Team Melli squad left Tehran this afternoon heading to Jordanian Capital, Amman in preparation for the Thursday match against Iraq in the fourth round of the FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 combined Qualiifers

This morning, the last training session of the team took place at the National Football Center before leaving for Jordan. The training session started at 8 pm on the grounds of the National Football Center. In this session, Majid Hosseini and Milad Mohammadi also joined the national team after arriving from Turkey and Belgium respectively. With the last two arrivals, the squad was at full strength and the team carried out a training exercise with everyone available for the first time

 At the start of the training, players under Kevin, the physical training coach, went through warm-up exercises. Marc Wilmots repeatedly reminded players of this part of the training. The following exercise consisted of a tactical switching between defence and attack, transition and pace. The goalkeepers also did their own specifical training. In the final part of the training, the squad was divided into two groups that played against each other.

The match against Iraq will take place at Amman International Stadium on Thursday, November 14 at 17:30 pm Tehran Time

Iran, UAE and the Kyrgyz Republic all came into Matchday Three still in contention, but Iran’s win and Kyrgyz Republic’s 0-0 draw with Nepal meant the group hosts booked their ticket to the Finals.

UAE 0-2 IR Iran

IR Iran confirmed their qualification for Uzbekistan 2020, defeating UAE 2-0 to emerge as group winners after winning all three matches on home soil.

UAE’s defeat to the Kyrgyz Republic 48 hours earlier meant Team Melli required only a point to secure top spot in the group, but they went one better with Aria Barzegar and Mahdi Hashemnezhad Rahimabadi scoring to extend their perfect winning record.

While Iran celebrated a completed qualifying mission, UAE’s defeat confirmed their elimination, with Ferdo Milin’s side finishing a disappointing third in the group.

While that chance was missed, the all-important breakthrough did come, with Persepolis signee Aria Barzegar doing his growing reputation no harm as he pounced on a loose ball with a terrific half-volley which left Al Menhali rooted to the spot in the dying moments of the first half.

With their 1-0 lead intact, Iran continued to prosper after the interval, although it didn’t immediately translate into goals, with Hossein Nokhodkar spurning a terrific opportunity when he picked out Al Menhali despite a number of teammates offering support.

UAE’s chances were dwindling by the minute, and their card looked marked when substitute Eisa Khalfan Al Harasi pulled one of their best chances wide after finding some rare space behind the Iranian defence with 20 minutes remaining.

Their fate was sealed with 10 minutes remaining, with substitute Hashemnezhad making the most of his introduction three minutes earlier to score a second, putting Iran’s win, and place in the finals, beyond any doubt.

Iran returns to the AFC U-19 Championship having missed out on the 2018 edition, while UAE will be absent from the Finals for the first time since 2004.

AFC U-19 Championship Uzbekistan 2020

Qualification Rounds

Group D

Standings

			P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1		IRAN	3	3	0	0	9	0	9	9
2		KYRGYZ REPUBLIC	3	1	1	1	2	3	-1	4
3		UNITED ARAB EMIRATES	3	1	0	2	4	4	0	3
4		NEPAL	3	0	1	2	0	8	-8	1

Team Melli coach Marc Wilmots, who is seeking terminate his contract with FFIRI due to non-payment of his salaries by the Football Federation, will arrive in Iran on Monday to take control of the training session of the squad.

It is quite possible that this will be the last time the fans will see the Belgian Wilmots accompanying Team Melli unless the FFIRI forks out his salary and respects the signed contract. Wilmots faces a similar situation that Carlos Queiroz and before him, Branko Ivankovic has faced coaching Team Melli. Iran football federation is a notorious bad paymaster and has always blamed sanctions for not paying its employees.

On Sunday, the selectors released a new squad list which had several changes from the previous list that played Cambodia and Bahrain. Belgian based players Kaveh Rezai and Ali Gholizadeh were called up for the first time by Marc Wilmots.

Vouria Ghafouri’s returns to the squad while defender Siavash Yazdani has been called up again after recovering from injury. Omid Noorafkan, who was invited as the 24th player on the previous Wilmots list, has not been called for Iraq match. Ashkan Dejageh Tractorsazi midfielder is out due to injury

One of the highlights of the list is the absence of the Portuguese based midfielder Mehrdad Mohammadi who played against Cambodia and Bahrain. Wilmots still has no positive opinion on English club Brighton’s outcast Alireza Jahanbakhsh because of the loss of form and his exclusion from Brighton’s squad. Mehdi Torabi, who has done well in Persepolis colours, has not been called up for the second time running. Persepolis, however, continue to have five players (Alireza Biranvand, Vahid Amiri, Ahmad Noorollahi, Mohammad Naderi and Hossein Kanani Zadegan) in the new roster and have the highest number of players in Team Melli.

Esteghlal and Tractorsazi Tabriz have 3 players each that is scheduled to face Iraq. Sepahan, with the omission of Omid Noorafkan and Morteza Mansouri, has only 2 players Piam Niazmand and Mohammad Mohebbi in the final list. Portuguese based striker Mehdi Taremi was also is on the list, is said to have suffered an injury and the possibility of losing the game to Iraq is quite likely.

Team Melli is facing Iraq this Thursday as FIFA decides to play change the venue from Basra to Amman in the wake of security concerns.

The Iranian Beach Soccer Team defended its title and won the Dubai Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup title for the second time in a row after a gallant performance against the powerful Spanish Team. The full house match in Dubai ended 6-3 for Iran after a thrilling match that saw both teams engaging in an offensive match. The holders outplayed their rivals in the final played at Jumeirah’s Kite Beach in Dubai on Saturday.

In the first period, Mostafa Kiani and Saeed Piramon scored for Iran, but Spain managed to equalize by scoring two quick goals to end the period 2-2.  In the second period, Spain scored the third goal with a penalty kick, but Iran’s goalkeeper Hamid Behzadpour and Mohammad Ali Mokhtari scored to make the score 4-3 in favour of Iran.

In the final period, Iran’s captain Mohammad Ahmadzadeh scored a spectacular overhead goal to increase the margin to two goals.. Ahmadzadeh was soon sent off by an agitated and nervous referee after Iran’s Captain strong protest for what looked like a blatant foul on him but the free-kick was given to the Spanish team!

With the score standing at 5-3, Spain’s pressure intensified to cut the two-goal deficit which left them vulnerable. It was Mohammad Masoumezadeh who took the opportunity to score the next goal for Iran and make it impossible for a Spanish comeback. Spain also was one player down after one of its players awarded a second yellow card and a dismissal. ]

In the end, Iran deservedly won a tough match against a strong opponent 6-3 win for Iran. Iran also won the championships in 2013 and 2018.

Iran Scorers

Mostafa Kiani (penalty),

Saeid Piramoun,

Mohammad Mokhtari,

Hamid Behzadpour,

Mohammad Ahmadzadeh

Mohammad Masoumizadeh.

Hamid Estili invited 5 more players to Iran’s Omid team preparing for the AFC Asian U23 qualifiers and prior to that, two friendly games against Indonesia.

The names of the invited players in the third group are as follows:

Meraj Esmaeili (Zob Ahan), Mohammad Moslempour (MachineSazi), Mohammad Aghajanpour and Sina Zamiran (Shahr Khodro), Ali Shojaei (Nasaji Mazandran).