SURPRISE…Dragan Skocic contract expires in 2023!

After achieving qualification to the third round of FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers, the head of FFIRI announced on his return from Bahrain that the contract of Team Melli coach has expired and after consultation with board directors of the FFIRI, a decision will be forthcoming.

In an interview with a sports TV show last night in Iran, Dragan Skočić has said that his contract is valid up to 2023 and there is no requirement for any action unless the federation wants him out!

Despite the difficult job of achieving qualification after a disastrous run under the Belgian Wilmots, Dragan Skocic’s fate as Head Coach was put under question by the leader of Iran’s football federation.

While the Football Federation is said to be reluctant to continue working with Skocic, the Croatian coach insists he has a legally binding contract until 2023 and that the federation can only terminate his contract if Iran fails to qualify for the World Cup. In his interview, the Croat coach stated that his contract is simple and concise, he also mocked the contract of his predecessor Marc Wilmots, while saying that his contract figure is not as high as Wilmots.

“I am still the head coach of the Iranian national team and I have a contract,” said Skocic, who appeared on Channel 3 last night. “The fact that I am here and I talk to you in person means that I have not gone away and I have a contract. Of course, my contract is not as expensive as Wilmots’. The problem of deciding on my contract is not a big problem either.”

In response to the question of whether the contract was not until the end of the second qualifying round of the World Cup as claimed by Shahab Azizi Khadem, the head of FFIRI, Skocic emphatically said “NO”. He elaborated further ” My contract is valid until 2023, but the contract stipulates that if we do not advance to the next round or fail to qualify for the World Cup, the contract will be terminated. My contract is until 2023, but it is performance-based. My contract is available. I am telling you the facts.”

“My contract does not contain too many clauses and it is compact. The Wilmots contract, on the other hand, needs to be reviewed several times by experts to understand, if that, but my contract is concise. They can replace me whenever the federation thinks I’m not good enough.”

Asked if he has talked to the president of the FFIRI?”  Skocic said” I did not talk to the president of the football federation regarding the contract. There was no need to negotiate. “

 

“How is your relationship with the president FFIRI?” In response, Skočić replied “I have a normal and professional working relationship with the president of the federation. I do not expect a very warm relationship, but we do our job professionally.”

“You are right, but it is not a matter for me to decide,” Skočić said, referring to the fact that he had been speaking the FFIRI president for a long time after Team Melli achieved qualification to the next round but had not negotiated any term of the contract. “I am not the addressee of this question. I have a contract and other issues do not concern me. I am not here to see what the signs and symptoms are,” he said in response to the fact that all of this could be a sign that the federation is unwilling to continue working with him.”

“I did my job well. I have a contract and the management of the federation will decide. They have a responsibility. That’s the whole story. It’s a simple story. I know you want my answer to be more, but that’s all there is to it. “

Skocic on whether this is a normal situation that has not been negotiated with so far and they have not asked him for a plan for the next camp? He said “I had a lot of hard work done. I am proud to be the coach of a national team. My goal is to reach the World Cup. I had a considerable share in this success, but this is no longer my decision.”

Regarding his feelings about these rumors surrounding his future with Team Melli, he clarified ” I am a professional. I want to say from the bottom of my heart that I did not get involved in these matters. After this tournament, I was so tired that I could not even watch the Euro games anymore. I only watched the games of the Croatian national team and I could not think of anything more.”

Skočić, stating that we should look at Iran as one of the strongest teams in Asia, said about Iran’s possible opponents in the next stage: “We are seeded as the leader of our group, Japan being the other. We have to prepare ourselves for every match. It does not matter which team is grouped with us. Our quality is good enough to succeed in the next stage. I did my best and gave it everything I had. I was trusted to deliver and I did I do not worry about what decision is going to be made regarding my future” Skočić said.

“This is not my responsibility. I do not occupy my mind with things over which I have no control upon. My contribution to this success was considerable. I do not like to be pitiful or talk politically. I am ready to continue with the national team because I worked hard for 15 months. If the federation decides otherwise, we should know that I am an ordinary person.”

Besides the persistent stupid questions by the TV anchor, the fact that Shahab Aziz Khadem has clearly lied is quite an embarrassment. He is not the first head of FFIRI that has blatantly falsified the facts and mislead the public as all his predecessors have done so with impunity.  It is a pathetic but accepted fact that leaders and administrators of football federation lie quite often in Iran all in the name of the people of the country!!

No support for Skocic and dead silence in crucial days for Team Melli.

After the successful return of the squad from Bahrain, Azizi-Khadem, the president of the Football Federation commented on Skocic’s contract situation by saying that he should consult with the members of the board of directors of the Federation to come up with a decision!

After these incomprehensible and dumb words of the president, we no longer saw any official reaction;  except for the comments of the national team media director in an interview, in which he did not offer any sign of support to Skocic not even applauding his achievement!!

It seems like FFIRI either wants to force Skocic to withdraw from the contract negotiation or wait for the draw for the next qualifying round of the World Cup when Iran’s opponents will be known and thereafter evaluate if an extension of the contract with Skocic is worthwhile. That is precisely the reason why Carlos Queiroz’s rumors of a return to his old job are not explicitly denied by the Football Federation, according to some informed sources.

 In terms of domestic options, it does not seem that Yahya Golmohammadi or Amir Ghalehnoei, who have a multitude of problems in their own teams these days, will be candidates for the Team Melli bench. The only domestic option that remains in contention is that of Ali Daei, but it is not possible to determine his willingness to take the job with certainty. Common sense, however, dictates that the first choice of the FFIRI for Team Melli is Mr. Skocic.

These days, most of the fans and experts expect the Football Federation to renew Skocic’s contract, but on the other hand, no one knows what Dragan’s offers to extend the contract to the federation are. No one knows the amount he demanded from Azizi Khadem, no one knows how long he has planned for his contract.

It is only immense wishful thinking to expect proper organization and advanced planning of such an important appointment as Head Coach of Team Melli.  In Germany, the successor of Lowe in the national team (Mannschaft) is already known months ahead. No suspense, no drama, no under-the-table payment, no agent fees, and nothing but the interest of the National Team and the country. In Iran, that will be a miracle if such things occur. American Sanctions is such a good excuse for their incompetence, inadequacy, and lack of proffecency, they will revert to it if things fall apart.

Daei welcomes Ronaldo breaking his record.

Tehran (AFP)

Iranian football great Ali Daei is ready for Cristiano Ronaldo to break his all-time international goalscoring record, perhaps during Euro 2020.

The ‘Shariar’ (King in Persian) scored a remarkable 109 goals in 149 appearances for Iran between 1993 and 2006, an achievement many thought would never be matched.

But Ronaldo is fast closing in, moving to 106 international goals from 176 games with his double in Portugal’s 3-0 win over Hungary in Budapest on Tuesday.

Daei has said on several occasions that he would be “delighted” if Ronaldo broke his record, as he believes the Juventus striker ranks among the best three players in history, alongside Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona.

“Records are made to be broken,” Daei told Khabar Online news agency in 2018.

“Ronaldo really has the qualities to do it. I have a lot of respect for him. He is such a great player that it isn’t even necessary to sing his praises.”

Ronaldo’s record chase fascinates the Iranian press, with articles about him published every time the 36-year-old edges closer to Daei’s tally.

Daei was prolific against other Asian sides, netting five times in a 7-0 win over Sri Lanka in 1996 and scoring four goals in a game on four other occasions, including in a historic 17-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Guam.

He was not just flat-track bully, though, setting up the winning goal, scored by Mehdi Mahdavikia, in Iran’s famous 2-1 victory over the United States at the 1998 World Cup.

Daei also captained his side at the 2006 World Cup before retiring from international football aged 37.

He was the first Iranian to play in one of Europe’s big leagues, in Germany, first with Arminia Bielefeld and then at Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin.

Having later turned to coaching, he became known for his outspokenness and spats with referees, opposing managers, and club presidents.

– Living legend –

But the 52-year-old Daei remains a living legend in his home country, even boasting 6.7 million followers on Instagram.

He has branched out into different fields, including business, and also has an engineering degree from the prestigious Sharif University in Tehran. Politically, he sometimes disagrees with the ruling government, in power since the Islamic revolution in 1979. A rare figure acting in civil society in Iran, he regularly takes a stand on major social and humanitarian issues.

In 2017, when aid from the authorities was slow to be provided, he launched a campaign to support the people in the western province of Kermanshah after an earthquake that killed more than 600 people. But Daei has always said he would not enter politics.

“My late father told me not to think about politics and never get involved personally,” he told the Varzesh sports website last month.

“I have never supported or will support any candidate in the Iranian presidential election.”

Daei is now a successful businessman — he owns a sportswear company and is also the head of construction projects in northern Tehran.

Maybe that is a field where he can still compete with Ronaldo, who promotes a hotel chain in his name, if the Portuguese takes his on-pitch record.

VAR threatens Iran home games hosting!

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced yesterday that it will utilize the video assistance referee system (VAR) in the third round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers, which will commence by September 2021. Although it is not yet clear how this stage of the tournament will be held, the Saudi newspaper “Al-Eqtisadiyah”, quoting an informed source in the AFC, said that the organization’s intention is to hold the games based on home and away system. Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the AFC decided that AFC Champions League for the past two seasons would be held in a single country. The second round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers was also held centrally in one country from each group (with the exception of the China group which was sh9fted to UAE after the authorities in China refused bending the quarantine rule).

if the AFC decided that the third round of the World Cup qualifiers will be carried out on a home and away basis. the use of VAR will be mandatory. Some Asian countries have not introduced such a system, amongst them is Iran.  This technology has been used in recent years in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, but Iran’s Football Federation (FFIRI) and the local broadcaster IRIB have not yet been able to purchase this system due to financial and infrastructure problems. One of the reasons Persepolis lost the hosting of the 2020 Asian Champions League final was the lack of VAR technology.

It seems that along with some other problems that Iranian football currently has to host, the lack of a VAR will further cause the Iranian national team to be deprived of hosting in the most critical stage of the World Cup qualifiers. Iran is seeded in pot A along with Japan for the third qualifying round of the World Cup and is likely to be grouped with teams such as Australia, South Korea, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE

FIFA Ranking for AFC third Round World Cup 2022 qualifiers

FIFA.com

Kuala Lumpur: 12 teams in Asia are still in contention to qualify for the World Cup Round 3 draw to take place on 1 July in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The path to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ has reached a pivotal stage in Asia. Twelve teams have qualified for the third round after a nearly two-year long journey in Round 2.

Group winners Syria (A), Australia (B), IR Iran (C), Saudi Arabia (D), Japan (F), United Arab Emirates (G) and Korea Republic (H) will be joined by the five best runners-up: China PR (A), Oman (E), Iraq (C), Vietnam (G) and Lebanon (H).

Qatar finished as winners of Group E, but as hosts have already qualified for the World Cup and will not participate in the next round of qualifying.

What’s next?

The 12 teams will be split into two groups of six in a home-and-away, round-robin format. The winners and runners-up in each group (four total) will qualify directly for the World Cup Finals, while the third-placed teams will advance to a playoff, where they will play to determine which team will advance to the intercontinental playoff.

When’s the draw?

The third round draw will be conducted on 1 July in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Games in the third round are scheduled to be played on the following match days: 2 September 2021, 7 September 2021, 7 October 2021, 12 October 2021, 11 November 2021, 16 November 2021, 27 January 2022, 1 February 2022, 24 March 2022 and 29 March 2022

How will the seedings for the draw work?

FIFA has released a special FIFA Ranking specifically for Asia today, 18 June 2021, which will be used to determine the seeding for the draw. Qatar, while ranked fifth in this ranking and winners of Group E in Round 2, will not be participating in the third round.

How will the draw work?

Teams will be divided into six pots according to the FIFA Ranking published on 18 June 2021: Pot 1: Teams ranked 1-2, Pot 2: 3-4, Pot 3: 5-6, Pot 4: 7-8, Pot 5: 9-10, Pot 6: 11-12.

The pot number corresponds to the position the team will be placed in the group. The first and second ball drawn from each pot will be placed in Groups A and B respectively.

The draw will begin with Pot 6, where the first ball drawn will be placed in position A6. The next ball drawn will be placed in position B6, until the sequence is completed all the way through to Pot 1.

POT 1 POT 2 POT 3 POT 4 POT 5 POT 6

Iran vs Iraq : Players Ratings

Beiranvand [#1]: Not really tested in this game but when his presence was required he was solid and assuring. His distribution of the ball could have been better otherwise he kept a clean sheet and was one of the more relaxed players on the team.  7/10

Khalilzadeh [#4]: Dominant in the air and won his tackles well. Defended well while continuing to show his worth in the heart of the defense. Hardly put a foot wrong.  He is guaranteed a starting place   8/10
Kanani [#13 ]: Loose in possession early on and quite nervous. His tackles bordered on the dangerous side at times. He was easily dribbled by Iraqi forward, his teammates covered his failure well. Still not quite the reliable center defender that Team Melli needs. He is a liability against stronger teams. 5/10

Moharrami [#2]: Apart from that silly yellow card he received, his work was done flawlessly. He did not venture forward as much as he wanted  7/10
Hajsafi [3]: A very good performance in the left-back post after playing all the previous matches as a holding midfielder. His defending was  solid but the pass assist that he provided Azmoun was world Class 8.5/10

Nourollahi [15]: Ran the midfield closing down the Iraqi counterparts and breaking their supply line. He is still a work in progress in midfield and lacks the consistency to make him an asset for Team Melli 6.5/10 
Ezatollahi [6]: Still not that old Ezatollhi with his tremendous physical strength and tackles. Needs time to gel with his teammates as he is been away too long. 6/10

Gholizadeh [18]: Continues to impress although, in this match, he was more conservative in his moves. Missed a glorious chance to score when he wiggled past the Iraqi defenders only to shoot quite mildly exactly where the Iraqi keeper was standing! 7/10

Jahanbakhsh [#7}: Not convincing for a player of his caliber. He was nervous and some of his mistakes could have been costly like when he lost his own ball that ended in a bad tackle on the Iraqi player. This could have been a straight red card. Still not fully ready for international matches. The insistence of Skocic on playing him is a mystery as he adds little value for the team at the moment.  5/10

Taremi [9]: inconsistent striker with a questionable attitude. Got himself booked for a silly tackle then minutes later he was quite lucky not to be sent off for a second yellow after he kicked the ball away after the ref called for a foul. Exactly what happened in Porto’s game in the Champions League. A petulant and unprofessional attitude can overshadow his game and threaten his progress. His best contribution was a beautiful pass to Azmoun that could have made it 2-0, but Azmout shot was too timid. 6/10
Azmoun [#20]: Scored the only goals of the game. The goal was reflective of his status as a lethal finisher. Clinical, accurate, and finished the job with confidence. He was also active on the defensive side and was full of running in the match. Still not linking well with Taremi. 9/10

Subs
Mohammadi [#5]: Strong runs and solid defending. If only he is consistent in his performance. 7/10 
Sarlak [#11]: A surprise last-minute addition to the squad by Skocic however he fared well when he came in as a substitute. 6/10 
Ghaedi [#23]: Did not see much action in the 12 minutes he played. Guilty of a glorious miss in the last second of the match. Playing at this level, such misses are unforgivable 5/10
Ghoddos [#14]: one of the better players in the squad with a sharp vision and killer passes, yet he is only being used as a sub by Skocic. He dominates the midfield and links well with the forwards. The only candidate for the Midfield Maestro at the moment provided he is given minutes. 7/10
Rezaei [#21] Not enough time on the pitch to rate.

British Ambassadors competition on Iran vs Iraq game.

While Team Melli battled and defeated Iraq national team by one goal in the second qualifying round of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the qualifying round of the 2023 Asian Cup, a different type of battles was going on between the two British ambassadors in the two corresponding teams

Prior to the match, Stephen Hickey, the British ambassador to Iraq, sent a message of support in Arabic to the Iraqi national team and wished them success in the match against Iran.

Minutes later, the British ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire, responded to his counterpart in Iraq with the text in Persian and English: “Do not raise your hopes too high, you just wait and see how the Iranian football champions will win this game! Flag of Iran»

Curiosity of the British ambassadors over the ascent of Iran and Iraq!

In the end, the Iranian team won the game so that in addition to breaking the 10-year spell of not winning against Iraq in official games, the British ambassador to Iran is also a virtual winner against his colleague in Baghdad.

AFC teams qualified for 3rd Round of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

With the end of the games of the second qualifying round of the FIFA  World Cup in Qatar 2022, the name of the teams advancing to the third round of this competition was determined.

Under AFC rules, the top eight teams in each group advanced to the next round with the top four, but North Korea’s withdrawal complicated the equation so that the AFC decided not to count the results of the second teams with the team placed last in the group. Qatar as host of the World Cup, which topped group E, will not be playing in the third round.

The two biggest losers of this round are Kuwait and Uzbekistan. Kuwait has already qualified for the World Cup in 1982 lost to Jordan and Australia. Uzbekistan which has been quite a contender in Asian football was grouped with Saudi Arabia. It lost on the final day and did not make the list of the best five runner-ups.

The draw for the third round will be held at AFC Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday 24th June.

The top teams that made it to the final round of these games are as follows:

SYRIA
AUSTRALIA
IRAN
SAUDI ARABIA
OMAN
JAPAN
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
KOREA REP
LEBANON
CHINA
IRAQ
VIETNAM

Team Melli qualifies to the next round Of World Cup preliminaries

Iran defeated Iraq 1 -0 in Muharraq Stadium in Bahrain to qualify for the next round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The goal was scored by Sardar Azmoun in the first half from a perfect diagonal pass from Ehsan Hajsafy.

In a match that started with lots of stress on both teams, the first 20 minutes of the match was more like street football with many loose passes, poor tackles, and as expected much theatrics and grass rolling by the Iraqi players.

Team Melli however, was quite strong against the Iraqi midfield who had just one player that could slice the Iranian defenders in Bashar Resan. However, he was tightly controlled to minimize any threats from him which isolated Iraq’s lone forward Muhand Ali, and rendered him ineffective.

The goal scored by Azmoun was a beauty in all sense of the word. A long cross-field pass from Gholizadeh who spotted Hajsafy run on the left flank, the captain controlled the ball, run a few meters, and sent a diagonal immaculate pass to the onrushing Azmoun to slot home. A classical finish by Azmoun.

IN the second half, with Iran still in control, the Iraqi’s run out of steam as they hardly created any serious threat to Beiranvand. ON the other hand, Team Melli had at least 5 scoring chances for scoring all wasted because the shoots were directed at Jalalk Hassan’s body. It started with Azmoun who received a glorious pass from Taremi, similar to the goal against Bahrain. Azmoun shot into the Iraq goalkeeper. Then it was Aligholizadeh’s turn who wiggled past all the Iraq defenders and was facing Jalal Hassan, but his timid shot was gladly collected by the keeper. The true miss of the match must be the last-second ball after some great work by Kaveh Rezaei to give Ghaedi a perfect chance to score from meters away. The substitute missed too and spoon after that the referee whistled for the end of the game.

Although Iraq hardly created any threat, it was like a cesarian win for Team Melli. The starting lineup was far from perfect and a close analysis of the match will show Skocic that there are quite a few things that need revision and improvement on the team.

In Any case, Iran well deserved this win and will join the 11 other qualified teams in the third round.

What does it take to win?

The penultimate game of Group C of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will be played in less than 24 hours in Muharraq island in Bahrain between Iran and Iraq.

The objective for both teams is quite clear, Iran must win to top the group and avoid the complicated calculations for qualifying to the next round. Iraq will slip in with a draw which will assure it the top place and qualification.

The results and the stats favor Team Melli for the match on Tuesday, however, it is a cliche that fans have heard many times. Past Results means nothing at kick-off, the team that would win is the better team that has played according to its ability and gameplan.

Team Melli realistic chances.

Not only on paper but also on the last performances of Team Melli against the other group teams and friendly match versus Syria, Dragan Skocic has improved the team several folds. This team is incomparable to the one that the lackluster Belgian coach Wilomts fielded and lost to Bahrain and Iraq. The leadership and the marks of the Croat are quite vivid in a team that is basically the same players, minus a few veterans that have lost their places. The team is younger more confident and certainly capable of defeating Iraq with the same ease they have defeated Bahrain a few days ago.

In every department, Iran has the edge over Iraq, although Iraq’s coach Katanic has the upper edge on experience at the international level over Skocic.  Beiranvand was only really tested once in this series against Hong Kong which he unfortunately failed, but his experience and character should assure him a place in the starting lineup.

In defense, Moharrami has been solid, but not the same can be said about Milad Mohammadi. However, they seem to be the top best choices right now with a few other options available;e for Skocis. The Center of the defense is perhaps the most concerning. Khalizadeh and Kanani-Zadegan. The pair have played together well at club level and they formed a good understanding. They are solid defenders with the ability to support the offensive lines during dead ball situations. There is a question mark of the reliability of Kanani who lacks international experience and at times seems unsure of himself committing basic errors of judgments. Pouralganji is a better choice in many aspects, however, Skocic might opt to stick with the pair because of their good understanding.

IN Midfiled Ghoddos and Gholizadeh have been spotless and given the team the performance that forces the coach to start them in the match, Ezatollahi and Jahanbakhsh have many rough edges that might not be suitable for this critical match. ON the defensive side of the midfield, Nourallahi, and Hajsafy complete the midfield set that is well-balanced between defense and attack.

The forward line is without any argument belongs to Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi. There is little argument. against these two as starters.

Physically, Iran is stronger but what remains to be seen is if the coaching staff and counselors have instilled tactical discipline and strong mental agility in the players. The Iraqi’s are well known for play-acting and theatrics. The Iraqis will not miss any trick to distract the attention of Team Melli players even to the degree of intimidating them. There are several Iranian players who are vulnerable in this department and the Iraqis must have identified them. The solution is to ensure that these Team Melli players do not fall into the trap and continue playing their normal game which will be their tools to victory and qualifying for the next round.

Probable Line-Up

Alireza BEIRANVAND
Sadegh MOHARRAMI Hossein KANANI-ZADEGAN Shojaa KHALILZADEH Milad MOHAMMADI
Ehsan HAJSAFY Saman GHODDOS Ahmad NOUROLLAHI Ali GHOLIZADEH
Sardar AZMOUN Mehdi TAREMI