 2 November 1989 (32) Mes Sungun
10 Moslem Oladghobad MF 29 November 1995 (26) Palma
11 Saeid Ahmadabbasi FW 31 July 1992 (30) Valdepeñas
12 Saeed Momeni GK 23 November 1992 (29) Crop
13 Salar Aghapour FW 7 March 2000 (22) Mes Sungun
14 Sina Perkas GK 17 August 1992 (30) Sunich Saveh

 

MATCH SCHEDULE

GROUP C

DATE Match No. Home Away Time Venue
28 September 2022
Wednesday
Match Day 2		 5 Lebanon Chinese Taipei 20:00 Saad Al Abdullah Hall
7 Iran Indonesia 17:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
30 September 2022
Friday
Match Day 4		 13 Indonesia Lebanon 17:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
15 Chinese Taipei Iran 20:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
October 2022
Sunday
Match Day 6		 21 Iran Lebanon 20:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
22 Chinese Taipei Indonesia 17:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall

 

Queiroz squad and expectations.

Carlos Queiroz’s squad was not much of a surprise for the people who have known his style in his 8 years reign with Team Melli. A coach that believes in brute defense, or parking the bus, if you wish, especially if the team he is coaching is facing powerful opposition. Queiroz is not much a fan of players with a special skill or technique as he much rather has a strong physical player who can tackle and defend no matter what outfield post they play. Physically strong opponents is exactly what Iran will be facing in the shape of England Wales and the United States.

Sixteen players from Team Melli’s last World Cup adventure are included in the latest selection of Queiroz. On the other hand, only 7 England players kept their place for World Cup 2022 from the previous one in Russia. Many things change in four years of football, and Team Melli has naturally changed too, however, with less than two months to go for the first match in the World Cup and 17 days in total where Queiroz can actually work with his players, the Portuguese coach will not risk trials and as predictable as he can be, the bets that he will stick to the players he knows best from 3 1/2 years ago. No place for Aref Gholami, Mehdi Gahyedi, Mohammad Mohebbi, or the future star of Irans football Yasin Salmani.

The future is repeating itself with Queiroz, hence his bland predictability. He left out Sardar Azmoun the rising starlet of Iran in World Cup 2014 and now doing the same with Yasin Salmani.

While all of these are not big risks, there is one drawback in his selection that could prove the downfall of Iran’s team in Qatar. Queiroz’s favorites are 4 years older, but even worst than that, all the player bar one are experiencing not-so-brilliant playing careers with their clubs in European leagues. Most are bench warmers with the exception of Mehdi Taremi.

The likes of Vahid Amiri, Omid Ebrahimi, Saeid Ezatollahi, and Saman Ghoddos, who are regarded as Team Melli’s aging ‘old guard’ can give experience to a game, but are not necessarily the weapons that are required to face the mighty teams. With some being fringe players in their clubs, there seems to be an acute shortage of skill and leadership in the midfield. Even though, only one additional player (Sarlak) has been added in a line that really needs strengthening. In fact, the midfield is probably the weakest link without a dynamic or creative player. The offensive plan that Queiroz would stick to is “route one” the style of play where the ball is sent forward from the back straight to the lone forward bypassing the midfield. Rezaeian, Mohammadi, Moharrami, and even Hardani can do the job for Queiroz in such plan. Midfield would be used more in bolstering the defense than any offensive duties.

9 players in Team Melli’s current squad are at or above 30 years old. In the demanding environment of Qatar, and oppositions that are runners with stamina, it is difficult to see how Queiroz will stand against the much fitter European and American players.  The average age of Iran’s squad is 27.6 years, however, if one considers the expected 11 starting players, then the average age will be significantly higher.

It is not expected that Queiroz will deviate much from this mindset of his and why should he take the risk? Fans who admire offensive and exciting football might very well be disappointed by Queiroz’s approach as we have all seen the FIFA World Cup 2018.

TEAM MELLI SQUAD 

Austrian Camp September 2022

Red denotes players not selected for WC208 Russia.

# Name Post Age Caps Goals
1 Abolfazl JALALI DF 24 1
2 Ahmad NOUROLLAHI MF 29 24 3
3 Ali GHOLIZADEH MF 26 `24 6
4 Alireza BEIRANVAND GK 29 50
5 AliReza JAHANBAKHSH FW 28 62 13
6 Amir ABEDZADEH GK 29 10
7 Ehsan HAJSAFI DF 32 117 7
8 Hossein HOSSEINI DF 30 4
9 Hossein KANANI-ZADEGAN DF 28 32 2
10 Karim ANSARIFARD FW 32 92 28
11 Majid HOSSEINI DF 26 17
12 Mehdi TAREMI FW 30 58 29
13 Mehdi TORABI FW 29 34 6
14 Milad MOHAMMADI DF 28 45 1
15 Milad Sarlak MF 27 9 0
16 Morteza POURALIGANJI DF 30 44 3
17 Omid EBRAHIMI MF 35 53
18 Omid NOORAFKAN DF 25 13
19 Payam Niazmand GK 27 1
20 Ramin REZAEIAN DF 32 45 2
21 Sadegh MOHARRAMI DF 26 18
22 Saeid EZZATOLLAHI MF 25 45 1
23 Saleh HARDANI DF 24 2
24 Saman GHODDOS MF 29 31 2
25 Sardar AZMOUN FW 27 63 40
26 Shojaa KHALILZADEH DF 33 23 1
27 Vahid AMIRI MF 34 66 3
Averages -> 27.6 26.8 8.9

Quiroz names Team Melli list for Austria camp.

Queiroz announced his final list of players who will be forming the squad for the Training Camp in Austria including two international friendlies versus Uruguay and Senegal.

Goalkeepers
Alireza Beiranvand, Amir Abedzadeh, Hossein Hosseini, Payam Niazmand

Defenders:
Ramin Rezaeian, Sadegh Moharammi, Saleh Hardani, Hossein Kanaanizadegan, Majid Hosseini, Morteza Pouraliganji, Shojaa Khalilzadeh, Abolfazl Jalali, Milad Mohammadi, Omid Noorafkan

Midfielders
Omid Ebrahimi , Saeed Ezzatollahi, Milad Sarlak, Saman Ghoddos, Ahmad Noorollahi, Ehsan Haj Safi, Vahid Amiri.

Forwards:
Ali Gholizadeh, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mehdi Torabi, Mehdi Taremi, Karim Ansarifard, Sardar Azmoun.

As expected, Queiroz who was away from Iranian football since early 2019, elected to pick his old guards to take to Qatar. Players like Ansarifard, whose total playing time in the last few months did not exceed 90 minutes are included as are Ghoddos and Ezzarotlahi both fringe players in their teams. Vahid Amiri, a long-time senior player who has been on the injury list was also picked although it is reported that he is not quite ready and short of match practice. Amiri has been given special recovery training.

Queiroz not surprisingly picked another of his old guards, Rezaeian for the right back position. There was a surprise in naming Abolfazl Jalali a player who is not familiar to him, but the biggest surprise was his inclusion of Shojaá Khalilzadeh.

Team Melli’s central defense in the qualifiers, consisting of Khalilzadeh and Kananizadeh was formidable and had a large role to play in the qualification. However, Queiroz and Khalilzadeh have not been on good terms. Some observers were predicting that Shojaá will be ignored by the Portuguese. Perhaps, Queiroz’s peers advised him against excluding Khalikzadeh.

Iran Futsal losses to Morocco in the finals.

The Iranian national futsal team lost the final match of the Intercontinental Cup 2022 against the Moroccan team in extra time.

The final match of the 6 sides’ futsal tournament in Thailand was played on Friday, the match ended 4-3 in favor of Morocco.  Morocco scored two goals in the first half, but Iran tied the game in the second half with goals scored by Saeed Ahmed Abbasi and Hossein Tayyebi. Morocco scored again in the 39th minute but Tayyebi responded by scoring the equalizer in the last seconds. The game ended 3-3 in regulation to send the match into extra time.

The powerful  Moroccans scored the fourth goal in overtime depriving Iran of the championship. The Iranian team won against Finland and Vietnam in the preliminary stage. Shamsaei’s boys defeated the host Thailand in the semi-final by a score of 3-2 to qualify for the final. In the ranking match, Thailand finished third by defeating Finland in penalty kicks. Iran’s national futsal team is preparing to participate in the AFC Futsal Asian Cup, which will be held in Kuwait in October. In this competition, Iran is grouped with Indonesia, Lebanon, and Chinese Taipei.

After returning from Thailand, the national team will resume their camp in Tehran and then leave for Kuwait.

Affsharian to replace Hamid Estili in Team Melli management.

After the resignation of Hamid Estili from the post of Team Melli Manager, the discussion of choosing his successor was one of the questions and ambiguities on the eve of the national team’s trip to the Austrian camp.

Today, Khodadad Afsharian, a member of the Football Federation’s Board of Directors, introduced Estili’s successor and said: “Bahram Rezaeian is supposed to be the manager of Team Melli. He has already been in the camps and has been paying attention to the national team. This news will be announced soon. He emphasized: I spoke with Mr. Rezaeian.”

He quoted Mehdi Taj as saying that he is the new manager who will accompany Team Melli on its trip to Austria.

Foolad Khuzestan refutes the news of Nekounam joining Queiroz staff.

According to the Mehrnews, a quote attributed to Ehsan Usoli, the spokesperson of the Football Federation FFIRI, was published at noon today (Friday), stating that Javad Nekonam is confirmed to join Team Melli as assistant to  Queiroz while maintaining his job in the Foolad Khuzestan Club and Carlos Queiroz’s technical staff.

As expected, this issue led to the reaction of Foolad Khuzestan Club.

Mehr news reporter contacted Hamidreza Gershasabi, CEO of Foolad Club, to follow up on this issue. , Gershasabi denied this claim and  said ”  “Unfortunately, they are always creating rumors about Foolad Club and its head coach.”

” This is pure fabication. There is no such arrangement and nothing has changed since we publicly announced our position on this issue”. In further explanation of this issue, he added: “They were seeking Nekounam’s participation in the national team before, but we refused the release of our coach. The club was against the idea. Foolad has important commitments ahead in the league and the AFC Champions League. We have spent and planned extensively. Even now, under no circumstances do we agree to lose our head coach.

The CEO of Foolad Khuzestan emphasized: “On the other hand, it is news to me that Nekonam will join the national team while keeping his position in Foolad!! I have no idea where this came from.”

Gershasbi  was asked, “Is it possible that the leaders of the football federation consulted with the hierarchy or Leaders of the steel company (owners of the Foolad club)  to recruit Nekonam?” In response, Garshasbi said: I don’t know. They talked to us before hands saying that Queiroz wants Nekonam. Our response was that we needed him too and he is a Foolad Khuzestan Club employee. This was the end of the discussion. “

The CEO continued: “After that discussion, various people created rumors and lies. As Foolad Khuzestan Club, we have not agreed to Nekonam’s release.”

Asked when was the last contact between him and FFIRI in regards to Nekonam? He stated: “We talked last week and we disagreed. In the last conversation we had together, Nekonam told us that he has no interest in joining the national team.

“Is it possible that the Football Federation behind your back, has agreed with Nekonam and you are not informed?”
In response to this question, Gershasbi said: “I would not know. I doubt it. Nekounam said I will not go. He said that I will continue my plans in Foulad. What they claim that Nekounam has joined the national team ans it has been confirmed, is simply not true. Responding to the question that the source of the claim is by Ehsan Usoli, the spokesperson of the Football Federation, Garshasbi noted: “I will deny the news until this moment unless Nekonam took upon himself to act. Let us see what he has done, otherwise, his last agreement with me was that I will not join the national team.”

Once again it is apparent that Football in Iran is toxic where lies, deception, fabrications, and lobbying are so rife. It is very difficult to believe under normal conditions. The leaders lie with impunity, and so do coaches and players and it is all done under the patriotism flag!

Iran futsal to the finlas after defeating host Thailand.

Iran’s national futsal team defeated the host Thailand 3-2 today in the semi-final match of the intercontinental futsal tournament 2022.

Mohammad Hossein Derakhshani (8), Saeed Ahmad Abbasi (10), and Salar Aghapour (39) scored for Iran in this match. Vahid Shamsaei’s players made their way to the finals with this difficult victory and tomorrow they will face the winner of the Morocco-Finland game for the title of the 6 nations tournament.

The first half; was an intense and physical match. Iran scored the first goal in this half through Derakhshani from an assist by Salar Aghapour. Two minutes later, this time it was Saeed Ahmad Abbasi’s turn to open up Thailand’s goal with two consecutive shots. The clashing and physical game between the two teams even caused Iran to commit 5 fouls. as a result. Thailand was awarded a second-point penalty. However, Iran’s goalkeeper Saeed Momeni, who replaced Sina Perkas in the goal saved the penalty,

The second half:   Thailand came back in the second half with the support of its fans. The host scored its first goal in the 25th minute. In the 29th minute, the Thai players stuck the ball in the net of Iran’s team due to the combined poor work and negligence of the Iranian players, giving the host lots of hope to turn the result around and even win the game. Iran’s attempts were closed but not good enough to scare the Thais.  Thailand also put pressure in the hope of scoring a goal on counterattacks. However, one minute before the end of the game, it was Salar Aghapour who scored the winning goal for Iran so that our country’s team became the finalists with a 3-2 win. Thailand’s captain was sent to the hospital.

In the last minute of the first half, Hossein Tayyebi’s hand, the captain of Iran’s national team, hit the face of Thai captain “Kristada”, causing him severe injuries and breaking Kristada’s nose. The severity of this injury was such that the Thai captain was taken to the ambulance by the emergency forces in the hall to be sent to the hospital to complete his treatment.

Meanwhile, Morocco and Finland met later today Thursday in the other semi-final stage of the 6-side futsal tournament in Thailand. The game ended 4:1 in favor of Morocco. Morocco advanced to the final and will face Iran in the final match that will be held tomorrow Friday.

Iran defeats Vietnam in Thailand Futsal Tournament

Iran’s national futsal team continued its winning streak by defeating Vietnam  3-1 in their second match of the 6-a-side Continental tournament in Thailand and qualified for the semi-final stage of this competition.

Alireza Javan (twice) and Mehdi Karimi scored Iran goals.

Vahid Shamsaei is using this competition as a preparatory tournament for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2022 which will be hosted by Kuwait in October.

Alireza Mansourian to be added to Team Melli coaching staff

Carlos Queiroz has provided the name of Alireza Mansourian for Team Melli staff instead of Javad Nekonam.

According to ISNA, Carlos Queiroz, the Portuguese head coach will arrive in Iran on Wednesday morning, and the team camp will begin on the same day. It will be the first presence of the Portuguese coach since he left Iran in February 2019. Queiroz will bring along several foreign assistants to Iran to start working in the training camp. From the previous staff, two people, Lopez and Mikael, will accompany him on his mission. Also, some new foreign faces will join the Portuguese coach, whose names have not yet been announced yet.

However, it seems that Javad Nekonam, who was Carlos Queiroz’s first choice to be his right hand man at Team Melli turned down the offer and does not intend to leave his post as Head Coach of Foolad Khuzestan, hence Queiroz named Alireza Mansourian as replacement.  On the other hand, the status of Vahid Hashemian is unclear. The former VfL Bochum 87 , Bayern Munich, Hannover 96 and Hamburger SV  player who also caoched in Germany has been quiet about his fate with the arrival of Queiroz.

It is rumored that  a meeting between Queiroz and Hashemian is scheduled to be held, and if there is an agreement, Hashemian will cooperate with the third consecutive head coach of Team Melli. Hashemian has also worked with Wilmots and Skocic with his best and most productive period being with the Croat.