Jahanbakhsh scores a brace for Feyenoord.

Team Melli winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh scored twice in the opening 34 minutes on his third appearance for Feyenoord at home to Lucern in the Europa Conference League against Swiss club Luzern.

The match ended 3-0 for Feyenoord for an aggregate of 6-0 win and qualification to the next round. The second goal by Jahanbakhsh was rather spectacular and was a reminder of Alireza during his heydays in AZ Alkmaar where he scored at will and managed to win the Golden Boot award of the Eredivisie.

The bad news is that Jahanbakhsh left the field limping.  The Iranian winger was on fire but just before the break he hobbled off injured and had to be replaced by Robert Bozenik.

Jahanbakhsh joined Brighton for a record club fee and endured two miserable seasons under Graham Potter management before moving on to Feyenoord this summer for a reported fee of less than 1 million Euro.

The attacking midfielder and winger will be playing under a completely different environment in Feyenoord a club that is usually at the top of the leagues and compete for trophies and honors, while in Brighton he was playing for a club whose highest success and ceiling of ambition are to remain in the premiership and avoid relegation, year in years out.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh - Feyenoord

Team Melli complexion is changing rapidly.

After the transfer of Sepahan’s and Team Melli Captain Ehsan Hajsafi to AEK Athens, Iran has just five players playing in the domestic Persian Gulf league. That puts Iran among the group of countries whose majority of the national team players play abroad. These countries, including World Cup holder France and FIFA Top ranking team Belgium, have only a few footballers that are based at home.

With the conclusion of the 2020/21 season of the Persian Gulf League in which Persepolis won the title for the fifth time in a row, 3 significant transfers were confirmed. Hossein Kanani from Al Ahli of Qatar from Persepolis, Payam Niazmand to Portimonense of Portugal, and Ehsan Hajsafi to AEK Greece from Sepahan, the last 23-man squad of Team Melli home-based players reduced to five only,

Vahid Amiri,  Milad Sarlak, Ahmad Nourollahi, Mehdi Torabi (all Persepolis), and Mehdi Ghaedi (Esteghlal) are the only players present in the World Cup qualifiers who are based in Iran. As for the latter player, Mehdi Ghaedi, his suitors have increased since his brilliant performance in AFC Champions League. Farhad Majidi announced a while ago, that he will not stop Ghaedi from seeking his fortunes in other pastures to improve his standard, which means the possible transfer of the best current talent in Iranian football to a foreign club.

The full list of Team Melli with 19 players

Team Melli legionnaires also include the following players who were not part of the squad for the return legs of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, who could be possibly invited to the next stage of qualifiers. These 6 players are as follow

In total 25 (83%) players are legionnaires out of 30

It is quite possible that under these circumstances, Iran will probably not have any players from domestic league playing for the country in the national team for several years to come, and there will be no trace of the old superiority and total control of Team Melli squad by the to poles of Iran football, Esteghlal, and Persepolis.

Several years ago, at the time of the decline of the domestic leagues of France and Belgium, all the players of these two powerful national teams were players working outside the domestic leagues. It seems that no player from the Belgian league was in the Red Devils’ starting line-up at Euro 2020 this year, and that was the case in France before the re-emergence of Paris Saint-Germain in France as one of the top teams in Europe.

The standard of Iran’s domestic league has fallen quite badly in the last few years due to several factors. Total government hegemony on clubs, chronic incompetent management, nepotism, poor coaching, politics, lack of resources, favoritism, corruption, and exceptional indiscipline have all resulted in a league that is relegated in the AFC Asian ranking to mid tables.

Iranian clubs have never won the AFC Champions League and the last time a club from Iran won a trophy was back in 1990/91 when Esteghlal won the Asian Club Championship, the predecessor of Champions League.

Official: Ehsan Hajsafi signs with AEK Athens.

Team Melli Captain Ehsan Hajsafy joined the Greek club AEK Athens. HajSafi who traveled to Athens after finishing his season with Sepahan in the 20th edition of the Persian Gulf League, officially signed a contract with the Greek side this evening. The contract of the captain of the Iranian national team with this club is until the end of the summer of 2023.

Hajsafi will be joining Karim Ansarifard in AEK Athens.

Hajsafi (31 years) previously played for Panionios in the 2017–2018 season and played 14 matches scoring 1 goal before moving briefly to 2018 Olympiacos where he played 6 times and scored 1 goal. AEK is one of the three most successful teams in Greek football (including Olympiacos and Panathinaikos), winning 30 national titles. The team is coached by the Serbian Vladan Milojević.

Hajsafi has played 113 games for Team Melli since his debut against Zambia in a friendly in May 2008. He scored 6 goals for Team Melli.

Taremi wins best Champions League Goal Award.

The Iran international has been recognized by European football’s main governing body for his acrobatic effort in the Champions League quarter-finals

Porto striker Mehdi Taremi has won the UEFA Goal of the Season award for his stunning bicycle kick against Chelsea.

Taremi scooped the prize as a reward for scoring Porto’s last-gasp winner in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie with Chelsea on April 13.

The Portuguese outfit ultimately exited the competition 2-1 on aggregate to the eventual winners, but their talismanic frontman has secured a place in European football history after receiving 30 percent of the final vote for the best goal of 2020-21.

Taremi’s wonder strike

There did not appear to be a lot on when Porto substitute Nanu raced down the right-wing in stoppage time at Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, but he managed to produce a perfectly weighted cross that found its way to Taremi with his back to goal.

The Iran international could have tried to bring the ball down before letting fly, but instead trusted his goalscoring instincts to unleash a sensational first time overhead kick, which flew into the top corner and left Blues goalkeeper Edouard Mendy rooted to the spot.

Who did Taremi beat to the award?

60,000 votes were cast for the UEFA prize in total, with Italy talisman Lorenzo Insigne coming in second for his superb individual goal against Belgium in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals, which ultimately gave the Azzurri a 2-1 victory before they went on secure the trophy with wins against Spain and England.

Rangers star Kemar Roofe has completed the top three, having been recognized for the spectacular long-range effort he produced in a Europa League group stage clash with Standard Liege.

Taremi’s overall record for Porto

Taremi joined Porto from Rio Ave last August and quickly established himself as the focal point in Sergio Conceicao’s set-up at Estadio do Dragao.

The 29-year-old scored 23 goals in his debut season with the Primeira Liga club, including his wonder goal against Chelsea, while also recording 18 assists.

Iran Futsal wins the Continental championship 2021

Iran National Futsal Team defeated host Thailand in the final of the Continental championship 2021.

In the match held this Friday afternoon, Iran was facing its toughest opponent in the tournament in host Thailand. Buy the final whistle, The Persian came out 5 -1 winners to clinch the title in which 8 teams participated.

Playing a silky futsal and with a dazzling performance, Iran made it look easy against a tough Thai team that struggled to beat weaker teams on its way to the final. Within minutes of the start, Iran scored, and by half time Team Melli was 3-0 up0.

In the second half, Iran continued as they left scoring two more goals to make it 5-0. Thailand scoring a consolation  3minutes before the final whistle.

Alireza Rafiei (2 goals), Behzad Azimi (2 goals), and Farhad Tavakoli scored for Iran. The Iranian national futsal team is preparing for a strong presence in the Futsal World Cup 2021 in Lithuania to improve on the previous tournament result.

Iraq football federation to protest FIFA’s decision.

The Iraqi Football Federation intends to sue the world football governing body FIFA for denying it hosting its matches at home citing security reasons.

FIFA’s decision to deprive the country of hosting the World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers. In a letter to the Iraqi Football Federation yesterday, FIFA stated that the country could not host its World Cup qualifiers due to its security situation, and therefore should nominate a third country to host the home matches. FIFA’s decision has been met with objections from the Iraqi Football Federation, to the extent that they intend to sue the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The Iraqi website also wrote that in the second step, the Iraqi Football Federation intends to ask FIFA and the AFC to hold a return match between Iran and Iraq at the Basra Stadium, which is scheduled to take place in Iraq. However, the Iraqi Sports website wrote that the federation has introduced Qatar as its host to FIFA for the first time, but will try to persuade FIFA to reverse this decision.

The chances of Iraq hosting its home games are slim as the CAS hearing normally takes a long time and chances are that the qualifiers will be over by the time a ruling is issued.

Iraq is in Group A of the World Cup Qatar 2022 third-round qualifiers along with Iran, Korea Rep., Syria, Lebanon, and UAE

Italian media: Roma loses Azmoun to Bayer Leverkusen!

According to some Italian media, Azmoun is heading towards the Bundesliga. The Team Melli central forward who opened his scoring this season with a goal this weekend is the center of much speculation about his immediate future. The player himself is tight-lipped so is the Russian club, but that does not prevent daily news about his possible transfer out of Zenit.

footballItalia.net has published the following report today:

Roma are expected to miss out on Zenit St Petersburg center-forward Sardar Azmoun, as Bayer Leverkusen are closing on a deal.

The Giallorossi and Germans were both interested in the 26-year-old Iran international.

His contract with Zenit is due to expire in June 2022 and he seems ready to move on for a new experience.

According to Tuttomercatoweb, Roma are not going to pursue Azmoun, as he has already pledged his future to Bayer Leverkusen. The Bundesliga outfit still needs to agree terms with Zenit, who are asking for circa €20m.

However, they are expected to whittle it down and probably get closer to that fee than Roma was prepared to pay.

Azmoun has 34 goals in just 52 senior caps for Iran, playing his club football for Rubin Kazan, Rostov and since February 2019 at Zenit.

He found the net 19 times in 29 competitive games for Zenit St Petersburg last season, as well as setting up six goals for his teammates.

Iran’s Futsal to meet Uzbekistan in the Semi-Finals

Uzbekistan beats Iran in Thai Futsal Tournament semi-final

The Iranian national futsal team will face Uzbekistan in the semi-finals of the Continental Futsal Championship.

On matchday 3 of the championship, a shock defeat was registered when Kosovo were beaten by Mozambique while the host Thailand escaped narrowly after defeating Uzbekistan. Yesterday, Kosovo managed to stop Thailand the tournament host, but today it lost to a weak Mozambican team and failed to advance to the semi-final.

In the last match of the group,  Thailand and Uzbekistan played a close competitive game. Thailand finally managed to defeat Uzbekistan 4-3 to jump to the top of the group. The Thai team along with Uzbekistan advanced from the first group while Iran and Egypt qualified from the second group for the semi-finals.

The semi-finals will take place on Thursday, with Iran facing Uzbekistan and Thailand facing Egypt.

 

Earlier in the championship, Iran emerged victorious over Tajikistan on Monday with a 7-0 win over their opponents in Group B. In its first group match, the Iranian futsal team defeated Lithuania 5-0.

Iran participates in the competition as part of the preparation for the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup, which will be held in Lithuania from Sept. 12 to Oct. 3.

Iran is in Group F along with Argentina, the U.S., and Serbia.

25-30/7/2021

Venue: Show DC Hall 1

Live Streaming: Futsal Thailand FB page and Thairat On Line Youtube Channel

Nations

Group A
A1 – Thailand
A2 – Uzbekistan
A3 – Kosovo
A4 – Mozambique

Group B
B1 – IR Iran
B2 – Egypt
B3 – Tajikistan
B4 – Lithuania

Fixture

25/7/2021
10.30 Egypt vs Tajikistan 1-0 (1-0)
12.45 IR Iran vs Lithuania 5-0 (5-0)
15.00 Uzbekistan vs Kosovo 6-3 (3-3)
17.15 Thailand vs Mozambique 6-4 (6-1)

26/7/2021
10.30 Lithuania vs Egypt 4-2 (2-1)
12.45 Tajikistan vs IR Iran 0-7 (0-4)
15.00 Mozambique vs Uzbekistan 0-10 (0-2)
17.15 Kosovo vs Thailand 6-6 (2-2)

27/7/2021
10.30 Tajikistan vs Lithuania 9-2 (3-1)
12.45 IR Iran vs Egypt 2-2 (1-0)
15.00 Kosovo vs Mozambique 1-2 (0-2)
17.15 Thailand vs Uzbekistan 4-3 (1-2)

Continental Futsal Championship – Group A Standing
1. Thailand ——————–3-2-1-0-16-13-7
2. Uzbekistan ——————3-2-0-1-19–7-6
3. Mozambique ——————3-1-0-2–6-17-3
4. Kosovo ———————-3-0-1-2-10-14-1

Continental Futsal Championship – Group B Standing
1. IR Iran ———————3-2-1-0-14–2-7
2. Egypt ———————–3-1-1-1–5–6-4
3. Tajikistan ——————3-1-0-2–9-10-3
4. Lithuania ——————-3-1-0-2–6-16-3

29/7/2021

7/8 place final
Group A 4th ranked vs Group B 4th ranked
10.30 Kosovo vs Lithuania

Semifinals

SF 1 – Group B Winners vs Group A Runners up
13.30 IR Iran vs Uzbekistan

Group A Winners vs Group B Runners up
SF2 – 16.30 Thailand vs Egypt

Iran granted hosting World Cup qualifiers matches.

Team Melli will host its home matches in the third qualifying round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in Tehran.

According to the FIFA website, the venue for Iran’s first match against Syria is Azadi Stadium. FIFA has chosen Azadi to put an end to the speculations over the past few days and weeks about the hosting being taken away from Iran. Thus, Team Melli will play all five home matches in Tehran if the matches are played are to be played on Home and Away format rather than a round-robin tournament in a single country.

FIFA prefers home and away because it has always been played in this format since the inception of the tournament. There have been the odd times that teams played in a single venue, especially in Aisa due to logistics, but Home and Away is the standard that FIFA likes to adhere to.

The scenario of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is different, which has always been to deprive Iran of hosting its matches. These politically motivated moves are the results of Gulf Arab countries lead by Saudi Arabia, both to uphold its hostility towards Iran and also to gain an unfair advantage on the pitch!

In the second qualifying round of the World Cup, Bahrain was chosen as a host.  FIFA also agreed to approve Jordan to host Syrian national matches, but the venue for the Iraq Games has not yet been determined yet and it is not clear in which country Iraq will host its opponent in the qualifiers including the Iranian national team.

This arrangement could be nullified if FIFA or the governments of the participating teams apply strict entry conditions as a result of COVID19.

Kayserispor signs Ali Karimi

Another transfer is concluded in Kayserispor, which wants to make a name for itself this season and enter the 10th league with force. After the yellow-reds reached an agreement with Seyed Majid Hosseini,  another Iranian Ali Karimi will follow suit. The experienced player will arrive in the city in the coming few days.

Having had an ambitious transfer season, Kayserispor strengthened its squad with Onur Bulut, Lionel Carole, Emrah Bahşsan, Majid Hosseini, and Bilal Bayazıt.  In the Central Anatolia team, where the work continues, the Ali Karimi bomb explodes this time. The player whose contract has expired will be signed for 4 years.

Recommended to big teams

Last season team Melli player Ali Karimi, whom Kayserispor agreed in principle to sign and expected in the city soon, was a name on the radar of four big teams in Turkey, especially Trabzonspor. The 27-year-old football player, who was recommended to the teams looking for a trouble-free name in their club, did not get the right offer he was waiting for, so he chose to move to Qatar. He played for Qatar SC and then loaned to Al-Duhail, one of the most important clubs in the country. After his contract has expired at the end of the season, he was released and will have the opportunity to play in Turkey, which he wanted so much before.