14/10/201314/10/2013

Steven “Mehrdad” Beitashour joins the lads in Team Melli camp.

Shortly after arriving in Tehran and having a rest after a long journey from California, the San Jose Earthquake right back has joined his new teammate in the training camp of Azadi.

Beitashour was quickly surrounded by reporters and photographers as soon as they were allowed to speak to him. The Iranian-American expressed his delight at joining Team Melli and hoped that he makes a difference. He also promised that he will work on his Farsi and improve it in order to communicate well with his teammates.

Since it is certain that the regular right back of Team Melli , Khosrow Heydary is injured and cannot make it in time for the Tuesday clash, it is highly possible that Carlos Queiroz will give Steven “Mehrdad” Beitashour his first cap against Thailand. As such it will be the ideal test for both the player and the team. Bietashour had numerous assists in the MSL with San Jose Earthquakes. The fans would be looking forward for his crosses from the flanks.

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San Jose Earthquakes’ Steven Beitashour explains why he opted for Iran after USMNT cameos

October 11, 2013

Geoff Lepper

MLSsoccer.com

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Having only established himself as a professional two years ago, Steven Beitashour still comes off as one of the San Jose Earthquakes’ young kids.

When it comes to the international stage, however, the 26-year-old right back knows his time is already beginning to run out. That’s why, when the Iranian national team came calling this time, Beitashour picked up and answered.

“I’m hoping to play at a World Cup, and [next year’s edition] is my best chance, because if I miss this one, I’ll be 31 in another four years,” Beitashour told MLSsoccer.com this week. “I’m just trying to make the most of it.”

Beitashour is the Quakes’ ultimate hometown kid – born in San Jose, a graduate of Leland High and a former ballboy for the franchise’s earlier MLS incarnation. He trained with the US national team last August and was in camp this January, but had to pull out after realizing offseason surgery failed to properly repair his sports hernia. Beitashour remained uncapped through 2013 as the Americans fought their way to the top of the CONCACAF Hexagonal.

“When I got called into the US national team, people thought, ‘Oh, that’s it, you’re settled. You’re playing for the US,’” Beitashour said. “But until you play a [binding] game, it’s not really over.”

That left the door open for Iran, which lays claim to Beitashour through his parents, who were both born there. The Iranians had been in contact with Beitashour since his emergence in 2011, when he notched seven assists in 19 league matches. The fact that Beitashour didn’t respond to their interest for so long left the impression that he was holding out to play for the US, but he claimed in the end it wasn’t a hard choice to make.

“If someone says, ‘Do you want to play for our country?’, I don’t think it’s too tough a decision,” Beitashour said. “It’s a good opportunity. Obviously, I still have to do well with it.”

While it’s common for players to face a choice between heritage and home with regards to a national-team commitment, the history between the US and Iran obviously raises the profile of Beitashour’s case – even if he doesn’t want to play a diplomatic role.

“For me, it’s all about soccer,” Beitashour said. “I don’t try to think at all on the political aspect of it. I’m just purely [concentrating] on playing soccer.”

On that front, Beitashour – who flew 17 hours to reach Tehran after the Quakes’ 1-0 victory against Colorado on Wednesday – will presumably get a look Tuesday when Iran faces Thailand in a qualifying match for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

“I know, speaking with Omid [Namazi, an assistant to Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz], they just want to take a look at me with the guys,” Beitashour said. “It’s different when you see someone on film all the time. You want to see how he reacts and plays with the guys on the team.”

Assuming that goes well, Beitashour could be back in Iranian colors next year during the World Cup, for which Team Melli have already qualified.

“It’s still far away, but the possibility of it is exciting,” Beitashour said of a potential Brazil trip. “To get these opportunities is very exciting. I just have to make sure that I continue to work hard at practice and in the gym and doing all the things off the field correctly, so that it gives me the best opportunity.”

13/10/2013

Arash Afshin desperately seeking an escape route.

Arash Afshin is desperately looking for an escape route out of Sepahan club after sitting on the bench in many matches. The 25 years old Team Melli player, has not featured regularly for Sepahan after his transfer from Foolad Khuzestan at the beginning of the season. Afshin’s name was also absent from the list of Team Melli recently announced by Queiroz.

It is rumored that Afshin is seeking the help of another Iranian player and some agents to find him a club in Qatar. So far those efforts have not yielded any results as it seems that Afshin has to fight it out in Sepahan to secure a starting role in the forward line, presently occupied by Mohammad Gholami.

Arash Afshin , a promising young player in his own right, represented Team Melli at different age levels and was selected for the AFC Asian Cup 2011 by Afshin Ghotbi. The Foolad player was showing a lot of promise with his club, and when given a chance in the Asian Cup, he took it well and scored a goal while continuing to impress. However , with the end of the Ghotbi era , and the return of Afshin to league football, his form started to suffer and his problems started to grow.

Like almost all young Iranian players at this stage of their career when they shoot to fame in a short period of time, he developed an attitude. So early in his career, he started to think that he must be the first choice to start in all Foolad matches. On few occasions, he displayed his displeasure for being substituted. Although , the coach and the club tolerated him fo a while , he was eventually disciplined and fined by the club for his misbehavior and lack of discipline. But very true to the usual Iranian style of doing things, he was soon pardoned shortly after he was disciplined! His fine would be waived and everything would return to normal! Except , it did not. His lack of discipline continued and it was even more evident in training where he did not give his best and certainly looked lethargic to his coach, unwilling to run, or do physical exercises.

The supposed transfer to the French league with Lille never materialized. When Sepahan came calling for Arash Afshin, both the club and the mild mannered coach Hossein Faraki, who had just had about enough of the troublemaker, agreed to sell. Afshin was a source of disturbance to Faraki’s finely balanced team, and since Afshin left, the problems decreased and the club concentrated on playing football. They are currently at the top of the league table.

While Sepahan was never short of players in every line, Afshin had to prove himself worthy of taking the place of the likes of Gholami , Dalovic , Sukaj and the promising youngster Ali Choopani. The first three players were quite established and in the top of the picking order. However, Afshin continued his way of being lazy and short of commitment in Sepahan. The difference though was one Croat in the shape of Zlatko Kranjcar , a no-nonsense man who would not hesitate one bit to bench a player of much greater stature and fame than Afshin, if he found the player is not working hard enough. While Afshin was argumentative and even shouted against Faraki, the Croat coach of Sepahan has no time for such antics, insisting that players need to show their worth in training and whenever given playing time in a match to claim for a regular place in the starting line-up. Clearly , Afshin has failed to do so, and as seen last week , his cry baby antics and leaving the match in disgust , did not go down very well with Sepahan , who are surely thinking of offloading him at the right opportunity.

Afshin, is a typical breed of Iranian young players who believe they are way better than what they actually are. The type of player that want to do the minimum but earn the maximum. The record books are full of such young players with good potentials who never made the grade because of their attitude.

If Arash Afshin is not careful and not willing to work hard, he will go into oblivion the way many has done not long time ago in Iran’s football. Unfortunately, players attitude and mentality, has never been properly addressed in Iran’s football. Only the minority of Iranian coaches have the right tools to deal with offenders. Such mentality and poor discipline, is not exclusive to young players either, which makes the job of foreign coaches like Queiroz and Kranjcar , so much difficult.

13/10/201313/10/2013

Iran U-19 defeats Saudi Arabia to qualify for finals.

Team Melli U-19 qualified for the final tournament of AFC U-19 Championship after achieving the full marks in the qualifications round.

On Saturday afternoo0n , the young boys of Iran football defeated Saudi Arabia in Kerman, in a tightly contested match. Iran needed a draw to qualify while Saudi Arabia had to win the match to stand any chance. The match was decided late in the first half when a beautifully taken free kick by Saeed Aghaye ended up in the Saudi net.

In the second half, the Saudi went for an all out attack leaving their side vulnerable to counter attacks, but neither of the teams succeeded in scoring . The host seemed to be satisfied with the result and did not venture too much in attack.

Sardar Azmoun was taken to hospital after he was substituted feeling ill.

The one goal was good enough for the qualification for Iran , while the Saudi Arabians must wait for other group results. The final tournament will be held in Myanmar next year.

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IRAN – SAUDI ARABIA

1-0 (1-0)

12.1o.2013

AFC Asian U-19 Championship – Qualifications rounds – Group D

Shahid Bahonar Stadium , Kerman

Referee : H. C. D. PERERA (SRI LANKA)

Scorer:

Iran: Saeed Aghaye (38′)

IRAN: Payam Niazmand; Meysam Joudaki (c), Mehdi Hossainzadeh, Mohammad Rowshandel, Armin Sohrabian, Hassan Dadashi (47′ Vahid Zoulghadr) , Saeed Aghaye , Siavash Hagh-Nazari (71′ MohammadReza Soleimani) , Milad Sarlak, Ali Fathian , Sardar Azmoun (78′ Babak Abdollahzadeh)

Rank	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS	notes
1	IRAN	3	3	0	0	9	1	8	9
2	SAUDI ARABIA	2	2	0	1	7	2	5	6
3	LEBANON	3	0	1	2	2	8	-6	1
4	TAJIKISTAN	3	0	1	2	0	7	-7	1

12/10/201312/10/2013

“We can defeat Iran” Thai coach claims.

Thailand national football team newly appointed coach Surachai Jaturapattarapong claims that Iran which has a few problems, is not much stronger than Bahrain team that they played on Thursday and beat 1-0!.

The Thai coach was speaking after his first match in control and registering a win against Bahrain in the friendly match in Bangkok. The highly confiden coach said that his team is capable of defeating Iran in Tehran despite the absence of some key players.

Thailand will be without the influential Burriram United midfield player Jakkraphan Kaewprom who is injured and could not make the trip to Tehran. Jakkraphan expressed his bitter disappointment that he could not accompany the team for this important match in Azadi, however he was consoled by the new coach who assured him that there will be other chances for him in the near future. Suree Sukha is another experienced player who could not make the trip.

Coach Surachai said that he is not expecting an easy match against Iran but the improvement he has noticed in his own team makes him quite hopeful of a satisfactory result in Teahran “We need to be better against the Iranians, especially the accuracy of passing and shooting. These two areas require concentration. I have never lost to Iran during my playing days and I have no reason to fear them. I hope my record gives my player confidence.” The coach said.

Continuing his confident theme , he said “We played well against Bahrain and won. I believe Iran is not that much stronger than Bahrain. Iran team has its own problem (…)”

German Winfred Schaefer & Thai Surachai — German Winfried Schaefer & Thai Surachai

The 43 year old coach whose nickname is “Nguan” is a former midfield player who played for the Thai national team 86 times scoring 7 goals. he managed Chainat team before invited to join the national squad as an assistant to the German Winfried Schaefer.

That said, Thailand has failed to win a single match in the group beaten by Kuwait and Lebanon and lying at the bottom of the table. Despite what the Thai coach claims, his job will be extremely difficult against a much stronger Iranian team that has qualified to the World Cup, a point that the Thai coach is probably not aware of. Thailand has never beaten Iran in an official or friendly matches.

Iran and Thailand will be meeting on the 15^th October in Azadi stadium in Day three of AFC Asian Cup 2015 qualification round.

[divider]

IRAN vs. THAILAND Head to Head results

Date	Competetion.	H / A / N	Final score	Venue	Attendance
03.03.2010	Asian Cup Qualifier	H	1 - 0	Azadi Stadium - Tehran	9,000
28.01.2009	Asian Cup Qualifier	A	0 - 0	Rajamangala Stadium , Bangkok	10,000
20.07.2004	Asian Cup / Group D	N	3 - 0	Olympics Sport Centre , Chongqing	30,000
05.10.2001	World Cup Qualifier	H	1 - 0	Azadi - Tehran	60,000
01.09.2001	World Cup Qualifier	A	0 - 0	Rajamangla Stadium , Bangkok	45,000
15.10.2000	Asian Cup / Group A	N	1 - 1	Sport City , Beirut	10,000
09.12.1996	Asian Cup / Group B	N	3 - 1	Al-Maktoum Stadium , Dubai	12,000
30.05.1989	World Cup Qualifier	H	3 - 0	Azadi - Tehran	55,000
23.02.1989	World Cup Qualifier	A	3 - 0	Bangkok	25,000
20.09.1986	Friendly	N	4 - 0	Seoul	?
11.08.1984	Asian Cup Qualifier	N	5 - 0	Siniayan Stadium , Jakarta	15,000
12.05.1972	Asian Cup	A	3 - 2	Bangkok	25,000

[divider]


H/A/N	Matches	W	D	L	Golas	Goad Diff.
Home	3	3	0	0	5 – 0	+5
Away	4	2	2	0	6 – 2	+4
Neutral	5	4	1	0	16 – 2	+14
Total	12	9	3	0	27 – 2	+23

12/10/2013

Queiroz speaks about his player’s selection

Carlos Queiroz, Iran’s national soccer team manager spoke on Friday for the first time since the announcement of the squad list for Thailand game. A list which was heavily criticized by some experts and league clubs. Queiroz , who has been avoiding the media for some time now, hence creating more rumors about some difference with the FFIRI, or impending departure from Iran . For the first time, he spoke about his justifications on some of the more controversial players selections. He also complained about “some people start too much talking, their talk takes less value and would not receive professional attention, I would prefer to do less talking and more working such as spending time to coordinate matters related to the national team.” Marginalizing his critics in the process.

“It is important to carry out our tasks as soon as possible without much fuss and the best possible way is to enforce it is by training. We do not have much time and have the smallest squad, we will use this opportunity to succeed.”

The coach said the game against Thailand is very important, “in fact all the games of the national team is of paramount importance, especially because this one is an official game and part of qualification for the AFC Asian Cup 2015. We have lost two valuable training camps; it is not good for the national team. We must make the best use of the current camp to prepare for Thailand and beyond.”

“When I am abroad and visit different countries, I coordinate the accommodation arrangements, like negotiating with the various hotels and other venues for training. Unfortunately there have been some rumors about my travels. Those really do not matter, but some people speak too much. For me what is important is that we reach our goal, and when this coordination visits are carried out, it is to service these goals by relaying on my professional experience which I like to benefit Iran’s football.”

Sometimes people who talk a lot but I prefer not to talk too much.

In his justification in selecting some players , Queiroz said “

“I dare say that I and my colleagues have watched more than 95% of the League matches either closely or have watched the recordings of them. In any case, there are some things that we need to consider when selecting the players list. After the last match against South Korea, we had no opportunity to convene and practice. This camp is a good chance; the goal was to be able to maintain the basic structure of team. It is also an opportunity to have a close look at some younger players like Yaghoub Karimi and Jahanbakhsh. We also intend to monitor the injured players using our own medical team. Khosro Heydari and Mehrdad Pooladi are both in the injury list. We like to have a close inspection on the extent of their injuries ourselves. They must work under the supervision of our medical staff.”

He continued:”Another thing to consider is that we can only invite certain number of players in each post. For example, I cannot invite 10 players in camp who are defenders. We should establish a balance to coordinate the squad and the players list should not radically be changed.”

(note: 95% seems to be extremely an optimistic figure for National Team coaches watching league games. We believe that it is either exaggerated or wrongly quoted. Normally National team coaches, attend a small percentage of league matches in the region of 10% according to some sources)

Queiroz has also been accused of favoritism and biased towards Perspolis and Esteghlal teams detrimental to other teams when it came to player’s selections for Team Melli. Queiroz obviously denied that and refutes the favoritism accusation. “I know that these two teams always expect a large number of their players to be selected. It is because of their huge fan bases. Any match that you attend by these two teams, it seems that their fans fill the stadium or they are in the majority, so it is natural that special attention has to be applied to them (!!), however, professionally speaking, it makes no difference to me which club a player is from” This was Queiroz justification on selecting a benched player from Perspolis, Hossein Mahini.

Iran’s national soccer team head coach then commented on the Irish National Team coaching vacancy. He said, “Of course , when I noticed the news media shortlisting my name in the candidates list for the Ireland job, I was delighted. It shows that these people have confidence in me and trust my work. But that does not mean that I have negotiated with them, or I’d quit my job as coach of Team Melli any time soon.”

The Only problems I have is the media reports

Asked if there are any impending problems or differences between him and the President of FFIRI, Ali Kaffashian ” The Only problems I have is the media reports that I read about those imaginary problems and that makes me laugh as it surprises me. There simply is no problem”

“I am motivated to succeed and both me and Kaffashian share the same goal and motivation. I have the same dream and goal as the Iranian people. We should strive to achieve our shared aspirations.”

His biggest great concern for national team are the friendly matches “ all FIFA days for such matches are occupied by out AFC Asian Cup qualification matches. We playin the qualifiers in those spare times.” Carlos said “holding time of friendly matches coincided with the Asian indices Cup qualifier nation. This is our main problem. After Thailand we have to play against Lebanon and Kuwait. However, we have worked hard to arrange friendly international matches near the end of this year. “

“The qualification to the World Cup is still fresh in our memories. We dearly like the fans join us and fill Azadi in the match against Thailand as it is the first time we can all celebrate together and share our joy in qualifying for the World Cup. We hope people can come to the stadium to support the team again, raise the spirit of the players . “

10/10/2013

Perspolis signs a 9 year old wunderkid from Ardabil.

Perspolis club has signed a 9 years old Iranian kid from Ardabil on a 10 years contract.

Amir Hossein Hajizadeh (b0rn 2004) , who shot to instant fame after a clip of his trickery in football was shown in Navad TV show, and subsequently made YouTube, is believed to be the youngest ever footballer in Iran to sign a semi-professional contract. The boy will continue his normal childhood growing , attending school and playing football with other kids, however , under the term of the contract, Perspolis will supplement his living with extra education (English language tuition) and appointing of a Perspolis coach.

As such , the young Hajizadeh will be playing for Perspsolis until he is 19 by which time the club assumes that they can sell him to a European team if he maintains and develop his footballing skills.

The boy was introduced to the club by Ali Daei, who is an Ardabili himself. Club CEO was quickly off the mark to take advantage and bring the boy under the Perspolis club umbrella.

10/10/201310/10/2013

Iran U-19 in the lead after defeating Lebanon.

Team Melli U-19 scored a convining win against Lebanon in the second match of Group D AFC qualifiers in Kerman.

Earlier on in the same group , Saudi Arabia managed to scored a 5 goals past Tajikistan without reply to put Iran team under immense pressure. With 6 points and plus 6 goals margin , Saudi Arabia was comfortably sitting on the top of the group. With this in mind, Iran’s U-19 team started the match with the objective of scoring a large number of goals top reduce their deficit. It only took 2 minutes for Iran to take the lead when Ali Fathian scored. Lebanon , not an easily team to play against as their previous match against Saudi Arabia showed, scored the equalizer within a few minutes from the penalty spot.

Armin Sohrabian restored Iran’s lead on minute 21 , before the star of the team Sardar Azmoun , scored a third on 37th minute. Azamoun started this match while he was on the bench in the Tajikistan match to enable him some rest after a series of long flights.

In the second half, Iran U-19 continued playing the same style and pressurizing the Lebanese to retreat into a defensive shell.

As soon as the 2nd half started, Milad Sarlak scored. With Iran seeking more, a penalty was awarded and Azamoun scored his second of the match Iran’s fifth in the 74th minute. Finally Sohrabian also scored his second with minutes to the end.

With this convincing victory, Iran regains the lead of Group D , while Saudi Arabia drops t o second on goal difference. Both Lebanon and Tajikistan are already eliminated after today’s results.

Sardar Azmoun was selected the match’s Most Valuable Player.

[divider]

IRAN – LEBANON

6-1 (3-1)

19.oCT.2013AFC Asian U-19 Championship – Qualifications rounds – Group D

Shahid Bahonar Stadium , Kerman

Scoreres

Iran: Ali Fathian (2′) , Armin Sohrabian (21′, 86′), Sardar Azmoun(37′ , 74′ [p]) , Milad Sarlak (46′)

Labanon :

IRAN: Payam Niazmand; Meysam Joudaki (c), Mehdi Hossainzadeh, Mohammad Rowshandel, Armin Sohrabian, Hassan Dadashi (70′ Mobin Ezzati) , Saeed Aghaye , Siavash Hagh-Nazari (60′ MohammadReza Soleimani) , Milad Sarlak, Ali Fathian (80′ Babak Abdollahzadeh) , Sardar Azmoun

[divider]

Rank	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS	notes
1	IRAN	2	2	0	0	8	1	7	6
2	SAUDI ARABIA	2	2	0	0	7	1	6	6
3	LEBANON	2	0	0	2	2	8	-6	0
4	TAJIKISTAN	2	0	0	2	0	7	-7	0

10/10/2013

Iran U-17 squad announced for the FIFA World Cup.

The final list of 21 players participating in the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2013 has been announced by FFIRI.

From the original squad , 5 players where eliminated as the result of FIFA limitation of number of players which is limited to 21 only. The squad will start the final phase of training on Saturday when they will gather in the Olympic hotel to start a 18 day camp until their flight to UAE where the tournament is being held this years. Iran’s first match is against Argentina in Group E is on the 19th October in Dubai.

[label type=”info”]GOALKEEPERS[/label]

1   Mahdi AMINI (16/05/1996)
12   Ahmad GOHARI (12/01/1996)
21   Armin HASHEMI (04/02/1996)

[label type=”info”]DEFENDERS[/label]
2   Mostafa HASHEMI (19/10/1996)
3   Sasan JAFARI (17/09/1996)
4   Komeil HAGHZADEH (25/02/1997)
5   Majid HOSSEINI (20/06/1996)
13   Iman SALIMI (01/06/1996)

[label type=”info”]MIDFIELD[/label]
6   Saeid EZATOLAHI (01/10/1996)
8   Mohammad BAZAJ (30/03/1996)
10   Amirhossein KARIMI (09/02/1996)
14   Ali GHOLIZADEH (10/03/1996)
15   Hossein MEHRABAN (12/05/1996)
16   Abdolreza ZAREI (21/01/1996)
17   Ali HAZAMI (25/02/1996)
18   Sadegh MOHARRAMI (01/03/1996)
19   Yousef SEYYEDI (08/03/1996)
20   Mohammadreza KAVEH (22/07/1997)

[label type=”info”]FORWARDS[/label]
7   Mostafa ZAKARIAPOUR (13/02/1996)
9   Amir Mohammad MAZLOUM (27/01/1996)
11   Reza JAFARI (11/01/1997)

[label type=”info”]COACH[/label]

Ali DOUSTIMEHR

10/10/2013

Davari excited with Team Melli.

After so much commotion when his name was announced by Queiroz, and then the news that Daniel Davari will not turn up for Team Melli, finally, the German born Iranian is here in Tehran in the training camp of Team Melli.

The Eintracht Braunschweig goalkeeper has made it this time to the delight of Queiroz, teammates and Davari’s excited father. The landing of the 25 years old in Azadi training camp was smooth and he train with lots of enthusiasm and energy. Davari mixed well with all the new faces he has seen for the first time and seems to be in the right frame of mind for a debut. Whether he can dislodge Rahman Ahmadi is another question, however. Queiroz might try him out if results were favorable to Team Melli in the upcoming matches. In the long run, Daniel Davari seems to be the ideal candidate. At only 25 he has plenty of time to mature and get his position amongst the posts for Team Melli Iran.

Expressing his delight in joining Team Melli , Davari said that he has been thinking about this for a long time. Now that he is here, he wants to impress and make a difference. After a series of bad results , Eintracht Braunschweig won its first match in the Bundesliga which delighted Davari. “It is a good omen that we beat Wolfsburg before I came here to Iran. It was our first win the top flight and I am very satisfied by that.” Davari commented.

About his club , Davari said that the coach is using a rotating system for goalkeepers. “It is a policy that I have to settle with. I find it quite demanding and it certainly increases competition for places”. Apart from his own club, Davari has no affection for any other German clubs but he admits that he is an avid Arsenal fan.

Although Davari was selected during the Qualifying rounds of the FIFA world Cup for to join the squad, he did not turn up because of club commitments. In this point he said “It was a very critical period for us at Braunschweig. Promotion to the Bundesliga was at stake. I would have loved to be part of the squad that won the qualification to the Worlds Cup, but unfortunately I couldn’t oblige and had to stay with my club until we won the promotion. I realize that I have a tough competition with Rahman Ahmadi here. He is a senior goalkeeper and was instrumental in Iran gaining the qualification. That is one tough task to replace him. I have lots of respect for Ahmadi, however I am used to competition for places and will try to gain respect of the teammates and gain the confidence of the coach in order to achieve some playing time.”

With Davari’s father accompanying him to Tehran, Davari Senior was quite disappointed that he could not see the practice session when his son was training with Team Melli in Azadi sports complex. The training ground was cordoned off by security with no journalist or other fans allowed. The security informed the press core that they were under strict instructions from Team Melli coaching staff not to allow anyone in. Apparently somewhere along the line, Queiroz has heard that a Thais spy is mingling amongst the Iranians and sending information to Bangkok to expose Team Melli tactics.

Training in secret , is becoming a habitual coaches practice. Under the disguise of secrecy and keeping plans under wrap, coaches prevent journalist and fans from watching from the stands. The as if new plans and tactics are introduced everyday.

The superfluous act, has hardly proven anything of real worth except to enrage the journalist and photographers who try to do their jobs covering Team Melli.

09/10/2013

Iran U-19 begins the qualifiers with a win.

Iran U19 team won a hard fought match against Tajikistan in the Group “D” of AFC Asian U-19 championship qualifiers.

The match played in Shahid Bahonor stadium, ended 2-0 for Iran with Babak Abdollahzadeh scoring late in the first half, and Ali Fathian scoring the second in the injury time of the match , to sceure all the 3 points against a togh and determined opponent.

Team Melli U-19 leads the table of the 4 team group with 3 points on goal difference with Saudi Arabia who earlier beat lewbanon 2-1 after being behind most of the match.

Iran played with the following line up

Payam Niazmand; Meysam Joudaki, Mehdi Hossainzadeh, Mohammad Rowshandel, Armin Sohrabian, Mobin Ezzati (78′ Hassan Dadashi), Saeed Aghaye , Siavash Hagh-Nazari (89′ Mohammad Reza Soleimani ), Milad Sarlak, Ali Fathian , Babak Abdollahzadeh (46 – Sardar Azmoun)

Iran will be playing Lebanon next on Thursday.