FFIRI again in trouble with payments, this time it is Skocic.

Skocic’s financial burden is on the shoulders of the Football Federation

The president of the Football Federation has not yet managed to settle the severance pay that is due for the sacked Croat ex-Team Melli coach Dragan Skocic, Mehdi Taj promised Skocic that FFIRI will pay all his dues before he leaves Iran, but there were no settlements nor any payments.

Mehdi Taj decided to terminate Dragan Skocic’s contract after returning to the position of President of the Football Federation so that Carlos Queiroz can be recruited for Team Melli’s bench in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Taj is guilty of creating a catastrophic contract with Marc Wilmots, which caused Iranian football to be fined 3,325,000 euros plus a 5% per year delay fine, the heaviest case in FFIRI history .

When he was faced with demands of the Belgian coach to terminate his contract, Taj could not agree on terms with Wilmots. He even took two million euros in cash to Istanbul to pay off the Belgian who was by far the weakest foreign coach that Team Melli has had for decades but failed to satisfy the Belgian’s lawyers.

 After Taj’s proposals to settle with Wilmott failed, he returned to Tehran empty-handed. Conveniently, Taj resigned his post claiming ill health, thus avoiding the consequences of the FIFA fine and passing the torch to the next leader of FFIRI.

Now Taj is in another project that seems to be completely similar to what he had played with Wilmott, this time it is Skocic. Last Thursday, Dragan Skocic decided to leave Iran, even though he has not yet received his salary and other compensations, in order to partially satisfy the Croat who intended to return to Croatia in peace, Taj made some promises. The agreement reached shows that the former head coach of the Iranian national team is going to receive all his demands from the football federation before the start of the 2022 World Cup, but if this issue is not fulfilled, he will file a case against FFIRI with FIFA which will obviously include damages, delays, and other claims on top. FIFA also has an option to fine FFIRI for breaches of contract.

Queiroz meeting Sengal again, looking for revenge.

Carlos Queiroz is once again meeting his nemesis, Aliou Cissé, and the national football team of Senegal, the team that deprived him of lifting the African Nations Cup and the qualification for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, while he was the head coach of Egypt.

After the confidence-boosting win by Team Melli, Queiroz’s men are looking for another good result against the African champion on Tuesday to complete what is the ideal preparation schedule for the World Cup under difficult conditions. Queiroz knows Senegal quite well by now and must be desperate to beat them this time as coach of Iran. Senegal is looking to score a hat trick against the Portuguese coach to add insult to his injury.

Both those defeats by penalty kicks were bitter for the Egyptians fans and even worst for Queiroz himself. Undoubtedly, if these two defeats against Senegal did not occur, Queiroz would still be the head coach of the Egyptian national team and cruising the Nile on his days off. That’s why the game against Senegal has a different flavor and color for Queiroz, and unlike the game against Uruguay, it is a complete revenge game for the coach. However, for Team Melli, it is considered yet another preparatory game against strong opposition where a win really means nothing except for alerting the likes of England and its media, not to underestimate Team Melli. A good performance and a win would surely jolt the other two teams in the group USA and Wales.

Senegal under the capable coach Aliou Cissé and stars such as Saido Mane,  Kalidou Koulibaly (captain,), Idrissa Gueye and Cheikhou Kouyaté will be looking to win against Iran to consolidate its claim for qualifying out of the group in the FIFA World Cup. It will not be a simple practice match as Aliou Cissé will field his strongest team.

All Senegal players play outside the country with no local domestic league player expected to make the final roster for the World Cup.

Iran and Senegal met only once before in Azadi Stadium in April 2009. The match ended 1-1 .
Mehrzad MADANCHI scored Iran’s goal.

Date Comp. H / A / N Final score Stadium Attendance
01.04.2009 Friendly H 1 – 1 Azadi Stadium, Tehran 5000

Why it was so hard to see Iran vs. Uruguay, a World Cup warm-up game in Austria

Mark Ogden
Senior Writer, ESPN FC

ST. POLTEN, Austria — It was supposed to be just a game, nothing more than a World Cup warm-up friendly between Iran and Uruguay in a sleepy town in rural Austria. Perhaps it’d be a perfect opportunity to scout an Iranian team that will face the United States and England in Group B at Qatar 2022 in two months’ time. But the reality turned out to be something different.

Instead of a regular international fixture, it became an event at the heart of the growing campaign of unrest in Iran surrounding women’s rights, and a focal point for a young population demanding change. The game was scheduled to be played behind closed doors — though fans from both teams were surprisingly allowed into the stadium shortly before kickoff — at the insistence of the Iranian government. They were reportedly fearful of domestic issues being given a public platform in Europe, to the extent that phone calls and WhatsApp messages to the Iranian Football Federation (IFF), simply seeking information on the team schedule and access to the coach, Carlos Queiroz, went unanswered.

The silence also extended to ESPN and other media outlets being told 24 hours before the game that the IFF, under pressure from the regime in Tehran, would not allow journalists into St. Polten’s NV Arena to report on the fixture. “To our greatest discomfort,” the match organizers said via email, “we have to inform you that the entrance to the match Iran vs Uruguay has been denied. This decision was made by the Iranian FA.”

It required the intervention of FIFA, and mediation by Europe-based Iranian journalists, to cause a U-turn on the day of the game. A suggestion that media could attend if they handed over mobile phones before entering the stadium did not materialize, but it was made clear that no interviews with players or Queiroz would be allowed before or after the game.

While the urbane Queiroz was welcoming and cooperative with media at the Pyramide Hotel on the outskirts of Vienna on the day before the game, there was a palpable sense of anxiety and paranoia among the Iranian officials who tried to persuade the former Real Madrid coach to cancel his briefing. Given that the football team is one of the few visible elements of a restricted society in Iran — they face England, the U.S., and Wales in the World Cup this winter — every element of team coverage, particularly during such volatile political times, is guaranteed to attract close scrutiny from the regime in Tehran.

One Austria-based Iran fan smiled and said, “Everything is fine and totally normal in Iran,” when asked about the possibility of protest from those who had turned out to cheer the arrival of the team bus. Moments later, he returned alone to say he had family in Iran and was too worried to speak to western media, but that “even in small cities, people are protesting right now.”

When fans were inexplicably allowed into the game, two spectators were marched out of the ground by police midway through the first half of Iran’s 1-0 win. They had a protest placard in support of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who died in police custody in Iran last week after being charged with wearing a headscarf improperly.

In the end, a game intended to be about assessing the strengths and weaknesses of a team that will compete in Qatar this November turned out to be the very definition of a political football.

Team Melli defeats Uruguay in a friendly international

The Portugues head coach Carlos Queiroz made a winning start to his second term in charge of Team Melli as Mehdi Taremi’s second-half goal earned his side a 1-0 win over fellow World Cup qualifiers Uruguay in St. Pölten, Austria on Friday. 

Although the overall assessment of the team under the new cum old Portuguese coach can be graded as average, there were some good points that Iran can positively take to the World Cup.

In the first half, Team Melli’s priority was to shut shop and keep their defenses tight for most of the half. Uruguay, which included its household names such as Luis Suarez , Darwin Nunez and Valverde, had most of the possession in the first half and launched attacks on Iran’s goal, but the solid defense of Team Melli stood up well to whatever the Uruguayns forwards offered. Darwin Nunez prompted Alireza Beiranvand to take action after 15 minutes when the Liverpool striker let fly from distance, forcing the Iranian goalkeeper to tip the ball over the bar.

Luis Suarez sought to lob Beiranvand in the 38th minute but his attempt sailed over while a later effort from the former Barcelona forward curled wide.

In a wise and logical thinking, Queiroz stuck to the tried and trusted duo of Shoja’a Khalizadeh and Hossein Kananizadegan who did not allow Beiranvand to be seriously threatened. On the other hand, Team Melli managed to reach the opponent’s penalty area on several occasions, but could not seriously threaten the goal of their South American opponent.

Uruguay side lost Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo to injury after he hobbled off with barely a minute on the clock clutching his groin.

The first half ended in a goalless draw as both teams lacked the punch to score.

The second half started like the first 45 minutes, with the Uruguayan national team having the majority of ball possession and controlling the midfield creating many chances to score, but in several scenes, Alireza Beiranvand thwarted their attempts .

The best opportunity for Iran to score was in the 65th minute when Mehdi Torabi in good teamwork with Saman Ghoddos breached the Uruguay defense and was close to opening the scoresheet. The final shot by Torabi was parried by Sergio Rochet the Uruguayan goalkeeper and on the second attempt, Torabi’s shot went wide of the goal.
Sardar Azmoun could not create any significant threat to the Uruguay goal until he was substituted. Alireza Jahanbakhsh started an attack, but the final shot by Ehsan Haji Safi was easily handled by Uruguay’s goalkeeper. In the 66th minute, Uruguay was on the verge of scoring, as Abedzadeh missed a cross from an Uruguay corner kick but the header from this team’s striker was cleared off the line by Mehdi Torabi.

Late in the match, Queiroz decided wisely to change the lineup to give the team some needed energy.  , He sent several players including Taremi and Ansarifard to the field in the last 20 minutes. These substitutions improved the situation for Team Melli and the result was decided by Taremi in the 79th minute.
The forward started and finished the move, feeding Saman Ghoddos on the left, and his pass through to Karim Ansarifard was played back into the path of Taremi who side-footed home to score the winning goal of the match and to the delight of the bench.

In the final minutes, Uruguay was looking to compensate for the lost goal and its hope was Suarez in the attack line. In the 89th minute, this player was preparing to shoot at Abedzadeh’s goal behind the penalty area, when Ezatollahi gave away a free kick in a dangerous area with a foul on Suarez. The resulting free kick hit the body of the Iranian defense and an opportunity went missing for the South Americans.

In the end, Queiroz managed to outfox Uruguay’s coach Diego Alonso and achieve a promising victory in Team Melli’s first of the two friendly international matches. This win is valuable for Queiroz as he has precious little time to prepare the team until the first game in the FIFA World Cup.

With England (vs Italy 0-1), Wales (vs Belgium 1-2), and the USA (vs Japan 0-2) all losing their matches in the international break, Iran’s hope and confidence to qualify from this group is certainly not that impossible.

IRAN   1-  0 URUGUAY

Venue: NV ARENA (St. Pölten)
Referee: Walter Altmann (Austria)
Half time : 0 – 0

Scorer: Mehdi Taremi (79′)
Yelloe card : Uruguay R. Bentancur (81′)

IRAN – A. Beiranvand (63′ Abedzadeh): S. Moharrami , S. Khalilzadeh, H. Kanani, A. Jalali(69’Noorafkan), E. Hajsafi, S. Ezatolahi, M. Torabi( 69′ A. Gholizadeh), S. Azmoun (68′ K. Ansarifard), S. Ghoddos (85’V. Amiri), A. Jahanbakhsh (68’M. Taremi)

URUGUAY -S. Rochet, D. Suárez (72’G. Varela), M. Olivera (85’M. Viña), R. Araújo (5’A. Rogel), S. Cáceres,M. Vecino (72’G. De Arrascaeta), R. Bentancur (85′ L. Torreira), F. Valverde , F. Pellistri (46’N. De La Cruz), L. Suárez, D. Núñez

Iran vs Uruguay match preview.

Uruguay is a known quality Latin American team that depends on physical strength more than the finesse of the Brazilians.
Like the top footballing nations of South America, Uruguay has exported large numbers of footballers to Europe to enjoy the riches of the European leagues. Therefore, Head Coach Diego Alonso has a wealth of players at his disposal and can always field a strong side against any opponent.
However, Uruguay national team has recently suffered from aging players who tend to hang on despite their advancing ages. Players like Luis Suárez (35); Diego Godín (36) Edison Cavani (35) and Fernando Muslera (36) are still included in the squad.
Undoubtedly Alonso will use the match against Iran to give his younger players the chance to prove themselves as worthy of a place in the final list flying to Doha while putting them through their paces against a tough opponent. So, it is expected that Darwin Núñez (23), Federico Valverde (24), Matías Viña (24), Ronald Araújo (23) Lucas Torreira (26) to take the center stage.

As for Iran, it will interesting to see if Carlos Queiroz will stick to his old and trusted game plan and close all the gaps on the Uruguayans or perhaps be more adventurous with the likes of Azmoun and Taremi up front. Defense is one of the strong points of the Latin American team and the Iranians will it quite difficult to breach the defenses of Uruguay. With somehow a modest midfield that lacks creativity, most of the offensive moves by Iran are expected to be made from the half-backs with players Rezaeian, Moharrami, and Mohammadi doing the work.
Another interesting observation is whom will Queiroz pick for central defense, will he stay with the duo Khalilzadeh-Kananizadegan who were fundamental in Iran’s qualification to the FIFA World Cup and the two that Dragan Skocic religiously believed in, or will the Portuguese pick his own favorites from 2019 Majid Hosseini and Pouralganji?

Queiroz keeps the cards close to his heart and so far he has been following the same style. He is not going to reveal much to the press about his game plans and player selection either. However, it was interesting to notice some observers during Queiroz’s press conference that the Portuguese has slightly changed his attitude that he was well known in Iran. That venomous, tough-talking, and defying man has become a cooler and more settled character. Perhaps it is a sign of advancing age or it could be that Portugues no longer wants to open fronts against everyone and everybody, preferring to work quietly and avoid confrontations, especially with the press. Of course, officially he is only contracted to the bench of Team Melli until the World Cup with an option for extension.

For some players m this match is vital though. Saman Ghoddos needs to prove himself as this player has stagnated. He is one of the few players that can turn the team’s fortunes with his magical passes and vision. It is a crucial time for him and Team Melli.  Ansarifard‘s selection is because he is one of the Portuguese favorites but his performance has not been anything to shout about, the same can be said of Hajsafi. Both are capable players and can be useful for Team Melli but they really need to step up and be counted. There are more capable players who can claim a place in the team.

Beiranvand is another player on the edge. He had two bad seasons in Europe and Abedzadeh took the number one spot and showed quite a bit of class too. No doubt that Beiranvand is in the good books of the coach, but will he prove his worth against Uruguay?

Azmoun’s case is puzzling. The move to the Bundesliga so far has been a big-time flop. In European leagues, there is precious little time for a player to settle and Azmoun for one reason or another did not manage that with Bayer Leverkusen. He needs to play well against Uruguay and prove his worth for Team Melli at least.

Kick Off time is GMT +3
Iran Time: 20:30

Team Melli match vs Russia called off.

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, a member of the Iran Football Federation’s Board of Directors, said that a planned friendly match with Russia has been called off.

The head coach of the Russian national football team Valery Karpin had said that his team will play Iran in a friendly match in Tehran or Doha on November 16.

“We cannot play Russia on November 16 because we will travel to Doha on November 11. Team Melli will play a friendly match with one of the Persian Gulf countries in Doha,” Nabi said.

Iran will meet Uruguay in a friendly in Austria on Friday and play Senegal four days later.

Team Melli Austrian camp news

 – Legionnaires: Almost all the legionnaires’ players joined the camp in Vienna as Team Melli continues its preparation for the matches against Uruguay and Senegal.

 – New Arrivals: According to the FFIRI website, Ansarifard, Taremi and Jahanbaksh were the latest to join the camp. There is still no news about Noorafkan and Nourollahi yet. Saman Ghoddos and Sadegh Moharrami have been confirmed in Vienna.

 – The Plot is complete!  Interestingly, the three players were the main plotters against Dragan Skočić, and their influence helped bring back Queiroz to Team Melli once again. The Portuguese coach naturally reserved a warm welcome for the major trio plotters upon their arrival t the hotel.

 – Kanani’s never-ending problems: The disciplinary issue of Hossein Kananizadegan is still lingering as reports that he is still suspended by the FFIRI Disciplinary Committee have surfaced. There was no definite communication on this issue from FFIRI although ISNA has reported that his suspension is still ongoing and applies for both the matches. This will be very disappointing for Queiroz who counts on solid defense and would like to see his players perform against the likes of Saido Mane, Darwin Nunez, and Luis Suárez.

 – Physical Training: Queiroz is making the players work hard in the gym. His philosophy centers around tough and fit players and the hard work of physical training are one method of many in getting the player’s physical conditions to what is required at the highest level of competition.

 – Not again, Carlos! Queiroz is back to his old silly tricks again! No surprises here either. The Team Melli coach wants the match against Uruguay to be played behind closed doors and obviously not televised!!  This is a repeat of many attempts when he was last with Team Melli. Whatever secret weapons he has or had did not work for Team Melli in the 8 years of his reign but certainly, his secret training plans and strategies did not serve Colombia or Egypt either, why is he insisting on such measures is an act of selfishness. He is depriving the fans of watching a match of their beloved team playing against two of the best Teams in Latin America and Africa and that is an injustice to the fans. Not that he cares a lot about it.

 – Missing Man:  One key player of Senegal who will be missing against Team Melli is Keita Balde. The winger was banned for breaking doping protocols when he was playing for the Italian side Cagliari. Balde, currently with Russian outfit Spartak Moscow will also miss the FIFA World Cup.

– Senegal stars: Kalidou Koulibaly of Chelsea and Bayern Munich’s Saido Mane arguably the two top players in the Senegalese team will be available and definite starters against Iran barring any injuries. The two players have not enjoyed a good season start with their respective new teams.

 – Final List: with 26 players allowed in this edition of the World Cup, it seems that the current squad is the final list that will be traveling to Qatar for the World Cup. Queiroz does not have the luxury of time and these two matches in Austria are quite important to him for the assessment of the players. He has stuck to his old players and will not pick any new talents or future stars for his trip to Doha.

 – Injury list:  All the players seem to have exercised and trained normally. Vahid Amiri, who was on a six-month lay off still remains a doubt and is in a tight race to regain full fitness both physical and match fitness too.

Team Melli lands in Vienna

Team Melli arrived at Vienna airport this Sunday morning to hold a training camp which includes two friendly internationals against Uruguay and  Senegal.

The squad left Tehran earlier missing  3 players Ahmad Noorollahi, Ramin Rezaeian, and Omid Noorafkan visas are yet to be awarded.

Several of the Legionnaires will be joining today and tomorrow.

Iran Youths qualify for AFC U20 Asian Cup 2023 finals in Uzbekistan

Bishkek: Iran found their scoring boots in the second half to defeat the United Arab Emirates 2-0 to finish top of Group J of the AFC U20 Asian Cup™ Uzbekistan 2023 Qualifiers on Sunday.
Kyrgyz Republic defeated Brunei Darussalam 6-0 to finish as the Group J runners-up, keeping alive their hopes of advancing to the Finals as one of the five best second-placed teams.
UAE 0-2 IR Iran
Iran came into the tie only needing to avoid defeat to book their place in the Finals following their earlier wins over the Kyrgyz Republic and Brunei Darussalam. 

Only a win would do for UAE, having lost 2-0 to the Kyrgyz Republic on Friday after having kicked off their campaign with a 5-0 victory over Brunei Darussalam.

A tight first half meant neither side was able to find the back of the net but that changed in the second period with Iran taking control of proceedings. 

The Central Asian side’s persistence was rewarded in the 71st minute with forward Saied Saharkhizan slotting home. 

A desperate UAE tried to find their way back but their hopes were dashed in the sixth minute of added time with Amir Ebrahimzadeh scoring Iran’s second. 

Amir Ebrahimzadeh scored five goals as Iran, who were made to work hard for their opening day 1-0 win over the Kyrgyz Republic, strolled to victory against Brunei Darussalam at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium.

Midfielder Mohammadreza Torabi put Iran ahead in the 23rd minute and that paved the way for total domination as Ebrahimzadeh (27th) and Mojtaba Fakhrian (45+1) secured a comfortable lead going into the break.

Final list for AFC Futsal Cup Kuwait 2022

Iran’s national futsal team, on returning from the 6-side Intercontinental tournament in Thailand, published the list of players who will take part in the Asian Cup in Kuwait.

This camp will resume training after the team’s two-day rest. The technical staff of the national futsal team invited 16 players to the tournament in Thailand. This list has been reduced to 14 people for the AFC Asian Cup Kuwait 2022. Vahid Shamsaei will be coaching for the first time in the Asian Futsal Cup hoping to lift the title for the first time as a head coach. He has already won eight AFC Futsal Championships with Iran.

Iran has one the title 12 times since the inception of the championship. Iran is also the Champion of the last edition.

# Player Post DOB and Age Club
1 Alireza Javan FW 2 February 1995 (27) Crop
2 Alireza Rafieipour DF 9 October 1993 (28) Crop
3 Hamzah Kodkhodaei MF 2 February 1997 (25) Mes Sungun
4 Hossein Tayyebi (captain) FW 29 September 1988 (33) Palma
5 Mehdi Asadshir Sunich Saveh
6 Mehdi Karimi MF 28 January 1997 (25) Giti Pasand
7 Mohammad Hossein Baziar MF 29 November 2003 (18) Sanaye Poshtiban
8 Mohammad Hossein Derakhshani MF 1 April 1993 (29) Giti Pasand
9 Mohammad Reza SengSefidi MF 2 November 1989 (32) Mes Sungun
10 Moslem Oladghobad MF 29 November 1995 (26) Palma
11 Saeid Ahmadabbasi FW 31 July 1992 (30) Valdepeñas
12 Saeed Momeni GK 23 November 1992 (29) Crop
13 Salar Aghapour FW 7 March 2000 (22) Mes Sungun
14 Sina Perkas GK 17 August 1992 (30) Sunich Saveh

 

MATCH SCHEDULE

GROUP C

DATE Match No. Home Away Time Venue
28 September 2022
Wednesday
Match Day 2		 5 Lebanon Chinese Taipei 20:00 Saad Al Abdullah Hall
7 Iran Indonesia 17:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
30 September 2022
Friday
Match Day 4		 13 Indonesia Lebanon 17:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
15 Chinese Taipei Iran 20:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
October 2022
Sunday
Match Day 6		 21 Iran Lebanon 20:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
22 Chinese Taipei Indonesia 17:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall