New list of Team Melli players announced

Skocis announced the list of 24 players for Team Melli. The squad will start a training camp on Tuesday in preparation for the Friendly International versus Syria on 30th March 2021. The squad will form the backbone for the FIFA World Cup  2022 Qualifiers which are to be played in Bahrain.

Goalkeepers: Alireza Biranvand – Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri – Payam Niazmand

Defenders :Seyyed Majid Hosseini – Aref Gholami- Hossein Kanani Zadegan – Jafar Salmani- – Milad Mohammadi – Mehdi Tikdari – Abolfazl Jalali – Shoja Khalizadeh

Midfielders: Omid Ebrahimi – Ehsan Hajsafi – Ali Karimi – Ahmad Nourollahi – Omid Noorafkan – Vahid Amiri- Ali Gholizadeh – Siamak Nemati

Forwards: Karim Ansarifard – Sardar Azmoun –  Mehdi Taremi – Mehdi Ghayedi – Allahyar Sayyadmanesh

 

Sayyadmanesh to Shakhtar Donetsk!

A Ukrainian “Sport” website claimed in a news item that the officials of the Zorya Luhansk club intend to activate the permanent purchase clause of the Iranian striker Allahyar Sayadmanesh from the Turkish club Fenerbahce.

According to the Turkish press sources, the management of Zorya Club has informed the heads of Fenerbahce Club that ” it will activate the purchase clause of Allahyar Sayadmanesh’s contract at a price of 1.5 million Euros, ” the website wrote. The Luhansk club intends to buy its striker and then sell it to Shakhtar Donetsk for 8 million euros. “According to this source, Zorya Club has already reached an agreement with all stakeholders”

 

It was previously reported that Zorya did not have the money to buy Allahyar, but after the Iranian striker helped Zorya beat Shakhtar in the league, he was named the best player in the Ukrainian league in February. He was also invited to the national team of Iran. “In the current Ukrainian season, Sayadmanesh has played 11 games, scoring 4 goals & making 2 assists

World Cup qualifiers: Iranians query decision to host matches in Bahrain

Iran head coach Dragan Skocic and Mehdi Taremi, one of the nation’s highest-profile players, have questioned the decision to hold the country’s World Cup qualifiers in Bahrain when play resumes in June.

The Iranians were informed by the Asian Football Confederation last week that the Gulf state will host the remaining matches in group C of the second round of the competition, which also features Iraq, Cambodia, and Hong Kong.

“I am wondering when these biased AFC decisions against Iranian football will come to an end,” the striker posted on Twitter.

“Bahrain’s heat and a whole host of other reasons are making me wonder, why there? I am still thinking about why these decisions do not come to an end. We have suffered our whole lives, this is just another one.”

Head coach Skocic, appointed in February 2020 to replace Marc Wilmots, also took to social media to query the decision, saying it was not made in the best interests of all the participants.

“In the session which was held to talk about the postponement of the matches, Bahrain’s representative, without any introduction, talked about hosting the remaining matches and it was the thing that surprised me the most,” the Croatian wrote in a post on Instagram.

“In my opinion, the AFC should have found a solution that equally benefits everyone – not one team – and made a decision according to the spirit of sport.

“But in the end, all the teams have to face us and we will undoubtedly have a strong presence and surpass this situation.”

The AFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 Iraq leads the standings with Bahrain in second, while Iran, which has qualified for the last two World Cups, is in third, five points behind the leader with a game in hand.

Only the group winners of each of the eight groups in the second round of Asian qualifying are guaranteed to advance to the next phase of the competition.

Matches are due to be played from May 31 until June 15 after the COVID-19 pandemic saw all of Asia’s World Cup qualifiers postponed during 2020.

“Fair Play” that has gone with the wind.

 

Team Melli head coach Dragan Skocic and Mehdi Taremi questioned AFC’s decision to hold World Cup qualifiers in Bahrain saying the decision was not made in the best interests of the participants.

They were not alone by any means as this great disappointment his all level of football in Iran which was counting of hosting 3 home matches against Hong Kong. Bahrain and Iraq.

 

Nothing is furthest away from “Fair Play” than the decision by AFC to award the hosting of group C remaining matches of the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers to Bahrain.

Iran has already played in Bahrain and lost. Iran is within its full right to avenge that defeat and become a contender by given its legitimate right to play Bahrain in Iran (be it Tehran, Tabriz, or Esfahan).  But to the shock of many, Bahrain was awarded the hosting!

There has to be some process matrix in taking such a decision, at least that is what many think. It should not be arbitrarily, politically motivated, based on favoritism, or based on factors beyond sport.

It is worth looking at a simple comparison. Surely it is not rocket science to figure. When it comes to accommodation and logistics, perhaps Bahrain beats Iraq and Cambodia, but it is way behind Hong Kong and at in a best-case scenario on par with Iran.

If we take the weather factor, then Bahrain is right at the bottom of the table. P{laying football in the heat and high humidity of June in the Persian Gulf countries, is not for the faint-hearted and is a hazard to the players, especially those who are not accustomed to such weather.

That is why FIFA moved the World Cup 2022 dates to November/December where the climate is much milder and pleasant. It was a major historical decision but in the end, it was the right one for all involved. The question now is, how come these weather considerations have not been applied in the case of awarding the hosting to Bahrain?

Iran is a big country, and it could host matches in cities ideal weather. The average temperature of Tabriz in June is 14.8 °C  to 26.6°C. It has the second biggest stadium which was recently renovated too.

If we are talking about Venues, Iran leads all of the group teams in a number of Stadia and facilities.

Apparently, AFC’s decision process is nothing like that.

The Iranians are furious at the AFC decision and have demanded an explanation, but seriously, no one expects AFC to provide any logical reasoning beyond its own. The world witnessed how football is administered by the ruling bodies. It is an autocratic system and one-sided which means the right to appeal and grievances are nothing but ceremonial especially if it involves commercial rights and financial interests.

In the corridors of Arab-dominated AFC, Iran has been deprived of many of its rights and the biased decisions against it are aplenty. The Iranian federation’s managers have played a major role in Iran losing so many cases, or at least not being given any favors. In general, these rulings are controlled by minnows albeit with quite a few accumulated votes. The Iranian representations in the AFC have been weak. The ineffectiveness of FFIRI management is institutional as a consequence of a system of appointment in the shape of a so-called election of the federation. Incompetent personnel reaches leadership posts due to their political influence more than their administrational skills and abilities.

Politics is quite rife in Iran’s federation, blame culture is a standard mode of operation, the current one accuses his predecessors, and the cycle repeats itself. The recently appointed President of the Football Federation (FFIRI) Shahab Azizi-Khadem was very quick to issue a long emotional communique accusing the previous administration of incompetency and lack of effort that resulted in the loss of the hosting rights. No one is in any illusion that this Azizi-Khdem will do any better than the rest of them, however.

 

Iranian fans are the eventual losers in all cases. When a small country like Bahrain has one of its subjects heading the Asian football ruling body, and good luck to them, it is no wonder that the decision of hosting the World Cup 2022 qualifiers tilted towards Bahrain. One needs to ask, why Iran a country with thousands of years of civilization is unable to produce competent representatives and candidates for the presidency of the AFC , or at least someone who can protect its interest in Kula Lumpur.

The decision for Bahrain hosting was taken way back before the announcement two days ago. AFC was just trying to create justifications, which until the writing of this article was not publicized.

Let’s end this with a quick quiz.

When is “Fair Play” the slogan that has been promoted by FIFA in football for many years, not a “Fair Play”?

If you guessed any of the answers below, then it is not too far from the truth:

  • When fair play is applied by AFC.
  • When your opponent in the World Cup qualifiers whom you have already played away and lost, has a man in the top of the AFC Pyramid.
  • When you play the same opponent in home and away format, at the opponent’s venue twice.
  • When playing in 29°C to 38°C degrees temperature and humidity that can be up to 90% (59% average) is much healthier and cooler for the players than high altitude mild weather of Tehran (average of 20.1°C to 34.5°C) with Maximum Humidity of 10%
  • When Covid19 is used as the ultimate excuse for bending the rules and breaking it.

Of course, we can go on and provide you a full sheet but we believe that you have caught the drift.

Iran loses hosting battle in FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers

Team Melli hops of qualifying to the next round of the FIFA World Cup 2022 hit a big hurdle after the Asian Football Confederation announced the hosts of all the remaining matches in Asian Zone.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused havoc for the entire qualifying tournament, with the majority of matches originally rescheduled for March pushed back to June.

Kuwait will host the remaining games to be played in Group B, which also features runaway leaders Australia, Jordan, Chinese Taipei, and Nepal.

Iran travels to Bahrain in Group C, where the hosts will be joined by Iraq, Hong Kong, and Cambodia, while Saudi Arabia hosts Uzbekistan, Singapore, Yemen, and Palestine in Group D.

Oman, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh will play their Group E matches alongside Qatar in Doha and Group F leaders Japan will host Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Myanmar, and Mongolia.

The United Arab Emirates will welcome Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand for Group G and South Korea will host Group H rivals Turkmenistan, Lebanon, North Korea, and Sri Lanka.

Games will be played from May 31 until June 15.

Iran is currently lying third in Group C, after leader Iraq and Bahrain thanks to two consecutive defeats under the now-departed Belgian coach Marc Wilmots.  Only the winners of the eight groups are certain to advance to the third phase of qualifying, from where the continent’s four guaranteed places at the finals in Qatar in 2022 will be determined.

Team Melli defeated Hong  Kong and Cambodia but lost against the two Arab countries both away from home. While there was counting on home advantage in the return legs, it is now finding itself playing the home games at one of its opponents. Such thing never happened in the history of the world cup. Iran has a major and legitimate case which both FIFA and the AFC need to answer to. The combination of a feeble Iranian football federation management and lack of skilled managers in Iran’s football means once again, Iran has been defeated by the mafia of Asian football. For information, the President of AFC is from Bahrain.

Although it is far from an impossible task, the task is harder for Team Melli which really needs to be at its best for the qualifiers.

Iran to play a friendly against Syria

 As customary, Iran Football Federation has failed  to have more than one friendly match for Team Melli in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers , and this time it will face Syria without the presence of the legionnaires.

Team Melli will play a friendly match against the Syrian national team in Tehran on 30th March ,  to fill the gap of the postponed qualifiers against Hong Kong and Cambodia.

Due to the late cancellation of the World Cup qualifiers, the Football Federation could not coordinate more than one match for the national team. As a result, Team Melli, as in previous months, instead of utilizing maximum time allowed and arranging at least two training matches, still misses part of the days called “FIFA Day” for arranging friendly and official matches.

* Iran plays without legionnaires

The match between the two teams Iran and Syria is to be held on the 29th of March, which occurs outside of the FIFA Day , a period which the international ruling body has earmarked from  18th to 26th March 2021. Most of the national teams arrange friendly international matches in this period.  Team Melli is not allowed to use its legionnaire players because the friendly arranged with Syria is outside of the FIFA Day !!

Although Iranian clubs are sacrificing their interests for the sake of the national team, there is no news of the presence of legionnaire players in this match, and Skocic will have to send his team to face Syria  without all his key players.

The absence of players such as Tarmi, Azmoun, Beiranvand, Milad Mohammadi, Saeed Ezatollahi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Amir Abedzadeh, Sadegh Moharremi, Kaveh Rezaei, Ali Gholizadeh, Karim AnsariFard, etc. is in a situation which translates to what is a Team Melli without all of its key players, renders the friendly against the Syrians as a nothing more than a formality and hardly constructive for the Team and Skocic.

If the Iran-Syria match was held inside FIFA Day, it could be a special help to the Iranian national team. It remains to be seen whether Skocic can convince European and some Arab clubs to release their Iranian international  for  three to four days .

It is probable that he will generally restrict the presence of the legionnaires in the Nowruz 1400 camp, which begins on the 23rd of March, in order to participate in training only for three or four days.

Team Melli maintains second ranking in Asia.

The newest FIFA Ranking has been published today, the first in 2021, with little changes in the positions due to lack of activities and international matches as the result of the Corona pandemic.

Japan continues to lead the AFC zone with 1502 points at 27th in the world. Iran is second with 1496 followed by Korea and Australia.

 

 

Fariba warns against the government influence in FFIRI election.

In an interview with Mehr, Behtash Fariba referred to the upcoming elections of the Football Federation FFIRI and said: “The members of the Football Federation Assembly should elect a person as president who is independent, competent and capable of instigating changes in the federation.”

The former Team Melli and Esteghlal player further noted: “The next president of the Iranian football federation will have many problems and must be able to overcome these problems.”

He added: “Assembly members must choose the right person for football. As a footballer, I ask those who are in fact our representatives in the Assembly to steer football in the right direction with a proper choice in order to progress and develop. Rest assured that a good outcome will be achieved if the government does not interfere in the elections.”

Fariba, who has also played for   Pas club, continued in an interview with Mehr news: “I do not believe that the Ministry of Sports will remain idle and not interfere in the elections, I wish it would not interfere. I wish the government would not influence the proceedings of the election and running of football affair, but it is wishful thinking. Despite their public stance that  they (the government) would remain neutral and would not interfere, do not believe it.“

The Iranian football veteran pointed out ” Be rest assured that the Ministry of Sports has its own agenda and preferred candidate(s) and all efforts will be made to get their own candidate to win the presidency of the federation. This is modus operandi of the ministry that has a solid track record of appointing chairmen and board members of Esteghlal and Persepolis in order to manage and control these two most popular clubs of the nation and beyond.  The chaos and poor management style of the appointees of the Ministry are vividly visible to all. Now, do you think that the Ministry of Sports will neglect to exert influence in a place like the Football Federation? highly unlikely, in my opinion”

Mohammad Ali Karimi , is one of the candidates and has the broad support of footballers. His nominated deputy is another Iranian legend, Mehdi Mahdavikia.

Daei sends an inspirational message to Taremi

Following Team Melli’s central striker Mehdi Taremi, dazzling run of goals for his club Porto, with the icing on the cake being the goal he scored against Juventus last night, the Iranian Legend Ali Daei sent Taremi an inspirational message.

Ali Daei wrote to Mehdi Taremi: “I am glad that you are becoming more complete every day. I have no doubt that by continuing this process, you will reach the highest of standards.”

Daei scores against Chelsea in 1999/2000 Champions League game at Stamford Bridge.

 

Daei is one of the Iranian players who has played for Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin of Germany and has also scored in the Champions League. He is the Worlds top international goal scorer, followed very closely by the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, whom Taremi helped to defeat last night.

 

Mehdi Taremi’s goal stuns Juventus in Champions League.

A terrific start for Team Melli’s striker, Mehdi Taremi, and an early second-half goal by Moussa Marega propelled Porto to their first victory against Juventus in the Champions League as they secured a 2-1 first-leg win against the Italian champions in their round-of-16 tie on Wednesday.

Taremi pounced on a sloppy back pass after 63 seconds to fire in the opener that left Juventus, which had a fully fit Cristiano Ronaldo in the lineup, rattled and they failed to create any clear chances before half-time.

This was the fourth consecutive goal by Taremi in as many games for his club Porto in what was described as a dream run for the Iranian striker by the match commentator. Taremi, considered by many as a bargain purchase from Rio Ave by Porto, was initially left out of the starting lineup by coach  Sérgio Conceição, however, a last-minute change of match plan meant that Porto would start to play a 4-4-2 with two strikers upfront, a plan which worked to perfection as both the strikers scored early in each half.

Taremi’s brilliant scoring run, a first for Iranian professional footballer in Europe, started with a goal against Sporting Braga in two home and away consecutive cup matches, Boavista in the league and Juventus in the European Champions League.

Mehdi Taremi (28 years) has scored 9 goals for Porto this season scoring an average of a goal in every 121 minutes.

Sardar Azmoun, Taremi’s partner in Team Melli who is also enjoying a brilliant season with the Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg has scored 11 goals for his club this season averaging a goal in every 92 minutes.

Team Melli’s third striker Karim Ansarifard who plays in the Greek League with AEK Athens, has scored 8 goals in the season averaging one goal in 155 minutes of play.