Tag: Iraq

Team Melli needs a foreign coach at this time says Cheraghpour

A football expert says that Iran’s national football team currently needs a foreign coach.

In an interview with ISNA, Jalal Chiragpour, the former Team Melli Head Coach and veteran on Iranian football affairs, commented on the chaos surrounding Team Melli and the status of the bench particularly Skocic by saying ” First, we must follow logical reasoning for our conversation so that the reader can understand the situation well. Let us examine the issue from a technical and scientific point of view. In my opinion, the major problem lies with the decisions of the FFIRI Technical Committee which are neither scientific nor technical. This group of people, which now says that the Head Coach of Team Melli is not qualified, where were they in the last two and something years when Skocic took Iran to the World Cup? what criteria have they used to suddenly determine that he (Skocic) is not qualified? Did anyone see what reasoning they used? Did anyone question their logic or motives? Are there transparent and explicit requirements for the Team Melli coach?

He added: “The question remains that on that day when we were third in the group of five teams, we had lost to Bahrain and Iraq and there was a 70% chance of Team Melli being eliminated from Round 2, did this technical committee have the courage to determine right and wrong at that time?  They were nowhere near any type of decision. In any case, Skocic came and took the heavy burden off the ground and managed to lead the team to qualify for the World Cup. Now that the team has qualified comfortably and easily I might add, and is in a position where everyone knows who are the teams of its group, the technical committee raised its head. Those members of the technical committee, do not have the technical authority nor the qualification to say what is right or wrong.”

He added: ” Now they have decided that Skocic is not qualified!! Doesn’t that raise questions about the motives and authenticity of those people? in that scenario and after three games of the World Cup, the results of which are predicted. Who is the technical committee accountable to? They would say that we tried but it didn’t work. For these reasons, I say that the technical committee is not competent.  They lack authenticity, in any case, this technical committee does not have the authority to decide whether the Head Coach of the National Team of Iran should stay or leave. It is not in the term of reference and never was”.

Criticizing the management of the Football Federation, Chiragpour said: “The Federation should be helping solve national team issues such as preparation friendly games, camps that help improve the quality of the team, but it has failed in this responsibility. Their priority is the elections and who wins a seat. The delay by the Football Federation in determining the assignment of the national team’s bench with about 4 months before the Qatar World Cup is an example of their oversight.”

He added “It may be said that domestic coaches have the ability to qualify our national team for the World Cup. Well, let’s do this for the next World Cup and leave the work from zero to 100 to an  Iranian coach. Beware though, you have all witnessed the performance of the Iranian coach on the national team. “

“When a player was selected for the world team XI by FIFA,  the Iranian head coach of the national team at the time said that he was not convinced by the standard of that player and did not pick him for the national team. After that, that same player played in Europe for another 6 years and became the player of the century for Iran.”

Cheraghpour concluded: “the qualities and requirements of coaches differ in different disciplines. Wrestling is different from football. We are the leaders in the world in wrestling, but in football, we are ranked in the 50 countries in the world at best. For this reason, domestic wrestling coaches are considered among the top in the world, but it is not a reason that domestic football coaches have the necessary quality to lead the football team at the top international level. If you want to bring in a local coach, let’s do it immediately after the World Cup, when there is plenty of time for the next tournament. We also need to give that coach support moral and otherwise.” Chiragpour added: “At that point, you can prepare the team for the Iranian coach and let him work. But right now it is too late for these things. The new coach of the national team has practically only 17 days on the field to work with the team, not 110 or 120 days. On those 17 days, it is supposed to be an hour and a half of training, of which half an hour is warming up. A total of 17 hours are available to the next coach. On the other hand, Iran has a total of 6 players in a position like central defense, and everyone, from Nekonam to Queiroz and even members of the technical committee, will only invite those 6 players to the national team.”

Iran’s Omid Team defeats Iraq in a friendly

Iran’s Omid national football team defeated its Iraqi counterpart by one goal at the Medina Stadium in Baghdad tonight at 9 pm.

The U23 Team or the national football team of Omid is currently in Iraq for a training camp that includes two friendly matches.

Under Mehdi Mahdavikia, the players are preparing for the upcoming AFC U23 Asian Cups. The only goal of the game came in the first half in the 12th minute by Aria Yousefi, a Sepahani player recently invited to the Omid national team.

Omid Iran line up was as follows:  Parsa Jafari, Amir Jafari, Milad Kerr, Saman Fallah (Mohammad Ghorbani), Alireza Khodaei, Mohammad Khodabandeh Lou, Yasin Salmani (captain), Mohammad Hossein Zaveri (Ali Pilaram), Amir Ali Sadeghi, Ahmad Shariatzadeh (Mohammad Javad) Kalmarzi), Arya Yousefi.

Omid Team Squad announced

The FFIRI website announced that Mehdi MahdaviKia, the head coach of the Omid team, announced the final names of the U23 squad to participate in the Iraq training camp and the U-23 championship in Uzbekistan.

After replacing Reza Kakhsaz and Parsa Jafari. The two goalkeepers of Peykan and Zobahan instead of Sina Saeedifar and Alireza Rezaei, the goalkeepers of Esteghlal, announced the following: Amir Ali Sadeghi (Esteghlal) Yasin Salmani, Arya Yousefi (Sepahan) Alireza Bavieh, Mohammad Amin Hezbavi (Foolad Khuzestan) Reza Kakhsaz , Erfan Shahriari Khalaji, Saman Fallah Vernami (Peykan) Parsa Jafari, Milad Kerr, Mohammad Hossein Eslami, Mohammad Khodabandeh Lou (Zobahan) Payam Parsa, Ahmad Shariatzadeh, Mohammad Hossein Zavari (Naft Abadan) Mohammad Ghorbani (Nasiji Mazandaran) Mohammad Mehdi Ahmadi, Mehdi Hashemnejad (Naft Masjed Soleyman) Amir Jafari Siglani (Shahr Khodro) Ali Javad Kalmarzi Sabet (Roda JC Netherlands) Yadegar Rostami (playing in the Polish league) Bilal Arazi, Ali Pilaram (South Pars) Alireza Khodaei (Saipa)

Final training before UAE match

The final Team Melli’s training session before the game against the UAE was held at 15:30 Monday, at the No. 2 field of the National Football Center.

The training in the presence of the Iranian Minister of Youth and Sports and hordes of news photographers was conducted under strict health protocols. Social distancing with the media was strictly observed.

* Ahmad Nourollahi,  who missed the match against Iraq due to Corona, returned to training after his latest PCR Test was Negative.  He was the subject of attention by the photographers and members of the media.

* With Beiranvand’s absence, the head coach invited Akhbari as the third Team Melli keeper for the match against the UAE.

Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem, the president of FFIRI was hosting the minister and both had a friendly chat with the players and coaches before the start of training.

* The players warmed up at the beginning of the practice and then in single-player groups, they carried out one-on-one passes.

* The representative of the Asian Football Confederation attended the training of the Iranian national team and monitored all the training points and the presence of the media to ensure compliance with the health protocols.

* The media left the training ground after 40 minutes of training today according to AFC rules.

 

Iran confirm Qatar 2022 berth

the-afc.com
Tehran: The Islamic Republic of Iran booked the first AFC ticket to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 with a third consecutive win in Group A of the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar, beating neighbours Iraq 1-0 at Azadi Stadium on Thursday.
The result sees Team Melli go back to top the group after Korea Republic had temporarily snatched the lead with a win against Lebanon earlier in the day, the Iranians building an unassailable lead at the top that pulled them past the finish line with three games to go.
Both teams were lively from the off with chances coming as early as the sixth minute when Omid Noorafkan got a shot following a good pass from Alireza Jahanbakhsh, but Iraq’s Fahad Talib fisted the ball away for a corner.

At the other end just a few minutes later, Aymed Hussein got a header on Bashar Resan’s delivery from the flank, but an alert and well positioned Amir Abedzadeh held the ball, with the following attack seeing Jahanbakhsh’s long range shot take a bounce before hitting the post, in what was an exhilarating opening 12 minutes.

With 25 minutes on the clock, Talib pulled off a magnificent double save after Jahanbakhsh’s shot was spilled into Mehdi Taremi’s path, with the FC Porto striker’s shot going straight at the Iraqi keeper’s fists to be sent away. Vahid Amiri also got a shot seconds later, but that was deflected behind for a corner by Talib.

Talib’s heroics showed no signs of stopping when Ali Gholizadeh, unchecked, was in on goal following a magnificent long pass from the other side of the pitch by Jahanbakhsh, yet the former’s shot was yet again saved by the Iraqi keeper, capping off an electrifying opening 45 minutes

The deadlock was finally broken just two minutes after the break, when Ahmad Ibrahim attempted to intercept but missed Jahanbakhsh’s low through ball, allowing Taremi a clear path on goal with the Team Melli forward dinking it just above Talib to pull his country ahead.

Saman Ghoddos almost doubled IR Iran’s lead when Taremi’s feigned run between the two central defenders as Moharrami played the former through, allowing the Brentford FC man to take a low shot from close range that skimmed past the post.

The Lions of Mesopotamia threatened to equalize with 15 minutes left on the clock after substitute Hasan Abdulkareem fired a stinging low shot that was saved by Abedzadeh, but fell into the path of Huseein who could not get a clean touch on it.

The result sees Iraq remain in fifth place with four points, with IR Iran topping the group with 19 points. Iraq faces Lebanon away in four days, while Dragan Skocic’s men will remain in Tehran to take on the United Arab Emirates on the same day.

At last, Taremi lands in Tehran and available for the match against Iraq

Tehran :

Mehdi Taremi, who was stranded in Turkey for days after his flight to Tehran via Istanbul was diverted due to a severe snowstorm in Istanbul airport, finally landed in Tehran early morning Thursday.

The Iranian  Porto striker underwent the PCR test and the result returned negative after arriving in Iran and hence Taremi is available for selection for the match against Iraq.

Due to fatigue and other issues, Dragan Skocic, might very well opt to use Taremi as a substitute rather than in the starting lineup. The technical staff, due to the absence of many of their players, made a great effort to ensure the availability of Mehdi Taremi for this match.

Team Melli will still be deprived of 3 key players, Azmoun, Nourollahi, and Hajsafi.

Skocic “The conditions are not ideal”

Dragan Skocic, in the pre-match press conference, said: “It is definitely not an ideal situation, but if my players stick to the plan and give it their best, we can finish the game successfully.”

 “As you know, tomorrow’s game is very important because we can seal our qualification. I saw the Iraq games in the FIFA Arab Cup. I know they are a young and tough team. Conditions are not ideal for us. We do not have 4 players due to Positive PCR tests. Mehdi Taremi has not joined us yet. However, our players are ready and capable. The team that we have is good enough.”

Asked about the next games and what changes he is implementing “My main concern is tomorrow’s game. After this game, we think about other games and how we can move forward. We will definitely have changes in the team. Each player who plays has his own unique characteristics. That’s why we may not appear with the usual squad, but I’m sure all the players will play with all their strength and we can get off the field with our heads held up high.”

Commenting on the invitation of Hossein Kananizadegan, who is sanctioned by the disciplinary committee for inappropriate and divisive comments he made, and how this situation differs from Taremi’s disciplinary action, He said ” I must say that moral principles are very important for my team and for myself. If there is one thing that is a priority, it is ethics, discipline, and behavior. We must be careful because we represent our country. I do not agree with such alleged behavior, and this behavior may be far from honorable on the part of this player, but at the same time,  we have not received any credible evidence or instructions from the disciplinary committee on his case. It seems like the case is still open and being discussed in the ethics committee. I do not want to punish or judge anyone for talking in cyberspace and Instagram and retaliate prematurely. This situation was an opportunity to know our responsibility to the country and the people and to be careful about our behavior, and this is a lesson for others to be careful that this does not happen. “

For the record, Taremi was disciplined by Skocic for commenting on social media, which Skocic just said he must be careful not to punish a player on that basis. It is a case of double-standard in fairness.

The Croat Head coach then talked about Azmoun’s case and Zenit’s opposition to Sardar joining the national team camp and also the possibility of adding Azmoun and Hajjasfi to the squad for the UAE match: “This club (Zenit) can not do that. Our game is on FIFA Day and the club has no rights whatsoever to stop a national team player from joining his National Team. We have to review the FIFA & AFC rules regarding players who recover from a positive test and the subsequent tests prove negative. The players you mentioned are not available to us right now. We have to see if we can use them for the next game. “

“Every coach brings new things to the team,” Skocic said of his knowledge of the current Iraqi coach, Željko Petrović from Montenegro, who previously played for Dinamo Zagreb and also coached in Croatia for some time. “He (Petrović ) has rejuvenated his team. When he played for Dynamo, I was in Rijeka and I have a history of facing him.”

“Our team is ready and we know what we want from tomorrow’s game.” He was asked whether the substitutes in his team will have the same quality as the absent players and whether we will see a surprise selection in Team Melli. “I do not think the unexpected will happen,” he said. “We are still one night away from the game and it will be a long night for me to reach the final conclusion. It is clear that the Azmoun is difficult to replace. With these interpretations, the team that will be fielded will be on the game with all its energy and we will have the necessary quality. “

In response to whether the Football Federation could not have done better planning for the presence of players in the national team so that players like Mehdi Tarmi in Turkey would not be caught due to the weather? “The issue you are talking about is the federation’s duty to plan, and I know they did their best,” he said. “Taremi is our key player. I do not specialize in weather forecasting and for this, I am not in a press conference”

Latest on Team Melli

Dragan Skocic recalled two players from the standby list while including a previously unlisted Perspolis midfielder to the squad.

  • Farshad Faraji was called by Team Melli to fill in for the absent players while Aghasi, Rafei, and Kamiabinia have been added to the party. While Taremi is on the squad, his flight was disrupted as the airplane taking him from Portugal to Istanbul was diverted after the icy weather in the airport closed the runway. Taremi’s flight landed at Dalman Airport in southwest Turkey near Bodrum and he like the other passengers are stranded there awaiting a flight and weather improvement.
  • The match on Thursday will be refereed by the Australian Christopher James Beath.

  • There is still no confirmation on whether the spectators will be allowed or not for the Iraq match. Most probably, a 20% max number of spectators may be allowed in provided the passengers are vaccinated according to the latest requirements of health protocols.
  • Tuesday’s training session was attended by 17 players and was carried out in Azadi Stadium.
  • The Iraqi squad had 5 positive PCR tests on arrival at Imam Airport in Tehran. After protesting the results, another test was carried out with one positive result. Further request to repeat the test was not entertained again. Iraq has a new coach in the Montenegran  Željko Petrović. This will be Iraq’s third coach in the qualifiers after Katanec (Slovenia) and Dick Advocaat (Netherlands).
  • The revised list of invited players:
    • Goalkeepers:
  1. Alireza Biranvand
  2. Amir Abedzadeh
  3. Payam Niazmand
    • Defenders:
  4. Sadegh Moharremi
  5. Hossein Kananizadegan
  6. Shoja’a Khalilzadeh
  7. Omid Nourafkan
  8. Milad Mohammadi
  9. Siavash Yazdani
  10. Saleh Hardani
  11. Aref Aghasi
  12. Farshad Faraji
    • Midfielders:
  13. Saeed Ezatollahi
  14. Milad Sarlak
  15. Soroush Rafiei
  16. Kamal Kamyabinia
  17. Vahid Amiri
  18. Mehdi Torabi
  19. Saman Ghoddos
  20. Ali Gholizadeh
    • Forwards:
  21. Karim Ansarifard
  22. Alireza Jahanbakhsh
  23. Kaveh Rezaei
  24. Mehdi Ghaedi
  25. Shahab Zahedi
  26. Mehdi Taremi (Not available)

 

the Standby List: Mohammadreza Akhbari, Danial Ismailifard, Zubair Nikonfs,

Positive cases 3 and more bad news for Team Melli ahead of the crucial qualifiers.

A number of legionnaires invited to Team Melli training camp and the subsequent matches versus Iraq and UAE have not yet been able to join their teammates at the team’s camp in Tehran.

Mojtaba Khorshidi said “the latest situation of the legionnaires is as follows: Mehdi Taremi is still stuck in that small town in Turkey due to snowfall and poor flight conditions, and it is not yet clear what time he will leave for Iran. Karim Ansarifard has also recently arrived in Dubai after changing his flight route from Turkey to the UAE.  Sardar Azmoun has not yet traveled from Paris to Dubai.”

The Manager of Team Melli in response to the fact that these legionnaires will not arrive in time at the national team camp said: “Even if they leave now as we speak, they will be absent from training because they need to follow the health protocols process as they will have to quarantine first until the corona test result is proved negative. After the negative tests can join the squad and start training. As a result, they will be absent from today’s (Wednesday) practice. Regarding Azmoun, Nourollahi and Hajsafi, they can join the team’s camp after their corona test is negative: ‌ You know that the course of contracting Omicron is 3 to 7 days. We have to see what happens in the coming days.”

Khorshidi also mentioned the situation of 13 players who have joined the national team yesterday: “The PCR test results of these players has not arrived yet. This will probably happen in the next two hours, and after the tests are negative, they can start training. :

The Manager of the national team commented on the addition of new players to the national team camp from the waiting list: “The coaching staff has not decided yet.”

According to ISNA, since yesterday, the PCR test of three key players of Team Melli has been positive. Nourollahi, Azmoun, and Hajsafi are the players who will be absent from this camp.

Only Kamal Kamiabinia has been added to the squad from the waiting list as a replacement for Nourollahi.

Team Melli will face Iraq in two days’ time in a match that could be the qualification prize for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Iran needs three points from the next two games to book its place to Doha, Qatar

Team Melli commences the training camp.

Team Melli started training camp as of today in preparation for the matches against Iraq and the UAE at the Olympic Hotel.

 On the first day of the camp, the players from the domestic league, along with Ahmad Nourollahi and Mehdi Ghaedi both members of Shabab Al-Ahli of Dubai, began with initially going through the strict health protocols and underwent PCR testing with the technical staff of the national team. The whole camp will be quarantined until the negative results them being part of the squad.  After the test results are confirmed, the teamwork will start and the rest of the players and legionnaires, according to the schedules, will introduce themselves to the technical staff this morning and will go to quarantine to find out the results of the tests.

The Squad will be holding two sessions of training on daily basis in two groups from 15:00 to 17:00. After the legionnaires’ tests are out and assumed to be negative, the first training of the national team will be held tomorrow with the presence of all the players. According to the rules and requirements of the Asian Football Confederation, in compliance with health protocols, the national team will train behind closed doors.

Dragan Skocic has named a list of 27  players for these two matches, although the regulation allows a squad of 23 players for the match. It is announced that no players will be sent home but a list of 23 players as required by the regulation will be announced for each of the two matches.

Shahab Zahedi, who plays for Zorya in  Ukraine has finally been selected for the first time. His recently departed teammate Allhtae Sayyadmanesh is also named in the squad. The list includes one legionnaire player who is under suspension by the Federation’s disciplinary committee the case of Hossein Kanani-Zadegan was charged with offenses not related to a match but to derogatory remarks he made,  which has gone viral on social media. When quizzed about this, a spokesperson for Team Melli said that “unless we receive specific instruction from the concerned department of the federation, any player can be selected for Team Melli.”

The squad welcomes back Mehdi Taremi, another player who was in trouble after he created unnecessary problems for himself and hence left out of Team Melli’s last two matches both of which Iran has won.