After the completion of four session of Training for Futsal team Melli, Jesús Candelas, The Spanish coach of the team announced the names of the players included in the squad. The 14 players will be representing Iran in the Grand Prix tournament that is held in Brazil. Accordingly Ismail Abbasian, Mojtaba Nasirniya, Maysam Khayyam, Javad Asghari Moghaddam, Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh, Farhad Tavakoli, Vahid Shafie, Ghodrat Bahodory, Ali Kiaei, Alireza Vafaei, Farhad. Fakhim, Masoud Daneshvar, Hossein Tayebi and Mojtaba Hassanzadeh are the 14 players selected for the competition.

Before the announcement of the squad , in Jesús Candelas.  excluded five Giti Pasand players from the squad.

The team will depart Tehran on the 13^th October enroute to Sao Paolo Brazil. The first action for the team before starting the Grand Prix tournament is a couple of war up games against unidentified opponents.  The Grand Prix competition will start on the 22^nd October with Brazil, Argentina, Japan and Iran playing in the group.

 

On this occasion, Candelas was interviewed by Mehrnews about his impression and the prospects of the Team. Candelas who has been at the helm for just over a years now, believes that Iran’s Team Melli and Futsal in in general is progressing nicely towards world recognition. He believes that the current team will be mature enough and tactically sound. With or without him, Candelas believes that within 4 years Iran will be challenging for World Level titles or at least playing in the final games.

Candelas said that he was not bemused by the absence of 5 Giti Pasand player who were the backbone of the team. However , the Spaniard said that we have to do play with the best that is available for us not cry over spelt milk. About his main concern of this current selection and participation against the best futsal teams of the world, Candelas said “the only concern I have is the player’s psychological status and mentality. They need to believe in themselves, believe in their abilities and give the best performance in front of the most powerful opponents. If they maintain the self-belief, we can become winners”

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Carlos Queiroz announced a fine mix of youth and experienced players or the upcoming Team Melli matches against Thailand and Lebanon in the AFC Asian Cup qualifying group.

28 players were named by Queiroz , 8 of them play their football outside Iran.

Team Melli was announced after the conclusion of the round 12 league matches and started the training session today (Sunday) at the Team Melli training camp center. Out of the players selected, the foreign-based players were absent and will be joining the team in the next few days.

As always, there is a debate going on about the players selections depending  on whom you talk to. Although the selections sounds logical and to certain extend a fair reflection of the current status of Iran’s football, Queiroz mus

t always create some kind of controversy with a few of his choices.

Selection Debates

The Portuguese coach continues his fixation with European based players unabated.  As it happens, none of the Team Melli players in the European teams have fared well this season. Perhaps this is a bit of understatement; the reality is much tougher than that. Ashkan Dejagah (Fulham) and Reza Ghoochannejad (Standard Liege) , arguably the two best players in the squad , have failed to play regular football in their respective clubs from the start of the season. They have also failed to make the bench in many matches, reflecting how poor the coaches of these teams consider their Iranian players. The other high profile player, Masoud Shojaei is playing his football in a second division club in Spain,and he has not set his club Las Palamas alight yet.

The two youngsters in the team playing in European clubs, Azmoun (Ruben Kazan) and Jahanbaksh (N.E.C) , who have been selected for the first time to Team Melli squad, have not fared much better either. They are both fringe players given the odd few minutes now and then.

However, being on the roster of a European club , regardless to the fact that the players gets any playing time, seems to be a guaranteed way to be named in Team Melli squad. Interestingly enough, Alireza Jahanbaksh when asked in an interview by a reporter why he opted to join a struggling team which just escaped relegation the season before, ( and now lingering in the bottom of the Dutch league) he pointed out that he needs the European experience but then stressed upon the fact that being in a European team is one definite way of being noticed by Team Melli selectors !  Obviously, the youngster has been coached well in this matter and smart enough to get what he wants.

 

Not selceted, sorry !!

On the other hand, two of the best and most impressive players for their teams in the league have not been given any notice. Bakhtiar Rahmani , a young talent with flair and ability playing for  Foolad Khuzestan, and Perspolis brilliant  and  skillful player Payam Sadeghian  have  failed to make it to the disappointment of many observers and neutrals.

Both are young , both have great influence in their team, with Rahmani’s team  leading the table and both have already played for Team Melli different age levels teams. This season with nearly half the league matches played, the two players are showing much tactical maturity that is ripe for selection. However, with Queiroz out of Iran for one reason or another, his supporting cast have failed to recognize the abilities of two youngsters who perform to a high standard week in week out , and instead opted for another youngster Sardar Azmoun , who has not reached any of the two aforementioned players standard while rarely playing for his team!

Perhaps , the questionable personal and professional attitude of Sadeghian has tarnished his image lately, a fact which was highlighted in his TV interview by Ferdowsipour , and might have been noticed by TEam Melli selectors. There is no such doubt on Rahmani, though

Not that the young players in the roster will have deciding role in the team , but the selection such as that will nevertheless, raise questions and increases the sense of distrust between Queiroz and the club coaches who always  take the opportunity to claim that Queiroz is not interested in Iran’s league and hardly watches it. Such selection logic, and it is only Queiroz that knows the logic, will serve to fuel more debate amongst the fans and the sport journalist.

 

And there will always be one Mehrdad Pooladi for Carlos Queiroz.

The last time this player was selected for Team Melli, he was barely able to walk. Pooladi has suffered a long period of inactivity because of the injury. He has not played for his club this season, yet he is on the roster once again repeating the same selection process with Shojaei a few months back when Masoud Shojaei was selected for Team Melli while just recovering from his long layoff and has not played a single match for his club.

 

But all is not bad news, as the selection of Steven Beitashour is as exciting as the naming of Dejagah a year or so back. Beitashour is still an unknown quality for the Iranian fans. He plays in Major Soccer League in USA which has no TV coverage in Iran , so the exposure is minimal. However, he is a skillful midfielder and defender who can also score. The only problem with Beitashour will be the logistics. Travelling back and forth to America is simply not an easy feat for a football player.  His selection is a big positive mark for Queiroz, especially after Beitashour was courted by Team Melli for a long time with Afshin Ghotbi desperately trying to bring him in, but efforts failed, mainly due to the politics of football. Iranian government did not fancy an American Born plying for them.

With the thaw in Iranian-American relations, Beitashour playing for Team Melli is a reality. He is a passionate person who maintains his adoring for his ancestry country and tradition. His commitment will be an interesting observation.

 

Ali Kaffashian has finally signed the long awaited sponsorship deal with an Iranian company.  A company that trades in car imported from outside the country with the name of “Ars Khodrow” has agreed terms with the federation.

Although far from being a household name or well-known company in Iran , the sponsorship is a step forward for a federation that has serious financial issues especially as the preparation for Team Melli participation in the World Cup is a lengthy and expensive process.

Kaffashian claims that the sponsorship revenue from this deal will cover most of the expenses including the coaching team’s wages.

The revenue figure mentioned in this deal is : 15 Billion Toman  (approx. US$ 605,058), is far lower than the federation expected and could be the lowest of all the teams qualified for the World Cup.

 

Iran U-16 continued its perfect record in the AFC U-16 Asian Cup qualifiers by beating host Pakistan 2-0. In the match played in the Punjab stadium in Lahore, the Iranian youngsters scored a goals in each half to wrap up the match and qualify for the final rounds of the competition.

Captain Nima Mokhtari scored on the half hour mark for Iran to take his personal tally to 3 goals in the competition while substitute Mohammad Shamsi added a second in the late stages of the second half.

Iran has 6 points from 2 games , same as the UAE who beat Sri Lanka 6-0. Iran will be meeting UAE on Sunday in the final match. The result of that match is academical as both the teams have qualified for the final tournament.

 

Pakistan vs. Iran
0-2 (0-1)

GOALS: Nima Mokhtari (30′), Mohammad Shamsi (78′)
27-09-2013
Punjab Stadium, Lahore,
Referee Khamis Al Merri (Qatar)

 

Iran: Farid Nejatpashaki, Nima Daghestani, Fathollah Darzi, Saeed Hasseinpour (62′ Hesam Soltanpour), Vahid Aftari, Reza Shekarighezelghayeh (77′ Bagher Niari), Reza Karimipiraghoom (52′ Mohammad Shamsi), Nima Mokhtari (c), Mehrdad Pour Abdoghasem, Reza Dehghani, Mehran Derakhshanmehr.