Tag: India

Iran’s women team gains its first point.

The-afc.com

Navi Mumbai: Iran held India to a 0-0 draw in their AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022™ Group A clash at the D.Y. Patil Stadium on Thursday.

India had the better chances but determined defending by Iran kept the hosts at bay as both teams now set their sights on their Matchday Two ties.
Iran, making their first AFC Women’s Asian Cup appearance, found themselves on the backfoot as India started aggressively with their attacks coming from the flanks.
India had their first attempt on goal in the second minute as Nongmaithem Ratanbala Devi’s run down the left caught Iran by surprise but the midfielder’s effort was easily cleared by goalkeeper Zohreh Koudaei.

Iran found themselves under pressure again two minutes later when India’s Manisha Kalyan sent a delightful cross to Pyari Xaxa who, however,  sent her header wide.
With India controlling the pace of the game, Maryam Irandoost’s side saw very little of the ball but they could have taken the lead against the run of play in the 12th minute from a set-piece.

Samaneh Chahkandi sent a delightful ball into the area for Negin Zandi, whose looping header beat India goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan, only to bounce off the crossbar.

India, however, continued to dominate but the South Asians missed several chances with Indumathi Kathiresan and Kalyan firing their efforts over the bar as the score remained 0-0 going into the break.

India continued to dictate the pace of the game after the restart with Kalyan Iran’s main tormentor when she sent a clever pass to Kathiresan who at full stretch missed the target by mere inches.
Thomas Dennerby’s side almost broke the deadlock just after the hour mark when Kathiresan made a darting run down the left after linking up well with Xaxa but her effort was undone when she slammed the ball into the side netting from close range.
Koudaei had to be on her toes a minute later when she denied Kathiresan from inside the box as Iran continued to hold out.
India were denied what looked like a sure goal in the 77th minute when substitute Manisha Panna sent a delightful cross to Dangmei Grace, whose header from close-range was denied by a one-handed save by Koudaei.
Dennerby’s India will be aiming to claim their first win when they face Chinese Taipei on Sunday, while Iran face eight-time champions China PR.

MATCH STATS

India

4-3-3
 0 – 0 Iran

4-4-2
AFC Women’s Asian Cup

India
1 A. Chauhan GK
3 M. Panna DF
4 A. Devi DF
7 R. Devi 82‎‘‎ MF
8 S. Yadav DF
9 A. Tamang MF
10 P. Xaxa 65‎‘‎ FW
12 I. Kathiresan MF
13 S. Ranganathan 55‎‘‎ FW
16 M. Kalyan 69‎‘‎82‎‘‎ FW
17 D. Chhibber DF

Substitutes
5 Shilky Devi 82‎‘‎82‎‘‎ Sub
11 D. Grace 55‎‘‎55‎‘‎ Sub
15 Renu 65‎‘‎65‎‘‎ Sub
22 S. Kumari 82‎‘‎82‎‘‎ Sub

Manager
– Dennerby MAN

Iran
1 Z. Koudaei GK
4 M. Motevalli DF
5 G. Banitalebi DF
6 Z. Sarbali 59‎‘‎ MF
8 B. Taherkhani DF
11 S. Chahkandi 59‎‘‎ MF
17 N. Zandi 88‎‘‎ FW
18 M. Mohammadi MF
19 F. Adeli DF
20 H. Dabbaghi 70‎‘‎ FW
23 S. Sadeghi 67‎‘‎70‎‘‎ MF

Substitutes
7 A. Chatrenoor 88‎‘‎88‎‘‎ Sub
10 S. Zohrabi 70‎‘‎70‎‘‎ Sub
13 Y. Farmani 70‎‘‎70‎‘‎ Sub
16 Z. Masoumi 59‎‘‎59‎‘‎ Sub
21 M. Nikkhah 59‎‘‎59‎‘‎ Sub

Manager
– Irandoost MAN

Ali Kaffashian investigated by FFIRI Ethics Committee

The former President of FFIRI and the AFC Vice-President was summoned by the Football Federation Ethics Committee.

According to ISNA, the issue of broadcasting rights was refered to to the Ethics Committee after the discovery of some irregularities. This will be the second time that the proceeding is opened in regards to Team Melli’s matches in the preliminary qualifying round of the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 against Guam, Turkmenistan, India and Oman in which, the former President of the Football Federation and current vice president has been accountable.

While the TV broadcast rights company MP & SILVA, as a football federation contractor, claims that they have paid $ 79,000  (totaling $ 316,000) to the football federation FFIRI for each of these games, documents of the federation does not reflect this fact and no record exists of the payment!

Accordingly, Ali Kaffashian, the head of the Football Federation’s at the time was ordered by the Ethics Committee, to submit these records to the committee.

Blatter & Kaffashian

 In his first appearance at the Ethics Committee, Kaffashian promised to submit the documents, but despite the passage of more than five months from that first hearing, he had not presented any documents yet, so the Ethics Committee ordered him to appear again before the committee on Wednesday to present the documents.

Ali Kaffashian (63 years) was the President of FFIRI for two terms from 1st March 2008 to 7th May 2016. He was succeeded by Mehdi Taj the incumbent President.

Taha Shariati , a star is born.

Taha Shariati, the towering defender of the Iran’s U-17 national football team who played a major role in the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 qualification to the next round, is a classic star in the making for Iran’s football.

Strong in the tackle and excellent in the air, Shariati is a rugged defender who will keep things together under even the most intense pressure. Superb leadership qualities, tough tackling and no-nonsense approach to defending makes this young star a gem of a player as such a tender age.

Shariati also weighs in with his fair share of goals. 

The player, who has recently signed a one year contract with Esteghlal Tehran, is considered by many as one of the top 3 talents emerging out of Iran’s youth football system in the recent years. Taha Shariati is considered in the same class of talent as Reza Shekari and his current teammate Mohammad Sharifi.

Shariati who started his football in Moghavamat team of Tehran, is commonly compared to Pejman Montazeri, Team Melli and Esteghlal player.

Taha Shariati himself says: “I am originally Tabrizi, but I started my football in Tehran. I joined Moghavamat team through the scouts and from there, I was invited to the U-17 national team. I worked hard and tried to excel to prove myself. After 5 years of playing football I was honored to be selected to represent my country including competing for Team Melli U-16 in the AFC Championship. I played with Esteghlal for one year and I am excited and ready to play for my current team Saipa Alborz under the great Ali Daei.”

Taha Shariati, bearing the number 6 Jersey of Team Melli U-17 played as right back in his team and even when selected by the National Team. However, due to an injury to a central defender of his team in a tournament in Kazakhstan, Shariati had to occupy the central defense role and he has not looked back since then. He was selected as the MVP of the tournament and it seemed to be the ideal position for him according to Team Melli U-17 coach Abbas Chamanian. This would be the role and the ideal platform for the imposing defender to excel.

Shariati says: ” I do not have a particular idol, but I love the way that Pejman Montazeri’s plays, and I also think he’s a great footballer all round. I also have great respect for Steven Gerrard and Thiago Silva among the foreign players.  

Although I was a right back and my real interest is to play as defensive midfielder, I will play in any post that the coach wishes me to , and I have no problem with playing as the central defender . Because I’m wearing number 6 and Tabriz, many people compared me with Karim Bagheri.”

It is no wonder that scouts from Europe have spotted this talent as Shariati has already been approached by an agent for possible transfer to Greek, Swedish or Austrian leagues. The player is tight-lipped about such offer, but by the end of the FIFA U-17, there could very well be a possibility that the strong tenacious defender may end up playing European football and learning from top professionals.

Player Details.

Name: Taha Chamanian

Date of Birth: 3rd March 2000 (Age 17)

Birth place: Khameneh, Tabriz.

First Club:  Moghavamat Tehran

Post: Central Defender

Current Club:  Saipa Alborz

Date of join:  1st Jul, 2017

Date of contract end:   30th June, 2020

Height: 1.87 m

 

 

 

Dan Gasper “I’ve never felt safer, I’ve never felt more comfortable or more well respected than I have in Iran.”

Team Melli Goalkeeper’s coach and Carlos Queiroz’s right hand man was interview by FIFA.com. Among the many interesting things the American coach said in this recently published interview , was the level of comfort and safety he has felt in Iran. That is a compelling observation by an American citizen who has lived for over 6 years in Iran and one thought that the AFC should listen to refute the Saudi’s grotesque and overtly ridiculous claim of level of safety in Iran and the dangers of playing football there!

The full Interview

Gaspar: I’ve always been adventurous

(FIFA.com)

“I’ve always been adventurous. I’ve always been curious. I’ve always been a risk taker.”

Football can do wonderful things. In the case of Iran national team assistant coach and goalkeeping coach Dan Gaspar, football took a kid born in South Glastonbury, Connecticut and showed him the world.

Gaspar has been Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz’s No2 since 1993, working with the former Manchester United assistant manager in Japan, Portugal, South Africa and at home in USA.

The latest chapter in the American’s life was helping Iran seal qualification to Asia’s third round of FIFA World Cup Russia 2018™ qualifying. Team Melli completed their unbeaten run in the second round with two convincing wins at home in Tehran against India and Oman. And in the eight games of the round, Iran conceded just three goals.

So what led him to accepting the job with Iran five years ago?

“I was grateful Carlos Queiroz’s trust and belief that I could assist him in this unique project,” Gaspar told FIFA.com in an exclusive interview. “I made the decision based on how I make most of my decisions and that is I think with my brain, I feel with my heart and then I make a decision with my gut, and I went there!”

Iran are one of Asia’s powerhouses in football with three AFC Asian Cups and four World Cup qualifications and its fans are some of the most passionate you can find. The idea of taking another nation to a World Cup was enough on its own to convince Gaspar to make the move to Iran in 2011. He went to South Africa 2010 with Portugal and when asked about the experience, you can see the magnitude of it all in his eyes.

“That was an amazing experience, difficult to put into words what it means to have that kind of privilege,” Gaspar said. “When the Iranian situation was presented I realised that this could be another opportunity to participate in a World Cup and help a country achieve that.”

And he did just that. Iran qualified for Brazil 2014 and had a respectable showing at the tournament. Although they failed to advance from the group stages, they went back home with respect from the world, especially after their performance against eventual runners-up Argentina, when only a singular moment of magic from Lionel Messi in injury time was all that could separate the teams. 

“Argentina’s best player that day was the goalkeeper! Who could have imagined that we would have put enough pressure on them for their goalkeeper to have been their player of the match? I have a lot of admiration and respect for our players because they played for the honour of their country and for their love of the people and the sport.”

Adaptation
Iran navigated through Group D in Asia’s second round of Russia 2018 qualifiers with confidence and pride in a legacy left by their countrymen stretching back to the 1960s. Playing against Oman, Turkmenistan, Guam and India, on paper it may have looked like a straightforward journey for Team Melli, but with thousands of miles to travel and diverse conditions to endure, it was anything but easy. 

“It’s complicated because the environments are challenging sometimes,” Gaspar said. “In Guam, we played on a turf pitch and it’s an island with not a lot of resources but their hospitality was fantastic. We overcame the conditions that our players never were exposed to.” It was their 6-0 win in Guam that epitomised Iran’s ability to adapt and play at their highest levels.

“Iran has gone through so much turmoil for so many years, it’s amazing how they handle and process these things,” Gaspar said. “When you come from a different culture in America or Europe where everything is structured and done exactly as planned, with Iran their custom allows them to react at the moment and to resolve the situation at the moment.”

Adaptation is a theme with Iran, but it’s also something Gaspar himself has shown his whole life.

“You challenge your decisions. Did I make the right decision? Am I being responsible to my family? Nothing has ever prepared me for this from the culture I was born in. It’s all about adaptation. I’ve never felt safer, I’ve never felt more comfortable or more well respected than I have in Iran.”

Gaspar has been working with Iran for five years, the joint-longest time he’s been anywhere in his career. With Team Melli through to the third round of Russia 2018 qualifying, they have every chance of making it to their fifth World Cup and for Gaspar, it would represent the longest professional adventure of his life.

“Sometimes I question if it was the right decision, but then when I base it on my real life experiences, I realise that this is a journey I would take again.” 

Team Melli without kit sponsors

Team Melli is currently suffering an acute shortage of kits for players.

The current contract between FFIRI and UHLSports has expired and was not renewed despite a good offer from the German kits manufacturer. The relation between FFIRI and UHLSports was marred by complaints from the coach and players on the low quality of kits provided by the supplier. UHLSports , a German company that adheres to the highest standards and qualities , investigated the complaints and found out that the National Team of Iran has been provided by fake UHLSports kits!

The supplier strongly denied that those low quality fakes has originated from its warehouses or were part of any consignments delivered to Team Melli.

The marketing department of FFIRI has been claiming that Kit Suppliers are lining up to sign a contract to sponsor Team Melli. The fact remains that after 5 months of the last contract expiry , there is still no sign of any sponsor nor is there any contracts with famous world kit suppliers as FFIRI insinuated. 

The situation was so bad in the last match against India in Bangalore that the Team officials had to go to the market to buy some clothing and kits for the players! The kit that Team Melli was wearing  for the World Cup 2018 Qualifiers were from old stock still remaining as UHLSports has not supplied any new kits since the contract ran out.

Despite this embarrassing situation that Team Melli , the number 1 ranked team in Asia , is faced with short of essential kit, the FFIRI management , as always refused to admit any shortcomings and insist that the negotiations are going on to find a sponsor. 

 

Vahid Shamsaee wins AFC Futsal Player of the Year 2015 award

New Delhi: Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation’s Annual Awards extravaganza was held to much acclaim in New Delhi, India on Sunday.

On a night when the AFC acknowledged the continent’s best players, officials and administrators, there can be little doubt that the high profile gathering in the Indian capital was nothing short of a resounding success.

From an impassioned speech about Asian football’s rise to power and bright future courtesy of AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, to stellar cultural performances and the crowning of the AFC Player of the Year, the evening provided something for everyone as glitz and glamour shared the stage with the continent’s finest.

Here’s a full list of the 2015 AFC Annual Awards winners:

AFC Member Association of the Year

Inspiring
Japan Football Association

Developing
Hong Kong Football Association

Aspiring
Bangladesh Football Federation

AFC Dream Asia Award

Chinese Football Association
Japan Football Association
Vietnam Football Federation

AFC National Team of the Year

Men
Australia National Team

Women
Japan Women’s National Team

AFC Coach of the Year

Men
Ange Postecoglou (AUS)

Women
Asako Takakura (JPN)

AFC Player of the Year

Men
Ahmed Khalil (UAE)

Women
To be announced at a later date

AFC President Recognition Awards for Grassroots Football

Inspiring
Japan

Developing
Vietnam

Aspiring
Brunei Darussalam

AFC Fair Play Association of the Year

Japan Football Association

AFC Club of the Year

Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN)

AFC Futsal Player of the Year

Vahid Shamsaee (IRN)

AFC Futsal Team of the Year

Tasisat Daryaei (IRN)

AFC Youth Player of the Year

Men
Dostonbek Khamdamov (UZB)

Women
Rikako Kobayashi (JPN)

AFC Foreign Player of the Year

Ricardo Goulart Pereira (BRA)

AFC Asian International Player of the Year

Son Heung-min (KOR)

 

Individual Honors of Vahid Shamsaee

‘Milestone’ match for Guam

Grant Wieman

The Guam men’s national soccer team will host the most important match in the island’s history on Tuesday when the world’s No. 43-ranked team, I.R. Iran, competes in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying game at the Guam Football Association National Training Center.

A win for No. 155 Guam would be unexpected and is probably unrealistic, but simply hosting such a prestigious match gives the Matao an opportunity that was previously impossible to imagine.

“I believe having Iran here, in a World Cup Qualification game, is the single most important milestone in Guam football history,” Guam head coach Gary White said during a press conference at the Hilton Guam Resort and Spa on Monday.

“To have a world-class team, a world-class coach, here on our shores is going to do so much for football and our development,” he continued. “… We want the local fans to see world-class football here, live, because we just don’t watch it enough.”

Guam has earned seven points in its six WCQ matches so far, each of them coming at home. They beat Turkmenistan and India and drew with Oman.

In the earlier match against Iran, in Tehran, the Matao lost 6-0.

“Playing in Iran, even though the score was what it was, the players got better as the game went on and that helped us in the next game against Oman (four days later),” White said. “Without that game, we wouldn’t have learned the lessons that we did.”

Iran Guam @ Azadi

White, called “The Gaffer” by his players, said the Matao learned the importance of starting fast and limiting mistakes during that match. Iran’s first goal that night came in the ninth minute, on a penalty kick, and Iran picked up momentum from there.

“We know they will have more possession than us. That’s just the reality,” White said. “We can’t start slowly. We can’t give them easy chances. … We look at it like it’s an FA Cup game. I know (Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz) has coached a lot of FA Cup games when he was at Manchester United. You do have second division teams that do upset premiership teams, and that’s our mentality.”

Queiroz was an assistant coach for Manchester United for several seasons in the 2000s.

Both teams will enter the game shorthanded. Iran is missing four starting field players, including their top scorer and their No. 1 goalkeeper because they couldn’t obtain visas to travel to the U.S.

The Matao will likely have three defensive starters out due to injuries, suspension and missing the trip because of other commitments.

guam

“We’re one team, we’re very unified, and we know that everyone else will have to pick up the slack,” Matao captain Jason Cunliffe said. “We hope to put on a good show and show our home fans what we’re capable of. … We’re here to fight through the very last minute. We had a tough result in Iran so we’d like to obviously change that.”

Queiroz and Iran’s captain, Andranik Teymourian, were careful with how they addressed the game. They expect to win, but they never said the word, instead speaking in phrases like “get the result that is convenient for us” and “that is on the way to our target.”

Cunliffe , Guam captain

The wording made it clear they respect Guam, both as a soccer team and host nation. It is now up to the Matao to prove they deserve that respect on the pitch.

“To play at home is a great honor against such a team,” Cunliffe said. “Growing up on this island and playing football here, I never — honestly never — thought I’d be seeing the day we’d be hosting a World Cup Qualifier against Iran. It’s amazing and it’s my job as captain to make sure the boys, while we are excited about that in terms of football, for Gaffer and for the kids, to make sure we don’t get too caught up in that because at the end of the day it’s a football match.”

“It’s 11 vs. 11 on the field for 90 minutes and while I’m sitting here telling you it’s great and we’re looking forward to it, believe me when I say that out there on the field it will be a battle and we will make it as difficult for them as possible,” Cunliffe said.

Guam will host Iran at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at GFA. Doors open at 1:30 p.m.

Team Melli line up vs. Turkmenistan

Carlos Queiroz announced the lineup against Turkmenistan for today’s match in Azadi.

Injury and absenteeism has forced into many changes. The new inexperienced line up is expected to have a tough time against the determined Turkmenistan side that has already declared they are playing for all the 3 points in Tehran.  

Iran needs a win today to go to the top of the table. Oman has a rest day in this round while India meets Guam later in the day.

 

 

HAGHIGHI, Alireza

HAJSAFY, Ehsan      POURALIGANJI, Morteza      POURGHAZ, Ezzatollah           REZAEIAN, Ramin

TORABI, Mehdi     EZZATOLLAHI, Saeid    EBRAHIMI, Omid

AMIRI, Vahid     DEJAGAH, Ashkan

REZAEI, Kaveh

Team Melli camps in Dubai.

Team Melli landed in Dubai this evening to set up an eight days training camp.

Iran will be meeting its stiffest test in the FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers  when they meet Oman in Muscat on 8th of October. Team Melli will train in Dubai in the Iranian Clubs premises until their departure date on Tuesday 6th October.

After the match with Oman, Team Melli will also play a friendly against Japan in Azadi.

Iran is leading the table of Group D with 7 points ahead of Oman on goal difference.

 

Rank Team MP W D L F A D P
1 Iran 3 2 1 0 10 1 +9 7
2 Oman 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3 7
3 Guam 4 2 1 1 3 7 -4 7
4 Turkmenistan 3 0 1 2 2 5 -3 1
5 India 3 0 0 3 2 7 -5 0

 

 

Team Melli Thrash India 3-0 to Top Group D

Team Melli dispensed of India with ease winning 3-0 away in Bengaluru with goals from Sardar Azmoun , Andranik Teymourian and Mehdi Taremi. The first half of the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifying rounds ended 1-0 for Iran.

Iran heads Group D of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers table with 7 points ahead of Oman and Guam both on 7 points. The two teams played a goalless draw earlier on the day.

The match was expected to be a hard nut to crack for the Indian team since Iran are ranked 115 places above them in the latest FIFA World Rankings.

Queiroz once again stuck to the young guns who responded magnificently with both Azmoun and Taremi scoring again after the two players braces against Guam.

Iran, went into the match brimming with confidence after they dismantled Guam with a comprehensive 6-0 win, over 2000 Team Melli fans were in Bangalore to cheer for Iran.  India , on the other hand were short of confidence and points in the table after two consecutive defeats and zero points.

Team Melli attacked from the beginning of the match while India was content to defend and close the area.

While Indian defenders did well in the first half of the match, a bit of complacency in the initial phase of the second half saw them conceding two goals in the first five minutes. This made the task of the Indian team that much difficult.

India started off well in the game. One would believe that the hosts did not give up but they went down fighting against the Asian powerhouse. 

In the first half of the match, Indian players looked composed and oragnised, but they were beaten by pace and class of the Iranian footballers. 

India skipper Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh and Jeje Lalpekhlua shared a good spell of passing in the first quarter of the match but they could not create any chances whatsoever. Instead the Iranian were on the attack every other moment and posed a threat for India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

The first goal came in the 27th minute when Iran got a free-kick from a dangerous position. Sardar Azmoun found the back of the net. After this goal, Robin Singh and Sunil Chhetri did create a number of chances but all of them went begging. At half time, the score was 1-0.

Right after the start of the second half, Iranian skipper Andranik Teymourian made it 2-0. Three minutes later Mehdi Taremi made it 3-0 and it looked all over for India.

There was no coming back from there. But the Indian players tried hard to keep the Iranian defence on the edge till the end of the game. Sandesh Jhinghan was impressive as well but if you can’t convert the chances into goals then there is no point. India came really close to scoring when Chhetri’s shot went inches over the Iranian bar in the 60th minute and later Jeje failed to convert a flick from Chhetri.  

Many chances were wasted by Iran especially the two in the dying minutes of the match both wasted by Dejagah.

Iran next opponent will be Oman and that would be the sternest test for Team Melli in the group.