Category: News

Iran U20 loses to Australia

the-afc.com – Fergana:
Australia held off a late fightback from IIran to win 3-2, reviving their hopes of advancing from Group B of the AFC U20 AFC Asian Cup™ Uzbekistan 2023 on Saturday.
The win means Australia are back in the race for a quarter-final spot after having lost their opener to Vietnam while Iran’s defeat means they will have to do it the hard after failing to build on their victory against Qatar.
Australia, who were aiming to bounce back from their opening day defeat to Vietnam, were almost caught napping seconds into the start when Panashe Madanha failed to clear a dangerous ball which allowed Farhad Zavoshi to stab in a shot but keeper Jack Warshawsky was up to the challenge.
Australia, however, found the breakthrough in the eighth minute when Adrian Segecic released Jed Drew, who in turn fed Aidan Simmons to strike home from close range.
Iran struggled to find their rhythm with Ghorbani barely threatening the Australian backline and the Central Asian side conceded again in the 19th minute.
Australia’s second was spectacular with Segecic squeezing in his free-kick into the bottom left corner, with Iran keeper Adib Zarei left with no chance.
Iran came back fighting and reduced the deficit in the 25th minute with Amirreza Eslamtalab finishing off Mersad Seifi’s cross from the left flank.
Iran almost drew level in the closing seconds of the first half with Ghorbani finding space on the turn before forcing Zarei into a fine save.
Australia were quick off the blocks at the start of the second half and made it 3-1 in the 46th minute, thanks to a well crafted move set up by Alessandro Lopane, who started at the centre before supplying a cutback for Segecic (pictured above, left) to finish.
Iran, desperate to get back into the game, almost replied with an effort of their own moments later with Eslamtalab striking the ball from a tight angle, forcing Warshawsky into a one-handed save.
Australia wasted opportunities to further their advantage in the 67th minute with Drew finishing tamely from the centre of the box before Bernando Oliveira saw his shot saved in the 79th minute.
Iran reduced the deficit in the 80th minute off Alireza Enayatzadeh’s strike from inside the box but Australia stood firm to seal the win and revive their hopes.
Australia will meet Qatar on Tuesday with Iran to face Vietnam.

Iran U20 starts AFC Asian Cup 2023 with victory.

Iran’s U20 team started the AFC U20 Asian Cup 2023 with a positive win against Qatar in Istiqlol Stadium, Fergana.

The only goal of the match came from a penalty that was beautifully struck by Amin Hezbavi in the 65th minute.

Despite the close result, Iran’s U20 dominated the field and was the team most likely to score but for a series of brilliant saves from Qatar Keeper Amir Hassan and some lax finishing by the Iranian players.

In the first half, Iran’s players in their all-white kit started the game aggressively and could have opened Qatar’s goal in the first few minutes, but the Qatari goalkeeper displayed brilliant reflexes to deny the Iranians players. Despite the fact that Iran was the better team in the first half and had many opportunities to score , the half ended in a goalless draw.

In the second half, Samad Marfavi’s players’ stepped up a notch or two and were on the move from the start. The team was more settled and played some beautiful football too.  Qatar were denied any opportunity until the last minute of the injury time when Iran’s keeper Adib Zarei made a finger-tip save to deny Qatar an undeserved equalizer.

While the Iranian team was careful not to fall prey to the Qataris’ quick counter-attacks and opportunism, they continued pressing the Qataris until they were awarded a penalty. In the 65th minute of this match, Iran finally took the lead and scored the winning goal on a penalty kick by Amin Hizbavipour.

Iran always looked the better side in control limiting Qatar to the occasional attacks which bore no fruit for the Marooni of Qatar.

While the team looked side physically and technically with an added bonus of individual skills, There were however those perennial shortfalls in Iranian players, like slowness, poor finishing, wastefulness, and mental strength. These are fundamental weaknesses that have their origin in grassroots football as the result of poor infrastructure, antiquated basic training methods from early ages, and poor tactical discipline. A coach such as Samad Marfavi can do so much in the short span of time that he has with the group to prepare a team for a major championship, however, he must be commended on the fine display by this Javanan team.

Next Match

on Saturday, the 13th of March, Iran will meet Australia at 15:00 local time and  (13:30 Tehran).  The Australians lost their first match against Vietnam in the match earlier.

Group B Standing

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Vietnam 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3
2  Iran 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3
3  Australia 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 0
4  Qatar 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 0

 

IRAN U2O SQUAD

# Pos Player Name Date of birth (age) Club
1 GK Mohammad Khalifeh 19 August 2004(age 18) Persepolis
12 GK Adib Zarei 19 January 2004(age 19) Shahin
22 GK Mohammad Sadegh Salehi 5 March 2004(age 18) Sepahan
2 DF Milad Kor (captain) 19 October 2003(age 19) tractor
5 DF Mehran Feyzabadi 8 July 2003(age 19) Esteghlal
18 DF Ali Akbar Ranjbar 2 February 2004(age 19) Paykan
5 DF Amin Hazbavi 6 May 2003(age 19) Foolad
4 DF Ali rezaei 26 March 2003(age 19) Be’sat Kermanshah
14 DF Mersad Seifi 11 August 2003(age 19) Nassaji Mazandaran
13 DF Amin Pilali 7 January 2003(age 20) kia
6 MF Farhad Zavoshi 8 February 2003(age 20) Havadar
7 MF Hossein Nokhodkar 24 February 2002(age 21) Gol Gohar
8 MF Mohammad HIranossein Zavari 11 January 2001(age 22) Sanat Naft
15 MF Mohammadreza Torabi 18 July 2004(age 18) Esteghlal
16 MF Mohammadreza Bordbar 26 August 2004(age 18) Malavan
21 MF Ahmad Reza Jenadeleh 20 March 2001(age 21) Foolad
23 MF Seyed Reza Mousavian 24 June 2001(age 21) Foolad
9 FW Amir Ebrahimzadeh 31 January 2004(age 19) tractor
19 FW Mojtaba Fakhrian 15 May 2003(age 19) Aluminium Arak
11 FW Salim Toomaj 9 January 2005(age 18) Fenerbahçe
17 FW Amirreza Eslamtalab 30 January 2003(age 20) kia
18 FW Amir Shahim 18 September 2003(age 19) Gol Gohar Sirjan
10 MF Erfan Bagheri 15 December 2003(age 19) kia
20 FW Saeid Saharkhizan 26 January 2003(age 20) Havadar

Iran crushes Saudi Arabia in Thailand’s Futsal Tournament

Iran’s Futsal national team started the NFDF Futsal Championship Pattaya Thailand 2023 with a crushing win against Saudi Arabia this evening.

lead by head coach  Vahid Shamsaei,  Iran defeated the Saudi team 11-0.

After losing the Asian Cup title to Japan, this tournament is the first opportunity to test new players, and in the first step, the players easily defeated the Saudi team, which was one of the surprises in the AFC Asian Cup in Kuwait. Saudi Arabia managed to defeat Japan in the championship. Iran scorers were Hossein Tayyebi and Hamzah Kodkhodaei (three goals each), Saeed Mambini, Saeed Ahmad Abbasi, Mojtabi Parsapour, Salar Aghapour, and Moslim Oladaghbad

The first half of this match ended 3-0 with goals by Hossein Tayibi, Hamzeh Kodkhodaei, and Saeed Membini. While it was expected that Saudi Arabia with its Spanish head coach would put more pressure on Iran in the second half to get back in the match, this did not materialize and the second 20 minutes of the game was completely one-sided in favor of Shamsaei’s men with Saudi Arabia players barely entering the penalty area of Iran’s team.

In the second half, Saudi Arabia’s goal was opened by Hossein Tayyebi (2 goals), Hamzah Kodkhodaei (2 goals), Saeed Ahmad Abbasi, Mojtaba Parsapour, Salar Aghapour, and Muslim Oladaghbad, for the match to end 11-0.  It was a devasting result for the Saudi team which is laying claims to be one f the best teams in Asia. Iran is in the second group of this tournament with Saudi Arabia and Egypt and will face Egypt in the second game at noon on Friday. Japan, Thailand, and Mozambique are present in the other group of this competition which will be held in Pattaya. Mehdi Taj and Ehsan Usoli, the president and spokesperson of the Football Federation, have traveled to Thailand to accompany the team.

2023 AFC Asian Cup to kick off in January 2024!

DOHA, March 1 ) —  AFC Asian Cup  2023 the 18th edition of the continent’s premier tournament will be held from January 12th to February 10th, 2024 in Qatar, the Qatar Football Association (QFA) announced on Tuesday. Qatar is the defending champion.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in China from 16 June to 16 July 2023. On 14 May 2022, the AFC announced that China would not host the tournament due to the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and China’s Zero-COVID policy.

The QFA also announced the establishment of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the AFC Asian Cup, and its president Ahmed Al-Thani was named as the chairman of the LOC.

In October 2022, Qatar was awarded by AFC to host the tournament, which has 24 participating teams.

The draw for the group stages will be announced by AFC based on the seeding of the teams according to the FIFA Ranking of December 2022. However, this seeding might change as the tournament comes closer. Two top teams of each group will qualify for the knock-out stages plus four best third-place teams from the six groups.

From the December 2022 FIFA World Rankings
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
 Qatar (60) (hosts)
 Japan (20)
 Iran (24)
Korea Rep. (25)
 Australia (27)
 Saudi Arabia (49)		  Iraq (68)
 UAE (70)
 Oman (75)
 China (80)
 Syria (90)
 Vietnam (96)		  Lebanon (100)
 Uzbekistan (77)
 Jordan (84)
 Bahrain (85)
 Palestine (93)
 Kyrgyzstan (94)		  India (106)
 Tajikistan (108)
 Thailand (111)
 Malaysia (145)
 Hong Kong (146)
 Indonesia (151)

 

Venues

Five host cities were submitted in the 2023 bid, including seven stadiums prepared for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Lusail Stadium was proposed to host the final and a semi-final, with the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor to host the other semi-final. However, the official stadiums for the tournament have not been announced yet.

 

City/Area Stadium Capacity
Lusail Lusail Stadium 88,966
Al Khor Al Bayt Stadium 68,895
Al Rayyan Khalifa International Stadium 45,857
Ahmad bin Ali Stadium 45,032
Education City Stadium 44,667
Doha Al Thumama Stadium 44,400
Qatar University Stadium 20,600
Al Wakrah Al Janoub Stadium 44,325

Azmoun and Taremi score in Europe.

This weekend in Europe showed the goalscoring of the two Team Melli strikers after a long hiatus. Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi have both scored for their respective teams in the Bundesliga and the Portugues league. However, despite the scoring by their Iranian players, none of the teams won their matches.

Azmoun who has been mainly a bench player in Bayer Leverkusen under Xabi Alonso started the match away to Freiburg a team that is doing quite well in the Europa League and the Bundesliga.  The home team scored a spectacular goal from a free kick by Grifo in the 29th minute. In the second half, a half-volley right-footed shot by Azmoun left Freiburg keeper Bakker desperately stretching to stop it from going to the far corner of the net. Sardar’s equalizer ensures the points are split between the teams.

This was the first goal for Azmoun in the Bundesliga and comes soon after his assist in last week’s match..

While Porto needed to win against Gil Vicente to stay in the title race, they had one player sent off in each half to end playing with the 9-men and losing an important match thus widening the gap with Benfica to 8 points. At home, Porto started the scoring quite early through Mehdi Taremi in the 4th minute. That was, however, the only bright side of the day.  First, João Mario in the 35th minute and then Uribe in the 52nd minute were sent off after receiving a red card. Porto also managed to score a second goal and equalize in the second half, but VAR rejected this goal. Ali Alipour, the Iranian striker of Gil Vicente team, who is injured, was not on the list of this team against Porto. With this result, Porto remained in second place with 51 points; it is unlikely that Taremi’s teammates, who won the championship cup last season, will be able to defend their title this year.

Taj “Team Melli’s head coach name will be announced by March 19th”

Mehdi Taj, the head of the football federation admitted that the people of Iran want a foreign coach for Team Melli, but they should also consider domestic options.

Mehdi Taj also commented on the withdrawal of two Iranian coaches (Ghalenoei and Tartar) from the race to occupy the head coach seat in the national team. ” the federation should use its best capacities and our duty was to invite capable coaches. If a head coach does not consider himself ready, the federation will use its other options. Of course, in the survey, people declared their preference for a foreign coach, but we have good coaches inside the country who can manage the national team under them.”

In response to the question, of whether he held a meeting with the Reublic’s vice president Mr. Mokhbir? Taj said:  “We should use all the support that the government awards us to make the best decision. We were also looking forward to meeting Mr. Mokhbir. As for the Team Melli coach. we have both domestic and foreign options, but we have not reached a conclusion yet. If we form the national team today, we will not be able to provide a player to the new head coach because the players are busy with the League. We have 2 friendly games in March and we will introduce the head coach before the 19th of March. All Football stakeholders including the players are aware of our limitations.”

Taj was asked, “who are the foreign nominees for the Head Coach Job? and is Felix Sanchez, the former head coach of the Qatar national team amongst them?”
In response, he said: “Iranian nominees have been publicized. We are also considering foreign coaches and one of them is the former head coach of Qatar (Felix Sanchez). We also have a number of domestic coaches. The national team is the place of the best and the best will be selected for Team Melli.

“What about foreign currency restrictions and the exchange rate situation, will they have no problem hiring a foreign coach under the circumstances? Taj said: “We will have problems transferring money and paying in hard currency. Also, we don’t want to fall into the same trap as we did with the Wilmots case, and we shouldn’t delay the payment. FIFA rules stipulate the contracts must be honored and not be breached.” Taj added: “If the salary is not paid for three months and the plaintiff complains to FIFA, he can take all the money due to him for the remainder of the contract period. Based on this clause. Stramaccioni, Calderon, Wilmots, and Branco Ivankovic used this ruling to claim all the money and we don’t want to get into this problem. We must be sure that we can fully provide this money. If we are not sure, we will definitely go for the domestic option.

Hossein Faraki seems to be the lead candidate for Team Melli job.

With the withdrawal of Amir Ghalenoei and Mehdi Tarter, the exclusion of Yahya Golmohammadi from the initial list, and the outright rejection of the offer to coach Team Melli by Ali Daei, Hossein Faraki seems to be the leading candidate for the job.

Notwithstanding the two other candidates (Majidi & Nekounam) both of whom have discipline and stability issues in addition to lack of proper international experience required for the job, Faraki seems to tick all the boxes of FFIRI and most importantly to the authorities, being politically acceptable and loyal.

 In an interview with ISNA, Hossein Faraki acknowledged that his name was amongst several for the post of Team Melli head coach and said ” I was offered the chance for the job in a call made by FFIRI leadership. They sent me an invitation and asked me for a roadmap and plan for participating in the AFC Asian Cup 2023. Of course, there are other options and they specified a deadline for me to respond.”

He continued: “Anyway, it is the national team and it is where I played for many years and had coaching experience too. In the last one or two years, I have had proposals from several clubs, which I have not yet decided on. One of the reasons was the Corona issue, and after that, I realized that the place I want to go to, must have the right conditions and atmosphere to conduct my job. Maybe some clubs have problems and lack facilities, and I also wanted to be in a place where the conditions are available so that I can have an impact. I would like to do something for the national team if I can,”

The former coach of the national team added: “If I feel that something can be done, I will think about it. Many people would love to see me take the post and would love for this to happen to me and for me to get what I deserve. There are different opinions in this regard. Some agree and some disagree, but everyone is entitled to his opinions are it should be respected “

” So far I have not sent my program but I am in the process and will soon submit it to the federation. It will be sent by tomorrow and whatever the outcome will be, it will happen.”

“I don’t like to talk about speculation,” Farraki said about the selection of an Iranian or foreign coach for Team Melli. “Anyway, the decision maker is the Football Federation. Many of our coaches have potential and the desire of every coach is to lead the national team. We also need to motivate the Iranian coach. Foreign coaches have their own values, but under the current circumstances, it is better to give the Iranians the opportunity.

Faraki was born in Tehran on 22nd March 1957 and started his playing career with PAS Tehran from 1976 to 1992), He played for Team Melli  (22 caps/11 goals for Iran), and his coaching career included Esteghlal Tehran, Sepahan Isfahan, Persepolis Tehran

Hossein Faraki played for Team Melli in the first Iranian qualification for the World Cup in 1978. He also won third place in the AFC Asian Cup 1980 in Kuwait with the national team. Faraki served as assistant coach to Branko Ivankovic for three years. Faraki also has the experience of being the head coach of Iran’s Omid national team in 2004. He led Foolad Khuzestan to the League Title in 2012-2013. He also led the Sepahan Isfahan team to the title in 2013-2014, so within 2 years, he has led two different clubs to the championship titles in the Iran Premier Football League.

Amir Ghalenoei out of the race for Team Melli head coach job.

One of the main internal options for the leadership of Team Melli has withdrawn from the race.

According to news agency reports, Amir Ghalenoei, Hossein Faraki, Mehdi Tartar, Farhad Majidi, and Javad Nekounam were named as the final five internal options of the Football Federation to lead the national team. Among the candidates, only Amir Ghalenoei has prior experience in leading Team Melli. The former Esteghlal coach and current Gol Gohar Sirjan head coach was at the top of the list, however, Ghalenoei immediately announced his withdrawal.

 On his personal page, Ghalenoei announced his decision in an Instagram post story. The reasons behind his decision were not obvious except for mentioning that the timing was not right for him to accept such a move. Ghalenoei also had a veiled dig against the federation for omitting the names of the leading candidates for the Team Melli job, particularly Yahya Golmohammadi.

On the other hand, it is also reported that Mehdi Tartar has also withdrawn from the race which leaves Hossein Faraki, Mehdi Tartar, Farhad Majidi, and Javad Nekounam as the three choices. The latter has just abandoned his job as head coach of Foolad Khuzestan while still involved in the race for AFC Asian Champions League title. His petulant and highly unethical attitude makes Nekounam unworthy of coaching the National Team of Iran. His poor record in coaching and the controversies that seem to surround him in every match create unhealthy surroundings in Team Melli.

Farhad Majidi is no better than Nekounam either.

From that list, Hossein Faraki seems to be the only viable coach with experience and the right conduct for the job.

Meanwhile, the head of the football federation emphasized that we are in no rush to choose the head coach of the national team and said: “We are currently busy with holding league games and there is no possibility of forming a national team. We are thinking about both Iranian and foreign options and we have to choose the option of the head coach of the national team with special prudence and sensitivity (….) ”

A perennial failure figure in selecting a proper coach for Team Melli, Mehdi Taj is known for his authoritarian decision-making. He has always been prompted and guided by the government in form of the Minister of Sports. Therefore the appointment of the future Team Melli coach will be highly dependent on that person’s loyalty to the regime values, Islamic revolutions principles, and being an obedient servant, much more than his competency, experience, and skills in coaching.

The options for domestic coaches are quite narrow, while a foreign coach seems to be a remote possibility due to figures that the FFIRI cannot possibly afford to pay in addition to the crumbling of the Iranian currency against the dollar.

 

Minister of Sports in critical condition following the helicopter crash.

A helicopter carrying the minister of sports on Thursday evening, crashed while landing in the sports complex of Baft city, in Kerman province. There were multiple injuries and one death due to the crash.

According to ISNA, the head of the Kerman Emergency Services Directorate said that Hamid Sajjadi, the sports minister suffered a cerebral hemorrhage as a result of the helicopter crash, and the work of transferring him from the hospital to the provincial medical centers is underway. Also, Ismail Ahmadi, the director general of the sports minister’s office, was one of the victims of the helicopter accident carrying the sports minister, who died in this accident. His body will be flown to Tehran.

According to eyewitnesses at the scene of the crash, the helicopter lost control and auto-rotated near the ground while attempting to land. The governor of Kerman said: “The helicopter carrying the Minister of Sports had twelve passengers who were injured while landing in Baft Stadium, but the condition of the passengers is good. The helicopter landed once but then bounced off the ground and lifted into the air but shortly after it came crashing down to the ground. The cause of the accident, which the observers attributed to pilot error and heavy landing is under official investigation .

The Iranian Red Crescent has announced that 16 people were injured in this incident which means that at least four people on the ground have also been injured.

In the latest news update, it is announced that Sajjadi’s condition is critical.

Javad Nekounam leaves his post abruptly after Foolad qualifies for the semi Finals!!

The head coach of Foolad Khuzestan and ex-Team Melli player, Javad Nekounam has resigned from his post right after leading his team against the Saudi Arabian side, Al Faisly in the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League western region.

After winning the tight match 1-0 with a goal scored by Sasan Ansari in Al Janoob Stadium in Doha, and advancing to the quarter-finals to meet the defending Champion Al Hilal, whom they play in two days’ time, Nekounam left abruptly in a classic unprofessional behavior that he is by now quite famous for. Contrary to his claims of being a professional football coach who learned his trade from his playing days in La Liga, one of the top and most professional leagues of the world, Nekounam was far from that.

Foolad is the only remaining Iranian club in the competition and qualification to the quarter-finals of the continent’s elite club competition is a unique achievement for the Khuzestani club and is also remarkable since the club is struggling in the domestic league. Foolad’s victory is also helping with the overall points credit for the Iranian clubs and the quota for next year’s competitions. Javad Nekonam’s resignation minutes after the final whistle of the sweet win against The Saudi team, was not only insensitive but also spoilt what was a big day for the Khuzestanis.

Nekonam’s resignation is a big shock for the club. The Foolad management has not accepted his resignation, but Nekounam was not present in the draw for the quarter-final round that pitted Foolad against Al Hilal. It is not known if the resigned coach has left Doha for Tehran either.

However, the question remains what was the reason behind Nekonam’s resignation despite his claim in the pre-match press conference that he is a professional coach? Such unprofessional behavior in the middle of this important tournament is far from ethical or professional.

There has been much talk and rumors about Javad Nekounam replacing Queiroz as the head coach of Team Melli. There are already rumors that his resignation is related to this subject and this rumorer was influenced by some reports in the Spanish media that claims Nekounam is on his way to take over Team Melli.