Tag: Ehsan Hajsafi

A comfortable win for Iran keeps them at top of the table.

Team Melli defeated Syria 3 -0 in Amman in the first match of Group A’s return legs of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers. The goals were scored by Saradar Azmoun (33’),  Ehsan Hajsafi (42’)(P), and Ali Gholizadeh (89’).

With this win Iran consolidates its position at the top of the table with 16 points, opening a 10 points gap with the team in the third position UAE. Korea Rep. beat Iraq 3-0 in Doha to remain second with 14 points.

This match saw a much-improved performance from the Lebanon game 5 days ago. The changes that Skocic had to make on the lineup were sensible and effective. Beiranvand was given an off day in goal, while his deputy Abedzadeh was a very competent replacement despite not being really tested. His Aerial ball control was immaculate, but his ball distribution was quite impressive.

The midfield was more effective and distributed the ball efficiently feeding Azmoun and the flanks.  In defense, the introduction of Omid Nourafakan was satisfactory, while Sadegh Moharrami had a sterling performance.

Ahmad Nourallahi was one of Iran’s best players and it is pity that he was not on the scoresheet after several fine shoots especially near the ends of the match which the Syrian keeper remarkably saved.

Azmoun scored the opener with a marvelous assist from Vahid Amiri. Azmoun immaculate ball control, his escape from two Syrian markers, and the finishing touch was world-class.   Azmoun however, could have easily ended this match with a hat trick missing two golden opportunities in the second half.

Hajsafi made a start after some time with Team Melli, however, he has not lost any of his quality and scored well from the penalty.

The third goal by Gholizadeh was Messi-like. The Chareloi midfielder received the ball on the left and bamboozled four Syrian players before slotting the ball into the net. It was a great goal and one for the purists.

This was one of the matches that Team Melli won in performance and result. Players were disciplined and hardly made mistakes of judgment. It also helped that the Syrians came to play football and that made the match competitive and entertaining. However, the difference in class was evident from the start.

Although there were many candidates for MVP including Azmoun, Nourollahi, GHolizadeh, and Moharrami, The star of the match was Vahid Amiri. Not only did he provide a classy assist to Azmoun, his energy, runs on the flank, control of the ball, passing accuracy, and general attitude in the game were exemplary.

Team Melli complexion is changing rapidly.

After the transfer of Sepahan's and Team Melli Captain Ehsan Hajsafi to AEK Athens, Iran has just five players playing in the domestic Persian Gulf league. That puts Iran among the group of countries whose majority of the national team players play abroad. These countries, including World Cup holder France and FIFA Top ranking team Belgium, have only a few footballers that are based at home.

With the conclusion of the 2020/21 season of the Persian Gulf League in which Persepolis won the title for the fifth time in a row, 3 significant transfers were confirmed. Hossein Kanani from Al Ahli of Qatar from Persepolis, Payam Niazmand to Portimonense of Portugal, and Ehsan Hajsafi to AEK Greece from Sepahan, the last 23-man squad of Team Melli home-based players reduced to five only,

Vahid Amiri,  Milad Sarlak, Ahmad Nourollahi, Mehdi Torabi (all Persepolis), and Mehdi Ghaedi (Esteghlal) are the only players present in the World Cup qualifiers who are based in Iran. As for the latter player, Mehdi Ghaedi, his suitors have increased since his brilliant performance in AFC Champions League. Farhad Majidi announced a while ago, that he will not stop Ghaedi from seeking his fortunes in other pastures to improve his standard, which means the possible transfer of the best current talent in Iranian football to a foreign club.

The full list of Team Melli with 19 players

Team Melli legionnaires also include the following players who were not part of the squad for the return legs of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, who could be possibly invited to the next stage of qualifiers. These 6 players are as follow

In total 25 (83%) players are legionnaires out of 30

It is quite possible that under these circumstances, Iran will probably not have any players from domestic league playing for the country in the national team for several years to come, and there will be no trace of the old superiority and total control of Team Melli squad by the to poles of Iran football, Esteghlal, and Persepolis.

Several years ago, at the time of the decline of the domestic leagues of France and Belgium, all the players of these two powerful national teams were players working outside the domestic leagues. It seems that no player from the Belgian league was in the Red Devils' starting line-up at Euro 2020 this year, and that was the case in France before the re-emergence of Paris Saint-Germain in France as one of the top teams in Europe.

The standard of Iran's domestic league has fallen quite badly in the last few years due to several factors. Total government hegemony on clubs, chronic incompetent management, nepotism, poor coaching, politics, lack of resources, favoritism, corruption, and exceptional indiscipline have all resulted in a league that is relegated in the AFC Asian ranking to mid tables.

Iranian clubs have never won the AFC Champions League and the last time a club from Iran won a trophy was back in 1990/91 when Esteghlal won the Asian Club Championship, the predecessor of Champions League.

Team Melli starts camp among concerns about Hong Kong riots.

Team Melli started its preparation for the match versus Hong Kong in the qualification rounds of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar.  The team held its first training session at 6 pm on Sunday with 13 players.

Marc Wilmots spoke with his players for about 5 minutes before commencing field training. The Team Melli head coach also held a few minutes of tactical discussion with his technical staff.

The 13 players who attended the camp are all domestic league players, the Legionnaires are due to join as of tomorrow.

Those presents were : Masoud Shojaei, Ehsan HajSafi, Vahid Amiri, Siavash Yazdani, Hossein Hosseini, Vouria Ghafouri, Ali Karimi, Alireza Biranvand, Mehdi Torabi, Ahmad Nourollahi, Rashid Mazaheri, Mohammad Hosein Kanani Zadegan and Mohammad Naderi

The squad started the warm training under the guidance of assistant coach Vahid Hashemian while Wilmots and his assistants observed from the sidelines. There was no goalkeepers coach present at this session.

 Meanwhile, there is a concern in the Iranian federation as to the suitability and safety of the players in Hong Kong which is currently undergoing political disturbances and also disruptions of operations in the International airport. The latest development Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is that demonstrators have blocked the roads into and out of the airport built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok. It has only one bridge to the mainland.

Iran MP slams appearance of Shojaei & Hajsafi in Team Melli

By AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE FOOTBALL

Sunday March 25, 2018

TEHRAN, Iran, Mar 25 – A conservative lawmaker in Iran slammed the sports federation on Sunday for allowing star footballer Masoud Shojaei to return to the international squad despite appearing against an Israeli team last year.

Shojaei, the 33-year-old national team captain, and teammate Ehsan Haji Safi were criticised in Iran after they appeared for their Greek club Panionios last August in a Europa League qualifier against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Deputy Sports Minister Mohammad Reza Davarzani said at the time that the pair would be banned for life.

Iran does not recognise the Jewish state and bars its athletes from appearing against Israelis.

Confusion has reigned over the matter, however, with Haji Safi never banned from the international squad, while Shojaei has missed all the international fixtures until Friday’s match against Tunisia, which Iran lost 1-0.

“Re-inviting Masoud Shojaei to be present in the national football team — after competing against the Zionist regime — shows that the football federation has not taken serious action on this issue,” hardline lawmaker Mohammad Ali Poormokhtar said in an interview with the conservative Fars news agency.

He said the sports minister would be questioned after the current break for the Iranian new year.

A combination photo shows Iran’s Ehsan Haji Safi (L) playing during a 2014 World Cup qualifying football match and Iran’s Masoud Shojaei playing during a World Cup 2018 qualifying match © AFP / Behrouz MEHRI, Karim JAAFAR

In a press conference ahead of the Tunisia match, Shojaei said: “I am very happy to be a member of this team. Although the final list (for the World Cup squad) has not been announced yet, the fact that right now I am in this team means I am very happy and proud.”

Iran cannot admit it bans players for appearing against Israelis because there are strict international rules against political interference in sports.

The issue has come to the fore in recent weeks after wrestler Alireza Karimi Mashiani was given a six-month ban for deliberately losing a world championship match in Poland in November in order to avoid an Israeli opponent in the next round.

The head of Iran’s wrestling federation quit last month in disgust, saying young athletes were being forced to lie and the authorities were letting them pay the price for their policies.

“Forcing an athlete to accept defeat or run around all night looking for a doctor’s note is not right,” Rasoul Khadem, an Olympic gold medallist, told public radio ahead of his resignation.

Iran is due to play another friendly against Algeria in Tehran on Tuesday.

Iran looses the quarter finals in a thriller at Brisbane.

Team Melli lost the quarter finals match on penalty shootout against Iraq in a thrilling encounter at Brisbane Stadium.

Iran took the lead through Sardar Azamoun from a powerful header of a cross provided by Vouriya Ghafoori  on minute 24.  to make it 1 – 0 for Iran.

Iraq equalized  on 56th minute from Ahmed Yasin after Iran defense failed to clear and the ball hit Pouraliganji into the net.  The matches ended 1-1 for extra time to be played.

The Captain of Iraq  Younis Mahmoud made it 1 – 2 for his team on minute 93' . Morteza Pouraliganji on minute 103' scored from an Ando Teymourian corner kick to make it.2 - 2

While the match was on its final minutes, Morteza Pouraliganji who was the hero of Iran made a gross error and fouled Iraq forward for the referee to call a penalty which was dispatched by the 20 years old Iraqi defender  Dhurgham Ismail (116 minute.)

And then the grand finale came when Reza Ghoochannejhad scored with one minute left to make it 3 - 3

The two players who missed penalties of Iran were Hajsafi and Vahid Amiri,

fans and players mingle in brisbane

The first controversy of the match was the appointment of the whistle-happy Australian referee for the match. He was the referee of the first match of Iran in the AFC Asian Cup which Iran won 2-0 but so some crucial errors by the Australian which lead Queiroz to publicly complain about this referee. For expressing his views , AFC slapped an US$ 3000 fine on Queiroz which the Portuguese coach rejected as harsh and uncalled for.

Appointing the same referee for a crucial match was an indicative of a juvenile delinquency by the AFC and the organizers. Instead of trying to steer away from controversy , the AFC has fallen into it either by pure ignorance or by blatant intent and in an up your nose attitude towards Queiroz and Iran!

The controversial Ben Williams lasted for 42 minutes before he was on the act justifying earlier complaints against him. The referee awarded Mehrdad Pooladi a second yellow card right towards the end of the half for an innocuous challenge on Iraqi goalkeeper who made a theatrical scene and pushed Pooladi to the ground.

The feeble referee reacted to Iraqi players protests and awarded Pooladi a second yellow and then walked away. He was not aware that Pooladi was already on a yellow until the Iraqi players dragged him back to remind him.

Williams have a long sheet of controversial , poor decision-making and being conned by players. He is a poor choice for a referee at international level but being an Australian , and the tournament is in Australia, it is obvious that his sub-standard refereeing will be forgiven.

 The penalty loss spells the end of Iran’s participation in the Asian Cup. It is the third time in a row that Team Melli is eliminated in the Quarter finals of the competition in extra time or penalty kicks.