Iran fell 1 positions to be 60  in January’s FIFA world football rankings, which were announced on Thursday.

The 3 times winners of Asian Cup slide continues after the defeat at home against Uzbekistan in the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 qualifiers. In December 2012 , Iran dropped 15 position to 59. but mainatained its ranking as the forith best team in Aisa. In the new years ranking and the first of 2013 , Iran dropped in the Asian ranking as well , it is now the fifth best among Asian countries with Uzbekistan easily taking Iran’s position.

The top ten ranks remained the same as Spain stayed top while Germany remained second before Argentina and Italy.

Top Asian Teams in FIFA Ranking

	FIFA Rank	Zone Rank	Team	Pts		+/- Pos
	21	1	Japan	834	1
	34	2	Korea Republic	687	1
	36	3	Australia	674	0
	56	4	Uzbekistan	555	11
	60	5	Iran	537	-1
	86	6	China PR	415	2
	89	7	Iraq	392	3
	95	8	Jordan	375	-1
	99	9	Korea DPR	363	0
	103	10	United Arab Emirates	346	-7

AlJazeera English reports

Masoud Shojaei is the only Iranian player in Spain’s Primera Division and is an icon to young footballers back home.

Osasuna might be in a fight to avoid relegation from Spain’s Primera Division, but one of their players is still enjoying star status in his home country.

With more than forty international football caps to his name, Masoud Shojaei is an icon to many young Iranian footballers, and he takes this responsibility very seriously.

Matt Rumsey reports from Pamplona, Spain.

Tehran

Team Melli coach Carlos Queiroz has stated that Iran has quite a turbulent path towards qualification to the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014.  Queiroz was interviewed by BBC Persian Service.  The Portuguese coach left for vacation after the defeat by Uzbekistan, according to the official Iranian news agency while also visiting London where the interview was conducted with the BBC.

 Queiroz said that Team Melli should have defeated Lebanon to ease the worries and reduce the pressure towards the qualification but the defeat in Beirut made it quite demanding for us. “Even with 8 of our players missing, we should have beaten Lebanon in Beirut, instead we suffered a bitter defeat which made our task that much more difficult for the qualification.” Queiroz said.

In explaining some of the problems that team has faced, Queiroz pointed to Perspolis players as the source of a major setback. “Despite Perspolis buying the best players of the league including many Team Melli players, they failed to capitalize on their resources and the team dipped in the table. When the team was not doing well in the leagues, it is natural that their forms were reflected in the national Team as well.” In veiled criticism towards his compatriot Jose Manuel , the ex-Pesrpolis Coach who was sacked by the club recently, Queiroz gave the example of the forward line of his team. ” We have Ansarifard , Ghazi and Ali Karimi in the forward line and they are all Perspolis players who did not do very well with Team melli hence reflecting their form with the club.” “ I do not have a magic wand to make to create miracles nor to create players. I have to depend on the players produced by the clubs” said Queiroz in justifying the poor performance of Team Melli in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Carlos Queiroz expressed his satisfaction with living in Iran. He is impressed with the reception he is getting from the fans and wherever he ventures. He said that he has lots of friends who take him around and especially to museums and other attractions. He also said that he has no problem with the food in Iran as the country has so much good food that he spends much of his spare time eating the good Iranian Cuisine.

Carlos Queiroz feels confident and hopeful that Iran can make. However, he stressed that the team must win the remaining matches in order to fulfill this ambition.

Team Melli’s next official match will be against Lebanon in the Asian Cup 2015 qualifiers.

Watch Carlos Queiroz interview with BBC Persian

Hamadan

 The Head of Iranian football Federation , Ali Kaffashian has bemoaned the criticism and questioning targeted at his federation’s achievement in the aftermath of winning this year’s AFC Asian Federation of the year 2012.

Iran Football Federation was surprising selected by the Asian Football Confederation as AFC MEMBER ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR, despite Iranian teams at all levels having one of the poorest results in many years and hardly winning any trophies or titles. Iran also lost its futsal title to Japan is a sport that it has dominated since its onset in Asia.

Kaffashian stated that this honor belongs to all the administrators of the IRIFF and not just a single individual and hence he believes that this collective effort represents recognition by AFC for the fine work that his federation has achieved. However, the beleaguered head of IFF thinks that there are groups in Iran who are questioning this achievement and trying to undermine the IRIFF efforts in developing football in Iran. He previously also accused those who are questioning the award of this title as people questiong the Country and its leadership !

Kaffashian, who was attending a meeting of the general assembly of the Hamadan Province football committee, did not name those are alleged to be undermining his federation.  However, his target is clearly the TV Show “Navad”, which ran a poll asking the viewers to name the most astounding event of the football season in Iran. The absolutely majority elected the option of IRIFF winning the AFC MEMBER ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR. The influential “Navad” programs runs a SMS poll in every program in which millions participate and it is one of the more popular part of the show.

“Navad” is a weekly IRIB football program hosted by Adel Ferdowsipour and is considered as the most popular TV show in Iran. The show has raised several controversies throughout the years however, it is still considered as an important and influential tribune for all football personalities to air their grievances. The host , Ferdowsipour , is known as a bold character who does not shy away from criticizing the authorities and the federation for their shortfalls.

Brazilian Jurandir Dutra de Azevedo and Spaniard Jesus Candelas Rodrigo have been shortlisted for Iran futsal coach job.  The Brazilian is though to be assigned the the U23 team while the Spaniard will be coaching the Senior team.

Seyed Reza Eftikhari who has been recently appointed as the Head of Iran’s Futsal committee replacing the long serving Abbas Torabian,  announced that the IRIFF is in the final stages of negotiation with Jesus Candelas Rodrigo. The Spaniard has already served as the technical director of Team Melli Futsal and was part of the coaching staff of the last campaign in the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Thailand which saw and early exist from the competition.

Eftikhari said that the stumbling block currently is the availability of hard currency to pay the coach. The federation will be approaching the government and Ministry of Sport in order to streamline an arrangement enabling the Spaniard to be paid in Hard Currency.

Both the coaches have many critics in Iran for their failures in the past.

Seyed Reza Eftikhari also commented on Vahid Shamsaei and said his return to Team Melli is the sole responsibility of the coach and his committee will not intervene in his selection. Eftikhari rejected any claims that the federation has any objections to Shamsei’s return and denied any problems existing between the player , who is currently the World Record holder of international goals scored , and the futsal committee.

The deputy head of IFF has spoken about the long due appointment of a Team Melli Manager.

In a short interview with Iranian News agency , Mehr , Hadi Ayotollahei , the first deputy Head of Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation IRIFF announced that a Manager for Team Melli will be shortly appointed. Ayotollahei added that even Carlos Queiroz, the Team Melli head coach is now convinced that his team requires a dedicated manager who would be handling many administrative issues and tasks that is currently being handled by the head coach or person delegated by him. Since the appointment of the ex-Real Madrid coach as head coach of Iran national football team, no one has been appointed as a Team Manager. The post has been left vacant since the last one left right after the conclusion of the Asian Cup in January 2011.  The last person to occupy the position of Team Melli Manager was Asghar Hajilo working beside Afshin Ghotbi.

The post is traditionally an administrative position which has always been part of the Team Melli structure and normally occupied by famous ex-Team Melli players or ex-coaches.

Hadi Ayotollahei also indicated that the appointment of Team Melli Manager is the sole responsibility of the head of IRIFF , Ali Kaffashian and absolutely no one, and that includes the head coach of Team Melli, has the right to object or impose his demands on this appointment

Questioned about the repetitive travelling of Queiroz out of Iran , Hadi Ayotollahei said that this leave of absence is authorized by the Head of the federation. He denied that there is any discrepancy in the leave days of the Head coach as claimed by some media and emphasized that the coach leave entitlement is very clear and transparent. Ayotollahei, however, declined to disclose any figures of days entitled to the Portuguese coach. The deputy head of IRIFF also dismissed allegations that the head coach is always absent from Iran especially during active league days by claiming that the technical cadre of Team Melli are currently monitoring the Hazfi Cup matches !.

The reporter asked  Hadi Ayotollahei if there is any truth in what some sources has claimed of an ongoing dispute between Queiroz and the official Kits supplier  of Iran’s National football teams , in which Queiroz  has been demanding a separate & additional fee for donning the official kit. Ayotollahei denied any knowledge of such issue and emphasized that there are much urgent and important matters for the federation to attend to as opposed to discussing such trivial matters.

 Asked if there is more stability now since the hostile attacks by the media on the federation for their weak performance and disappointing Team Melli results, Ayotollahei  said that without stability , there will be no progress in Iran’s football. He also denied that there is any intention by the incumbent Head of IRIFF to step down in the upcoming general assembly meeting. Kaffashian’s resignation has been rumored in many circles after the unsatisfactory Team Melli results which are threatening yet another failure to qualify to the World Cup.

Iran’s football woes continued with the announcement of the latest FIFA ranking for December 2012. With the feeble results by Team Melli , a drop in the FIFA ranking was expected, however a 15 places drop is a severe setback.

Iran has dropped to 59the rank in the world just behind Honduras, and ahead of Guinea. Last month and despite not so optimal results , Iran managed to climb up the ranking to 44.

Despite this big drop , Iran still managed to maintain its continental ranking as it remains 4th behind Japan , Australia , Korea Republic and just ahead of the fast advancing Uzbekistan which occupies the 5th place in Asia.

After the loss against Uzbekistan , it was hoped that Team Melli will recover by making a successful appearance in WAFF 2012, a tournament that Iran has won 4 times, However , Iran ended its campaign early and was knocked out by Bahrain hence failing to go beyond the group stages for the first time in the history of this competition.

FIFA ranking , is a monthly list issued by FIFA based on the results of official matches between the member countries at full level. The computerized ranking is weighted and has different factors for important matches and stronger oppositions.

Monday, 17 December 2012 11:13

TEHRAN TIMES – TEHRAN, Iran football coach Carlos Queiroz says it’s time for the team to unite in order to advance to the 2014 World Cup.

Iran failed to qualify for the semifinal round of the 2012 West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Championship. However, Queiroz insisted on Monday that he took advantage of the game and would pick up some young players for the World Cup qualifier.

“We had not enough time to prepare for the competition but I found that some players could help us to pave the way for the World Cup. The competition helped us to get more knowledge of our young players. We had not gone there (Kuwait) to get results,” Queiroz was quoted as saying by Iran Football Federation site.

“Iran participated in the tournament with young and inexperienced players and they showed their potential in the event. They need to play more in the international games and these kinds of tournaments will help the staff to know about new players,” Queiroz stated.

“At the moment, we have to be united since the Iran football team has three important matches against Qatar, Lebanon and South Korea in the World Cup qualifications. I believe in my team because we defeated Uzbekistan at their home soil and beat the Koreans with a 10-man team. From now, all of us must concentrate to defeat Qatar,” the 59-year-old Portuguese added.

Iran completed a new humiliating low under Carlos Queiroz by being eliminated from the group stages of the 7^th WAFF men’s football competition despite winning its last match against Yemen on Saturday.

The match ended 2-1 for Iran , but Bahrain defeating Saudi Arabia on the other group match played at the same time , meant the tiny Persian Gulf island heading the group with 7 points and joining Oman and Kuwait from Group A in the semi-finals.

In a lackluster half , Iran had a slight edge without creating serious scoring opportunity. Team Melli’s game was marred by erroneous passing and being caught offside on several occasions, Dehnavi being the culprit most of the times.

Despite  Iran’s slight edge in this half , the offenses were not showing much serious threat on Yemen’s goal , a fact which encouraged the bottom of the group team to push forward and capitalize on the weak Iranian right flank.

Vahid Esmael-Beigi , the right back had problems controlling the Yemeni winger and had to resort to fouling to stop him. Esmael-Beigi eventually was awarded a yellow card for his efforts.

5 minutes before the end of the half , Omid Nazari pounced on a loose ball from outside edge of the box to score Iran’s first goal in the competition. However , the  weakness on the right defense of Team Melli proved to be Iran’s downfall once again when Esmael-Beigi  fouled the Yemeni winger to stop his progress. The debutant defender was lucky to escape a sending off by the Lebanese referee . Iran was , however, not lucky on the subsequent resulting free kick which ended in the Yemeni equalizer from a deflected header in the injury time of the first half.

First Half finished 1-1.

In the second half , the beleaguered Carlos Queiroz appeared on the bench , something that he has not done during this tournament. It appears that he wanted to take over and make drastic changes in order to win. The Portuguese appearance seems to be effective as Iran started the half with much resolve and plenty of desire. Waves of attacks resulting in the series of corners.

On 53^rd minute , substitute Payam Sadeghian fed Dehnavi with a nice pass on the right. Dehnavi continued his run before sending an immaculate diagonal ball to the on rushing Karimi , who blasted the ball into the net. 2-1 for Iran.

Iran was still on the offensive with a few missed opportunities

Ouladi’s holding of the ball far too long ,  robbed the team from a golden opportunity meters away from the Yemeni goal.

On 74^th minute, another weighted pass by Dehnavi was met by Sadeghian who beat the offside trap but blasted the ball skywards. Iran continued domination with flashes of brilliant teamwork and passing. However, there was no third goal and the result meant Iran, and for the first time in this tournament history, failing to qualify beyond the group stages.

Man of the match : Yaghoub Karimi.

Team Melli will be battling for survival in today’s match against bottom team Yemen. In the last group B match of the 7th WAFF championship currently being held in Kuwait, Team Melli is in a desperate position and fighting for survival as a win by two goals or better is required in this match for Iran to have a chance to head the group. However , a win is not a guarantee for qualification as the other group match between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain need to end in a draw for Iran to qualify. The two matches are being played at the same time.

A win by any of the 2 teams in today’s other group match will spell the end of Iran’s participation in this edition of the tournament and the elimination from group stages would mean the worst ever result for the Iran , which has dominated this competition since its inception.

Iran has won 4 out of the six tournaments , only Iraq and Kuwait managed one championship each. The latter is the defending champion.

Carlos Queiroz and Omid Namazi have exhausted all their resources and there is no more tricks up their sleeves for today’s match against Yemen. Despite the strengthening of the team by introducing two established Team Melli players , Pejman Montazeri and Ehsan Hajsafy , the team failed to break the defenses of 10 man Bahrain in the last match despite controlling the match especially in the second half. Team Melli has failed to score a goal in its third consecutive match in an official competition.

It is expected that the coaches will be playing with two forwards for maximum  offensive game play in a desperate hope of ending the goal drought. Mehrdad Ouladi and Ahmad Hassanzadeh should be playing up front although the latter revived a slight knock in the last match. Payam Sadeghian is another option to partner Ouladi up front.

The rest of the line up should not be much different from the last match and Yaghoub Karimi, and Omid Ebrahimi two of the better players in this tournament , should keep their places for the match.