Tag: Javad Nekounam

Nekounam back in Osasuna after 2 years absence.

 Two years ago, Javad Nekounam left Osasuna to Esteghlal Tehran after he refused to accept a substantial pay cut mandated by the Chief Executive of the club. Osasuna , which was playing in the La Liga was struggling financially and Nekounam was one of their highest paid players. Getting rid of him seemed to be a logical financial move for the club , but far from a sound decision tactically.

Today , Javad Nekounam has returned back to his old favorite place , but the Pamplona club is no more a La liga club. Last season and after a very tough run , the club was relegated , and now it is in the second division.

The Bosses of Osasuna introduced Nekounam to about 500 cheering Osasuna fans in Pamplona. Javad immediately got to work and started his first training session preparing for the imminent start of the Segunda Liga of Spain.

Before his departure from Iran, after returning from World Cup duty, Javad Nekounam created a major controversy when he embarked on a verbal war and spoke highly critically about Amir Ghalenoei , his coach in Esteghlal with his alleged faults. Nekounam did not chew his words either accusing the coach , who was also the coach of Team Melli when Nekounam was a member of the team in Asian Cup 2007 , of being ignorant about football coaching.

For the record, Amir Ghalenoei is the highest decorated Iranian coach in league history winning 4 titles with Esteghlal and Sepahan. His record with Team Melli is also one of the best officially losing one friendly match only. Not a bad achievement for a coach who ignorant about football coaching according to Nekounam.

The accusations against Ghalenoei made public by Nekounam , promoted Esteghlal club and Ghalenoei himself to seek justice and file a slander case against the Captain of Team Melli in the courts.

Meanwhile, it seems that the talks between a Greek club and Masoud Shojaei has broken down. Shojaei is a free player since he was released by Las Palmas at the end of last season and still seeking a club in Europe. It very much looks like the East for Shojaei, either back home to Iran or one of the Persian Gulf countries’ leagues.

Al Kuwait ٍSC gets Reza Ghoochannejad.

While the one goal scored by Iran in the World Cup along with two defeats, did not impress any European clubs and we failed to see any real interest from even second tier Europeans,  it was believed that the scorer of the lone Iranian goal would find a better fortune than a lower tier league club in England and stand a good chance in getting a decent club playing top-level football.

Reza Ghoochanejad was not a happy man at Charlton Athletics, a club that struggled for survival and eventually scraped through and maintained it English Championship league status for the next season. Even in this frail team, Reza did not manage to find a fixed starting role. He was hardly used and only managed to score one goal. The writing was on the wall that Reza would seek out of this fortunes elsewhere, but very few predicted that he will fly 7 hours east and precisely to Kuwait to continue his professional career.

After Nekounam left Al Kuwait SC, Reza Ghoochanjed has repacked him. The news is still not official by Charlton Athletics yet, but it seems that it is a pretty done deal.

Why Al Kuwait SC?

The Kuwaiti league is one of the poorer leagues in the Persian Gulf region. It had no representation in the Asian Champions League for many years although the next edition will see of the Kuwait clubs playing in the ACL. The overall standard of the Kuwait league is way behind the likes of Saudi Arabia, Iran , Qatar and  UAE. The Kuwaiti clubs do not get the generous government support that the other Gulf Arab countries get and even much less that Iranian clubs , which are mostly government-owned anyway. As such ,   the financial structure of the Kuwait clubs and football league is pretty feeble to moderate at best. The infrastructure and the facilities are also of a lower standard than the rest of its neighbors. It seems since the Iraqi invasion in 1990 and the ensuing liberation war , Kuwait has completely forgotten about investment in football.

So , who is it that they can afford the likes of Nekounam and Choochannejad?

Kuwait has many foreign players from as far as Brazil , plenty from the African continents and quite a few Arabs, whoever , these are mostly seventh or eight grade footballers. You would never hear of a player in the stature of Raul Gonzales, the ex-Real Madrid Captain heading to a Kuwaiti club , for example.

With the exceptional and relatively immense wages that Nekounam was getting in Esteghlal , Al Kuwait SC must have either matched or improved on it for Iran’s Captain to be tempted. It would be the same situation with Ghoochannjad who had offers from Qatar and Iranian clubs as well. Al Kuwait is quite obviously, the richest club in Kuwait , although not the most popular one. That title goes to AL Qadisiya and Al Arabi.

On the bright side of this transfer is that Al Kuwait SC will be one of the country’s representatives in the 2014/15 AFC Asian Champions league and many Iranian will be able to see him play. The chances are pretty strong that Al Kuwait will be playing in a group along with an Iranian club.

Nekounam , one step from Osasuna.

Pamplona – Javad Nekounam. Is on the brink of another return to Osasuna, the relegated club from Pamplona , according to the Spanish website Noticias de Navarra

Nekounam has expressed his desire to play for the Spanish club once again. However, it was following the resignation of Miguel Archanco when he made the final decision and pulled the plugs on the talks. And to remember that it was the president who foiled the first attempt for the return of Iran’s Captain in the winter of two seasons ago.

The midfielder started his first spell at Osasuna in 2006 from Sharjah club of UAE. He wore the elastic Red shirt for six seasons playing 157 games and scoring 26 goals. Six years sufficed him to become one of the idols of the crowds  stands of the Sadar with many memorable performances in League, Cup and, above all, in the continental journey of the Reds with Aguirre and Ziganda.

Still fresh in the memory of the osasunismo  (Osasuna fans) that headed goal he scored against Bordeaux in the agonizing extra time that resulted in the qualification of Osasuna for the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup in 2007.

Due to difficult circumstances, Nekounam left Osasuna in the summer of 2012, when the new policy of austerity measures began in the club , with the priority to relieve the club of top paid players. Nekounam ended up in Esteghlal team, one of the Iranian football elite teams , but was loaned to Al Kuwait for the last season.
At 34 ( Born 07/09/1980) the player continues to be Consolidated defensive midfielder in his club and Iran national team, where while serving as leader with another ex Osasuna player, Masoud Shojaei. Masoud will not be continuing in Las Palmas and despite some rumors linking him back with Osasuna, he will play away from Spain.

Singnificantly , it was Nekounam’s good performance at the last World Cup,  that has caused the rekindled interest. That performance is one of the reasons that encouraged the Management Board to accept the return of the Iranian. Talks have been taking place in recent weeks with the Professional Football League (LFP), which has to inform Osasuna if they are allowed to sign new players . The approval is required , due to poor balance sheet of the Pamplona club and their financial struggles for the last few years. It is more than probable that Nekounam signing will be announced tomorrow before traveling to England to start a training camp and playing friendly matches.

Despite his departure, Javad Nekounam has never lost its link with Osasuna. The midfielder maintains continuous contact with several members of the club, both players and employees, and has closely followed the course of events that have happened in the whole of late.

But these events have not lowered the slightest desire to return to Neko wear red. Quite the contrary. The Iranian international has offers on the table from top clubs in his native country, but his desire and his immediate wish is to be with his family back to Pamplona and he is willing to take a significant pay cut to achieve that.

 

translated from Spanish

Javad Nekounam is on the brink of breaking the record.

 

The Captain of Team Melli , Javad Nekounsm is only 3 games short of equaling Ali Daei’s total match appearances for Team Melli. Ali Daei with 149 games, is the top Iranian players and also the highest scorer for Team Melli with 109 international goals. Daei , has in fact scored 112 goals , but 3 goals were removed from his records for various reasons.

With Nekounam still 34 and a year or so from hanging his boots , the Al Kuwait player will surpass Daei if he is included in the AFC Asian Cup 2015 campaign.

Nekounam has also done quite well in the scoring department with  37 goals sitting the the 4th place 1 goal behind the recently retired Ali Karimi.

 

Season Openin. Subst. Goals Yellows Reds
2000 1 5 0 0 0
2001 6 4 0 1 0
2002 11 1 0 1 0
2003 13 0 1 2 0
2004 18 0 7 3 0
2005 11 0 4 2 0
2006 11 0 2 2 0
2007 8 0 4 3 0
2008 8 0 4 1 0
2009 8 0 2 3 0
2010 6 0 1 1 1
2011 10 0 5 0 0
2012 8 1 1 1 0
2013 8 0 6 0 0
2014 7 1 0 2 0
Total 134 12 37 22 1
By season | In opening squad | Substituted in | Goals | Yellow cards | Red cards

[divider]

Top Team Melli players appearances list

 

Name Openin. Subst. Goals Yellows Reds
1. DAEI, Ali 144 5 112 9 2
2. NEKOUNAM, Javad 134 12 37 22 1
3. KARIMI, Ali 118 10 38 15 0
4. MAHDAVIKIA, Mehdi 106 4 13 10 2
5. HOSSEINI, Jalal 87 2 6 2 0
6. BAGHERI, Karim 84 3 50 10 1
7. KAEBI, Hossein 82 8 2 24 1
8. ZARRINCHEH, Javad 79 1 1 2 1
9. GOLMOHAMMADI, Yahya 78 2 5 11 0
10. MIRZAPOUR, Ebrahim 76 0 0 0 0
11. TEYMOURIAN, Andranik 75 7 9 21 1
12. NOSRATI, Mohammad 74 8 5 13 0
ABEDZADEH, Ahmadreza 74 3 0 3 0
RAHMATI, Mehdi 74 2 0 3 0
15. ESTILI, Hamidreza 72 9 12 4 0
16. PARVIN, Ali 68 4 11 0 0
17. VAHEDI-NIKBAKHT, Alireza 66 10 14 11 1
AGHILI, Hadi 66 3 10 8 0
GHLEECHKHANI, Parviz 66 0 14 0 0
20. PEYROVANI, Afshin 65 2 0 3 0

[divider]

 

Top Team Melli Goal Scorers

Name Openin. Subst. Goals Yellows Reds
1. DAEI, Ali 144 5 112 9 2
2. BAGHERI, Karim 84 3 50 10 1
3. KARIMI, Ali 118 10 38 15 0
4. NEKOUNAM, Javad 134 12 37 22 1
5. MAZLOOMI, Gholamhossein 31 11 19 1 0
6. PEYOUS, Farshad 30 4 18 1 1
7. ALIDOUSTI, Hamid 25 2 15 0 0
8. BEHZADI, Homayoun 32 3 14 0 0
GHLEECHKHANI, Parviz 66 0 14 0 0
HASHEMIAN, Vahid 39 10 14 6 0
MOHAMMADKHANI, Nasser 22 5 14 0 0
VAHEDI-NIKBAKHT, Alireza 66 10 14 11 1
13. JABBARI, Ali 33 4 13 0 0
MAHDAVIKIA, Mehdi 106 4 13 10 2
15. ESTILI, Hamidreza 72 9 12 4 0
FARIBA, Behtash 13 3 12 0 0
ROWSHAN, Hassan 31 7 12 0 0
18. AZIZI, Khodadad 41 6 11 7 0
FARAKI, Hossein 12 10 11 0 0
GHOOCHANNEJAD, Reza 16 1 11 1 0
KALANI, Hossein 24 0 11 0 0
MAJIDI, Farhad 24 23 11 5 0
PARVIN, Ali 68 4 11 0 0
REZAEI, Gholamreza 36 14 11 7 0

Uninspiring Team Melli bids farewell to the World Cup 2014

Team Melli lost its very slim chance of qualifying to the second round of the World cup when it was defeated by Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-1 at Arena Fonte Nova Salvador.
Bosnia goals were scored by E. Dzeko 23′ M. Pjanic 59′ and A. Vrsajevic 83′ while Iran scored through Reza Ghoochanejad 82′ assisted by Javad Nekounam.

The only consolation in this match which  Bosnia-Herzegovina controlled without much effort from the word go , as if it is the team that requires 3 points to qualify , is that Iran finally scored a goal to save some blushes and by no one more deserving than the hardworking Reza Ghoochannejad.

Miralem Pjanić congratulated on scoring Bosnia second goal

In the first sign of lack of ambition by Carlos Queiroz in a match that Iran desperately needed to win and score goals to qualify for the next round, Queiroz elected to stick to the same line up that played the last match against Argentina. Shojaei , probably the worst of Iran performers , once again was selected to start over Heydari and Jahanbakhsh.

With the match progressing , it was evident the Iran lacks the fire power, ambition and skills to challenge the Bosnians. The defense that operated so marvelously in the last two matches , crumbled against Bosnia with simple mistakes and lack of pace by the defenders. Traces of fatigue was clear on the defenders.

up front in the offensive line where Team Melli really needed to deliver, the lack of organization lead the two front players Dejagah and Ghoochannejad to fall in offside trap in numerous cases. Whatever crosses from the flanks by the backs of Team Melli were easily handled by the towering Amir Begovic in goal for Bosnia.  Begovic who is one of the better goalkeepers in the English Premiere League is a master at catching them. The crosses which continued in the second half when Heydari replaced Shojaei,  aimed at the two forwards, mostly ended up with Begovic and with ease. Such futile game plan is indicative of the failure of the coaching team of Iran to properly analyze the opposition.

Overall , it was a disappointing performance and result for Iran , however , not entirely unexpected either. The biggest surprise was the lack of ambition by the team as a unit. There were far too many factors against Team Melli in this match to win it and qualify ahead of Nigeria. The undue pressure on the players, fatigue , lack of stamina , lack of quality players , organized and high quality of Bosnia players and a definite lack of ambition by the coach were far too much odds for Iran to register a win.

Initial reports from several TV panels mostly indicate that Iran’s defeat was a result but the disappointing part was the ;lack of fighting spirit and the defensive organization that Team Melli made a name of itself.

 

Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Iran – Match Preview

By 

Jun-24-2014

Onazi Ghoochannejhad Nigeria Iran Action Images John Sibley
Photo by Action Images/John Sibley

Match: Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Iran

Date and Time: Wednesday 26 June 13:00 Local Time, 18:00 GMT, 20:30 Tehran Time

Location: Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

 

Match Projection:

Bosnia-Iran-Match-Forecasts

Match Preview:

Prior to the commencement of the World Cup, this fixture was earmarked as a potential round of 16 decider with one of these nations requiring Argentina to defeat Nigeria to aid the progression of the other. The expectancy was that Bosnia and Herzegovina would be the nation on the brink of the World Cup knockout stage with Iran heading home; however this is not the case.

Bosnia and Herzegovina can feel aggrieved at this point regarding its early World Cup exit given the performance of the officials during its defeat against Nigeria – so things could have been very different had Edin Dzeko’s first have goal had not been wrongly disallowed for offside. That said, Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and some poor finishing also contributed to Bosnia’s defeat and elimination.

The question is how Safet Susic approaches this match. Will he revert to the 4-1-3-2 that worked so well during qualification or continue to use the 4-2-3-1 with a more defensive approach? Will he play other members of his squad now that Bosnia have been eliminated? In either scenario, it could mean that Vedad Ibisevic starts for Bosnia, scorer of Bosnia’s only goal of the competition so far. However, the early exit does not mean that players have not impressed; Miralem Pjanic, who is expected to be fit after missing training on Monday, has been the creative influence in the side with 10 shot assists – with everything going through the Roma midfielder – while Muhamed Besic has been a workhorse in the midfield, covering 23.5 km between the two matches while leading the side in passes (65.0 per 90), passing accuracy (91.5%), interceptions (6) as well as providing 2 shot assists.

The story here, however, is Iran’s potential progression to the World Cup knockout stage. While a 1-0 win may well be enough, it does need Argentina to beat Nigeria – and if both matches end up with 1-0 score lines in Iran’s favour it will come down to drawing lots for the first time in the History of the World Cup (and some people claim that penalties are a lottery!).

Iran were moments away from creating one of the shocks of this World Cup and having a wider margin for error entering this contest in the process; however Lionel Messi’s incredible late winner has resulted in Carlos Queiroz’s side requiring the Iran win/Nigeria lose combination of results in order to progress. However, for a national team that failed to play a single game for 119 days following its qualification due to sanctions placed against the nation at a political level, the fact that it enters its final group stage match with a chance of qualifying for the round of 16 is an achievement in itself.

Like Nigeria and Argentina before them, Bosnia and Herzegovina are going to find it tough to break through Queiroz’s hard-working, well-disciplined side set up with men behind the ball in a 4-2-3-1 formation that is more like a 4-5-1. The two defensive midfielders, Andranik Teymourian and Javad Nekounam embody its hard-working nature, covering distances of 21.9 km and 21.8 km respectively as the Iranians spend a lot of time without possession – averaging just 27.4% over its first two matches, the lowest average possession in the World Cup so far. Teymourian and Nekounam are the only players in the Iranian squad to have surpassed 40 pass attempts between the first two matches – with all but four players attempting less than 30.

Still, Iran probably had the best opportunities to score against both Nigeria and Argentina, as well as looking more likely to score during an impressive second half against the South American nation before Messi’s moment of brilliance. While Iran had one good chance against Nigeria – a Reza Ghoochanneijhad header from an Ashkan Dejagah corner – both players had strong opportunities against Argentina as Iran had a number of opportunities in the central zone of the box:

Iran Shots

Ghoochanneijhad and Dejagah are Iran’s main attacking threats but Queiroz may field a more attacking line-up against Bosnia. The Charlton striker embodies Iran’s hard-working nature (21.4 km covered so far) while attempting a team-leading seven shots, but the creative force in the side is Dejagah (five shot assists as 17.9% of his passes have created opportunities). If Iran are going to score at this World Cup, one of these two players will be involved regardless of who else joins them in the Iranian attack – and potentially both. Queiroz knows that his side’s finishing will need to improve.

”My major concern is to keep players focused,” Queiroz told reporters. ”And, they’ll need to convert those chances.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina are the favourites according to the BSports Match Analysis tool, which really is unsurprising given the players available to Safet Susic – so Iran will continue in its underdog role in a match in which it can qualify for the World Cup round of 16.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Injuries & Suspensions: Miralem Pjanic (Probable)

Iran Injuries & Suspensions: None

Other Match Analysis Forecasts:

Iran captain Javad Nekounam calls for improvement

Iran captain Javad Nekounam was satisfied with his team’s draw against Nigeria in Group F but has called for improvement.

  • Published: 
 
 

Carlos Queiroz’s men opened their FIFA World Cup campaign with a goalless draw in Curitiba on Monday – the first stalemate in 14 games thus far in Brazil.

The result further highlighted Iran’s defensive capabilities, having kept their fourth clean sheet in five competitive games.

But while Nekounam was pleased to have claimed a point, the 33-year-old midfielder said his team-mates must improve in the attacking third after scoring just four goals in five matches in the lead up to the World Cup.

“We could have snatched a win in the last 20 minutes, but we lacked the finishing touch,” Nekounam told FIFA.com post-game at the Estadio Joaquim Americo Guimaraes.

“I think that’s the area we need to improve in. When you consider that a lot of our players were making their World Cup debuts, it’s been a very good day for us.”

Nekounam added: “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy at all and we also knew that we’d lose if we didn’t keep our focus.

“We are happier with the result than they are, but we can’t just settle for what we’ve got.

“We only have one point and we still have two very difficult games ahead of us.”

Iran are back in action against South American powerhouses Argentina on Saturday before facing Bosnia-Herzegovina four days later

Editorial: How good Team Melli was vs. Nigeria?

There wasn’t much doubt as to what type of football we would be expecting to see from Carlos Queiroz men against Nigeria. It wasn’t much of a spectacle for the avid football fans but Queiroz has to be credited for achieving what he planned in the first place. The coach decided to play a strong defensive game and that game-plan was executed to perfection by his players and it worked. Mission accomplished.

IRN_NGA

We are still gauging the reaction of the fans, however in the early stages, we can feel the disappointment of many who felt that Nigeria was there for the taking, and Iran did not capitalized on it. With only two offensive players in the entire lineup in Ghoochannejad and Dejagah (substituted by Jahanbakhsh in 78th minute), the possibilities of rattling the strong Nigerians defenders was not an easy task. Ghoochannejad managed it once only and that was on a corner kick. That is about as much real threat that Iran created on Nigeria throughout the game.

The Nigerians were not the power nor even the threat that were hyped to be, mostly by the English press who are familiar with their players making their living in the Premiere league. While Team Melli was certainly much worse than their average , once the ball left the organized defense line.

Kenneth Omeruo beats Iran's Reza Ghoochannejhad in the air

While in the middle of the field, Nekounam and Teymourian did a sterling job on defensive duties both operating as holding midfielders, Hajsafy for most of the match was incognito , while Ashkan Dejagah , a key player with so much hope built upon him , played his worst game in a Team Melli shirt.

Under such circumstances, expecting the isolated Ghoochannejad to single handedly wreck the Nigerians was a tall order despite the fact that the Charlton Athletic forward performed quite well and managed to be a menace with his quick turns and accelerations while creating the only real threat heading the ball resulting in a terrific save by Vincent Enyeama.

Route 1 football straight from the defense to the forward line that Iran tried a few times did not work for Team Melli.

Despite the fact that Team Melli under Queioz game plan , achieved what they were hoping for , we need to be realistic and be critical to their overall game. Poor and incomplete passing was the obvious shortfall of the team. While Nigeria was cleverly moving the ball and with confidence, Team Melli could not complete more than a 3 or 4 passes, especially in the first 30 minutes of the game. World Cup phobia was in evidence. And then ‘Hail Mary’ balls, referred to as “Ali Asghari” football in Iran , was also a sign of desperation or panic at times. Some aimless cleared balls towards the Nigerian side hoping that one reaches the lone striker of Team Melli, never paid dividends. Almost all such balls, were intercepted by the Nigerians.

 Battle Obi Mikel Ghoochannejad

We do have to commend the tight and organized Team Melli defense as the real star of this match. In fact, with players like, Emmanuel Emenike, Victor Moses, Shola Ameobi and Peter Odemwingie  , Nigeria at least on paper , has a real potent strikers force with skills that can turn match results . The excellence of Team Melli back 5 defenders was as such, that the inexperienced Alireza Haghighi was hardly tested. Incidentally , Haghighi in goal is one surprise by Queiroz who is hardly known to take such risks. We may never know why he opted for the Russian club Rubin Kazan keeper, who did not manage a single appearance for his club before transferring to a second division Portuguese club Sporting da Covilhã and finally being able to play 12 competitive matches in two seasons. It will be interesting to hear Queiroz’s thought about Haghighi’s starting role in goal. Chances are that Ahmadi might had cold feet or stage fright and Queiroz have felt it and opted for the younger keeper.

A special mention should also be given to Team Melli aerial supremacy. Hosseini and Sadeghi were controlling the airspace in defense with forceful power of Tomcat F14’s of the Iranian Air force.

Iran Nigeria Heydari

Expecting Queiroz to change his game plan and be bolder in the next match against the might of Argentina, is probably not forthcoming. Iran will stick to what they do best and will be out there on June 21st to frustrate the trio of Messi , Aguero and Higuain. Teymourian and Nekounam defending from deep, while the 5 man Iran defensive system clearing every ball and doubling on Messi and Co. Iran’s only hope of making a difference offensively is still lies upon Ashkan Dejagah shoulders. His form will be the catalyst up front and in offensive moves. If he is contained by the Argentine midfielders, the job of Iran will be that much harder on all fronts. In his good day, we can see him beating the slow Argentine defenders for pace and skill to provide the ammunition for Gucci or score one of his wonder goals.

Team Melli draws blank against Nigeria

Team Melli drew with Nigeria 0-0 in the first match for both teams in Group F. Argentina is currently leading the table with 3 points after winning their opener against Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Carlos Queiroz fielded a strong defensive line up with 6 recognized defenders sticking to his now well recognized strategy of a strong defensive team. The only surprise of the line up was the inclusion of Alireza Haghighi , who is probably the least experienced of the 3 goalkeepers ahead of no 1 choice Rahman Ahmadi. However , Haghighi did not have to make many saves or even work hard except for ne tricky free kick in the first half.

Although Nigeria dominated the first 30 minutes of the first half, the solid and well organized Iranian defense made that domination by the African champions useless. After the half hour a corner kick awarded for Iran,  the quick reaction of Nigerian keeper Victor Enyeama who saved the powerful header by Reza Ghoochanejad from close range prevented Iran from going a goal up.

In the second half the Nigerian control was reduced with Team Melli getting more of the ball but the players were guilty with some bad passes and spoiling some reasonable chances. Nekounam and Teymourian were majestic in their roles and their solid performance nullified the threat form the Nigerian midfield, especially Teymourian who neutralized Nigerian’s most famous player John Obi Mikel.

The defenders skilfully managed anything the Nigerians threw at them with total domination of aerial balls.

Iran v Nigeria: Group F - 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

Despite being the lone striker , Ghoochannejad managed to play a solid and decent game and was a constant menace for the Nigerian defense. However Ghoochannejad did not connect well with the lone offensive midfielder , Ashkan Dejagah as they seemed to be operating on different channels and missing each others passes.

Dejagah who was expected to be the key player was a disappointment against Nigeria. Half of his passes went astray and he lacked his trademark running and beating the defenders. He was not helped , perhaps , by the number of midfield players opting to stay behind during offensive moves, leaving the team short of players up front while attacking the Nigerian goal. Dejagah was subsequently substituted in the 78th minute  by Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

It was a fair result for Team Melli and Queiroz skillful managed to neutralize the Nigerians threat , with remarkable ease. His selection of player for the defensive duties were immaculate. Iran managed the first point in the competition, and that is good enough of a start. It is going to be uphill from now but with the sold defensive system that Queiroz has created, without being anti-football , Team Melli is still capable to spring a surprise in the two matches ahead.

Players trickling to Team Melli camp in South Africa.

Mehdi Mohammad Nabi , the Manager of Team Melli has announced that more players will be joining the camp in the next few days

Mohammad Nabi who is the chief administrator and the supervisor of Team Melli , himself did not join the squad on the day of their departure to Johannesburg via Dubai, which irritated Carlos Queiroz. The Portuguese coach sarcastically commented on Mohammad Nabi’s absence from he group especially since many problems developed including the refusal of Sepahan and Esteghl;al to release their players. Neither Mohammand Nabi nor Kaffashian were in Tehran at the time.

According to the FFIRI official  , the Qatari club Um Salal has agreed to release Pezman Monatzeri in order for the defender to join the South Africa camp. Qatar league season is over, but the Cup matches are still on going. Um Salal is not involved in those cup matches. Montazeri will join the team on Sunday

Mohammad Nabi stated that Hamed Lak has arrived in Johannesburg Saturday morning while Ansarifard, Makani , Bakhtiyar Rahmani , Mehrdad Jamaati and Alireza Biranvand will be arriving Saturday afternoon and start training with the rest of the squad on Sunday. The Esteghlal contingent includes Sadeghi, Ando Teymourian, Heydari , Beigzadeh in addition to Majid Saleh the assistant coach , will be arriving on Monday.

Mohammad Nabi also said “We are continuing our effort with AL Kuwait FC in order to release Nekounam ” Such a move seems quite illogical especially since Nekounam is a key player for Al Kuwait FC which is challenging for the league title and the season is not over yet in Kuwait.

There was no comment on Sepahan players who were crossed off by Queiroz for unknown reasons.