Tag: Melbourne

Iran ‘unprepared’ for Asian Cup but ready to fight.

By: Attilla Mosony

International sanctions and lack of support from its own federation have threatened to derail Iran’s Asian Cup campaign. But the team says those setbacks have provided extra motivation to win.

As the top-ranked Asian Cup side, Iran carries the weight of expectations of a football mad nation of 85 million. But numerous issues have hindered the team’s lead up in the past six months.

So much so that coach Carlos Queiroz has declared his side the least prepared nation at the tournament. He says international sanctions and a lack of financial support from its own federation have threatened to derail the country’s Asian Cup campaign.

“Unfortunately we come to a situation that’s even worse than the World Cup, the international sanctions against Iran, we are struggling in all other actions and plans”

FIFA is still withholding almost $10 million in World Cup appearance money as a result of the sanctions, which led to the cancellation of training camps and pre-tournament games.

Since the World Cup in Brazil, the Iranians have only played one friendly match, against South Korea, before arriving in Australia. But despite the less than ideal preparations they are still considered one of the favourites. Striker Reza Ghoochannejhad insists his side can handle the pressure.

“Everybody is excited to play against Iran, and everybody is motivated, especially because we are coming from the World Cup, but this is the situation right now we can’t complain, we can’t make excuses,” he told SBS.

And for the large community of Iranian expats living in Australia the Asian Cup is a fantastic opportunity to watch their heroes live. On Sunday night 17,000 passionate fans turned up in Melbourne to create a little slice of Tehran.

The 2-nil victory over Bahrain was a huge relief for the team and fans following a troublesome build-up to the tournament. Queiroz says his side is determined to get on with the job by using its recent setbacks as motivation.

“We come here with our soul, with our art with our spirit, as we did before the World Cup, with our training session, using those problems and issues as sources of our inspiration

Iran face Qatar in its second group C match in Sydney on Thursday night.

History of Iran vs. Bahrain

The tiny Persian Gulf Island state of Bahrain , has given Iran quite a few problems in football matches.

In 1974 during the Asian games , Bahrain came to Tehran not so much to challenge the Big Boys of Asia , but more to learn how the masters of the continent play their football. A 6-0 drubbing against a Team Melli which had a large number of reserves players in the team , was the beginning of what looked like a long domination by mighty Iran.

However, the first shock to the Iranians came in 2000 in Syria, when Bahrain defeated team Melli in Damascus during the Asian Cup 2000 qualifiers, thus recording the first setback of Team Melli against the minnows. Despite winning 7 out of 16 matches played between the two, Iran’s record against Bahrain can hardly be described as dominant and assured.

The worst  result for Team Melli must have been the 3-1 defeat in Bahrain , when Iran needed just a draw to make it to the finals of the World Cup in 2002. This left a permanent mark in the ego of Team Melli and the fans especially since some Bahrain players did carried out unsportsmanship act by carrying the Saudi Arabian flag on their victory march at the end of the match.

This is only the 2nd time that the teams meet in the AFC Asian Cup finals. The first , back in 2004 in Workers Stadium , Beijing, China was the third place play off where Team Melli scored a 4-2 victory against the best team that Bahrain ever produced in its history.

[divider]

Quotes

Hadi Tabatabaei , Former Team Melli goalkeeper ” Bahrain is not going to be an easy team to defeat. One of the advantages of our team is their fighting spirit than can come to our advantage.”

“Since it is the first game of the competition , we need to tread carefully and ensure that we have strong defensive. We should not allow their players much maneuvering space. From what I have seen of other teams, our task is going b e quite hard to make it all the way, but let us not forget one of our strongest attributes and that is our fighting spirit .”

Vahid Talebloo, Former Team Melli goalkeeper “Our biggest advantage is the solid defense. We have performed very well in this area during the World Cup and since the standards in the Asian Cup is not as high as the World Cup , we should be doing fine. First matches always have this intriguing feel to it and can spring surprises. We did will in our first match against Nigeria in the World Cup and that gave us a boost for the nest against Argentina. We need to repeat that in Australia”

“I think we can make it to the finals but that is not going to be an easy job at all. There are so many strong teams in this edition and it is very difficult to pick a winner at this stage. We have the resolve, the quality and the willpower to make it all the way. the boys need to focus and do their best.”

Mahmoud Fekri , former Team Melli defender ” We must defeat Bahrain to have any chance of qualifying ti the next round. If we fail to qualify , then this is a real wake up call for Iran’s football and a disaster in making.”

“The normal cliché of the first match difficulties still applies, but the quality and standard of Iranian football is way above Bahrain’s despite this team being a stubborn opponent for us. If we have any aspiration , any claims for lifting the title , we have to win such matches. Let us not forget that our neighbors on the other side of the Persian Gulf , are progressing steadily and firmly in football. They have managed to build strong teams and are in the top ranks of Asian football.”

Mehdi Foonoonizadeh , Former Team Melli midfielder ” Considering the current team status and the poor preparation, I seriously doubt that our Team, Melli will be among the top 4 in this competition.”

“I also have virtually no hope of Team Melli lifting the trophy. In order to make the grade, the team should have had a proper program with as  many friendly games as possible starting way back. This team has not had such preparation and all that the coaching staff have done is to summarize a six months work in two-week of intensive physical training in South Africa and Australia. You cannot substitute proper training by intensified two weeks hard labour camp. One other problem in the team is the high average age of the players compared to other teams. We have not really embarked in renewing the blood in our Team Melli in earnest. I hope that Queiroz starts doing that in Australia.”

“Japan and then Australia , are the two strongest candidates for the championship. ”

 

Mohammed Hussain , Bahrain Captain and central defender “The difference in standards between Bahrain and Iran is marginal. However , we still have to play to our best level against Iran else it will be difficult for us.  We have several players playing in professional leagues out of Bahrain , many of them in Qatar where a number of Iranian national team players are also playing. We have a good knowledge about them and hopefully such knowledge will help us to gain the right result tomorrow.”

 

***********************************

Betting odds

Iran Win Draw Bahrain Win
1.62 3.5 6.25

[divider]

Match Details.

Iran vs. Bahrain

AFC Asian Cup 2015 – Group ‘C’

09:00 (GMT) – 12:30 (Tehran)

Rectangular Stadium , Melbourne.

Referee: Benjamin Williams (Australia)

Past records Head to Head 

H / A / N Matches W D L Goals + / –
Home 6 5 1 0 19 – 0 +19
Away 5 0 2 3 4 – 9 -5
Neutral 5 2 2 1 7 – 3 +4
Total 16 7 5 4 30 – 12 +18

 

Date Comp. H / A / N Final score Stadium Attendance
12.12.2012 WAFF N 0 – 0 Kazma SC Stadium, Kuwait City 1200
11.11.2011 World Cup Qualifier / Round 3 – Group E A 1 – 1 National Stadium – Riffa 18000
11.10.2011 World Cup Qualifier / Round 3 – Group E H 6 – 0 Azadi Stadium , Tehran 83000
24.09.2010 WAFF / Group A N 3 – 0 King Abdullah Stadium – Amman 12000
31.08.2009 Friendly A 2 – 4 NATIONAL STADIUM , Manama 1500
21.03.2008 Friendly A 0 – 1 National Stadium 3000
08.06.2005 World Cup Qualifier / Second Round H 1 – 0 Azadi – Tehran 90000
09.02.2005 World Cup Qualifier A 0 – 0 Manama 30000
06.08.2004 Asian Cup / 3rd Place N 4 – 2 Workers Stadium , Beijing 10000
19.10.2001 World Cup Qualifier / WCQ A 1 – 3 NATIONAL STADIUM , Manama 8000
14.09.2001 World Cup Qualifier / WCQ H 0 – 0 Azadi – Tehran 50000
07.04.2000 Asian Cup Qualifier / Group 2 H 3 – 0 Azadi – Tehran 40000
04.04.2000 Asian Cup Qualifier / Group 2 N 0 – 1 Al Hamdaniya Stadium , Aleppo 30000
03.10.1994 Asian Games / Group A N 0 – 0 Hiroshima 5000
20.08.1975 Olympics Qualifier H 3 – 0 Amjadiah – Tehran 25000
07.09.1974 Asian Games H 6 – 0 Amjadiah , Tehran 10000

Queiroz: Iran should treat Bahrain opener as final

AFC: Melbourne (January 10, 2015) Carlos Queiroz has called on Iran to treat Sunday’s AFC Asian Cup Group C opener with Bahrain as a final, with the much-travelled Portuguese coach insisting the three-time champions are now fully prepared for the meeting at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

Iran are ranked as the number one team in Asia, although having only played two friendlies since returning from an encouraging FIFA World Cup, Queiroz had raised doubts over Iran’s chances of finally adding a fourth continental title to the hat-trick of crowns won between 1968 and 1976.

But following training in both Sydney and Melbourne which included a friendly win over Iraq last weekend, an upbeat Queiroz is now eyeing a successful start to Iran’s record-equalling 13th AFC Asian Cup appearance.

“We’re going to play this game as if it is the Asian Cup final, and for the moment, our full concentration is for the team we play tomorrow,” said Portuguese coach Queiroz following Iran’s final training session at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on Saturday.

“We have our expectations and our motivation and we are ready to compete. We are going to try and do our best to finish the game and win the game against a very good team that is Bahrain.”

Photo courtesy AFC.
Photo courtesy AFC.

Prior to last Sunday’s 1-0 win over Iraq, which was secured thanks to a first half strike from highly rated forward Sardar Azmoun, Iran had only beaten Korea Republic by the same scoreline in Tehran in November having drawn with Nigeria and lost to both Argentina and Bosnia & Herzegovina in Brazil.

“The preparation since we have arrived has been fantastic,” added Queiroz.

“We are ready to compete and fight. We have a big soul, big mind, big heart and we are ready for tomorrow.”

Iran’s outing in Melbourne represents their first game in Australia since ending the Socceroos’ 1998 FIFA World Cup hopes in 1997 when Khodadad Azizi’s late strike at the nearby Melbourne Cricket Ground earned the visitors a crucial 2-2 draw in what was then an intercontinental play-off.

The meeting also brings back memories of previous high-profile matches with Bahrain, most notably FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 2001 and 2012.

“It will be difficult against Bahrain, we have a tradition of big games, that’s football and that’s why this is the beauty of the game,” said Queiroz, who saw his side beat Bahrain 6-0 at home during the third round of qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

“All the teams come here with good expectations and huge dreams and we’re no different from the other teams. Our approach is only to be focused on the next match. We put all our concentration and our energy into the next match.”

Team Melli stuck in Melbourne !

Emirates Airlines flight carrying Team Melli to Sydney , Australia was stuck in Melbourne airport for as long as three hours.

The flight originating from Dubai airport departed nearly two hours behind schedule enroute to Melbourne, then Sydney. This late arrival of the aircraft meant that the next flight could not depart to its final destination due to the local noise abatement regulations. The flight had to remain in Melbourne until morning, 6 AM for it to continue to fly to Sydney which was some 3 hours later.

Many Iranian fans in Sydney (Kingsford Smith) airport waiting to receive Team Melli were disappointed and returned back home.

Team Melli is in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia along with the UAE , Qatar and Bahrain.

World Cup quiet achievers Iran and Nigeria keen to change perceptions.

By:Vitor Sobral

UPDATED  28 Mar 2014
 The football coaches from the national teams of Iran and Nigeria say the World Cup is an opportunity for their countries to change perceptions.

In late November 1997 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground Australian football suffered one of its most disastrous moments.

The Socceroos appeared on their way to the World Cup in France as they lead Iran 2-0 in a World Cup playoff.

But two goals in quick succession knocked the Australians out and the ensuing Iranian celebration in front of a packed MCG has been forever etched in the Asian country’s football folklore.

It is this spirit that Iran will call on when they take to the field for their fourth World Cup appearance at Brazil 2014.

“I will look to face the group stage with only one thing in mind, we’re going to work hard, we are going to try and qualify the team for the second round,” said Iran coach Carlos Queiroz.

It won’t be easy however, with the Iranians drawn alongside Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Nigeria in Group F.

For a country that is often seen as an international pariah, the world football stage is also a chance to change perceptions.

“The most important thing is the legacy that Iran must take from this World Cup [to] put the shirt in a better place,” said Queiroz.

One of their opponents in Brazil, Nigeria, will be looking to be tournament’s entertainers.

The Super Eagles burst onto the scene in 1994, qualifying for the last 16 while playing some of the exciting football of USA 94.

The Nigerians will be hoping to emulate that side in Brazil.

“I love offensive football, because people that comes out to the stadium they come to enjoy their money and see good football,” said Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi.

While Nigeria and Iran may not be among the favourites at Brazil 2014, they do have the potential to be the entertainers of this World Cup.