Tag: Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Forest Boss is all praise for Karim Ansarifard

While Nottingham Forest forward Lewis Grabban snaffled up his tenth goal of the season as well as three points for the Reds, as they beat previously table-topping Sheffield United 1-0 at the City Ground and the £6m striker grabbed the spotlight again, Forest boss Aitor Karanka is delighted to have further strengthened his attacking arsenal with the capture of the Team Melli Striker, Karim Ansarifard.

Forest had to be patient while working through significant red tape to complete the signing of the 28-year-old, who had his contract with Olympiacos terminated in August, in order to facilitate his move to the Championship.

“I am really pleased to have signed him. I knew that the day would arrive,” said Karanka, who gave the player his debut as a substitute, deep into injury time. “The day has arrived yesterday, which was really good, given that we need him.

“The delay was to do with the work permit. I don’t know the exact details, but it was only ever a question of getting the right paperwork.”
I am just pleased to have him because, even in the two minutes he had on the pitch, he showed that he is crazy to play for this team.”

Karanka says Ansarifard is fit and ready to go – but says he will need some time to adapt to the Championship.

“He is fully fit and ready to go, but he will need time to settle in, having arrived in this league from another country,” said Karanka. “But he is a professional and he is a winner. I am positive.”
“He scored 17 goals for Olympiacos and he has quality. He is a good finisher.

“To score goals we need to get the ball into the box and you need players to be arriving into the box at the right time.

“We have good players and we are arriving at the right time. We have very good strikers. We have Lewis, we have Daryl (Murphy) and now we have Karim as well.

“Now we have another alternative. He is a good player and another player who is a very good person and a good teammate for the changing room.

“He only played one or two minutes, but the run he made in the last seconds can show you how hungry he is; how much he wants to help the team. “He is a good man and a good player, so I am really pleased with him.”

Karim made the cameo appearance with the minimal of preparation in the 90th minute of the game.

Three team Melli players play in the English leagues. Apart from Karim, Alireza Jahanbakhsh plays for Brighton and Saeid Ezatolahi plays for Reading in the Championship.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh to Brighton & Hove Albion !

The transfer of Erdivisie top scorer Alireza Jahanbakhsh to Brighton & Hove Albion is a certainty and a very special one for AZ . The Iranian is sold for 24 million euros and with that he is the most expensive AZ Alkmaar player of all time.

There has been lots of speculation about the destination of the Iranian , with the English Premier League being the favorites. Jahanbakhsh had a quiet World Cup in Russia and he was  bound to follow the coach defensive game plan thus limiting his effectiveness in the offensive duties. however, many clubs have been monitoring him well before the World Cup.

Star on the rise

The Iranian winger has been one of the standout players in the Eredivisie in recent years and he has the potential to be an exciting capture for a Premier League team. He showed flashes of his talent during the World Cup with Iran and he is now ready to test himself at a higher level.

Last season, he finished as the Eredivisie top scorer with 21 goals with one coming every 135 minutes in the competition. In addition to that, he contributed 12 assists and was regularly causing problems for opposition defences.

His feats are even more impressive considering he wasn’t playing for one of the top two teams. That said, his performances allowed AZ Alkmaar to finish above Feyenoord who had won the league as recently as the 2016/17 campaign.

The 24-year-old delivered consistency in the Eredivisie with 4.3 shots, 3.4 dribbles and 2.4 key passes. They are huge attacking numbers and underline the quality that he does possess. Although it is unlikely that he could reproduce these with a team like Brighton, he would represent an upgrade on their current options.

Transfer Record

AZ Alkmaar old transfer record was in the name of Vincent Janssen. Tottenham Hotspur paid AZ about 22 million euros 2 years ago  for Janssen,. Jahanbakhsh, was even rumored to have had his medical with Leicester City , but Brighton, surprised everyone with this hefty offer.

 Brighton’s Dutch player Davy Pröpper, commented on the transfer “The transfer of the Iranian to Brighton is almost concluded with a few minor details and will soon become official.”

It was already a lucrative transfer summer for AZ. Earlier, striker Wout Weghorst was sold to VfL Wolfsburg for more than 10 million euros.

Top scorer
It will be a tough job to replace that pair. Alireza Jahanbakhsh became top scorer of the Eredivisie last season with 21 goals, 3 more than teammate and buddy Weghorst.

Team Melli top stars

When Team Melli kicks off the opening match in St. Petersburg against Morocco on June 15th, all eyes will be focused on Sardar Azmoun. Majority of websites and sport media profiling and analyzing Group B of this FIFA World Cup 2018 competition, single out the Rubin Kazan’s forward Azmoun as Iran’s best hope and the star player.

Of course, this is a compliment to the 22 years old who has an outstanding scoring record at international level and at such a young age. Azmoun could very well end up as the single most influential player in Team Melli and deservedly so. However, based on statistics and form, the Rubin Kazan forward is a distant third or even fourth in Team Melli top performers of the season.



The top performer accolade goes for Alireza Jahanbakhsh , the brilliant  AZ Alkamaar winger who has topped the Dutch league scorers chart, thus becoming the first ever Asian Player to do so in a major European league. An exceptional prospect and an all-round player, Jahanbakhsh can supplement Sardar Azmoun in the front but he is also well capable of outdoing Team Melli’s main striker and grabbing all the glory. The 24 years old Jahanbakhsh has what it takes to beat the Spanish and Portuguese defenses. He scored 21 goals for Alkamaar this season which is 10 more goals than his tally for last season.

On the other hand, Azmoun has scored only 5 goals for Rubin Kazan this season. He never hit double figure in scoring at club level in his professional career, a far cry from his record at Team Melli level which has a stunning 23 goals in 32 matches.

Two more plyers have better records than Sardar too. Karim Ansarifard, Olympiakos Piraeus striker who has scored an impressive tally of 17 goals in the Greek league, and Heerenveen forward, Reza Ghoochannejad who has scored 9 goals in the Dutch league, both have better return in the leagues than Iran’s golden boy Azmoun.

Although it is difficult to compare the league form to those at the highest level of football, as the World Cup definitely is, Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s impressive season and ability cannot be overlooked and the chances of him outshining his teammate is absolutely a possibility.

What all that means for Carlos Queiroz at the end of the day, is that he is spoiled for choices up front. Now if he can only sort out his fragile back line.

Team Melli loses to Turkey.

Team Melli, which is actively preparing for the 21st FIFA World Cup, played the Turkish national team on Monday at Fatih Tarem Stadium, Istanbul. Turkey won the close match 2-1, goals scored by Cenk Tosun 6′ and 50′, with Iran scoring a late consolation from a spot kick by Ashkan Dejagah.

The starting lineup for Team Melli was: Alireza Beiranvand, Ehsan Haj Safi, Roozbeh Cheshmi, Milad Mohammadi, Masoud Shojaei, Morteza PouraliGanji, Karim Ansarifard, Mehdi Taremi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Sardar Azmoun and Ramin Rezaeian. In the second half, Omid Ebrahimi, Vahid Amiri, Saman Ghoddos, Mehdi Torabi, Reza Ghoochannejad and Ashkan Dejagah were substituted in.

At the onset, the Turkish team had a good opportunity to open the scoring, but Alireza Beiranvand deprived the hosts as early as the second minute. However, the resistance was broken very soon after, as in the 6th minute, the Everton striker Cenk Tosun broke through the defenses and left Roozbeh Chesmi in his shadow with a clever and relatively easy dummy to shoot past the hapless Beiranvand.

Turkey, which was in the control of the game for the first 20 minutes, still had a number of opportunities but could not increase the tally. In the 23rd minute, Ehsan Haji Safi was placed in a one-on-one situation with Turkish keeper from an immaculate diagonal pass by Alireza Jahanbakhsh, but the midfielder was far too casual and his low weak shot was easily saved by the Turkish goalkeeper Serkan Kırıntılı.

Three minutes later, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who was one of the better Team Melli players, was in the center of the Turkish penalty area, and after a nice move past the Turkish defense, he latched on a fierce shoot which the goalkeeper again saved depriving Iran from a much deserved equalizer.

Despite the efforts made by the Iranian players in the first half, Queiroz players went into the dressing room a goal behind.

The second half started for Iran in different circumstances, as the team tried to score an early goal, but in the 50th minute, the weakness in the defense line enabled Tosun to easily score his second goal. The culprit was Beiranvand again for his poor timing and unforced error. The host was 2-0 up early in the second half.

After this goal, the substitutions by Queiroz started and the players who seem to be among the starters of the team started entering the pitch to increase the pressure on Turkey and show more aggressiveness, but there was still an inconsistency among the players. The team lacked any effective plan to score with most of the final balls ending up wasted or intercepted by the Turks.

 In the final part of the match, there was little sign of a concerted attack strategy to score.  This showed, more than anything else, the team’s weaknesses in many areas which surely requires addressing before the start of the World Cup to overcome these weaknesses.

The main problem of the team remains the central defense and the goalkeeper. Beiranvand’s weakness have been  evident for a long time now. With two of the most experienced defenders out of the squad ( Jalal Hosseini and Vouria Ghafoori ) , short of a miracle , the Portuguese coach is hard pushed to find a suitable solution.  This lack of experience and skill , raises real concerns against the likes of Ronaldo.

In the 91st minute of the match, Reza Goochannejad close range shot was blatantly handled by Turkish defender Omer Byram on the goal line. The Uzbek referee had no hesitation to call the penalty, in addition to the expulsion of the defender who was barely on the pitch for a couple of minutes. Ashkan Dejagah scored this penalty shot.

Team Melli will have two other preparations for the match versus Morocco in the Group B of the World Cup, but the meeting with Greece is still unclear, Lithuania is certain.

Realistic chances of Team Melli in Russia.

With less than twenty days left to  the world Cup, what are the realistic chances of Team Melli against he might of Spain & Portugal? The other team in the group, Morocco, is not to be taken lightly either.

The World sport media is full of reviews about the Russia world cup and there are always those predictions of course. When it comes to Group B, the majority would pick the two European giants as the favorite to qualify ahead of Iran & Morocco. It is a fair assessment based on track records and achievements of the past.

However, time and again, football has shown us that winning is all about being the better team on the day and even being that good is no guarantee of winning the match. That is one beauty of football that makes it by far the most attractive sport in the world. So, can Team Melli surprise a few and qualify from this tough group, the answer is YES, very much so.

It is not a wishful thinking, but based on decades of observation of the team and the current style under the control of one Carlos Queiroz. If there is anything that is certain with the Portuguese master, it is his passion for tight defenses and his ideology that strong defenses can win you matches which has been his predominant tactics all through his reign with Team Melli.

Queiroz has an amazing record with Team Melli. In fact, the last time he lost an official match was 4 years ago against Bosnia in the World Cup. Since then, he only lost two friendly games against Tunisia and Sweden.

With the majority of Team Melli players making a living in European leagues,  that fear and complex about World Class European players does not affect their performance anymore. The cold feet syndrome hit the team in their first ever world cup in 1978.

This group of players can play against the best of them. The defenders will be dealing with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, and Diego Costa like any other forwards they have dealt with before, albeit with special instruction by the Maestro Queiroz. The chances of the two stars putting a few goals still exists but it is far from a forgone conclusion.

Team Melli strength really lies in the attack. Up front is where the two golden boys of Iran can make a difference, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Sardar Azmoun. These two can beat defenses and can score against the top ranks, but they need the supply from the midfield. Much of that support will be on the shoulders of Ashkan Dejagah , if he full recovers  , and Saman Ghoddos another amazing talent for Iran.  The success or failure very much depends on how the midfield performs in both the defensive and offensive duties.

Team Melli biggest challenge is in the goal. Number one choice Alireza Biranvand has been in abysmal form lately. Conceding goals aplenty with his club, he showed that he really lacks what it takes at top class.  The other two on the list are hardly more experienced than Biranvand with Amir Abedzadeh , the son of legendary , Ahmad Abedzadeh , just making his debut against Uzbekistan. It is certainly a worry for Queiroz and will be interesting to see his pick. Knowing that Queiroz never shies from making dramatic calls, it very likely that he might drop his number and pick the unlikeliest of choices.

Mazaheri, Zob Ahan keeper , has been in truly fine form in the Persian Gulf Pro League and with his team in the AFC Champions League, however, Queiroz might favor Abedzadeh as he is playing in Portuguese league and that might give him an edge.

Is Jahanbakhsh the next one that generates AZ millions?

With a hat-trick in his most recent game against Vitesse, Alireza Jahanbakhsh (24) not only took a giant step to the top scorer title. The Iranian is increasingly launching itself as one of the hottest transfer objects of the premier league this summer.

By Nik Kok

That is also the view of technical director Max Huiberts of AZ. In Alkmaar, the telephone does not ring for his star, but the list of foreign scouts that attends matches of the proud cup finalist rises almost every home gamel. “I would prefer Alireza to stay with us for a very long time,” says Huiberts, as does trainer John van den Brom, who voiced that desire shortly after the game against Vitesse. “I hope we can still enjoy him for a long time to enjoy.”

Unknown

If I were an interested club, I would also do business before the World Cup

Max Huiberts

But at AZ they also know well that scoring wingers like Jahanbakhsh are extremely popular. “A good winger in the league scores, in my opinion , between eight to twelve goals in a season and delivers about as many assists. Alireza is already at eighteen goals. That is really unprecedented. More than Lozano, for example, but also more than the wingers of Ajax. ”

Anyone who wants to do business at AZ next summer does not have to argue in Alkmaar that an AZ player should cost less than that of a traditional top club. If you argue that way I would say that it should be more, because here at AZ he is already able to score more than the players of those clubs. “

Who knows, there is a transfer à la Vincent Janssen ahead of Jahanbakhsh. He transfered from AZ to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2016 for more than twenty million euros. Janssen failed in London but Huiberts suspects that a transfer from Jahanbakhsh will not play any part. “Even if you had to ask those foreign clubs. Of course, I do not know exactly how they think. And I honestly do not worry too much about that. Alireza has a contract with us until the summer of 2020. “

Next summer

What may also play a part later are the performances of Jahanbakhsh at the World Cup next summer. He plays with his country Iran against, among others, Iniesta and Ronaldo. Iran is a with Spain and Portugal (and Morocco) and knows that he will be watched by the whole world in the coming summer. ” If I was an interested club, I would also do business before the World Cup “, says Huiberts with a smile.

The category of clubs that will be attractive for Jahanbakhsh will not be scared for its non-EU salary. In recent months he hinted to prefer the Bundesliga, where many of his countrymen caused a furore. It was because of Ali Daei and Vahid Hashemian that the little Jahanbakhsh once started playing football. The club that later will give him a footballer in return will be loved in the players group and adapts quickly. “Alireza comes from a completely different culture, but he has proven that he can keep his position in Europe”, says Huiberts, “But do not be fooled, he is no longer that likeable boy in the field. Her is there to win.”

Narrow win for Team Melli against Venezuela

Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s 57th minute strike gave  Iran a 1-0 win over Venezuela in an international friendly at the Goffertstadion in Nijmegen, Netherlands on Monday.

 The win stretched Iran’s unbeaten run to 10 matches as Team Melli continue their Road to Russia preparations.

Iran, the first Asian team to confirm their berth for the FIFA World Cup 2018 Russia, beat Panama 2-1 in a friendly on Thursday and are enjoying a rich vein of form.

The win is a boost for Carlos Queiroz’s team as they prepare for next summer’s FIFA World Cup. 

In action later on Monday will be Saudi Arabia, whose latest Road to Russia friendly will be against Bulgaria.

Team Melli Line up: Alireza Biranvand (Mohammadshshid Mazaheri 46), Ramin Rezaiyan, Seyyed Jalal Hosseini (Omid Ebrahimi 61), Morteza Pourali Ganji, Saeed Ezzatollahi (Akbar Imani 46), Ali Karimi, Ashkan Dejagah (Saman Ghodous 46), Vahid Amiri, Ehsan Haj Safi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Kaveh Rezaei 61), Reza Ghokhannejad (Commander 61).

Venezuela team : Fariniz (Contreras 46), Hernandez, Avicadas, Chanslor, Annel, Figueira, Aranda, Aniur, Murillo, Rondon, Machies (Lucena 75).

First half report

Minute 2: Alireza Jahanbakhsh kicked off the right-wing at the very first minute, and with a good shot, Reza GhoochanNejad set a good goal, but Gucci kicked the ball high with a fierce shot.

In the 7th minute, Sa’id Ezatollahi’s shot from behind the penalty area was easily caught byFariniz.

In the 14th minute, the tactical work of Iran’s players on the right hand side of Venezuela took a great shape to reach HajSafi in front of the penalty area. HajSafi strong shot midway through the Venezuelan player’s way and did not reach the gate.

In the 18th minute, once again the tactical work of the Iranian players was answered, but again, Iran’s players were not very accurate in the final touch and the Venezuelan goal remained clean.

In the 25th minute, Ehsan Haj Safi’s well-rounded pass to Vahid Amiri resulted in the player taking the shot and the player snapped out a little away from the Venezuelan goal.

 31st minute, WBA player Rhondon Shoot traversed a distance of about 30 meters from the Iranian goal

In the 36th minute, a free kick to Venezuela and a cross from , saw Biranvand come out erroneously in no-man zone. The Venezuela player shot at the empty net ,  Seyyed Jalal Hosseini cleared the ball from the line

Second half report

In the 50th minute, on a team-run Venezuelan team, the team got a shotgun that embraced the striker Muhammad Mazhahi Mazaheri.

In the 55th minute, Saman Chandos’s center met by Pouraliganji who headed powerfully towards the goal, but the new goalkeeper sent the ball to the corner.

Goal: In the 57th minute, a sharp counter-attack of Iran’s players resulted in a Venezuela goalkeeper coming out of his box, and Amiri sent a deep pass through to Jahanbakhsh who was facing an empty goal and scored the first goal for Iran. Jahanbakhsh scored in a city whose first club in the Netherlands belongs to this city (Nijmegen).

In the 60th minute, the Venezuelan player’s cross and the acrobatic blow of the player crossed wide off target .

In the 63rd minute, Hajj Safi’s pass into the penalty area of Venezuela, where a rogue shot and one shot hit him on the net.

In the 66th minute, Wahid Amiri initially scored the test inside Venezuela’s penalty area, and after passing few players, he transferred the ball to Kaveh Reza’i who did not hit the goal with a deflected attack on the team.

In the 70th minute, after a dribbling PouraliGanji, Sotluled sent his own line to the Iranian goal where Rondon was unlucky to miss the target.

In the 72nd minute, the Venezuelan midfielder Rondon struck against Iran’s goalkeeper but struck him off Hajj Safi. The attack continued and Iran’s players made several mistakes at Rashid Mazaheri’s goal.

In the 76th minute, with the Venezuelan goalkeeper mistake, the ball reached Rezaei, when his center landed on PouraliGanji, but the opponent’s timely tackle prevented him from scoring the second goal for Iran.

At precisely the 77th, Venezuelan players lost ground on a quick counter-attack near the boxy, who lost their position on the carelessness of the players.

In the 88th minute, Sotoledo Shot with a very good reaction from Rashid Mazaheri who kept the Iranian goal clean.

The game ended with a one-nil  lead away for the Iranian national team. This was the second narrow win for Team Melli after the 2-1 win against Panama.

 

Second consecutive FIFA World Cup for Team Melli

  • Iran reach second consecutive FIFA World Cup™
  • Team Melli defeat Uzbekistan to join Brazil and Russia at the finals
  • Carlos Queiroz’s side have yet to concede in Group B, after eight games

The scenes in Tehran were jubilant. Coaching staff and players streamed onto the pitch and celebrated in unison. Giant flags were waved, prayers were undertaken and bear hugs handed out by team-mates. Iran had done it: they had reached the promised land of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™. Team Melli’s 2-0 victory over Uzbekistan was enough for Carlos Queiroz’s side to secure their seat on the plane to Russia next year.

“I want to thank all the fans for their support during the qualification campaign,” talismanic midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh said, speaking to the AFC after the game. “The results we have achieved are for you and I hope we can now win the last two games. We all have happiness in our hearts.”

The second goal in the match that sealed qualification was scored by Mehdi Taremi, who bagged his eighth World Cup qualifying strike on the road to Russia.  

“I am very happy that we have qualified for the World Cup for the second time in a row and that we have brought happiness to the Iranian people,” Mehdi Taremi, said speaking to the AFC after the victory. “I feel so happy that I was able to score a goal and that my goal was able to help us win the match. We are very happy and it shows the great progress we are making in Asia. I hope we continue to perform like this in the future and qualify for the World Cup every four years.”

Despite some question marks over whether the Portuguese would remain in the role after Brazil 2014, Carlos Queiroz has masterminded a majestic march back to the global finals, with the side going almost 1000 minutes without conceding – their defence unbreached in the third round so far.

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“Carlos Queiroz and his colleagues have done so much for Team Melli,” Iran’s striking legend Ali Daei said. “One of the most important things he’s done is bringing in so many young players and changed the major players of the team. We are now one of the best sides in Asia, along with Australia, because we haven’t lost against any Asian teams in recent years.”

Fans will be hoping that it is fifth time lucky for the Iranians, who will be looking to progress beyond the first round at the World Cup for the first time in Russia.

Team Melli on track for the Uzbekistan match

Team Melli is on course in preparation for the crucial match against Uzbekistan on Monday.

FIFA announced the name of the referees for the match. Ahmad Abu Baker Said Al Kaf from Oman will be assisted by Hamed Suleiman and Abu Baker Saleem. The fourth referee is Omar Mubarak all from the Sultanate of Oman.

The Omani referee was the fourth official in 4 matches in the recent FIFA World Cup U-20 championship 2017 in South Korea. He was not assigned any matches to referee. His last international match was in Sydney on 27th March 2017 refereeing the match between Australia and UAE which the host won 2-0.

Meanwhile, the FFIRI has encouraged the fans not to go to Azadi Stadium in matchday unless they carry a ticket on hand. The ticket sales for the match against Uzbekistan is all on-line through a dedicated website. No tickets will be sold on the match day from kiosks.

FIFA was given assurance by the FFIRI and the security authorities that strict measures and tight security will be implemented on match day following the terrorist attacks Parliament and the Ayatollah Khomeini mausoleum a few days back.

Carlos Queiroz is relying on his team’s solid defence with a perfect defensive record of not conceding a goal since the opening match, while he will be deploying  a powerful offensive line up front to unsettle the Uzbek defenses. Azmoun has been in top form , while both Ansarifard and Ghoochannejad had their best ever forms playing in Europe. domestically , Mehdi Taremi has been the best Iranian forward and the league’s top scorer.

To supplement the forwards, Jahanbakhsh and Vahid Amiri will be feeding the attackers with their runs and crosses on the flanks , leaving Dejagah and Ezzatollahie to cover the middle of the field.

There are no injuries worries to report in the squad , however , Ashkan Dejagah is short of match practise and made a short appearance for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga following a long injury. Ramin Rezaeian is without a club after he was sacked from Persepolis , nevertheless the defender form was quite good against Montenegro in the recent 2-1 win.

 

Watford, Bournemouth and Burnley lead chase for £9m-rated Iran winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh

  • Premier League clubs are chasing Iranian winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh
  • Dutch side AZ Alkmaar will consider selling this summer for around £9million
  • Jahanbakhsh has continued to attract Premier League scouts this season 

By Simon Jones for MailOnline

PUBLISHED: 20:19 BST, 29 April 2017 

Watford, Bournemouth and Burnley are among the clubs closely following Iran international winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

The 23-year-old has been starring for AZ Alkmaar in Holland but they will consider selling this summer for around £9million.

Jahanbakhsh can play across the front line and was first touted to make a major breakthrough by former Manchester United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz who called him into Iran’s 2014 World Cup squad.

Premier League clubs are chasing Iranian winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Chelsea, Manchester United, Celtic, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven followed him when he initially moved to Holland with NEC where he won their player of the year but he opted instead to move to AZ in 2015.

Technically good on both feet and with an eye for a pass, Jahanbakhsh has continued to attract Premier League scouts this season with his assists and nine goals, some of which have been spectacular.

Watford, Bournemouth and Burnley have all shown an interest and are weighing up whether to make an offer over the coming weeks.