Tag: Ghalenoei

Queiroz is targeted by Mayeli-Kohan’s wrath.

A recent interview with Mohammad Mayeli-Kohan , until recently , the Technical Director of Omid Team (Iran’s U23) created a lot of discussion and controversy in football circles.

Mayeli-Kohan is one of those divisive characters that is either loved or hated.  He is known for being hostile to anything that he does not agree with. There is no restraint or moderation to what he thinks and say. The former Team Melli coach’s wild accusations and slanderous claims have put him in trouble with the law. He was eventually sentenced to prison by a court which found him defamatory in several cases and subsequently Mayeli-Kohan was incarcerated. It was only because of the plaintiff mercy and pardon that Mayeli-Kohan was released after serving a few days of his sentence.  It was Ali Daei who was sued Mayeli-Kohan in that libel case. However, despite that brief imprisonment, Mayeli-Kohan is neither repentant nor plans to calm down his radical and harsh criticism of whatever he does not like.

 Appointed to qualify Iran to the Olympics

Despite questionable attitude and background in addition to hostilities he managed to accumulate with many sport personalities and organizations, Ali Kaffashian is his bizarre wisdom accepted Habib Kashani and Mohammad Khakpour’s recommendation to include Mayeli-Kohan in the Omid Team squad as Technical Director.

The rest is history. Omid team did not qualify despite huge budget and long preparation, not to mention stopping the league for the team. The media had its day by much criticism mostly directed at the top of Omid team leadership and coaching. Most found Khakpour inexperience as the major reason for the team’s failure.

The interview

Mayeli-Kohan did not take those attacks on him and the rest of the team leadership lightly. In a recent interview with ISNA , Mayeli-Kohn fired back with a vengeance and did not munch his words. The Technical Director of Omid Team opened fire on all front accusing everyone and everybody but his indisputable and absolute target was none other than Carlos Queiroz and his suitors!

He accused the Portuguese head coach of Team Melli of being the main reason for Omid team’s exit by being an obstacle behind the scenes and working against them. He was overtly defensive of his own record with Omid team and apologized for the people for not succeeding to lead Iran to qualify for the Olympics games football competition, but he also accused the media of disgraceful bias in their critic of Omid team while nothing like that was directed at Queiroz after 5 years of failures, according to him, and siphoning the country’s money!

maylei Kohan in handcuffs

“He has not won any trophies, he has not won any titles, no gold medals not even a wooden medal, yet he is being revered by media and those who get benefits and paybacks because of him, while national coaches like me and Khakpour are being humiliated and ridiculed.” Mayeli-Kohan said in the interview.

The incensed Mayeli-Kohan remained unusually composed, but solidly defiant during the interview. When the reporter reminded him that Queiroz remains popular amongst the fans, he refuted such claim and claimed they are all being on some Queiroz backer payroll! He said these are the same fans that abused our icons such as Ali Parvin, Ali Daei, Ghalenoei and chanted profanities against them from the stands when the results were not going well.  They are driven by greed and who pays more.“

Logic dictates that the words of Mayeli-Kohan, which has become a dull routine, would be brushed under the carpet and very few will take any serious notice of his harsh words. Mayeli-Kohan is a known antagonist and a radical who is still a strong supporter of former disgraced President Ahmadinejad’s camp. However, this controversial interview, if that is the right expression, has shaken a few pillars in Iran’s football hierarchy. His unadulterated attack on Carlos Queiroz seems to have taken its toll, most noticeably by Carlos Queiroz.

Carlos Queiroz predicament.

Queiroz has been incognito since the last Team Melli match in 2015. He made a singular appearance in Doha during the Olympic qualifiers, to watch the progress of Omid team according to Kaffashian, but to conduct some private matters, according to Queiroz himself (take your pick). Carlos Queiroz seems to be the more accurate as he had no contact whatsoever with Omid Team camp during the qualifiers although he is known to have attended at least one match. In essence, there is no love lost between the two camps in any case.

On his brief return to Tehran, Queiroz realized that all promises that was given to him before leaving Iran by Kaffashian for improving the conditions of Team Melli, including official kit and training grounds quality, was nothing but vaporware. The conditions have even deteriorated. Queiroz is said to be seriously thinking of quitting once for all. Whether the verbal barrage by Mayeli-Kohan has made an impact will never be known, but it is know that he is always kept up-to-date with what is written about him in Iranian press. Mayeli-Kohan, despite being a colleague and working for the FFIRI has never been complimentary to him. This is nothing new although it was never so intense, personal and obvious.

The Portuguese coach is quite fond of playing this resignations game by using veiled threats or direct statements, this time however, sources close to him and Kaffashian seem to believe that he is more serious than ever. Kaffashian, although not a highly revered professional administrator or leader, has a good skills in negotiations and bargaining so he feels confident that he will be able to keep Queiroz at  least until the last two matches in the group in the World Cup qualifiers.

With Nowrooz approaching, it will be an interesting few weeks. Iran qualification to the next round of the FIFA World Cup 2018 is all but assured. With the present state of things, Queiroz is more than worried that he could lose the chance of qualifying with poor support and preparation of Team Melli. This attack on his character might create a toxic atmosphere with the fans and as such it might make his task even more difficult. As it is, the attendance for Team Melli matches in Azadi is one of the lowest in record. A few more people jumping on Mayeli-Kohan’s bandwagon will make life that much difficult for Queiroz.

Is Queiroz vindicated in overlooking of Rahmati?

The performance of Iranian clubs in the AFC Champions Leagues is always a good indicator of the standard of Team Melli since almost all the domestic players are from clubs playing in this competition, Persepolis being the exception.

After the second round, Iranian clubs results were mixed, with Esteghlal surprisingly for some, while naturally for others, faring the worst out of the 4 Iranian teams.  Esteghlal, the most successful Iranian club in the history of the competition winning it twice and finalist once, is expected to at least qualify for the next round, in a group that is far from being difficult. However the two loses at home in Azadi against ALShabab of Saudi Arabia and then the defeat against Al Rayyan in Doha, has created an immense burden on Ghalenoei to achieve what many consider to be the minimum, which is the qiualifcation. The star studded team has Heydari, Beighzadeh  , Teymourian & Sadeghi in Team Melli while they have lost the services of Nekounam , Montazeri and Jabbari other Team Melli players.

The defeat against Al Rayyan brought up one interesting discussion related to Team Melli’s players’ selection. The only goal of the match came after a terrible rudimentary blunder by Seyed Mehdi Rahmati who failed to grab an easy cross , with the ball slipping through his hands, giving the Al Rayyan forward a dream gift of simply tacking the ball into the empty net.

That goal gift by Rahmati  was enough to sink Esteghlal naturally bring up the debate about Queiroz concerns with the most experienced goalkeeper in the league. Rahmati , despite his brilliance as a shot stopper , has an acute weakness in his tactics on crosses. His timing has failed him time and again  , a a fact that Carlos Queiroz could not simply ignore or tuck under the carpet. It was his interest in having a replacement for Rahmati and criticism of the keeper that lead to Rahmati taking a break, according to his interpretation from Team Melli. That Petulant act was enough for Queiroz to cross Rahmati out of his list for good.

Another player in the Queiroz black list is Hadi Aghili , missed a penalty against Al Hilal but his blushes was saved by a injury time winner for Sepahan by Sukaj

For what it is worth, with Rahmati at least, it is quite clear that Carlos Queiroz was not far off in his assessment of the Esteghlal goalkeeper with his liabilities. Queiroz is surely vindicated.

Queiroz defends cancellation of the African camp and takes a swipe at league club coaches.

Tehran

Source:  Mehr News Agency.

In his first interview since returning from abroad, Carlos Queiroz , commented on the cancellation of the Team Melli camp in South Africa by saying “the issue is very clear”

“The camp is part of our preparation for the World Cup . The camp was designed especially for Iran’s domestic players to enhance their skills and also to change their playing style  especially since we have Nigeria in our own group and four friendly matches were arranged. Conducting the camp would have been very useful for the team.” Queiroz said. ” The second reason I chose this plan , relates to my experiences . We need to have a higher level of football to win any match the World Cup. We are facing quality opponents. Their players are playing in high level leagues and in every game that they are playing, they run an average of 10 to 12 kms.”

According to Team Melli coach “Nigerian players , Bosnian and Argentinians play in the European leagues. On average they get 64 minutes of active play time every game in every competition , but in Iran the figure is 50 or 52 minutes. According to the latest figures I have from Iran’s domestic league, players run an average of only 7 to 8 km only.”

Queiroz continued “my third reason for this was that I feel and carry the responsibility of 70 million on my shoulders . So my interest in independent to the interest of clubs like Esteghlal , Foolad or Sepahan but also to the interests of 80 million Iranians across the globe. I think . That is why I needed it . The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federation and the League had approved the plan . If you look at the formation of the national team just a few of our players are in Europe , they are of course in a good environment , but most players are involved in the Iranian league .”

“In this regard ” he noted “When I saw the four main players of the team out of six , have left the domestic league , it did not make sense to hold this camp (…). When you do not have your team’s main players , this camp is not logical . The next reason was that we did not receive support of any kind . However, I have always believed that since we will be playing against the best in the world, our players need to have a specific plan and the decision was taken by the board . My concern was , our players are not available and we did not receive support financially . That’s why I suggested canceling the training program yesterday at a meeting with Mohammad Nabi and Kafashian. I want to stress, though, that we will continue the program but in our own backyard.”

In response to criticism by club coaches like Ghalenoei , Faraki and Kranjčar about the Team Melli program and the long league suspension , Queiroz said ” Tell me, what is my primary responsibility? When the Iranian flag is flying high on the mast during the World Cup , I see happiness in the picture . I know it is my duty to defend the flag . Not the interests of one or two people who only think about their own interest and defend themselves . The first league games were delayed because of the benefits of a club  . Everyone knows that for the interests Ghalenoei and Fathollahzadeh , the league was delayed. The club that complains constantly .”

Queiroz noted “the issue here is not about someone called Queiroz , that does not matter. I ‘ve heard from the former President and the current President of the Republic, that the priorities for this year is Team Melli. I was in a meeting , when we heard from them since this year’s Team Melli has qualified to the World Cup . The reason that the league program has fallen apart is because is was solely for the benefit of Fathollahzadeh and Ghalenoei . Now , for the benefit of Ghalenoei and Krancjar , the league is postponed for 5 weeks .

Queiroz said “the real question is if the football team is the first priority , then why does not it receive the support necessary? Why all the protection of clubs interests , but not the support for Team Melli ? I know that everyone , including Ghalenoei and Krancjar. I agree this was not planned, however , let’s talk about the expectations of the fans of the national team . that Kranjcar talked about FIFA rules, which I know them a lot better than him. No one in this country knows FIFA better than me, because I was present from the beginning to develop them.”
He stated ” FIFA rules was not made to cater to the Iranian success. Do you think that other countries do not want us to succeed , we will attach importance to the World Cup ?

Queiroz continued his verbal onslaught on Ghalenoei and Kranjcar, mocking or dismissing all their statements and claiming his own superior knowledge with 33 years in football.

Nekounam on his way out of Esteghlal

The Captain of Team Melli has finally decided to leave his Club Esteghlal.

In a statement to ISNA news agency ,  Nekounam said that negotiations between Ghalenoei and Fatthollazadeh regarding his demands and future in the club was fruitless and he was lead to believe that Esteghlal does not want him at the club as he may leave anytime he wishes.

“When Pejman Montazeri has made it known of his intention to leave Esteghal, the club including Ghalenoei did all they can to persuade him to stay ” Nekounam added” However , it was not the way they acted in my case as they simply said that I can leave if I wish!”

the 33 years old Javad Nokounam who joined the popular Esteghlal club in 2012 , was bitter about this treatment by the club and the coach and hence he declared his intention that he will be leaving. Nekounam who played for Osasuna in the La Liga for 5 successful seasons, said that he has offers from Qatari and Chinese clubs on the table.

The apathy and disinterest shown by the club towards Nekounam is due to the public demand by Nekounam for the club to respect the terms of contracts with the players especially when it comes to payments of wages. That did not endear him to the club. Esteghlal , notorious for late payment of wages ,

had problems with virtually all of their players , however , it was the minority and the stronger character players who dared to

challenge the club management openly. The more vociferous of them like Nekounam went public in hope of forcing the club to pay up.

On the playing field, Nekounam was far from his best with the club as his form has dipped and was hardly instrumental or effective in the league as expected by Ghaleneoi. This form , or perhaps the lack of real interest shown by Nekounam while playing for Esteghlal, has dampened the enthusiasm of the very demanding Amir Ghalenoei , who has little sympathy with players who show contempt or lack of form on or off the field. Ghalenoei never shied away from confronting even the most famous or popular players when ever he

What is clear now, is that Nekounam is finally on his way out of Estghalal after a turbulent and difficult time in Tehran.

 

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