Tag: Dubai

Taremi the hero as Iran edge UAE

Dubai: Iran secured three priceless points on the Road to Qatar, emerging from a dramatic AFC Asian Qualifiers clash against the United Arab Emirates with a 1-0 win at Zabeel Stadium on Thursday.
the-afc.com
07th.October.2021

A Mehdi Taremi strike with 20 minutes remaining proved decisive, keeping Dragan Skočić’s side on top of Group A with their third win from as many matches in the Final Round.

Unable to end their long winless run against Team Melli, the result leaves the United Arab Emirates stranded on two points from their three outings, considerably raising the stakes ahead of their clash with Iraq on Tuesday, the same day Iran will meet Korea Republic in a top of the table tie.

It had been billed as a showcase of some of the continent’s best strikers, but, with three crucial points on offer, clear goal-scoring chances were at a premium in a keenly contested first half.

An early delivery from the industrious Sadegh Moharrami provided one of those opportunities for Sardar Azmoun, but the Zenit star missed the target with his header, while the Emiratis might have wished it was Ali Mabkhout and not Khalil Ibrahim on the end of their brightest chance, with the latter also heading wide after a burst of speed from Fabio Lima had stretched the otherwise solid Iranian defense.

Scoreless at half-time, Azmoun threatened once again to provide the game’s first goal five minutes after the break, but again failed to test goalkeeper Ali Khaseif, while the other member of Iran’s two-pronged strike-force, Taremi, found himself well contained by the Emirati defense.

Iran had seized the initiative and Khasief was finally called into meaningful action when Jahanbakhsh forced him into a low save, but the pendulum looked to have swung sharply in the UAE’s favour when Shojae Khalilzadeh – exemplary until then – was shown a straight red card for fouling a goalbound Mabkhout, only for the Iranian defender to escape punishment after the Video Assistant Referee spotted an offside earlier in the move.

The turnaround in Iran’s fortunes was complete in the 70th minute when Taremi played a superb give-and-go with Azmoun to get behind the Emirati defense before easily beating the questionably positioned Khaseif from just outside the penalty to break the deadlock.

The visitors had a golden chance to add to the scoring when they were awarded a penalty after Taremi was impeded by Abdullah Ramadan in the dying minutes, but Khaseif saved brilliantly to deny Azmoun from the penalty spot.

That gave Bert van Marwijk’s side a glimmer of hope, but the last gasp equalizer didn’t materialize making Tuesday’s clash against Iraq one of the utmost importance for the UAE.

Team Melli squad arrives in Dubai.

Team Melli squad with a limited number of players has landed in Dubai. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) continues to tighten its restriction on the teams with health measures to ensure the safety of players and officials for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

The squad will start training in the UAE from today (Monday), and according to the AFC health guidelines, all team members must be in the health bubble and are not allowed to leave the hotel. Members of the Iranian national football team will take a corona test twice before the match against the UAE on Thursday in order to be allowed to attend the match. The Confederation’s executive officer also inspects the camp of the two teams on a regular basis sending reports on hygiene and preventive measure of the squads to the World Cup selection committee.

While the training will start as of Monday, most players based in Europe are absent and expected to join in Dubai within the next two days. In contrast to Iran, the UAE has its full quota of players in the training camp.

The list of UAE team includes goalkeepers, Ali Khaseef, Fahd Al Dhanhani, Adel Al Hosani and Mohammed Al Shamsi, and players Bandar Al Ahbabi, Mohammed Barghash, Abdel Aziz Heikal, Shaheen Abdel Rahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Ahmed Rashid, Ahmed Al Attas and Al Hassan Valid. Youssef Jaber, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ali Salmin, Abdullah Ramadan, Muhammad Abbas, Abdullah Hamad, Majed Rashid, Fabio de Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Muhammad Jumaa, Tahnoon Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Zayed Al Ameri, Ali Mabkhout and Sebastian Tigali

The last time the Iranian national team met UAE was in the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia. Only two players from the UAE team that lost to Iran 1-0 are in the current squad. Ali Mabkhout and  Walid Abbas.

Why is Carlos Queiroz coaching of Iraq seems farfetched?

Despite no official announcement, sources all over Europe and Iraq have confirmed that the Iraqi Federation is close to signing a contract with the Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz to lead Iraq’s challenge of qualification for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Katanic was the last coach of Iraq to leave his post after Iraq secured the qualification to the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The reason was simply, monetary. Iraqi football federation has not paid the Slovenian for months which can frustrate even the most loyal and tolerant of coaches.

The fact is Iraq FA is bankrupt and has no steady income. Securing the services of an international coach requires a hefty budget which is not available to the Iraqi FA. So, recruiting a coach with an asking price of the north of two million US$ seems to be unattainable.

If Iraq FA could not regularly pay Katanec, how on earth they can afford an expensive and very demanding coach such as Queiroz?. Let’s face it, he does not come cheap and he is a very heavy burden to the budget of any federation.

Here comes the role of the insecure government of Iraq. To gain some hardly sought popular approval from the masses, the government of Iraq has agreed to pay for Queiroz and burden all his expenses. Such things will never be published, of course, but enough information has been leaked to give this theory some credibility.

Assuming that the Iraqi FA has sorted out the big challenge of Queiroz fees, it has to tackle other serious issues with the Portuguese. Like the 8 years that he spent with Team Melli, he was never a permanent resident of the country. His preference has always been the limelight of the City of Dubai. He traveled to Tehran when required and nothing more than that. He hardly attended league matches to find out about the standards of the local players, the tactics, and the physical strength of players, ironically he saved his travels to Europe to check on the Iranian legionnaires.

What is another big challenge is the demeanor of the Portuguese man. He is a difficult character to deal with. Aggressive, confrontational, and generally outspoken, the Iraqis have a challenge. He is a “never wrong” type of person who easily shifts the blames on others for shortfalls. Quite demanding when it comes to facilities, training equipment, player’s comfort, rest, league scheduling, and the time allocated for training camps. Queiroz will perhaps make one friend versus 10 enemies in any period of time in Iraq.

Despite all that, it is fair to say that Queiroz did a fine job with Iran. Whether the Iraqi’s will accept the heavy baggage that comes along with Carlos Queiroz is another story. If all financial issues are settled, the chances are that Queiroz will find some adversaries in Iraqi politicians. Many will question his pay reported to be more than 2 million dollars per annum while Iraqi people are living in extremely harsh conditions with frequent power cuts in the sweltering heat of summer not to mention the lack of security. That may be the reason that Queiroz does not intend to live in Baghdad

Middle East Tensions Hurting Asian Soccer Ambitions

Steve Price

The Asian Football Confederation has reportedly banned Iran from hosting international matches based on safety fears over the current tensions in the region. Iranian club sides have responded by planning to withdraw from the AFC Asian Champions League. The clubs have said Iran is “safe”, while Iranian media and fans have claimed that politics, rather than security, is behind the AFC’s decision.

Iran are one of the top nations in the Asian Champions League and has some of the best-supported clubs in Asia. Iranian clubs had a poor campaign last year, but the year before that, Persepolis reached the final of the competition. They, along with Esteghlal, Sepahan and Shahr Khodro, will withdraw from the competition should the AFC’s fixture ban not be reversed.

Iranian sides played their matches against Saudi Arabian sides on neutral territory last season, so the move by the AFC isn’t completely unprecedented. But playing any games on neutral territory is damaging to the competition’s reputation. When over 40,000 people turn up in Tehran to watch Estaghlal or Persepolis, it’s a much better advert for the Asian Champions League than when a thousand fans turn up in Doha to watch Estaglal’s ‘home’ match against Al-Hilal.

The Deby in Azadi Stadium

The absence of Iranian clubs in the competition would be similar to Italian clubs deciding to boycott the UEFA Champions League. Few other Asian countries can match Iran’s top clubs in terms of fans. The Asian Champions League is struggling to grow, with low attendance and regular scandals or other embarrassments, so having one of its most important members boycott the competition is the last thing the AFC needs.

But as well as damaging Asia’s main club competition, the current tensions could also damage the United Arab Emirates’ and Qatar’s attempts to bolster their sporting credentials.

The UAE and Qatar have benefited in the past from their relative stability compared to other countries in the region, often hosting ties that can’t be played at the home country’s stadium for security reasons. If Iran is banned from hosting international matches, then it is possible that Iran’s ‘home’ games would be played in the UAE or Qatar.

 

But it seems the current tensions in the Middle East have finally caught up with Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, as other soccer teams are staying away.

The USA men’s soccer team canceled its camp in Doha earlier this month due to the “developing situation in the region”, holding it in Florida instead. And last week Manchester United scrapped plans for a training trip to the Middle East in February, while Arsenal have said they are assessing security measures before deciding whether to head to Dubai for warm weather training.

A stadium in Qatar with empty seats

Qatar and the UAE have been popular destinations for these winter training camps in the past few seasons, with many of Europe’s top clubs heading there for the warm weather and high-quality facilities. Qatar’s FA says that “time and again, these teams return to AZF [Aspire Zone Foundation] to benefit from Qatar’s perfect outdoor training weather at this time of year.” This year, Bayern Munich, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven all used the Aspire facilities, apart from Ajax’s US international Sergino Dest who said he “didn’t feel comfortable” due to the tensions.

While showcase events like the Qatar 2022 World Cup or the Club World Cup might grab the headlines, these camps have been like a dripping tap, helping to slowly establish the two countries as reliable regional soccer hubs. With the teams come media, agents, sponsors and so forth, over time making the countries a good place for related businesses to set up offices, helping the local tourism sector, and boosting these countries’ soft power.

The Qatar 2022 World Cup and other showcase events are unlikely to be affected unless things really escalate in the region, but should the security situation in the region remain tense, top European clubs might decide to switch their future winter plans to Florida or to Spain and Portugal where many other clubs from around the world hold their winter training camps, putting a major dent in Qatar and the UAE’s aspirations to boost their global standing through sports.

Hashempour: “We will show our strength once again”

Defending champions Iran are determined to claim back-to-back Intercontinental Cup crowns and equal Brazil and Russia at the top of the records

Defending champions Iran have landed in Dubai with the mission of reediting the 2018 crown and equalling Brazil and Russia as the most decorated sides at the Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup records. After clinching the Bronze Medal at the last World Beach Games in Qatar just a couple of weeks ago, the team feels in the perfect mood to take on such a challenge.

Grit, talent and perfect teamwork, plus the support of their passionate fans, give Abbas Hashempour’s team all the necessary ingredients to go all the way in this year’s competition, taking place in Kite Beach between the 5th and 9th of November.

“Only the most powerful teams take part in the Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup, so we are fully aware of how difficult it is to prevail in such a competitive arena. Russia, for example, is a team that can do real harm on you if you are not fully focused and fight fiercely every single second of the game. But we also are, as we have repeatedly shown, capable of winning any team in the world. This is what we have in our minds and our hearts, and we will try our best to beat all our opponents and reach the final”, Iran National Coach Abbas Hashempour explained.

The tough opposition will not be the only obstacle for Iran to accomplish their mission, though. The Persian side will be missing one of the key players, 2018 Rising Star Mohammad Moradi, due to injury, and some other players will also be back in competition after injuries, that leaves a question mark on their outcome during the coming days, but coach Hashempour believes the collective strength will help the team overcome these setbacks.

As the defending champions, the Iranian side will have all the eyes put on them, but this is not something the team is concerned about. “Everyone will be expecting a lot from us, but we are determined to show everybody why we are the champions. We want to demonstrate again how powerful we are”, the coach admitted.

Iran were drawn in Group B together with also-favourite Russia, Egypt and CONCACAF champions Mexico and will be making their debut, precisely, against the Azteca side (Tuesday 5th of November, 8:00 pm). That will mark the first step in their road to reediting the crown and claiming their third Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup.

Jorge Fosati to replace Queiroz in Team Melli !!

An Colombian website  caracoltv claims that the next Team Melli coach will be coming from Uruguay. The site mentioned Jorge Fosati as the successor to Carlos Queiroz whose contract ends after the AFC Asian Cup 2019.

The website wrote that while Carlos Queiroz is expected to lead the Colombian national team, Jorge Fosati will take the helm at Iran’s national team. Day after day, the news that Carlos Queiroz’s will be taking over the head coach job of the Colombian national team are getting stronger , naturally a replacement coach should also be appointed to lead Iran in place of the Portuguese. In the meantime, Jorge Fosati of Uruguay is on the verge of being appointed to that post in Iran’s national football team. A few days ago, the Colombian Football Federation has denied any communication with Luis Felipe Scolari.

In Abu Dhabi, Carlos Queiroz has neither denied nor confirmed this news after he was asked by a reporter prior to the game against Vietnam. He asked the media to only ask questions about the match as any other question about his future is an insult to the team and the fans.

Carlos Queiroz is preparing Team Melli to play Iraq for a top of the table match in Dubai in the final match of Group D of AFC Asian Cup 2019

Iran lifts Intercontinental Beach Soccer 2018 Trophy

Iran Beach Soccer Team, made history by lifting the Huawei Intercontinental Beach Soccer 2018 Trophy in Dubai after beating Russia 4-2 in the final on Saturday.

The atmosphere  of the packed stands in the Kite Beach in Jumeirah was electrifying as both the Iranian and Russian fans made themselves heard even before the start of the match. for both sets of fans livened up the proceedings at the 3,500-seater, state of the art stadium with drum beats and horns.

Iran were 3-0 ahead in the first period as the Russians were stunned by the wave after wave of Iranian offensive moves. By the third period, Russia managed to pull 1 goal back to make it 3-1 but Iran scored again to make it 4-1

Russia, quite fatigued from yesterdays marathon and difficult win in the semi-final but s yet still determined to make a game of it against Iran, pulled one more goal back in the 3rd period to make it 4-2. After the Russian goal, they attacked in force but they were open for Iranian counter attack of which many chances were missed to increase Iran’s tally of goals.

At the end of the action-packed 36 minutes , it did not matter as the two goal victory margin was maintained by Iran until the end to win their second Intercontinental Beach Soccer  Trophy after 2013. Ahmadzadeh lifted the cup as the players and Iranian fans rejoiced.

For the Asian champions and winners of the 2013 competition, it was the second win against Russia and the only unbeaten team in the tournament.

 

Iran registers 2nd win in Beach Soccer

Iran Beach Soccer National Team defeated Tahiti 4-2 at the 2018 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup on Wednesday in Dubai. The team is now has two wins in as many matches.

 

The National Team which had started the competition with a 8-1 routing of U.S. in Group B, will meet Russia to decide the group winners. In Tuesday match , the Asian champion had seven different players scoring as it ran riot with an 8-1 thumping of the USA in the late match of Tuesday night.

Mohammad Moradi opened the scoring in the very first minute and then added a second midway to be the only one from his team with a brace, while the other goals came from his teammates Amir Hossein Akbari, Mohammad Ahmadzadeh, Mustafa Kiani, Moslem Mesigar, Mohammad Masoumizadeh and Ali Mirshekari as Iran led 8-0 by the end of the second period.

Gabriel Silveira pulled a goal back for the American team.

The tournament, which is organized by the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) and Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), is being held in Dubai, the UAE from November 6 to 10.

 

Iran vs Tahiti Match Goals:

0-1: Amir Hossein Akbari, min. 10 (1); 0-2: Mohammad Masoumizadeh, min. 1 (1); 0-3: Hamid Behzadpour, min. 0 (1); 0-4: Mohammad Masoumizadeh, min. 5 (2); 1-4: Lebaste, min. 5 (2); 2-4: Zaveroni, min. 0 (3);

Iran to face Iraq, Yemen and Vietnam in AFC Asian Cup 2019

The draw for the AFC Asian Cup was held In a grand spectacle at the United Arab Emirates Burj Khalifa,

Team Melli , Asia’s best ranked side, who are looking to secure their fourth title and their first since 1976, were drawn in Group D alongside 2007 winners Iraq, Vietnam and Yemen, who will be appearing in their first tournament since their unification.

 Hosts UAE, who were positioned in first place in Group A, will kick-off Asia’s most prestigious tournament against Bahrain at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi on January 5, 2019.

The host nation will be looking to improve on their second place finish the last time the competition was held in the UAE in 1996, but will face formidable opponents in India and Thailand who complete the cast in Group A.

Meanwhile defending champions Australia were drawn in Group B with 2004 and 2011 quarter-finalists Jordan, Palestine, and Syria, who return to the competition following their absence in Australia 2015.

Continent powerhouses and 2015 finalists Korea Republic, who are on the hunt for their first title since 1960, were drawn in Group C with two-time runners-up China PR as well as two debutants in the UAE 2019 – Kyrgyz Republic and Philippines.

In Group E, two-time champions Saudi Arabia were drawn with 2011 hosts Qatar, Lebanon, who will be returning to the competition for only the second time after a 19 year absence as well as DPR Korea.

The tournament’s most successful side with four titles, Japan are in Group F and will face Uzbekistan, who have progressed past the group stage for the last four editions of the competition as well as Oman and Turkmenistan.

In an action-packed night graced by some of the biggest names in Asian football, the final draw also introduced a USD$14.8 million total prize money, the unveiling of a stunning new trophy, a cutting-edge Molten match ball and the launch of the tournament’s official mascots – Mansour and Jarrah.

The Zayed Sports City Stadium will also host the final on February 1, 2019 after 28 days of enthralling action with the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium and Al Nahyan Stadium hosting the remaining matches in Abu Dhabi.

Hazza bin Zayed Stadium and the Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium will host the matches in Al Ain and Sharjah Stadium in the Emirate of Sharjah. Al Maktoum Stadium and Al Rashid Stadium are the two venues in Dubai.

Iran Beach soccer on the podium at Intercontinental Championship 2017

Iran Beach Soccer Team finished the 2017 on a high note after winning the 3rd place play-off against 3 times champions Russia in the Huawei Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup Dubai 2017 today .

The match in Dubai , was between two semi-finals losers as Iran narrowly lost the match to the World Champions Brazil , while the same story was repeated when Portugal surprised Russia in the other semi-final 3-2.

Brazil were given stern examination of their credentials by Iran in the Huawei Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup in the semi final yesterday before eventually progressing to Saturday’s final with a 6-4 win. The world champions will take on Portugal on the final day, having been given a real scare by Marco Octavio’s Iran who recovered from 5-2 down to get within a goal of the holders thanks to the impressive Mostafa Kiani.

In the third place playoff, the Iranian men took revenge for the  group match loss which ended 4-3 for the Russian in extra time. The winning Russian goal was scored by Iran’s own player for a bitter & disappointing end.

IN this match Russia started the scoring in the 2nd period after an eventless first period.  However, Iran’s reserve goalkeeper Hamid Behzadpour equalized from a long-range shot into the Russian net. Soon Iran went ahead 2-1 when Mohammad Ahmadzadeh scored his 29th goal in this tournament.

Mohammad Moradi made it  3-1 and Iran was sailing , Romanov scored Russia’s second goal to make it 3-2 and a nervous few minutes for the Persians.

Russia goalkeeper then committed a grave error b handling just outside the zone as he was sent off. The subsequent free kick was blasted into the roof of the net by Mostafa Kiani  to secure a valuable 4-2 win for Iran and a 3rd place position.

 

Iran Beach Soccer Matches

Huawei Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup Dubai 2017

 

Group Stage – Group B
October 31, 2017
Iran IRN     5 – 2        PAR Paraguay
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November 01, 2017
Group Stage – Group B
Mexico MEX     1 – 4      IRN Iran
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November 02, 2017
Group Stage – Group B
Iran IRN   3 – 4 (AET)  RUS Russia
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November 03, 2017
Semi-finals
Brazil BRA     6 – 4      IRN Iran
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November 04, 2017
Play-off for 3rd place
Russia RUS     2 – 4     IRN Iran