Tag: Austria

Iran leads AFC ranking .

Iran continued leading Asia in the FIFA Ranking table published today by the World football governing body in Zurich. With a total of 716 points, Iran climbed to no 38 in the world , which is its highest ranking in 2015. This was a 3 step climb from last month at 41. Japan  remains second with 621 points and 50th in the world. Korea Rep and Australia maintain their chase to catch up. Iran's last match was a disappointing 1-1 draw away to Turkmenistan in the FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers. Argentina, which beat Iran in the last World Cup , climb at the top of the World Ranking ahead of Germany, while recently crowned Copa America Champions Chile climbed 8 places up to no 11. On March 26th, Team Melli beat Chile 2-0 with Javad Nkounam and Vahid Amiri goals in in NV Arena, St Pölten - Austria as part of the two teams' preparations for their upcoming official matches.     Team Melli vs UAE AFC Asian Cup 2015    
AFC Rank FIFA Rank TEAM Total Points Previous Points Positions Avg. 2015 AVG WGT 2015 Avg.
 1 38 IRN

Iran

 716(716.27) 717 3 437.18 437.18
 2 50 JPN

Japan

 621(620.98) 623 2 341.48 341.48
 3 52 KOR

Korea Republic

 608(607.70) 587 6 371.92 371.92
 4 59 AUS

Australia

 559(559.29) 532 4 364.41 364.41
 5 69 UAE

United Arab Emirates

 487(487.14) 496 4 245.05 245.05
 6 75 UZB

Uzbekistan

 453(452.76) 479 -1 181.07 181.07
 7 77 CHN

China PR

 436(436.43) 409 2 271.46 271.46
 8 86 IRQ

Iraq

 382(381.99) 381 0 205.01 205.01
 9 92 JOR

Jordan

 355(354.72) 316 11 102.61 102.61
 10 92 KSA

Saudi Arabia

 355(354.52) 329 6 160.94 160.94
      Iran RANKING DATA for 2015
Rank Year Month MP W L D
38 2015 July 2 1 0 1
41 2015 June 0 0 0 0
40 2015 May 0 0 0 0
40 2015 April 2 1 1 0
42 2015 March 0 0 0 0
41 2015 February 4 3 0 1
51 2015 January 0 0 0 0
  OPPONENTS ranking in the FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers    
AFC Rank World Rank TEAM total Points Previous Points +/-
 12 102 Oman 329 319 -1
25 152 Turkmenistan 167 99 21
 27 154 Guam 163 119 20
 28 156 India 161 161 -15
 

Team Melli downs Chile 2-0

Team Melli Captain Javad Nekounam scored in the first half while the excellent Vahid Amiri added another goal in the second half for Team Melli to register an important morale boosting win against the team that was ranked 4 in the FIFA World Cup 2015 and the host of Copa America 2015. The friendly match was played in NV Arena in the small town of St. Poulten , Austra in front of a small but voicferious crowd. iran-chile gb The match was split equally in terms of control as Iran was the better team in the first apart from the last 10 minytes of the first half , while Chile was the team which had more ball posession in the second after the introdcution of Alxis Sanchez. Iran first goal came from on the 21st minute with a perfect corner by Ando Teymourian who found his Captain  in a telepathic style ,  Nekounam perfectly positioned with ample space just had to slot the ball past Oscar Bravo , the Barcelona keeper. Team Melli was the better team in the first half playing a compact game mixed with pace and energy during offensive moves. Defensive orgnization was perfect with very few balls seriously bothering Haghighi. Ashkan Dejagah was by far the best player on the pitch giving the Chilean defenders extra headache while providing several glorious balls to his teammates. Shojaei was guilty of wasting 3 certain scoring chances. Dejagah was finding his teammates in space and dribbling past the Chileans with ease even while double-teaming him. Pejman Montazeri of Iran (left) and Chile's Eduardo Vargas (right) fight for possession Alireza Haghighi had to make one save in anger during the first half but it was an important one. in the last minute of the half Haghighi denied the Chilean forward Fernandez from scoring when he parried his powerful header from close range for an excellent save. The First half ended IRAN 1-0 CHILE In the second , Chile was out to wipe out Iran's lead and score a few goals ahead of their encounter with Brazil on Sunday. The Introduction of Alexis Sanchez , the Arsenal star player , made a significant difference in the pace and organization of the Chileans. Despite the initial substantial ball possession , it was Iran that scored from a text book counter attack move when Masoud Shojaei passed the ball to his right , where Ghoochannejad raced past  the half back and then sent a diagonal perfectly weighted ball to the on rushing Vahid Amiri for the Naft player to score his first goal for Team Melli and Iran's second of the game.   After the goal , a period of sustain pressure  where Chile players gave it every thing to recover , but failed to score as the highly disciplined back four were more than a match for the powerful and skilful Latin Americans. Sanchez in particular was initiating most of the attacks by Chile and skillfully feeding his teammates but to no avail. Iran , despite the lack of ball possession in the 2nd half , were still dangerous in the counter attack. Masoud Shojae was unfortunately the weak link and he could only drag his foot around till Queiroz realized he needed to be subbed for a fresh player. Vahid Amiri and Ashkan Dejagah continued their excellent forms through the 2nd half which saw the introduction of Karim Ansarifard in place of Ghoochannejad. The Osasuna forward had a nightmare of a match failing to complete any pass while nearly costing his team a goal while back defending a corner. Chile had their own chances but their finishing was not up to scratch while the Iranian defense was at its best.   Line Up IRAN: 1     A. Haghighi   ; 4     J. Hosseini     , 15     P. Montazeri     , 19     H. Beikzadeh     , 11     V. Ghafouri     , 6     J. Nekounam     , 7     M. Shojaei   (O. Ebrahimi  70')  , 21     A. Dejagah     , 14     A. Teymourian  , 13     V. Amiri (R. Rezaeian 90')  ,  16     R. Ghoochannejhad (K. Ansarifard 74')   CHILE: 1     C. Bravo  ; 18     G. Jara , 5     E. Roco  (G. Medel  63') , 13     J. Cornejo    , 27     E. Pulgar   (C. Aránguiz  46') , 11     M. González (C.A. Gutiérrez 46') , 14     M. Fernández    , 19     F. Orellana  (A. Sanchez 46') , 24     J. Fuenzalida ( M. Isla 62') , 15     R. Millar  (D. Pizarro 63')   , 9     E. Vargas    

Chile announces squad for Iran and Brazil friendlies

(Reuters) - Fiorentina midfielders David Pizarro and Matias Fernandez have been recalled by Chile for their Copa America warm up friendlies against Iran and Brazil. Chile play Iran in Sankt Poelten, Austria on March 26 and Brazil in London three days later in the teams' first meeting since the Brazilians won their World Cup last-16 clash on penalties in June. Pizarro and Fernandez missed out on a place in Chile's squad at the World Cup in Brazil. Coach Jorge Sampaoli, who is preparing his team to host the Copa America from June 11-July 4, is expected to add home-based players to his squad after this weekend's domestic league matches. Chile, who have never won South America's top international competition, are in Group A with Mexico, Ecuador and Bolivia. Squad: Goalkeeper: Claudio Bravo (Barcelona) Defenders: Eugenio Mena (Cruzeiro), Mauricio Isla (Queens Park Rangers), Gonzalo Jara (Mainz), Miiko Albornoz (Hanover 96), Gary Medel (Inter Milan), Enzo Roco (Elche), Igor Lichnovsky (Porto B) Midfielders: Carlos Carmona (Atalanta), Arturo Vidal (Juventus), Charles Aranguiz (Internacional), David Pizarro, Matias Fernandez (both Fiorentina), Rodrigo Millar (Atlas), Jorge Valdivia (Palmeiras), Pedro Pablo Hernandez (Celta Vigo), Jose Fuenzalida (Boca Juniors) Forwards: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal), Eduardo Vargas (Queens Park Rangers), Fabian Orellana (Celta Vigo) (Reporting by Felipe Iturrieta; Writing by Rex Gowar in Buenos Aires; editing by Justin Palmer)

What is behind the Chile game cancelation talk?

    The Iranian football federation financial difficulties and failure to cover the activities of the national teams are old news. Under Kaffashian administration, the FFIRI has suffered chronic financial hardship, lack of resources and failure to create a proper marketing and sponsorship strategy to generate revenue for his federation. The initial plan to play Sweden was a God send for the FFIRI as the Swedes have taken care of almost all the cost including transportation and accommodation for the Iranian squad and delegation. All that Iran needs to do is to turn up for the match. A match agent who has a close working relationship with FIFA and Carlos Queiroz wisely proposed an extra match against Chile utilizing the South American’s team presence in Europe for a match against Brazil at the Emirates Stadium in London. Initially the date was agreed and Chile was to play against Iran in Sweden a few days before the Sweden match. As there was some fear by the Swedes that the proposed match with Chile and particularly the result might over shadow the main attraction, the Sweden-Iran match, they objected to the match venue being played in Sweden. The agent then suggested Austria and presented another verbal proposal which would cost the FFIRI nothing while the agent would retain the match ticket sales income and TV broadcast rights. This proposal was agreed by the FFIRI verbally and a contract was to be sent for approval and signature. On the presentation of the formal contract, there was a clause about a payment of 75,000 Euros outstanding from the previous camp in Austria that the FFIRI has to settle. On being alerted to the clause, Ali Kaffashian had a change of heart as he is reluctant to pay (!) , hence his quote that the Chile match is not confirmed yet. The federation has no choice but to pay the bill outstanding for a long time. Unless this bill is settled, there would be no match against Chile in Austria anytime soon. It is amazing how a football federation that cannot pay a 75,000 Euro bill has the audacity to file to host the most prestigious Asian football tournament and expect to win against the UAE !

Chile confirms a friendly match vs. Iran

Jorge Sampaoli's team will head to Austria for penultimate friendly before Copa América squad is announced

Chile have announced that they are to take on Iran in a friendly at the end of March. The match was supposed to be played in Sweden but the host nation's FA objected to the venue as it claimed it will clash with the later match between Sweden and Iran on 31st of March.

Jorge Sampaoli’s men will travel to Austria for the match which will take place at the NV Arena in St Pölten on Thursday, March 26.

La Roja have played Iran twice previously in friendlies; winning a 1972 meeting 2-1, before drawing 1-1 in a match played in Hong Kong in 1998.

The forthcoming encounter forms part of a double-header of fixtures - the final international dates before Sampaoli names his squad for the Copa América.

Three days after facing Iran, La Roja will play South American rivals Brazil at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in London.

Chile will host this summer’s Copa América and have been drawn in Group A alongside Mexico, Ecuador and Bolivia.

Chile friendly in doubt after Swedish FA objection!

Team Melli's match against Chile has been put in doubt after the Swedish FA opposed the proposed match on Swedish territory.

Iran was schedule to play two football friendly internationals with Chile on 25th of March and Sweden on the 31st. Both matches would have been in Sweden. However , the Swedish FA thinks that the earlier arranged match between Iran and Chile might adversely effect the attendance of the Sweden vs. Iran match especially if Team Melli is handsomely beaten by the Latin Americans! Such result will diminish the interest in the match , according to Swedish FA.

So , for commercial reasons and in order to maximize the sales of match tickets , Swedish FA prefers to have full and exclusive attention on the match between Sweden and Iran and not divert focus on other Iranian football activities.

With this dilemma, the Iranian side is actively seeking an alternative venue against Chile. Austria is one of the proposed countries and a place where security clearance for the match can be issued without much hassle. The negotiations are still going on with the Austrian side for the Iran vs. Chile match to be switched to Vienna or other Austrian venues.

Football instead of politics

Arian Faal
  • Iran national football team prepares for the World Cup in Stegersbach  - a site inspection of the "Wiener Zeitung".

Steger Bach. No one wants to talk about politics here, only about football, the World Cup in Brazil and the "honor of Persia". The slogan that unites national pride and hope to bring the Iranian soccer team luck and will also be featured on the World Cup bus.

Information

Iranian national football Team (Team Melli)

(af) Team Melli is next to Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea one of the strongest Asian football teams. Qualified three times to the finale of AFC Asian Cup (1968, 1972, 1976), all of which were won and became champions. Five times (1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2004) in the semi-finals of Asian Cup , three games of them involved  penalty shoot-out losses (1984, 1996, 2004). In addition to four World Cup participation (1978, 1998, 2006 and 2014), the national team qualified three times for the Olympic Summer Games (1964, 1972, 1976). 

Even if the Islamic Republic was present in the past few years more by the nuclear issue news headline  and the former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the European media, The Iranians wants their national football team (Team Melli), which has gathered in May for three weeks in Austria for training,  to be in the news.

The daily routine of the 28 nominated players is minutely regulated. In addition to a strict diet and fixed workouts, there are always intermediate dates such as the FIFA doping test or one or the other interview. There are only a few who dare to speak to Western media. Tricky questions by reporters swarming around the camp automatically creates cautious and reserves responses. Apparently no one wants to be put into hot water by discussing controversial issues at home and answer questions by the authorities.

"Football has nothing to do with politics," is what  the 31-year-old regular player Andranik Teymourian believes when engaged in a scarce conversation with the "Wiener Zeitung" . "But football can create a bridge of friendship," he adds.

That was a few days ago. About the lack of jerseys of the team that received much exposure by the world ptress and the shrinking after wash. "The issue with the jersey is finished. We have plenty of them here and hope that they will be of better quality in the future," said Teymourian a key player in the World Cup qualifiers.

"It is difficult,"
"We have been training really hard in this one and a half months, and I believe there never was in the past few years as a national team as now. Nevertheless, we know that it is difficult," admits the professional. Three friendlies are in those three weeks of the program, one of them being, namely Belarus, already took place and ended in a draw. In this match at Kapfenberg before 1500 spectators,  the Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz almost used his entire squad. Only Daniel Davari and Ashkan Dejagah, who has previously played in the German Bundesliga were not used.

Several hundred of the approximately 30,000 people living in Austria Austro Persians traveled for the first game to support their team Melli. One of them was Arash K. "We have to be present at the games, so that the world sees that Iran has to offer other than the nuclear issue. Iranian national football team is one of the best and strongest teams in Asia. It is therefore self-evident that we qualified for the World Cup in Brazil. On the Fifa ranking of May 2014, we are ranked with 750 points 37th place, "he says with obvious pride. Why the training camp held in Austria, has several reasons. There are good relations between Vienna and Tehran, and it is a good opportunity to force the sports exchanges with Europe.

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Team Melli to meet Belarus in Austria.

Team Melli's will be meeting Belarus in its first friendly match of the Austrian camp conducted in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2014. The match  will be held on Sunday Afternoon at 14:00 local time (16:30 Tehran times) in Franz Fekete Stadium . This is the second international practice match of Team Melli since the first game against Guinea which Iran lost (1-2). That match was played 73 days ago in Azadi stadium. Despite the low ranking of Belarus ( # 83 in the World), Iran players can expect a better and more appropriate experience as the result of the type of football that Belarus plays which is close enough to the Bosnian style of play. In general this type of football is played right across Eastern Europe. The majority of Belarus national team players are home based playing in the domestic league with only a few making their living in Russia. in Austria Team Melli will play two more games against Montenegro and Angola. The only international game in the South Africa camp was cancelled , however , Team Melli played against 4 club sides , which was far from ideal as the declared objective of Queiroz was to get familiarized with the way that Nigeria plays. Those South African Clubs offered nothing like the style of Nigeria national team. Iran and Belarus have met twice before. In 2003, in Minsk Belarus won 2-1  while in 2007 the teams drew 2-2 in Tehran

Doustimeher urging for Fans support.

Ali Doustimehr declared said “it's our fault, because the U-17 team should have at least grabbed 4 points from the two games played against Argentina and Canada. We could have wrapped it up and done the job there and then, instead we have put ourselves in this situation were qualification to the next round is a bit more difficult”. Speaking in the pre-match press conference in Al Ain , UAE where Iran`s U-17 team is scheduled to meet Austria in the final game of Group Ali Doustimeher added “we have a tough task against Austria, “ “We lost great scoring opportunities against the Canadian, The players and the fans are still lamenting those wasted chances. Some players are still affected by that and still quite upset as we speak. It is not much use talking about it. Now our goal is to qualify and to do that we need to win rather than hope to qualify based on the best second teams results. About the preparations and plans for the Friday game against the Austrians,  the U-17 coach said “Much of our preparation was in form of recovery and reducing the tension that was felt after the last game.  We had a good couple of days in the recovery phase.  We analyzed Austria based on the games they played and the European style they deploy and hence the training was adjusted as such to ensure we achieve our goal in the match”  Asked what does he think about the other match played at the same time between Argentina and Canada and what does he hope the result would be?, He pointed out that it does not matter to him what is the outcome of that match. “For me , the match against Austrian is what matters. We MUST win this one. I would not even bother to check the results of the other game as I want to focus completely at the task in our hands, not a one that we have no control on” Doustimehr said.  Regarding the attendance and the fans, the coach said he was quite impressed by the support of the Iranian fans in Dubai and he is very grateful for them for creating such a great atmosphere. “Our fans inspired us and we sincerely hope that similar numbers of supporters travel to Al Ain for this crucial match. We are very much counting on their support.” Doustimehr , stressed upon the role of the fans and attendance in the stadiums. He said he was satisfied by the attendance figure in Dubai” Football does not mean much without fans, even if all the major players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Maradona and Pele lead two teams to play a game, under coaching of the likes of Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, without the fans such match is tasteless and loses all it value.” “I am very pleased with our fans. In General the attendance of our matches have been very good, with a good mixture of Iranians , Arab and expatriate fans from different communities present.  Iran had a good support and hopefully they will come to Al Ain and support us again” The last group matches on Friday will be played at the same time in Dubai , where Argentina will face Canada, and Al Ain where Austria will face Iran. Argentina is leading the table with 4 points , while Iran is third with 2 points from two matches. A win for Iran by any margin will assure them of qualification. Any other result will mean they have to wait for the result of the other groups.  
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