After the humiliating opening group game defeat against Vietnam, a 4-1 result that sent shock waves to many critics, experts and fans in Iran, the Olympic team is under the threat of elimination from the Asian Games , before even the game officially starts. This would be a milestone in Iran’s football, a one which is truly mortifying for a nation that claims to be at the top level of Asian football.Iran has to beat Kyrgyzstan on Thursday and by a comprehensive margin to assure qualification in what was seen as an easy group. The Asian Games Men’s football competition draw could not have been any kinder to Iran , as not only it has put it in 3 team group instead of 4 , it also placed it with FIFA ranking 139 (Vietnam) and 144 (Kyrgyzstan) or no 21 and 22 in Asia. This time there are no Arab teams, who have really learned how to play against the Iranians, to disturb the U23 team progress. Apparently that huge advantage meant nothing as the little Vietnamese showed the mighty Iranians a few tricks of their own, specifically scoring.Beating Kyrgyzstan at this level is not an easy task as Iran discovered in the last Olympic Qualifiers in 2011. Human Afazeli was the coach when Iran U23 struggled to beat Kyrgyzstan by the tightest of margins 1-0 in Tehran while they were lucky to get a goal-less draw in Bishkek and qualified by a single goal margin. Afazeli is currently working alongside Nelo Vingada as the U23 Team Manager in Incheon.Vietnam player celebrates scoring against IranDefeats in football is part and parcel of the game, but the manner of defeat can make a world of difference and in many cases, it highlights the underlying problems of that football. Ali Kaffashian has been running the federation with his usual grin for 7 years and getting away with one poorly and disjointed organization. According to the respected Amir Haj Rezaei ” the system and the administration of football in Iran is the biggest culprit behind these humiliation of our football. Time and again, the only victims are the coaches who lose their jobs while those who are really accountable or at least share a large portion of the blame , maintain their power , repeatedly display their incompetence and inability to manage football , and continue repeating the same mistakes. Our football is at the mercy of politicians’ whims and being exploited by them. These are people who have seen a great opportunity in football to exploit it and benefit from its popularity. Without improvements at the top, chances of success are slim at field level.”For Kaffashian , it is business as usual. Asked about this humiliating defeat in the press conference after signing the contract with Queiroz, the incumbent President of FFIRI claimed that there are no easy teams in the World Anymore! Down deep inside, he was probably wondering what all this fuss is about!That response by Kaffashian , just about sums up this man’s standard and aspiration towards Iran’s football. Driven by other behind the scenes, not much can be expected from this FFIRI administration.Players and coaches, have to take all the burden of competitions in order to succeed.
Iran U23 meets Kyrgyzstan u23 at 12:30 Tehran time on Thursday 18th September.
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Iran's Olympic football team played a goalless draw against Armenia in Yerevan on Wednesday.
Team Melli Under 23 Football Team reached Yerevan on the 2nd of August and entered camp in Avan Academy Facilities to prepare for the two friendly games against the Armenian counterparts on Monday and Wedneasday.
On arraival and after a short rest , the squad started training in Avan Football Academy. Armenian National Team manager Bernard Challandes was on hand at the Academy. He welcomed the Iranian team and came to pitch and had chat with coaching staff.
The Armenia trip is a part of the preparation for the upcoming Asian Games 2014 in Incheon , South Korea.
In the first match played on Monday 4th August , Armenia's Taron Voskanyan U23 , scored an injury time winnere on the 90+2nd minute from a header after a cross by Aram Loretsyan. Armenia won 1:0.
Nelo Vingada was not able to take the full squad with him for the usual reasons. Some players had Visa issues while a few were injured.
The squad will be flying back to Tehran today and the players will be joining their clubs for the league. The last part of the long-term preparation of the Olympic team will be carried out in China 10 days before the Asian Games starts in South Korea. The team will play several friendly games in China before heading directly to Incheon.
Human Afazeli , said "We are trying to arrange a couple of friendly games for the squad before flying to China for the training camp. That will be a good practise for the lads "
A second half hat trick by team Melli's center forward Kaveh Rezaei against Kuwait was not enough for Iran to qualify to the next round.
In the match played on Thursday , Iran U-22 beat Kuwait-U22 3-1 in Muscat , Oman in the final game of group C in the AFC Asian U-22 Championship 2014.
Japan routed Australia 4-0 in the other game that was played at the same time of Iran-Kuwait game, to qualify for the next round along with Australia. Both Iran and Kuwait were eliminated.
In a match which was totally dominated by Team Melli U-22 , the Iranians did everything but finish their attacks in the first half. The hero of the match was undoubtedly the Kuwaiti goalkeeper who saved many goal bound shoots from Iranian forwards. In the second round the trend continued as the first with the Kuwaiti's having nothing to offer but sit back and defend. However , Rezaei managed to score in the 62nd minute with a flying header after the Kuwaiti goalkeeper again parried in front of Kaveh Rezaeh who cleverly headed into the goal. Rezaei scored his second 5 minutes later in a similar circumstances before completing his hat trick in style with a curved shoot on to the far corner of the Kuwait goalkeeper in the 81st minute. Kuwait scored a consolation late in the added time.
Kaveh Rezaei
For all his effort , Rezaei's fine scoring record in this tournament , could not save Iran. 5 goals from 3 matches is a record to be proud of but the Japanese with a convincing win in their decider match against Australia, sealed the feat of Iran. It was a bitter end for Team Melli U-22 under Human Afazeli who took over only a few days before the start of the competition after Alireza Mansourian resigned his post as a coach.
Muscat
In a thrilling encounter Iran U-22 and Japan U-22 drew 3-3 in the Group C of AFC Asian U-22 championship.played in Oman Police stadium in Muscat.
Iran started the scoring through Behnam Barzay with a nice finish on he 5th minute, before Japan quickly responded with the equalizer two minutes later. Japan then took the lead on the on the half hour for the teams finished the first half and going into dressing room with Japan leading 2-1
In the second half Kaveh Rezaei scored two quick goals , one from a penalty on the 49th minute , then the young Saipa forward scored a world class goal in the 55th, when he escaped his two markers while his back was to the goal and made a half turn before shooting in the upper left corner of the Japanese goal
Japan equalized 10 minutes later through Nakajuma by aiming at the far corner of Biranvand's goal.
With this result , both teams shared the points while Australia managed to beat Kuwait 1-0 earlier in the day to lead the table with 3 points.
The match highlighted the two different schools of their respected countries football. The Japanese , organized , systematical and emphasis on teamwork, while Iran
came out as physically stronger , individually skillful and offensive minded. Iran managed to have control of the ball despite the Japamses trying to crowd the midfiled. Human Afazeli did a fine job varying the tactics of the team from some free flowing football to route one , confusing the opponents and pressing them hard.
The fast paced game was full of action and to the credit of the two teams, none was content with a draw and both played offensive football. The Iranians were caught off guard several times by their over emotional football with some uncalled for tackles resulting in accumulation of yellow cards, the worst of was the one awarded to goalkeeper Biranvand.
While Iran was offensively strong , there was a few question marks on the goalkeeper and the defense. Biranvand , who was brilliant for his club in the league was guilty of ball watching on two of the 3 Japanese goals.
Match highlights
4' Shehab Karami wastes a brilliant chance to score.
6' Barzay scores from a nice pass from the left 1-0
8' Harakawa scores on the first Japanese offense. Poor covering from Biranvand left him ball watching 1-1
16' Hajmohammadi shoots wide over the bar in front of an open goal from Kveh Rezaei nicely executed corner kick.
24' Iismaelzadeh hits the bar after a string of beautiful passes.
30' Japan scores after afrom and a brilliant individual run. Japaneses scorer passed Iran defenders with ease.
49' Rezaei scores from a penalty 2-2
55' fantastoc goal by Kaveh Rezaei with 180 degree turn shots to the ceiling of Japan's , world class goal 3-2
56' Shariyar Shirvand blopcs what seemed to be a certain Japan goal.
62 Pahlavan , the substitute , hits a ferocious shoot which the Japanese keeper parries with difficulty. .
65' Japan scores. A diagonal ball from the left , leaves Biravand standing still watching the ball into the net.
JAPAN - IRAN
3 - 3
Half time score 2-1
12 January 2014
1st AFC Asian Championship
Royal Oman Police Stadium , Muscat
Attendance : 304
Referee:FAHAD JABER AL-MARRI (QATAR)
Scorers
BEHNAM BARZAY(Iran) 7', HARAKAWA RIKI (Japan) 9' , ASANO TAKUMA 30' , KAVEH REZAEI 40'(Pen)& 55', NAKAJIMA SHOYA 66'
Lineups
JAPAN
1 KUSHIBIKI MASATOSHI ; 2 KAWAGUCHI NAOKI (13 YAJIMA SHINYA 60'), 3 YOSHINO KYOHEI,5 NISHINO TAKAHARU (C),6 YAMANAKA RYOSUKE , 7 HARAKAWA RIKI ,8 ISHIGE HIDEKI (4 MATSUBARA KEN 60'),9 SUZUKI, 10 NAKAJIMA SHOYA,16 ASANO TAKUMA (14 ARANO TAKUMA 78'), 20 UEDA NAOMICHI
EGURAMORI (Head Coach)
IRAN
1 ALI REZA SAFAR BEIRANVAND ,3 SHAHRYAR SHIRVAND (C),5 MOHAMMAD AMIN HAJMOHAMMADI, 23 MEHDI SHIRI, 16 FARDIN ABEDINI, 13 AHMAD ZENDEHROOH, 10 AFSHIN ESMAEILZADEH (20 EHSAN PAHLAVAN 54), 14 SHAHAB KARAMI, 11 SEYED PEYMAN MIRI(17 ARSALAN MOTAHHARI 71'), 19 BEHNAM BARZAY,9 KAVEH REZAEI
HUMAN AFAZELI (Head Coach)
Yellow Cards:
Japan [1]: Matsubara 77'
Iran [6]: Abedini 21', Shirvand 44', Rezaei 55', Shiri 86', Biranvand 87', Motahhari 90+1'
[divider]
the-afc.com
Muscat: An early contender for AFC U-22 Championship goal of the tournament from Shoya Nakajima was the pick of the bunch in a high-scoring encounter between Japan and Iran that ended in a 3-3 tie in their Group C fixture at Royal Police Stadium on Sunday.
Both sides were off the mark before the game had even reached the 10 minutes mark with Benham Barzay’s opener for Iran quickly nullified by a reply from Riki Harakawa.
Takuma Asano then put Japan ahead five minutes before the interval as the action continued at a furious pace.
The break did nothing to calm an appetite for goals with Iran striker Kaveh Rezaei bagging a brace within 10 minutes of the restart to restore Iran’s lead before Nakajima’s long range strike capped off the scoring in a thrilling contest.
“It was a tough but open game, we both scored a lot of goals and conceded a lot,” said Japan coach Makoto Teguramori, whose side will face Kuwait in his side’s next fixture on Tuesday.
“However, considering the lack of preparation, the ability of my side to score and give a tough game, was a positive factor.
“In terms of goals conceded we will need to make adjustments. My players had a good feeling and as we play more we’ll improve. The Iran coach said this was his B team, I don’t think it was a B team at all!”
Iran flew out of the blocks in the opening minutes, swarming over a tentative Japan right from the kick-off and it took forward Rezaei just four minutes to impose himself on the game.
He first played in Shahab Karami who blazed over, before playing a part in the move that led to Barzay’s opener, with the forward finding himself with space to turn and shoot in the penalty area with Japan’s defence all at sea in the seventh minute.
The goal shocked the young Blue Samurai into action as Iran’s lead lasted just two minutes as Harakawa stepped inside two challenges on the edge of the penalty area before curling the ball into the corner past an unsighted Ali Reza Beiranvand who was left motionless on his line by the ball’s vicious swerve.
From then on the match opened up into a pattern of pulsating back and forth attacks from both sides.
Nakajima shot wide when played through just after the 20 minute mark, while Iran reposted almost immediately with a deft combination between Afshin Esmaeilzadeh and Seyed Miri that resulted in the former slamming a shot against Masatoshi Kushibiki’s crossbar from 16 yards out.
With both sides attacking at will, space began to open up at the back and as Iran pushed forward in numbers, the ball broke to Asano who found himself one-on-one with Beiranvand and he clipped adroitly over the goalkeeper to give Japan the lead.
Musashi Suzuki had a good chance to add a third goal when put through on goal with under 10 minutes of the half remaining but the midfielder was denied by the Iranian custodian who dived bravely at his feet to avert the danger.
The second half continued much the same as the first period with both teams attacking with gusto and it took just two minutes after the restart before Iran restored parity as a coming together in the box between Japan captain Takaharu Nishino and Rezaei resulted in a penalty which the latter coolly converted high to the goalkeeper’s left.
And the irrepressible Rezaei then put his side in front after 55 minutes with a powerful shot from just inside the penalty area that curled into the top corner.
Although the Iranian number nine’s strike was a fine effort, it only took 10 minutes for the diminutive Nakajima to go one better with a spectacular shot from distance that arrowed into the top corner.
With the furious tempo the match had enjoyed for over an hour, it was understandable that the pace began to drop as a raft of substitutions took place, although there was still time for one final chance as a free-kick from substitute Shinya Yajima flew just inches wide of Beiranvand’s right-hand post.
“I think it was an acceptable start for our team, especially against a competitive and well-organised team like Japan, considering this was the first time this lineup played together,” said Iran coach Afazeli Human, who will take on Australia on Tuesday.
“For us, I think, the good starts we made to both halves are something we can build on. We didn’t come to draw, we wanted to win and so did Japan, that’s why it was so open.”
Ali Kaffashin , the head of FFIRI criticized Alireza Mansourian for reigning his post as the head coach of the Team Melli U-22 teams a fortnight before the team taking part in the Inaugural Asian U-22 Championship in Muscat Oman.
Kaffashain said “Mansourian should not have left the team in such critical stage. We have made it clear that the priority for us is the participation of Team Melli in the FIFA World Cup. This takes precedence over all other activities at the moment and as such even the League program is adjusted to serve the needs of the World Cup training schedule. Team Melli U-22 is of a lower priority”
Kaffashian , did not agree with Mansourian reasoning and said “ although Iran would have been the main title contender in Muscat , if we sent a full strength team , we have accepted the fact that under-strength U-22 team is a good enough team and we are look for participating rather than winning the title. Other priorities has dictated this and we accepted it, hence Mansourian was not in line with our objectives.”
Human Afazeli , who was working alongside Mansourian in the U-22 team has agreed to take over the head coach post from Mansourian.
Kaffashian disclosed that an official offer was given to Vingada to coach Iran’s Ol, ympics team or the U-23 team, knows as “Omid Team”. The FFIRI is awaiting a response from the Portuguese coach. Kaffashian admitted that the FFIRI offer to Vingada might not be too attractive due to lack of financial resources of the federation, but hoped that the Portuguese coach might be tempted to work in Iran and be close to his friend & compatriot Carlos Queiroz.
Alireza Mansourian has resigned as the coach of Team Melli U-22, days before the start of the AFC Asian U-22 Cup.
Human Afazeli will take over from Mansourian , according to FFIRI officials, although Afazeli has said that a deal has not been set as he needs to discuss terms with the football federation.
Mansourian , who had a long meeting with the federation officials on Tuesday , emerged from the meeting announcing his resignation because of the difficulties he has recently faced in his job. The main reason as quoted by the ex-Esteghlal midfielder was the reluctance of club coaches in releasing players for the U-22 camp or friendly games. “Under such conditions, I don’t see myself continuing coaching the team “ Mansourian was quoted
It is also believed that Mansourian was not very happy about the disclosure of the news that the Portuguese coach Vingada is on the brink of signing a 3 years contract to coach the Olympic team. That move by FFIRI was seen as a stabbing in the back by Mansourian who always thought that he is in charge of the Olympic or U-23 team despite the non-existence of an official contract.
Human Afazeli has acted as the coach for the Olympic team on emergency basis before. The last time Afazeli was in charge, he relinquished the task to Mansourian during the qualification rounds for the London Olympics.
Afazeli is an experienced young coach who has worked with several top coaches in Iran , including Branko Ivankovic. Afazeli was also the assistant coach of Team Melli during Daei’s era.
Muscat: An early contender for AFC U-22 Championship goal of the tournament from Shoya Nakajima was the pick of the bunch in a high-scoring encounter between Japan and Iran that ended in a 3-3 tie in their Group C fixture at Royal Police Stadium on Sunday.
Both sides were off the mark before the game had even reached the 10 minutes mark with Benham Barzay’s opener for Iran quickly nullified by a reply from Riki Harakawa.
Takuma Asano then put Japan ahead five minutes before the interval as the action continued at a furious pace.
The break did nothing to calm an appetite for goals with Iran striker Kaveh Rezaei bagging a brace within 10 minutes of the restart to restore Iran’s lead before Nakajima’s long range strike capped off the scoring in a thrilling contest.
“It was a tough but open game, we both scored a lot of goals and conceded a lot,” said Japan coach Makoto Teguramori, whose side will face Kuwait in his side’s next fixture on Tuesday.
“However, considering the lack of preparation, the ability of my side to score and give a tough game, was a positive factor.
“In terms of goals conceded we will need to make adjustments. My players had a good feeling and as we play more we’ll improve. The Iran coach said this was his B team, I don’t think it was a B team at all!”
Iran flew out of the blocks in the opening minutes, swarming over a tentative Japan right from the kick-off and it took forward Rezaei just four minutes to impose himself on the game.
He first played in Shahab Karami who blazed over, before playing a part in the move that led to Barzay’s opener, with the forward finding himself with space to turn and shoot in the penalty area with Japan’s defence all at sea in the seventh minute.
The goal shocked the young Blue Samurai into action as Iran’s lead lasted just two minutes as Harakawa stepped inside two challenges on the edge of the penalty area before curling the ball into the corner past an unsighted Ali Reza Beiranvand who was left motionless on his line by the ball’s vicious swerve.
From then on the match opened up into a pattern of pulsating back and forth attacks from both sides.
Nakajima shot wide when played through just after the 20 minute mark, while Iran reposted almost immediately with a deft combination between Afshin Esmaeilzadeh and Seyed Miri that resulted in the former slamming a shot against Masatoshi Kushibiki’s crossbar from 16 yards out.
With both sides attacking at will, space began to open up at the back and as Iran pushed forward in numbers, the ball broke to Asano who found himself one-on-one with Beiranvand and he clipped adroitly over the goalkeeper to give Japan the lead.
Musashi Suzuki had a good chance to add a third goal when put through on goal with under 10 minutes of the half remaining but the midfielder was denied by the Iranian custodian who dived bravely at his feet to avert the danger.
The second half continued much the same as the first period with both teams attacking with gusto and it took just two minutes after the restart before Iran restored parity as a coming together in the box between Japan captain Takaharu Nishino and Rezaei resulted in a penalty which the latter coolly converted high to the goalkeeper’s left.
And the irrepressible Rezaei then put his side in front after 55 minutes with a powerful shot from just inside the penalty area that curled into the top corner.
Although the Iranian number nine’s strike was a fine effort, it only took 10 minutes for the diminutive Nakajima to go one better with a spectacular shot from distance that arrowed into the top corner.
With the furious tempo the match had enjoyed for over an hour, it was understandable that the pace began to drop as a raft of substitutions took place, although there was still time for one final chance as a free-kick from substitute Shinya Yajima flew just inches wide of Beiranvand’s right-hand post.
“I think it was an acceptable start for our team, especially against a competitive and well-organised team like Japan, considering this was the first time this lineup played together,” said Iran coach Afazeli Human, who will take on Australia on Tuesday.
“For us, I think, the good starts we made to both halves are something we can build on. We didn’t come to draw, we wanted to win and so did Japan, that’s why it was so open.”
