Iraq vs Iran Referee changed

FIFA refereeing committee, in one odd judgment, appointed an Arab referee for a crucial World Cup Qualifier involving an Arab Team against Iran!

At the request of the Iranian Football Federation, the referee of the match against Iraq was changed. In correspondence with FIFA, the FFIRI requested that the Jordanian refereeing team be changed in light of the Iranian team’s match with Iraq in the qualifying round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The reason for this request was because of the Arab national team’s rivalry and the Arab refereeing of the game WAS A CONFLICT.

FIFA accepted the request of Iran’S FFIRI and appointed the Sri Lankan referee team for the clash between  Iran and Iraq which will be held The main referee for the match is Dylan “Hitikamamji” Pereira.

Iran Beach Soccer qualifies for the final to meet Spain.

Iran Beach soccer team defeated UAE in the semi-finals of the Beach Soccer Intercontinental Championships 2019 in a penalty shootout to qualify for the final match against Spain.

Yesterday, Iran Beach soccer team defeated the 3 times title holder Russia in penalty spot kicks after a 3-3 draw in regulation time. This is the second time in a row that Iran advances to the Intercontinental Cup final after winning the title in the last edition.

In the first period, the two teams played a low-risk game and created very few opportunities, one of those belonged to Mohammed Ali Mokhtari who had an open goal but his mild shot bounced off the sand and missing the goal by inches.  But two minutes later Iran’s goalkeeper Hamid Behzadpour opened the scoring with a low shot from his own goal. The second period of the match was again played on a low key attack, and despite the fact that the Iranian team created some good opportunities, the brilliant UAE goalkeeper Al Bahri saved the day for the host on many occasions.

Akbari against Russia

The third period of the game both teams still played cautiously, but UAE managed to score the equalizer against the run of play. Two beautiful shots by Behzadpour were repelled by the Emirati goalkeeper and the game was eventually extended to 5 minutes extra time. During the overtime, the hosts objective was to defend and hope for a penalty shoot-out. Last-minute Behzadpour’s shot was again repelled by the UAE goalkeeper and the game went to penalty shootouts.

Kiani, Shir Mohammadi, Saeed Peramon, Mohammad Masoumizadeh scored Iran’s penalties while the hero was Iran Keeper Peyman Hosseini who made a great save to deny the hosts reaching the finals.

In the final of the Intercontinental Cup 2019, Iran and Spain will meet for the title.

It should be noted that Iran national beach soccer team competed with two players less than their opponent in this match. Amir Hossein Akbari and Captain Mohammad Ahmadzadeh were not able to accompany the coasters due to the injury which had a major impact on Iran’s game plan

Iran U19 defeats Nepal U19 4-0

After a comfortable win against the Kyrgyz Republic, Iran’s U19 registered another handsome one against Nepal with leading Group D of the AFC Asian U19 CHampionship qualifier after two rounds.

Iran were held scoreless for 75 minutes before coming home with a wet sail to register a 4-0 win over Nepal in Friday’s later match.

Nepal showed great spirit to keep the hosts at bay until deep into the second half, but Mohammadmahdi Ahmadi’s drought-breaking header sparked an Iranian onslaught which produced four goals in 15 minutes.

Iran’s win keeps them on track to reach Uzbekistan 2020, with Team Melli U19 able to seal their place by avoiding defeat against UAE on Sunday.

The hosts were well on top in the opening stages, but Nepal defended in numbers, showing composure and discipline to keep clear cut chances to a minimum in a scoreless first half.

Despite a frustrating opening 45 minutes, the Iranian goal threat showed little sign of subsiding, with Nepal surviving a number of close calls from headed efforts as well as a goalmouth scramble following a dangerous cross from Alireza Asadabadi.

With 15 minutes remaining, Nepal could sense a famous result, but the plot twisted sharply when Ahmadi was left alone to head in a corner kick from just five yards, and it became a double blow when Iranian skipper Ahmad Reza Jalali slammed in a second, also following a corner kick, in the 84th minute.

The floodgates were now open, particularly when Alireza Monazami rounded Nepal goalkeeper Bishal Sunar to ease home Iran’s third just two minutes later, with Aria Barzegar putting the icing on the cake with another goal in the 90th minute.


The 11 group winners and four best runners-up will join hosts Uzbekistan in the 2020 Finals.

Tajikistan has already qualified as Group C winners and should Uzbekistan finish either top of Group F of the Qualifiers or are among the best four second-placed teams, the fifth-best runners-up will qualify.

In the post-match press conference,  the head coach of the Nepalese youth team said “keeping the Iranian team at bay until the 75th minute was a big achievement for us. “There is a big difference between us and Iran and the fact that we were able to keep the game even to up to 75th minutes is very rewarding,” said Kaysi, the head coach of the Nepalese national youth team after the defeat to Iran’s youth team in the Asian Championship qualifier

“We are trying to reach the level of football in Iran.” He continued: “We resisted for 30 minutes against the Emirates but we couldn’t resist anymore and that makes us different from other teams. We are trying to bring the level of Nepal football to the level of teams like Emirates and Iran.”

 

 

Group D

Standings
P W D L F A GD PTS
1
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
 IRAN 2 2 0 0 7 0 7 6
2
KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
 KYRGYZ REPUBLIC 2 1 0 1 2 3 -1 3
3
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 2 1 0 1 4 2 2 3
4
NEPAL
 NEPAL 2 0 0 2 0 8 -8 0

Additional reporting by the-afc.com

Perfect start for Iran U19 starts with a solid win vs Kyrgyzstan

Iran’s U19 national football team started the qualification for the final tournament in a positive manner defeating a stubborn 3-0 in the match held today Wednesday in Pas stadium in Ekbatan.

This is the first victory of the team coached by Sirous

The AFC Asian U19 Youth Championship Group D  qualifying match between Iran and Kyrgyzstan ended goal-less. Both teams efforts to score were futile with some of their best chances to score wasted as neither could find the opener as the score remained 0-0 at half-time.

In the second half, the tide changed and the stubborn defensive game-plan of  Kyrgyzstan crumbled early. The second half started with Iran’s pressing hard to break the deadlock. In  the53rd minute Iran scored the opener.  Aria Barzegar jumped above the defenders to finish off Ahmad Reza Jalali’s perfect delivery from the left flank.

The goal spurred Seyyed Akbar PourMousavi’s side to push forward as they dominated the game and their persistence paid off in the 78th minute when Alireza Monazami rose highest to head home Iran’s second goal. It was a well-taken header, as Monazami managed to increase the deficit for his team.

 Yassin Salmani sealed the match for the host in the 82nd minute. Salmani cooly slotted the penalty spot-kick to make it 3-0.

Despite the good result, Pourmousavi’s team lacked good finishing. There were individual flashes of good moves by the young players but as a cohesive unit, it seems that the team needs much more time to gel. Kyrgyzstan team was defensively strong with good physical shapes. The team was mostly dependent on their defensive play including some rough handling of the Iranian forwards. Despite their good efforts, especially in the 1st half, the team lacked punch upfront and were technically weak in ball handling. Their aerial defences left a lot to be desired.

 With this result, Iran is in the second in Group D by goal difference. Kyrgyzstan will meet UAE next while Iran will face off against Nepal on Friday at 17:45

Iran’s Beach soccer qualifies to the Semi Finals

Iran’s beach soccer team made it two out of two wins in the Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup 2019 and qualified for the Semi-Finals.

In today match, held in Dubai , the Iranian national team defeated African champion Egypt 5 – 3 with a dominant performance to keep up the pressure on the rest of the contenders in this current tournament.  In the first period of the match, the two teams were tied one by one and while Egypt took the lead, Iran soon equalized on a single beautiful tactical work and the final kick by Mustafa Kiani.

The second period was played on equal terms. With the game tied  2-2 , Iran took the initiative by further two goals by Amir Hossein Akbari and Mohammad Masoumizadeh, while Egypt scored their third goal. The third period followed with both teams being more cautious, and Egypt, which closed the playing field for most of the minutes, scored. However, the restart of Amir Hussain Akbari’s single goal was compensated by the Egyptians. In the final minutes, a corner kick by Moslem Mesigar, and Amir Hosseinakbari’s fifth goal rattled sealed the match for Iran with a final score of 5 -3.

Hashempour’s team is 2 wins out of 2. Iran’s  Beach soccer had won the first match 7-4 against Mexico. The Iranian team will face Russia in the final group stage match tomorrow evening (Thursday).

 

Amman is the new venue for Iraq vs Iran match.

Jordan will officially host FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifying match between Iraq and Iran according to Iraq’s Federation President Abdul Khaleq Massoud. The Jordanian capital will also host Iraq’s next match in the competition vs Bahrain.

According to FIFA ruling, the Iraqi national team is not allowed to host the games in Basra against Iran and Bahrain due to security concerns and demanded the Iraqi federation select another country. “We have formally requested the Jordanian Football Federation (JFA) to hold two games due to proximity , public support and no visas requirement between us,” Abdul Khaleq Massoud said in an interview with Germany’s official news agency. We will be welcomed by Iraqis everywhere. “

FIFA sent a letter Wednesday asking the Iraqi League to offer a third ground for both of the games scheduled for Iran and Bahrain due to the unstable situation in Iraq. Iraq was insisting on holding the two matches as scheduled on November 14 and 19 in Basra. The city already hosted the match against Hong Kong last October.

Iraq is leading Group C with seven points from three games so far, Bahrain is second, and Iran is third with six points. The first and second teams of each group advance to the next stage of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Iran’s U19 plays Kyrgyz Republic in the AFC Asian Qualifiers.

Iran’s U19 team will play its first match today 6th Nov. vs Kyrgyz Republic in PAS Stadium, Tehran in the qualifying rounds of AFC Asian U19 championships 2020 qualifiers.

According to the official website of the Football Federation, the line up will be as follows:

Amir Hossein Nikpour, Ahmed Jalali, Hossein Shavdari, Mohammad Reza Asgari, Alireza Asad-Abadi,  Yasin Salmani, Hossein Zvari, Mehdi Hashemi Nejad, Hussein Nokhodkar, Ali Sobhani and Aria Barzegar

In the first match of the group, UAE defeated Nepal 4-0 earlier in the day.

Iran’s U19 is coached by Sirous Pour-Mousavi

Iran Beach soccer starts with a victory vs. Mexico

Defending Champions Iran Beach soccer national team played its first match in the Intercontinental Cup 2019 and ended it with a comprehensive win against CONCACAF Champions Mexico.

On Tuesday, in the ninth edition of the tournament of the UAE-hosted intercontinental Beach tournament ,  Hashempour’s Iranian national team defeated Mexico 7-4 in their first match for both teams.

In the first period of the match, both teams scored two goals apiece, Iran’s goals were scored by Mohammad Ahmadzadeh and Mohammad Ali Mokhtari. In the second period Iran, playing a better game than the first, scored two more goals. The goals were scored by Mohammad Ali Mokhtari and Amir Hossein Akbari. The third period of the match further goals were scored by the Iranian side by Amir Hossein Akbari who scored Iran’s fifth goal. Meanwhile, Mohammad Masoumizadeh scored the sixth Iranian goal while the final goal was scored by Mohammad Ahmadzadeh.

 

The full results of the First Round

INTERCONTINENTAL BEACH SOCCER CUP DUBAI 2019

November 5, 2019

Group A Japan   Japan 6 – 4 Italy    Italy
Group A Spain   Spain 2 -2 

(2 -1) PSO

 UAE Uae
Group B Egypt   Egypt 3 – 5 Russia  Russia
Group B Iran   Iran 7 – 4  Mexico  Mexico

 

 

The next match will be on Wednesday 19:30 Tehran time when Iran will face Egypt.

This competition is considered to be the most prestigious beach football event after the FIFA World Beach Soccer Cup under the supervision of FIFA and the World Beach Games held by Anouk (National Olympic Committees).

Hashempour: “We will show our strength once again”

Defending champions Iran are determined to claim back-to-back Intercontinental Cup crowns and equal Brazil and Russia at the top of the records

Defending champions Iran have landed in Dubai with the mission of reediting the 2018 crown and equalling Brazil and Russia as the most decorated sides at the Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup records. After clinching the Bronze Medal at the last World Beach Games in Qatar just a couple of weeks ago, the team feels in the perfect mood to take on such a challenge.

Grit, talent and perfect teamwork, plus the support of their passionate fans, give Abbas Hashempour’s team all the necessary ingredients to go all the way in this year’s competition, taking place in Kite Beach between the 5th and 9th of November.

“Only the most powerful teams take part in the Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup, so we are fully aware of how difficult it is to prevail in such a competitive arena. Russia, for example, is a team that can do real harm on you if you are not fully focused and fight fiercely every single second of the game. But we also are, as we have repeatedly shown, capable of winning any team in the world. This is what we have in our minds and our hearts, and we will try our best to beat all our opponents and reach the final”, Iran National Coach Abbas Hashempour explained.

The tough opposition will not be the only obstacle for Iran to accomplish their mission, though. The Persian side will be missing one of the key players, 2018 Rising Star Mohammad Moradi, due to injury, and some other players will also be back in competition after injuries, that leaves a question mark on their outcome during the coming days, but coach Hashempour believes the collective strength will help the team overcome these setbacks.

As the defending champions, the Iranian side will have all the eyes put on them, but this is not something the team is concerned about. “Everyone will be expecting a lot from us, but we are determined to show everybody why we are the champions. We want to demonstrate again how powerful we are”, the coach admitted.

Iran were drawn in Group B together with also-favourite Russia, Egypt and CONCACAF champions Mexico and will be making their debut, precisely, against the Azteca side (Tuesday 5th of November, 8:00 pm). That will mark the first step in their road to reediting the crown and claiming their third Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup.

FIFA declares Basra as unsafe venue.

Within one week of the FIFA World Cup 2022 match, the world football governing body finally realized that the venue is not safe.

Today in Zurich , FIFA announced that Iraq is not safe enough to host World Cup qualifying games against Iran and Bahrain. FIFA says it asked the Iraq soccer federation “to nominate a neutral venue” for the matches on Nov. 14 and 19.

The games were to be played in Basra, the southern city which hosted Iraq’s return last month to playing competitive games at home.

Iraq has rarely staged home games since the 1980s because of security concerns.

Turmoil in Iraq in recent weeks has been fueled and instigated by what is commonly believed by some hostile Arab governments concerned by Iran’s political influence in Iraq. On the surface, the riots and demonstrations seem to be due to economic problems and government corruption, however, the real motive is to express dissatisfaction with Iran’s role and blame the Islamic Republic for the ills of the nation. Team Melli’s faced a serious risk being in a hostile environment when even Iranian ordinary Iranian pilgrims to Karbala and Najf were discouraged by Iranian authorities. after the closure of the border crossings.