Tag: Hossein Abdi

Iran U-17 to begin the campaign against Brazil

  • Iran set for fifth appearance at U-17 World Cup
  • They will kick off the campaign against reigning champions Brazil
  • Nation will also face England and New Caledonia in the group stage

Iran have been handed one of the toughest draws possible in the FIFA U-17 World Cup™ group phase, with the nation pitted against the past two winners of the tournament, Brazil and England. They boast impressive pedigree at the competition themselves, however, having made it through to the knockout stage in each of their previous three appearances. Learn more about the Iran team aiming to make their mark in Indonesia below.

IR Iran’s U-17 World Cup Group C fixtures

11 November Brazil v IR Iran, 19.00 local time, Jakarta International Stadium

14 November England v IR Iran, 19.00 local time, Jakarta International Stadium

17 November IR Iran v New Caledonia, 19.00 local time, Si Jalak Harupat Stadium

How they qualified

Iran booked their ticket to Indonesia in a dramatic fashion. Needing to reach the last four of the 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup to secure qualification, they edged out Yemen in a quarter-final penalty shootout. Iran was then beaten 3-0 by eventual champions Japan in the semis.

Coach: Hossein Abdi

A former player with Iranian side Persepolis, Abdi went on to join the club’s coaching staff and notably had a spell as assistant to first-team boss – and national team legend – Ali Daei. During his time with the Iran Football Federation, he has also led the country’s U-16 team.

One to watch: Kasra Taheri

An athletic, skillful striker who links play well, Taheri was one of the stars of Iran’s run to the semi-finals of the 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup. He started all five of the team’s games at the tournament and scored two goals.

Tournament History

Iran will be participating in the U-17 World Cup for the fifth time. Their best performance was in India in 2017 when they reached the quarter-finals, recording eye-catching victories over Germany and two-time champions Mexico along the way.

Did you know?

Iran is unbeaten in their past nine group matches at the U-17 World Cup (won six, drawn three).

Iran U17 aims to shine at top level.

The young Iranians are looking to shock the football world in Group C of FIFA U-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023™.

In this edition, Iran U-17 will meet to giants of the football worlds Brazil and England in addition to “New Caledonia”. Despite the presence of two football superpowers, Iranian teenagers hope to advance to the next round of this tournament. There is a good chance that out of the 6 groups of this championship four best third teams, will advance to the next round.

Brazil in 2019 and England in 2017 are the two recent champions of this competition. This is Iran’s fifth participation in the U17 World Cup. Iran’s last appearance in this tournament was in 2017 and it managed to advance to the quarter-final stage. In that tournament, Iran was grouped with Germany, Guinea, and Costa Rica and managed to advance to the next stage as the top team with 9 points. In the next stage, Iran U17 defeated the Mexicans 2-1 while in the quarter-final stage, it lost to the strong Spanish team 3-1, which included “Fran Torres”. Players like Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, Mohammad Sharifi, Younes Delfi, Taha Shariati, and Mohammad Reza Ghobishavi were among the Iranian players in that tournament.

In 2013, Iran was in the same group as Argentina, Canada, and Austria and managed to advance to the next round with five points after Argentina as the second team. In the next stage, it lost to Nigeria with a score of 4-1 and was eliminated from the tournament.

In 2011, Iran was in the same group as Colombia, Netherlands, and Gambia and advanced to the next stage with 7 points as the first team, where it lost 2-1 against Uruguay. Kaveh Rezaei and Milad Gharibi were among the Iranian players in that year.

2001 was Iran’s weakest participation in these competitions. Where they were eliminated from the tournament with three defeats in the same group as Costa Rica, Mali, and Paraguay. Now that we have reached the beginning of the 2023 U17 World Cup, Hossein Abdi’s students hope to repeat the brilliance of the junior team in 2019 and, in addition to advancing from the group stage, they can appear brilliant in the next round as well. However, we should not ignore the presence of the two world football superpowers, Brazil and England.

The FIFA U-17 World Cup™ kicks off in Indonesia on Friday 10 November – and the tournament is being streamed live on FIFA+!

Luis Figo, Ronaldinho, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Neymar, and Victor Osmihen are among the stars who have graced the competition, with this year’s edition again set to showcase some of the game’s most exciting emerging talents.

Iran’s U-17 fixtures

DATE/TIMETEAM ATEAM BVENUE
Sat 11-Nov-2023
19:00		BRAZILIRANJakarta International stadium
Tue 14-Nov-2023
1900		ENGLANDIRANJakarta International stadium
Fri 17-Nov-2023IRANNEW CALEDONIASi Jalak Harupat stadium, Bandung

THE SQUAD

vs Brazil

Iran U17 qualifies for the FIFA U17 Work Cup

Pathum Thani: Iran U17 team defeated Yemen in a penalty shoot-out to qualify for the semi-finals of the AFC U17 Asian Cup and book a place in the FIFA U17 World Cup in Indonesia. The dour match ended goalless in humid and wet conditions. Iran won the penalties 4-2 with Foolad Khouzestan FC defender and Iran U17 captain confidently putting Iran in the lead.

Since winning the AFC U-16 Championship title in 2008, Iran has only reached the final once – in 2016 when they finished runners-up to Iraq.

Although Iran U 17 played brilliant football against South Korea one of the strongest teams in Asia in the last group match and won 2-0, this match was marred by mistakes, lack of composure, and at times total loss of concentration.

It was clear that the Iranians were under immense pressure while the Yemenis. with nothing to lose, played confidently and courageously against the better opponent. Yemen in fact had more ball possession than Iran but was let down by their finishing.

Hossein Abdi’s hesitancy in substitution resulted in two bookings that have cost the team as these two players will be suspended for the semi-finals. Iran’s number 9, Yaqoub Barajeh, looked and acted nervously. In fact, he was lucky to be on the field for his wild tackles and a few arguments with the referee. He was given a yellow card, which means he will miss the next game.  Zoleikhaei is the other player who received a yellow and will miss the semi-final.

Overall, it was not a pretty game to watch although Iran suddenly came alive in the last minutes with a barrage of attacks that threatened Yemen’s goal until it was breached by a header that the lineman called offside.

The match went into penalty kicks without playing extra time.

91′ Erfan Darvish Aali , Hesam Nafari , Esmaeil Gholizadeh, and Nima Andarz scored for Iran, while the U17 keeper Shakouri saved two kicks from the Yemeni side.

Iran U17 through to the quarter-finals

Pathum Thani: Their morale might have been dampened after a draw in their previous match against Qatar, but Iran U17 responded with a stellar showing in their final AFC U17 Asian Cup™ Thailand 2023 Group B clash against Korea Republic.

Two quick-fire goals in the first half saw them win 2-0 at the Pathum Thani Stadium on Thursday and qualify as group winners for the knockout stage – their eighth time in 12 appearances and first since 2016, where they went on to finish as runners-up.

Iran will meet Yemen in the quarter-finals on Sunday 25th June while Korea Republic will face Thailand

#AFCU17 - Group B | Korea Republic 0 - 2 Islamic Republic of Iran

The pride on Hossein Abdi’s face was clear as he addressed the media after the match and praised the way his charges shut out opponents who had scored a tournament-high 10 goals.

“Korea are a very good team and we saw that when we analyzed them before the match,” he said. “We had a gameplan to stop them from attacking quickly and after that, we got the first goal and then got another one.”

“We closed down every aspect of their (attacking) game… I am proud of all the things they did tonight.

“It was a very nice game with both teams playing tactically to attack and stop each other… I think it was one of the best matches of the tournament (so far).”

Byun Sung-hwan, whose team had already qualified for the quarter-finals after winning their first two matches, admitted that the seven changes he made to the starting line-up affected the team’s chemistry and usual style of play.

The 43-year-old congratulated the Iranians on the result and preferred not to dwell on the loss, believing that it is more useful and imperative to learn from the experience.

“The result was bad but I think we gained a lot of things (perspectives),” he said. “We changed players as the (more) important point was the quarter-finals; we were able to preserve the condition of the (first-team) players and were able to try many different options.

“Our original plan was to dominate the match but it was not that smooth-going. In the first half, Iran played simply, as expected, but our defense reacted quite slow… so we have to prepare to face that kind of playing style in the future.

“Through this experience, I hope it will be helpful for our team for the rest of the tournament.”

The victory was Iran’s second in as many meetings – they beat the East Asians in the 2008 final for their only title to date – and while it was one to savour, Abdi stressed that it was more important that his charges are able to enjoy playing, regardless of any result.

He had initiated more social activities after the stalemate with Qatar, where a dominant display did not reap any goals, such as putting on funny movies, to ensure they could recover mentally and maintain a positive mindset.

It appeared to work, as the Central Asians ran their socks off and chased every loose ball, and in a moment of spontaneity, did a few push-ups in unison after the final whistle to celebrate.

“Players at this age need to develop and they should also enjoy the matches,” Abdi explained. “I am their coach not only for today and yesterday, but also for the long term. 

“I have to know how to improve them physically and mentally…With young players, we cannot be forcing them to be like machines, we have to give them some good experiences, because they are players for the future.”

“When you win against a good team, everyone is happy and they wanted to show that (with the push-ups), and I don’t blame them for keeping themselves motivated. 

“We are not here just for competition, but also to share our feelings, joy, and excitement with each other.”

Iran U17 aiming for a place in the quarter-finals.

After defeating Afghanistan 6-1 in AFC U17 Asian Cup 2023 currently held in Thailand, Team Melli U17 will face Qatar today to book a place in the quarter-finals of the competition. The serious rival of the group, South Korea, defeated Qatar with the same margin, 6-1 and is playing Afghanistan in the second round.

Afghanistan proved no match for the young Persians coached by Hossein Abdi as H. Nafari 28′, E. Gholizadeh 32′ and 51′, K. Taheri 48′ and 49′, and R. Ghandipour 89′ scored for Iran. Afghanistan scored its only goal from an Hakim Khan Niazi 36′ strike.

Lineup vs Afghanistan:
[1] Arsha Shakouri: [2] Nima Andarz, [3] Husam Nafari ,[5] Erfan Darvish Aali, [23] Abolfazl Zoleikhaei (17 R. Ghandipour 60‎’), ‎[7]Esmaeil Gholizadeh, [14] Z. Saadavi (16 Abolfazl Zamani 46‎’), [8] Amir Mohammad Razzaghinia, [9] Yaghoub Barajeh (A. Homaeifard 60‎’)
[10] Kasra Taheri (11 A. Sharifi 77‎’), [15] M. Askari (18 Mahan Sadeghi 70‎’)

Iran U17 defeats Laos in AFC Asian Qualifiers

Bishkek: Iran and the Kyrgyz Republic seized the early initiative in Group I of the AFC U17 Asian Cup™ 2023 Qualifiers with opening wins on Wednesday.
Iran lead the standings after a 3-0 win over Laos while hosts the Kyrgyz Republic defeated Hong Kong 2-1 at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium,
IR Iran 3-0 Laos
Iran had to work hard to defeat a resilient Laos side who held the Central Asian side to a stalemate in the first half.

Iran finally found the breakthrough in the 67th minute with forward Kasra Taheri (pictured above) opening the scoring.

Midfielder Mohammad Askari doubled their lead in the 83rd with forward Reza Ghandipour sealing the win with his effort in the third minute of added time.

Iran plays the Kyrgyz Republic next on Friday with Laos meeting Hong Kong.