Tag: Hong Kong

Omid Team starts with an impressive win.

Tashkent: Iran and Uzbekistan look set to battle for the sole automatic ticket to the AFC U23 Asian Cup™ Qatar 2024 Finals after impressive wins in Group E of the Qualifiers on Wednesday. 

Omid Team opened their campaign with a 3-0 win over Hong Kong, China while hosts Uzbekistan sailed 8-1 past Afghanistan.

Iran started on the front foot at the Lokomotiv Stadium and their positive approach paid early dividends, with defender Amin Hazbavi giving them a second minute lead.

The U23 team continued to dictate terms for the remainder of the first half and were rewarded again just before the break with Mohammad Ghorbani doubling their advantage in the 44th minute after heading into the net from a perfect cross.

Hong Kong, China fought valiantly in the second half to find a way back but substitute Allahyar Sayyadmanesh of Hull City ,settled the proceedings with Iran's third goal in the 88th minute. 

Omid Team will play Afghanistan next Saturday.

Omid team starts the long march against Hong Kong.

Iran's Omid Team (U23) and also the Olympic team is embarking on a long journey for qualification to the Olympics Games Paris 2024 with a game against Hong Kong.

This match is in the qualification rounds for AFC U23 Championship in which the top 4 teams qualifies for the Olympics. Host Uzbekistan will be the most serious opponent of this group that includes Afghanistan as well.

Under a relatively inexperienced coach, Reza Enayat's Omid Team is hoping once again to break the long tradition of failures to qualify for the Olympics since 1980. These failures occur even with the availability of quality players under this age bracket. Many Omid teams had Team Melli players, but still failed to qualify with the team falling at different hurdles.

Reza Enyati, the former Team Melli striker, will hardly set the football world alight with his resume and experience in coaching. His short career started in 2019 with Qashqaei and then in the same season, Havadar before moving on to Naft Masjed Soleiman, all teams at the lower end of the tables or in lower tier of football in Iran.

Yet, Enayati, a demanding character, has managed some respectable results with the team so far. He will undoubtedly have a hard and testing times against better. more prepared and organized teams not to mention much experience coaches. It is remains to be seen if Enyati can stand up to the challenge by boosting his players and cover technical and tactical deficiencies by utilizing individual skills and solid defense the team is well capable of.

In toddy's match , Reza Enayati, the starting lineup against Hong Kong as follows: Mohammad Reza Khaledabadi, Saman Touranian, Hossein Goudarzi, Amin Hizbavi, Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad, Yasin Salmani, Aria Yousefi, Amir Jafari, Mohammad Ghorbani, Mehdi Hashminejad, Mohammad Reza Bardbar.

The match starts at 15:30 ,(Iran Time) at Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent. This meeting will be held in the first stage of the Olympic qualifiers.

AFC U-17 qualifiers Iran thrash Hong Kong11-1

Bishkek: Iran concluded their AFC U17 Asian Cup™ 2023 Qualifiers Group I campaign with an 11-1 win over Hong Kong on Sunday.
Having already booked their place in the Finals with a match to spare, Iran turned on the power at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium in Bishkek. Laos, meanwhile, defeated hosts Hosts Kyrgyz Republic 2-1 to finish second and possibly earn a spot in the Finals as one of the six best runners-up.
Iran 11-1 Hong Kong Reza Ghandipour scored four while Kasra Taheri and Esmaeil Gholizadeh Samian netted hat-tricks as Iran sent out a warning that they would be a force to be reckoned with in next year's Finals. Ghandipour (pictured below) scored in the 13th, 16th, 65th, and 90+2 minutes against a Hong Kong side who ended their campaign with three defeats.
Taheri's goals were scored in the 41st, 52nd, and 68th minutes while Samian hit the back of the net in the 29th,66th, and 88th minutes. Mohammad Askari also got on the scoresheet in the 81st minute with Chan Ho Ka netting Hong Kong's only goal in the 67th minute.

Match Preview: Iran vs. Iraq.

Muharraq: The Group C winners will be determined on Tuesday when Iran and Iraq clash at the Sheikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Stadium, while Bahrain faces Hong Kong in their final match in the second round of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

The race for top spot promises to see a thrilling end with Iraq - on 17 points - two ahead of Iran while Bahrain will need to defeat Hong Kong by a huge margin and hope for Iran to lose to secure second place as Group C goes down to the wire.

The top spot will secure a place in the final round of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, while a strong finish may also see the group's runners-up through.

IR IRAN v IRAQ

All eyes will be on Iran as Team Melli will look to make it four wins out four since Group C resumed earlier this month with Cambodia, Bahrain, and Hong Kong easily seen off.

Iraq, however, will be a tougher challenge and with victory, the only option in their bid to finish top, head coach Dragan Skocic will demand the winning consistency Iran have developed in Muharraq as they chase a third consecutive appearance in the FIFA World Cup Finals.

Iran have been clinical in front of the net, with 17 goals to their name while the defense has been resolute with only Chinese Taipei able to breach the backline in Muharraq.

Iraq, meanwhile, may only need a draw but it is highly unlikely that head coach Srecko Katanec will adopt a defensive gameplan against an Iran side who have been scoring at will.

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Iraq resumed their campaign with a 4-1 defeat of Cambodia but found the going tougher against Hong Kong, with an own goal by Fung Hing Wa securing the West Asians the three points.

Katanec wasn't unduly bothered by the lack of goals against Hong Kong and will remind his charges that they defeated Iran when the two teams met in November 2019.

Dragan Skocic proud of his team's resolve and performance

Riffa: Islamic Republic of Iran head coach Dragan Skočić, praised his side’s resolve and performance in the 3-0 win over Bahrain in Group C of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 on Monday.

After a relatively even first half, Iran were dominant in the second period with Sardar Azmoun scoring twice in eight minutes, before Mehdi Taremi sealed the win with a strike of his own.

Skocic was ecstatic with the result, which pushed the Central Asians up to second place on 12 points in the standings, ahead of Bahrain on goal difference. Leaders Iraq have 14 points.

“First of all, I want to congratulate my team for the valuable win against Bahrain. We started the campaign with just six points but have earned two important wins against Hong Kong and Bahrain,” Skocic said.

“The win doesn't surprise us because we entered the match with the aim of getting three points."

Dragan Skocic - FFIRI

Skocic revealed that he had made changes to Iran's style of play which produced the important win but expressed concern that Vahid Amiri is facing the possibility of being sidelined for their remaining two fixtures.

“We tried to avoid any defensive mistakes that could have cost us a lot and put an end to our chances. Congratulations to the players once again. The only negative point from this game was losing one of our best players, Vahid Amiri, and we will probably have a problem with his absence for the coming matches."

IR Iran v Bahrain - AQ (7)

“The result was based on the tactics we chose, and I’m proud of this victory. I have said before that the Bahraini team is a respectable team, and we prepared thoroughly for the match.

“Our style of play was completely different from the match against Hong Kong. We were ready for this game, and right now I want to enjoy this historic victory. We will start thinking about Cambodia on Tuesday,” Skocic added.

Iran face a must-win match against Cambodia on Friday, before playing Iraq in their final fixture four days later.

Bahrain head coach Helio Sousa didn't hide his disappointment, saying: “If there is someone who should be disappointed, it would be me. “We have built great confidence in our team and everyone believed in us to achieve victory but we faced a difficult team. “A draw would have been a better result for us rather than the defeat, of course. Now, we must reach 15 points but our chances are slim because Iraq and Iran have two matches remaining.” Sousa said the difference between the two sides was that Iran had the likes of Azmoun and Taremi. “The strength of Iran was their ability to launch attacks from the middle and we should have not given them space to do what they want,” said the Portuguese coach. “Our opponents had good quality players, including the best player in the Russian Premier League while they also have several players who play in top teams around Europe. “We made good substitutions but the second goal that we conceded affected us a lot. We were hoping to have a better result but we failed to do so although we played with a lot of bravery.”  

Team Melli battles for qualification.

On Monday, Bahrain will be hosting Team Melli in one of the most peculiar of injustices of football. The match which is supposed to be the home game fr Iran is instead played in Bahrain! Never in the history of the FIFA World Cup, a team played both its home and away matches in one side's venue like it is happening now with Iran.

Iran not only needs to battle the politics but pass a difficult hurdle in Bahrain Team, which to its credit, has been playing very good football through the preliminaries and now occupying the top of the table with 12 points. The battle between Iran and Bahrain promises to be a spectacular encounter, as a win for either side could make a huge difference in the final outcome of Group C.

Team Melli returned to form with their 3-1 win over Hong Kong last Thursday, reviving their top spot aspirations and with a match in hand, head coach Dragan Skocic will expect his side to take the game to hosts Bahrain. The weather on Monday at kick-off time is expected to be 35 degrees Celsius with a humidity of 39% with a wind speed of 26 Km/h. Generally speaking, it is a mildly warm day for Bahrain, which could have been much worst.l

Bahrain fancies their chances as they will head into the tie boosted by their win over Cambodia and, more importantly, in the knowledge that they have already defeated Iran in the Asian Qualifiers - with Mohamed Al Hardan scoring the only goal in their October 2019 meeting. Al Hardan will be missing due to an operation on his foot.

Iran's strikeforce may be the most famous of the four lines with world-famous names like Taremi and Azmoun, however, the pair failed to score any of the three goals against Hong Kong in the last match. On the other hand, Komail Al Aswad, Ali Madan, and veteran striker Ismaeel Abdulatif all scored twice each against Cambodia and head coach Helio Sousa will be happy with the fact that his team has multiple sources for goals against a team seeking to qualify for their third consecutive FIFA World Cup Finals.

While Sousa was all praise for Team Melli during the press conference, it is no secret that he has been focusing on this match and considering it as a decider. A shrewd tactician who managed his squad rotation and substitution quite well during the Gulf Cup tournament of 2019 leading Bahrain to left the cup for the first time in their history.

Dragan Skocic has kept the starting line up close to his heart. In the Hong Kong match, when it was clear that the forwards were having difficulties, with few substitutes he revived the team. It is unknown if he will stick with Azamoun and Taremi, but most probably he will awaiting the deliveries of these two before any substitutions are carried out.

Off-field, the authorities have been hyping the fans who would be able to watch the match on TV only. Bahrain TV has broadcast that infamous match of World Cup 2002 qualifiers when Bahrain defeated Iran on the same ground to let Saudi Arabia go through.

Meanwhile, a source in the Iraqi Team delegation, confirmed, on Saturday, that Iraq Player, Ali Fayez, was infected with the Coronavirus. The source said in an interview with "Mawazine News" that "the Bahraini health authorities informed the team's delegation of the positive corona result of  Ali Fayez.

According to the regulations, the player will be isolated from the rest and will not be appearing for his team in any further matches.

The source pointed out that "the Iraqi defender will miss the Asian qualifiers due to being quarantined in Bahrain." The team’s delegation made several contacts with the Bahraini side to return the swab to the player Ali Fayez and to confirm that he was infected with the Coronavirus, so that the player was subjected to a second swab yesterday evening, Friday, the results of which appeared today, Saturday, and it was confirmed that the player was infected and who will be subject to quarantine for a period of ten days, which means his official absence from all the Iraq matches in the double Asian qualifiers against Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Iran.

Iran v Bahrain Venue: Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa Kick-off: 19:30 hours (UTC+3) - 21:00 Iran Time

Rank M W D L GF GA GD PTS
1 BAHRAIN 6 3 3 0 11 1 +10 12
2 IRAQ 5 3 2 0 9 2 +7 11
3 IRAN 5 3 0 2 20 4 +16 9
4 HONG KONG 6 1 2 3 4 8 -4 5
5 CAMBODIA 6 0 1 5 1 30 -29 1

Skocic "Everything was fine except for the goal we conceded"

In the Post Match press conference, the head coach of  Team Melli said that he was satisfied with the result against Hong Kong: "The only thing I was not satisfied with in this match was the goal we concede from this team."

Dragan Skocic said after the game  "I am completely satisfied with the result of the game for this competition because we had difficult weather conditions. Of course, we overcame these difficult conditions." Skocic added "We played with a team that was in its defensive third and it was difficult for us to play because the opponent was playing anti-football to some extent. We also rested some players so that the pressure of the matches would not be on them." Skocic continued: "The only thing I was not satisfied with was the goal we conceded. We should not concede such goals in future matches." Everything was fine except the flower we ate / we know how to overcome obstacles "Since the Hong Kong team had not played for a long time, we had little information about their playing style," he said. "However, we maintained our lead in this match, and everyone who watched the game knew which team had the upper hand." The head coach of Team Melli commented on the next match against Bahrain  "I think that our work on this field is hard and of course there is not enough opportunity to rebuild this field. There is nothing we can do about it, so we must focus on our own work." Skocic continued: "We go game by game and we have to focus on our work and be smart so that we can finish the tournament successfully. We do not want to confuse games. Each game has its own story. We are thinking about the game against Bahrain now and we do not want to think about other matches." "We have a good team. We believe in our own strength and know-how to overcome obstacles and solve problems one by one."

Iran starts with a comfortable win against Hong Kong

Iran defeated Hong Kong 3-1 in the preliminary rounds of FIFA World Cup 2021 in the match held this afternoon in Muharraq Stadium, Bahrain. Iran's goals were scored by Ali Gholizadeh (23’), Vahid Amiri (61’), and Karim Ansarifard (84’). Hong Kong's lone goal was scored by Cheng Siu Kwang (85’).

From the onset and a one-sided match, Team Melli took full control of the field, however, they found it difficult to penetrate the solid-packed Hong Kong defense. The solitary goal scored by Gholizadeh was the result of individual skill rather than a team plan.

While the result was quite satisfactory and puts Iran second in the table two points behind Iraq, it was far from polished. In a worst-case scenario, that performance was concerning. The team was clearly short of group practice and coherence. There was a definite deficiency of understanding between players with many passes going astray. The worst of these misunderstandings was upfront between Azmoun and Taremi. None of the very few passes between them, including some unnecessary back heels, were effective. The most concerning issue however was the two forwards body language. There was a hint of frustration and perhaps lack of serious application evident in their game. They were both rightly substituted midway in the second half.

Tactically speaking, Skocic boys could not find a way through the center of defense. In a system where the other team parks the bus, several other solutions, and plans have to be applied, such as dribbling and short fast passes. The inter-passing of the forwards was too slow and too predictable.

A plethora of corners for Iran failed to produce a single goal against the compact Hong Kong Defense.

After the late substitutions, including the introduction of Torabi, Ghoddos, and Ansarifard, Iran played better and managed to score two more goals in the second half.

There are a lot of areas that Skocic needs to be concerned with in this team. Lack of group practice and hence poor understanding between the players is the biggest concern for the next match, however, the commitment and the mental status of key players remains a peril. Matches are not won on history and reputations. Without 100% commitment, it will be difficult to play against mentally tough teams despite being inferior technically to Team Melli.

Iran will meet Bahrain Next. It will probably be the toughest test and a must-win. Psychological preparation is as important as physical for that encounter.

Possible Line Up against Hong Kong.

Skocic knows very well that he has no choice but to win four of his four matches in order to have a chance of qualifying for the next stage of the World Cup 2022 qualifiers and more importantly for him, to keep his job as the head coach of this team. Hence, his slightest mistake in picking the lineup could be irreparable. Team Melli, which has the most stars compared to previous years, has gone to Bahrain without a preparation game in recent months so the match against Hong Kong will not only a must-win 3 pointer, but also a preparation for the tougher oppositions ahead in form of Bahrain and Iraq. Dragan Skocic intends to deploy a 2-4-4 formation in this match, in which Alireza Beiranvand will keep his post in the goal. Skocic will continue using the pair.  Shojaa Khalilzadeh and Mohammad Hossein Kananizadegan in the heart of the defense. He will use  Sadegh Moharremi, who was called up to the national team again after months of injury, as a right-back. In the left-back post, although the coach has many options such as Ehsan Haj Safi and Milad Mohammadi for selection, his intentions seem to be on using Vahid Amiri as a left-back. The Persepolis midfielder, who has also played as a defender for his club team in the last two months, has impressed Skocic in this makeshift role. In the midfield, Skocic intends to use Ahmad Nourollahi and Saeed Ezzatolahi along with Ali Gholizadeh. The selection of the fourth player among options such as Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Mehdi Torabi is none other than Saman Ghoddos. The Brentford midfielder, who has been delayed from joining the national team due to his club play-off and subsequent promotion to the English Premier League, is set to start the match against Hong Kong.. The possible presence of Ghoddos in today's squad will be seen as a surprise from Skocic by many observers, however, it makes sense as Ghoddos has completed a successful season while Jahanbakhsh was the opposite. Skocic's easiest job was picking the two forwards. The head coach of Team Melli has a potent strike force that automatically picks itself upfront.  Mehdi Taremi and Sardar Azmoun, are the most powerful strikers of the national team in the last couple of decades and will be starting the match. Kaveh Rezaei, Mehdi Ghaedi, and Karim Ansarifard will be on the bench with the possibility of one of them being introduced late in the match. It remains to be seen how Skocic's technical thinking will play out on the pitch in the first leg of the return leg. Last minutes events could also affect his final selection.   Possible Line Up  

The long journey start against Hong Kong.

Team Melli will play the first of 4 matches against Hong Kong in Muharraq Stadium on Thursday, 3rd June as part of the FIFA Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers.

Iran and Hong Kong have met 5 times before. The Far Eastern colony has not managed to score a single goal against Team Melli in these 5 encounters while conceding 11 goals. Perhaps it is safe to say that Team Melli will not have a very tough time against Hong Kong, however, football is known for punishing the reckless and the arrogant. Iran should not Take Hong Kong lightly.

With Hong Kong last playing an official match nearly 18 months, plus the fact that in this squad their Chinese-based players were unable to join the training camp due to covid19 restrictions, the makeshift team that coach Miku Paatelainen has assembled will be really fighting against all the odds.

Team Melli, on the other hand, is relatively better prepared but the strength of the team lies in the quality of the players and the lethal forward line in Taremi and Azmoun. Skocic has achieved perfect results winning 3 out of 3 matches so far, however, his true quality will be tested in this competition where he has to be proactive, astute, and stand the pressure of a multitude of factors.

The main issue for the coaching team is how to preserve the injury of the squad under adverse climatical conditions of Bahrain. With hot temperatures and high humidity, it is easy for the players to dehydrate and suffer physical fatigue during the 90 minutes. The later goes on, the more testing it becomes for the Iranians to keep their concentration and focus.

With the pitch of the stadium in Muharraq more suitable for grazing cattle than playing World Cup football, the team will perhaps have more difficulties playing their smooth inter-passing football. However, with both teams playing in these horrid conditions, there is no advantage or disadvantage for either side.

The 3 points of the game are quite essential, but more than that, it is the quality of football that the Team shows which will boost the confidence for tougher tests against Bahrain and group leader Iraq.

The match will be refereed by a Jordanian team headed by Adham Mohammad. Later on Thursday, Host Bahrain will play Cambodia in the Bahrain National Stadium.

Head2Head

Date Comp. H / A / N Final score Stadium Attendance
10.09.2019 World Cup Qualifier A 2 - 0 Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong 14,000
27.05.1988 Asian Cup Qualifier N 2 - 0 Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu 6,960
18.11.1977 World Cup Qualifier H 3 - 0 Azadi Stadium, Tehran 55,000
19.06.1977 World Cup Qualifier A 2 - 0 Hong Kong Stadium - Hong Kong 28,000
10.05.1968 Asian Cup H 2 - 0 Amjadiah , Tehran 28,000