Category: News

Azmoun receives a knock in training

While Team Melli was active yesterday in training sessions, preparing for the upcoming match in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 against Syria, the team's forward Sardar Azmoun received a slight knock which forced him to leave the practice early and head for treatment room.

While the injury does not look serious, some media reports have already speculated that Azmoun might miss the clash with Syria on Wednesday.

There were no official statement by the team on Azmoun's condition yet.

Iran will face Qatar in the Round of 16 match at Abdullah Bin Khalifa stadium , Doha , Qatar at 19:00 local time.

Syria: A difficult team to beat

. Iran needs various solutions against park the bus Syrian defense

. Syria will frustrate the Iranian forwards.

. Team Melli lacks prowess in the middle of the park.

On paper and form, Iran is the favorite to go through the round of 16 match against Syria on Wednesday. Everything is backing Team Melli from the head to head records to form, players ratings and anything in between. Frankly, it is hard to find any aspect of the Syrian team that can match Iran's.

Football, however, is a strange game where forms and stars sometime lose their way in a match. Team Melli started brightly against Palestine, dispatching four goals in the process. Against Hong Kong, the Team was an embarrassment and perhaps even lucky not to come out with draw. Third time against the UAE, the team was back to its standard and perhaps unlucky not to score more than two goals.

Evaluating the performance of the Syrian team, their last 3 games were hardly impressing. However, it must be mentioned that in Héctor Raúl Cúper , they have a seasoned coach with an immense experience. at club and national teams levels. The Argentine, who at one stage coached Inter Milan , has moved eastward coaching Georgia, Egypt, Uzbekistan . Congo DR before settling in Syria. He is , perhaps, the Syrian team greatest asset.

Syria, just made it to in the knockout stage of the Asian Cup, after a narrow 0-1 loss to Australia, a goalless draw versus Uzbekistan and a narrow 1-0 win against India. The stats clearly says that there is not much fire power in the Syrian team scoring one goal in three matches to qualify, but on the other hand, they seem to have a solid defense that has conceded one goal only, a record which is better that Iran which has conceded two goals.

Clearly, this team excels in defending. Cuper is well aware of his team strength and will be repeating the same against Iran. Packed and tight defenses , double teaming the Iranian wingers and closing down the central defense will be the game plan for Syria. It will be a classic Italian style defense.

The Syrian players are physically and technically strong and can match the Iranians. What they lack, however, is the skills, experience and the team work of Iran. Ghalenoei, must have a pragmatic approach to this match and be prepared to change game plan and players' options to counteract the tight defenses of Syria.

While Rezaeian will be a key provider of crosses on the right flank for Taremi and Azmoun, the lack of pace and skills of Ezatollahi to cover him, could prove costly in case of counter attacks by Syria. The same can be said on the left side of the defense where Hajsafi is venturing much less than usual but also has no real backing in case he decides to venture forward for crosses.

In fact, it there was a good defensive midfielder in the team, the central defenders would have benefitted a lot and their work cut short playing more comfortably at the back. This is probably the major shortfall of Team Melli right now. Feeble defensive midfield players.

Hossein Kanani is suspended for the match against Syria, which might be a good thing for Iran as he has been error prone in the las three matches. Majid Hosseini, and Shoja'a Khalilzadeh , although not familiar with each other, can still perform the job expected from them.

Saman Ghoddos, at his best, is a key player in Team Melli although , he does tend to drift in and out at times. His defense splitting passing is crucial, as well as the dribbling of Ghayedi and the crosses of Jahanbakhsh. Ghalenoei must introduce a variety of plans to put pressure on the Syrian defense.

Saeed Ezatollahi whose style of play is slow , destructive, and passes somewhat backwards, needs to be counted if he is picked as a starter. He has been one of the weaknesses in the line up as the squad does not have adequate coverage in this department. Cheshmi is more versatile and better defensive player, while Ebrahimi is stronger in tackles and more experienced but Ghalenoei somehow sees something in Ezatollahi that keeps him in the team as a regular starter. It is about time that this midfield performs it defensive duty to help the team and ease the pressure on the defenders.

Team Melli training report

Doha - Al Rayan Training ground.

Iran's national football team continued their preparation for the round 16 match against Syria with an evening session from 18:00 Doha time.

This practice session was held at Al-Rayyan Club. The squad reviewed the tactical plans of the coaching staff for the game against Syria on Wednesday.

Performing tactical tasks in two offensive and defensive phases in two different groups and reviewing tactical goals using small goals was the main part of the team's training today.

In these two sections, Amir Ghalenoei, the head coach, repeatedly reminded the players of the important points by pausing the action as necessary.

Maintaining concentration during the pressure of the game, quick passes and single hits and combined work were the points emphasized in today's training.

In the final part of the practice session, the players took turns in penalty kicks.

Before the start of today's training, Ghalenoei spoke to the players for 15 minutes highlighting important points about the opponents and different game plans which would be used for the game..

Team Melli will continue its training tomorrow from 18:00. The media and press are allowed to attend the practice for the first 15 minutes of this training.

History making Tajikistan advance past UAE

the-afc.com

Al Rayyan: Tajikistan advanced to the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ quarter-finals after a hard-fought 5-3 penalty shootout win over United Arab Emirates on Sunday.

The match was forced into an additional 30 minutes after UAE's Khalifa Al Hammadi scored in the fifth minute of second half added time to cancel out Vahdat Hanonov’s opener at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.

Goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov was Tajikistan’s hero, judging correctly to deny Caio Canedo’s penalty when the shootout was tied 1-1 as the Central Asian side extended their debut campaign to the quarter-finals, with either Iraq or Jordan their next opponents. 

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Both teams showed plenty of attacking intent right from the onset with UAE having the first sights at goal. The chance came within the opening minute as Fabio Lima’s free-kick was palmed away by Tajik goalkeeper Yatimov, followed by striker Canedo’s attempt from outside the box that sailed too high five minutes later.

However, it was Tajikistan who opened the scoring after defender Zoir Dzhuraboev’s inch perfect cross was headed into the bottom left corner of the UAE goal by Hanonov just as the match hit the half-hour mark.

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UAE almost responded immediately with Zayed Sultan’s right-footed attempt from the centre of the Tajikistan box forcing Yatimov into making a diving save.

The Emiratis spent the rest of the first half continuing to make forays into the Tajik penalty area, with charges from the likes of Canedo, Lima and Yahya Al Ghassani, but failed to find a way through. 

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The second half began in similar fashion with both teams maintaining their offensive mindset but it was once again the tournament debutants who came close to doubling their lead with Ehson Panjshabe and Alisher Dzhalilov forcing saves out of UAE captain Khalid Eisa. 

Tajikistan should have gone further ahead in the 60th minute when Parvizdzhon Umarbayev’s through ball found Dzhalilov just outside the box, but the Istiklol midfielder shot straight at Eisa.

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Dzhalilov had another great chance 10 minutes later when Shahrom Samiev sped down the right flank before floating a beautiful cross but the number 10 wasted the golden opportunity by sending the ball wide.

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The missed chances cost Tajikistan as UAE equalised right at the end, with defender Al Hammadi rising high to nod home Ali Saleh’s free-kick in the fifth minute of added time, taking the game to an additional 30 minutes. 

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Neither side looked eager to take risks in added time with Yatimov producing the only save of the shootout to ensure Tajikistan's dream campaign continued.

Thrilling encounters in AFC Asian Cup Round 16

There were some major surprise results in the group stages of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023. Iraq defeated the favorites Japan, while Jordan was on the brink of victory against the mighty Koreans, but finally settled for a 2-2 draw.

Only Iran, Qatar, and Iraq managed to win all the group matches. Japan and Korea Rep were placed as runners-up in their respective groups. As expected Australia and Uzbekistan qualified from their groups while China was stunned and eliminated from Group A.

There were quite a few surprises too in this edition. Tajikistan and Palestine were both qualified for the first time in their history. Indonesia pipped Vietnam to the round 16 qualifiers in another major surprise.

Bahrain topped its group which had Korea Rep, Jordan, and Malaysia. Despite the defeat in the opening match against the Koreans, Bahrain recovered well by winning its remaining matches. Jordan placed third in the group and qualified as one of the best third-rank teams.

Team Melli, had a solitary hiccup against Hong Kong, nevertheless, it won all three matches without much effort. It will be meeting Syria in the Round of 16. Waiting for Team Melli after it defeats Syria is either Japan or Bahrain in what could be an early final.

There were a lot of lessons to be learned from the last time Iran and Japan met in the last edition of the AFC Asian Cup in Al Ain. In that semi-final, Japan destroyed Team Melli in style mainly due to the Iranian player's pressing the self-destruct and lack of discipline.

It would be a good move for Ghalenoei to show his players the full match from 2019 and pinpoint where the Team Melli players possibly went wrong. Saying that, Bahrain could very well spring another surprise by beating Japan in this round. Bahrain has always been a difficult and stubborn opponent for the Persians,

AFC ASIAN CUP QATAR 2023

Last-16
Sunday, January 28

Australia vs Indonesia (Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha 11.30am)
Tajikistan vs United Arab Emirates (Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan)

Monday, January 29

Iraq vs Jordan (Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan)
Qatar vs Palestine (Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor)

Tuesday, January 30

Uzbekistan vs Thailand (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah)
Saudi Arabia vs South Korea (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan)

Wednesday, January 31

Bahrain vs Japan (Al Thumama Stadium, Doha)
Iran vs Syria (Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha)

Taremi's brace sinks the UAE

Al Rayyan: A Mehdi Taremi double earned Iran a 2-1 win over the United Arab Emirates in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ at Education City Stadium on Tuesday.

Taremi opened his Qatar 2023 account in the 25th minute, moving behind the Emirati defence to take advantage of an intelligent Sardar Azmoun pass before coolly slotting home.

Team Melli thought they had doubled their lead in the 33rd minute when Ehsan Hajsafi’s whipped delivery from the left was headed home by Ali Gholizadeh, but following a VAR check, the goal was ruled out for offside.

Coach Amir Ghalenoei’s men started the second half the same way they finished the first and were within a whisker of doubling their lead when Azmoun pounced on a poor clearance on the edge of the Emirati area and hit on the half-volley, but his effort passed just wide.

It was the UAE who had the best chance of the early proceedings of the second period when Yahya Al Ghassani was brought down inside the box by Hossein Kanaani. Al Ghassani stepped up to take the resulting penalty, but his attempt was saved by an excellent diving save from Alireza Beiranvand.

Team Melli’s star duo Azmoun and Taremi combined again to make it 2-0 in the 65th minute when the AS Roma forward cut inside and fed his teammate with a well-weighted pass and Taremi emphatically converted into the roof of the net to double Team Melli’s advantage.

UAE goalkeeper was called upon to make a flying reflex save in the 73rd minute to deny Ramin Rezaeian’s curled free-kick from the left side.

Another VAR call had a goal from substitute Mohammad Mohebi overturned after the Iranian forward was deemed to have fouled Khalid Al Hashemi inside the box in the build-up before he struck the rebound home after Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s initial shot hit the crossbar.

Al Ghassani made up for his missed penalty kick with a decisive goal in added time of the second half as he broke free down the left, cutting inside on his right foot and finding the far corner with his finish to half the deficit.

Despite the defeat, the UAE join their opponents in the Round of 16 as Group C runners-up, edging out Palestine on goal difference after the Palestinians beat Hong Kong, China 3-0 in the simultaneous kick-off at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.

There was joy for Palestine though as they confirmed a first ever knockout stage appearance as one of the best four third-placed teams. 

Team Melli needs to regain the fan's confidence.

What the fans and critics saw from Team Mell's last match is quite different than what Ghalenoei observed from the bench. Apparently, the head coach thought his team played quite well. He referred to the match statistics as proof. He did, however, admit that there were some individual mistakes in the match against Hong Kong.

From our perspective, it was a bad performance from Team Melli. It was quite different than the match versus Palestine where despite gaps in the team, the win was with a big margin. Against Hong Kong, the players were embarrassing at times and certainly, a coach of the caliber of Ghalenoei should not accept that and be courageous enough to admit and mend these shortfalls. Team Melli failed to deliver and was well below the expectations of the fans.

The worry is how the team can deteriorate so badly in a matter of days!

Understandably, that kind of admission would be difficult to announce publically, not from Ghalenoei anyway, however, the hope is that, if Team Melli has a serious aspiration to win the Asian Cup, the players and the coaching staff have to elevate their standards and performance quickly enough to be taken seriously. Right now, Iran is a rank outsider according to opinions here.

There is no doubt that this Iran Team has the full potential and has quality players that can challenge any of the teams here in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023. The match against UAE in a few hours, should not be hard work for Ghalenoei's players, a win is the least of the expectations, anything less than a win will not be satisfactory and will shake the confidence of the fans further.

Absence of Team Melli Fans from the streets of Doha

The Qataris have become professional hard-core organizers of great events. This Asian Cup 2023 is no exception. Everything is well organized for an event of this magnitude. The streets of Doha are vibrant with fans from across Asia, It is colorful, cosmopolitan, relaxing yet exciting. Fans chanting and waving their teams' flags are adding to the flavor of the tournament. However, the conspicuous absence of Iranian fans is disappointing. With Iran being next door and traveling to Doha as easy as flying between two Iranian cities, it is rather puzzling not to see more fans from Iran making the trip.

The match between Iran and the UAE is sold out online. It will be interesting to see how many fans actually attend the match at Education City Stadium.

Obsessions with which team will Iran meet in the round of 16.

Any team that aspires to lift the Asian Cup trophy, has at one stage meet strong opposition. Iranian media here has been speculating, calculating, hoping, and obsessing about the next opponent in the round of 16. The fact remains that as long as Team Melli heads the group, they should be playing a third-rank team of any of the three groups in the round of 16. In theory, that should not be a hard task for Iran.

Iran v UAE: Group C decider

the-afc.com
Doha,
Head coach Paulo Bento highlighted intelligent play and humility as qualities his UAE side need if they are to get a result against Iran in their third match of the AFC Asian Cup™ Qatar 2023 on Tuesday.

The UAE currently sit second in the group with four points to their name, but a defeat at Education City Stadium and other results going against them could see Bento's men exit the competition in the group stage for the first time since 2011.

After a convincing 3-1 win over Hong Kong, China in their opening fixture, the UAE were held to a 1-1 draw against Palestine in a game they finished with 10 men after defender Khalifa Al Hammadi was sent off in the 37th minute. Bento also received a red card just before the final whistle, meaning he will be suspended for the Iran clash.

“Preparation for this match is going as normal,” said Bento.

“We are trying to recover as much as possible. The last game was difficult for us especially after minute 37 when we started playing with one player less. That was an important factor for sure."

“We prepared our strategy for the next game against one of the strongest teams in Asia and the strongest in our group. It is a team that is composed of very good, experienced players, some of them play in high-level competitions. They play together for a long time and they don’t change their way of playing too much.

“It is a team that is easy to see their strengths, but not easy for the opponent to counter them, so we need to make a very good game in many aspects. We should be clever in the way we play against Iran and compete very well and be humble to accept that in some moments we will not dominate the game, so we have to control it in a different way, and reach the best possible result in a different way.”

And while Iran were one of the first teams to book their place in the next round, head coach Amir Ghalenoei acknowledged some problems faced in their last game against Hong Kong, China, insisting his side will not take things easy against the UAE on Tuesday.

“We are happy we were able to qualify for the next round,” said Ghalenoei.

“Based on our analysis and statistics, we had more than 70% possession and completed more than 200 passes against Hong Kong. In this tournament, in only two matches were one of the teams unable to complete 100 passes, one was India vs Uzbekistan and the other one was Hong Kong against us.

“We did have some problems, our passing accuracy was not great, we gave an opportunity to the opponents and their chances came from mistakes of our players, but I want to say thanks to all my players for the effort they put in against Hong Kong."

UAE v IR Iran
Venue: Education City Stadium (Al Rayyan)
Kick-off: 18:00 (UTC+3)

“Tomorrow’s game will not be easy because we want to win and qualify to the second round as leaders. UAE are in good condition under Paulo Bento, and it will not be an easy match, Also Palestine still have a chance to qualify and because of the spirit of fair play, we want to play at our best too.

“Every player in the team knows they should have their best individual performance in order for us to be successful.”

Statistics

TEAMFIFA RankAFC RankPWDLGFGAGD
IRAN21218143126422
UAE648181314426-22

The Tajik heroes make history in Doha

Doha: Head coach Petar Segrt applauded the mental resilience of his players after Tajikistan came from behind to defeat Lebanon 2-1 in their AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ Group A tie on Monday.

Victory meant Tajikistan sealed a place in the knockout stage in their debut campaign, with a Round of 16 clash against the Group C runners-up on Sunday as their reward. 

#AsianCup2023 | Group A : Tajikistan 2 - 1 Lebanon

The 56-year-old may have lost his spectacles amidst the joyous scenes after the final whistle but Segrt could see clearly where the match was won against Lebanon.

“It was a fantastic game, a tough game,” said the Croatian. “Don’t forget, two times we got our goals canceled, it was the right decision but mentally, it can be draining so I’m very proud of my players, they showed great fight.

“Lebanon played well but I thought we would get chances because we could see them tiring, so we just needed to keep attacking. This kind of game, you play for your life. 

“I believe in these boys, they have great characters. Tajikistan people are fighters and they will fight until the end.

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“Just this morning I spoke to Joachim Low (former Germany manager) and told him this is a wonderful tournament and you can see that in this game.

“For us, this is a big dream to qualify for this tournament. Then the dream became to qualify for the knockout stage. Now we dream again.”

Bassel Jradi opened the scoring for Lebanon just after half-time but Kassem El Zein’s red card turned the tide in Tajikistan's favour with Parvizdzhon Umarbaev netting the equaliser in the 80th minute before Nuriddin Khamrokulov headed in the winner two minutes into stoppage time.

A disappointed Lebanon head coach Miodrag Radulovic admitted the red card was the turning point in a match that was seemingly proceeding the way he wanted.

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“It's very difficult to talk after this game because we had everything in our hands,” said Radulovic. “We played a good game, perfect until 56 minutes then after one lapse of concentration, we got a red card. 

“In such a tough game, it’s difficult to play so long with one man less. But I'm proud of my team’s performance and fight. Even with one man less, we still created chances to score. This team has a great future.”

Defeat meant Lebanon’s wait for a knockout stage appearance continues but for Tajikistan, the dream lives on. 

Team Melli sweats it to narrowly defeat Hong Kong!

Team Melli beat Hong Kong 1-0 in its second match of Group C of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.

The only goal of the match was scored by Mehdi Ghayedi in the 24th minute. With this win, Iran has 6 points and is leading the group ahead of UAE with 4 points. The group decider will be against the UAE where Team Mlli needs one point to maintain the top position in the group while the UAE has to win to lead Group C.

In one of the worst performances by Team Melli in recent times, the Ghalenoei team was weak in every aspect of the professional game. Be it the passing, mental agility, tactical discipline, tackling, man marking and agility.

Since Ghalenoei is the responsible person for selecting the players to start the match and for the game plan, it was a bad mark for the Head Coach who has yet to taste defeat since he took over more than a year ago. These days have an eerily remanence of his last time at the helm of Team Melli in 2006 to 2007 ., where the team was performing near perfection until he fell in the last hurdle against South Korea in the Penalty kicks at the quarter-final of the Asian Cup 2007. Most of the criticism back then was targeted at Ghalenoei as he was accused of failing to instill discipline in his team with players acting up in the penalty kicks amongst other shortfalls in the Asian Cup 2007.

In this match, the fans were expecting a bonanza of goals, or at least as many as the team scored against Palestine last time out. But instead, and from kick-off, it seemed that the engines of Team Melli lacked oiling, perhaps needing a major overhaul.

One positive aspect of Ghalenoei's selection is the replacement of Ezatollahi with the much more versatile Cheshmi, despite a few initial errors at the beginning of the game by the Esteghlal holding midfielder. But most of the problems were in Saman Ghoddos who was the MVP of the last game, but in this one, he decided to have a day off! His passing, vision, and dynamism were truly lacking. There was no help from Jahanbakhsh either, Ghaedi was perhaps the only bright star of the whole team and his goal was a testament to his enterprise and energy.

Mehdi Taremi has not done anything to mitigate the fears of the fans who believe that he is not a man for big occasions. Taremi, regrettably, is looking like an amateur league player in Team Melli Jersey. He has yet to score or provide an assist in the last two matches. He seemed to be unaware of Shahriyar Moghanlou's existence in the same team or maybe they were not on speaking terms. There was little passing and understanding between the two forwards. That in itself brings on the question of why Moghanlou if Azmoun is fit and ready.? Nothing of worth came from Jahanbakhsh either.

If that was bad, the worst line of the team was undoubtedly the defense line. How lucky Team Melli was in facing a team that could not shoot straight in Hong Kong? From the shakey Beiranvand to the clumsy Kanani, and wayward Mohammadi, to the disorganization and lack of understanding between the players in a systematic defense, all those were a recipe for disaster. Hong Kong, despite the gallant attempts, just lacked the quality to take advantage of all the gifts awarded to them by the benevolent Team Melli defense.

Iran's defense is truly on shaky ground. They were supposed to have an easy day out supplementing the offensive line, but the reality is that they were quite lucky not to concede goals. That might not be the case next time or in the knockout stages where it is quite likely that defensive blunders will cost Team Melli dearly.

Ghalneoei himself did not fare well either. He was visibly angry on the bench and at times covering his face in embarrassment. If we have to go by the cliche about 'Second Halves' being the coach's half, then the Norwegian Jorn Andersen beat Ghalenoei hands down. He skillfully reorganized his team in the second half, found the weakness of the Iran team, and tightened his central defense while exerting pressure on the flanks to prevent danger from Iranian wingers and half-backs., The only thing that he fell short of, as mentioned before, was the lack of finishers in his team in front of the Iran goal.

Hong Kong has to be credited for this performance.