Tag: Mohammad Rashid Mazahari

Alireza Haghighi at the wrong end of a thrashing.

Team Melli’s number one goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi was at the end of a real drubbing when Benfica strikers scored six goal in his net in the Portuguese Cup final.

Benfica thrashed CS Maritimo 6-2 in the Taca da Liga final in Coimbra to win the trophy for a third consecutive year.

Rui Vitoria’s men were crowned Portuguese champions last Sunday, edging Sporting CP to the title by two points and, following Friday’s convincing win, have now won two doubles and a treble in their last three seasons.

Benfica – who beat Maritimo 2-1 in last year’s final – have completely dominated the Taca da Liga since it was established in 2007-08, winning it seven times.

Haghighi played for the full 90 minutes of the match despite the large scoreline.

The much traveled Haghighi is still has signed for Ruben Kazan in 2012 player, however he only played 1 full game for the Russian club before being sent back to Persepolis on loan the next season where he only played 2 games only for the Tehrani club. In 2014 , Haghighi returned back to his club in Russia. Soon thereafter , Ruben Kazan loaned him again this time to the Portuguese club  Sporting Covilhã in 2014 where he made 14 appearances. In season 2014–2015 he was loaned to Penafiel where he played 24 league matches and this season 2015/16 to CS Marítimo.

Despite the less than ideal performance and some say poor figures, Carlos Queiroz maintains full faith in Haghighi as one of the untouchables of Team Melli in similar category of Masoud Shojaei.

The only serious competition for the goalkeeper’s jersey seems to come from Alirreza Biranvand , but that is hardly much of a competition as the Naft Tehran keeper has time and again showed vital all round weaknesses in goal at club level.Mazaheri of Zob Ahan and Akhbari of Tractorsazi are the two other keepers in the squad , however , the former has a much better record in the league and is much more experienced that Akhbari.

Easy win for Team Melli against India

Team Melli defeated India 4-0 in the match played in Azadi stadium on Thursday as part of the qualifying rounds of FIFA World Cup 2018. Iran leads group D with 17 points and +21 goal difference ahead of Oman (14 points and GD of + 6 ) . The two teams will meet next Tuesday in the final match of the group competition.

Despite fielding a reserve team , Carlos Queiroz men did not find much difficulty in beating India 4-0 in Azadi Stadium this evening. The first half ended with a narrow 1-0 margin after the Captain Ehsan Hajsafy scored a penalty. Three more goals were scored in the second half with Hajsafy scoring another penalty as Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh added to the tally each side of the Hajsafy spot kick.

The experimental line up of Carlos Queiroz however did not function as he hoped. There were two debutants in today’s match. In the goal, Mohammad Rashid Mazahari, Zob Ahan’s keeper made his debut from the start. He was hardly tested, however.  While Dariush Shojaeian of Gostarish Foolad , a player who has certainly generated much attention in the league, made his debut as a substitute in the second half.

As expected from such line up , there were quite a few shortfalls and disappointments. Amiri , Ezatolahie and Taremi failed to match their previous good performances , while   Jahanbakhsh and Azmoun wer not linking well to make their team’s superiority pay. Hordes of corner kicks won by Iran resulted in just one goal and that was a penalty. The yield was poor in that area which should have been a major source of goals. Some of the finishing and last ball lacked quality and in cases failed to reach the recipients by a wild margin.

India were galant in defending and there is no doubt that in their goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu , they have a quality custodian. The only player in India team who plays in Europe, Singh Sandhu single handedly kept Team Melli attackers at bay with some brilliant saves.  India, with the absence of Chhetri had very little to offer in the offense line, however , there were good attempts and in the ones with pace they managed to penetrate Iranian defenses but their finishing was short of the required to bother the strong Iranian defenders and Mazaheri in goal.

For Iran , topping the group is virtually assured and they will be in the pot for the next round. The last match against Oman is no more than a formality as even a narrow home defeat will be enough for heading the group ahead of Oman. For India, they need to once again try to establish a good national team. With the professional league in India going from strength to strength , India should have a good chance to establish a national team that can challenge the tops Asian teams.

In any case, Carlos Queiroz seems to be on the right course in his attempt to produce a new look team that can qualify for the next World Cup. His introduction of new players is creating a competition for places.

Man of the Match : Gurpreet Singh Sandhu  (India)

 

 

 

IRAN vs INDIA

4 – 0

Half-time 1 – 0

Competition: WC Qualification Asia
Date: 24 March 2016   Game week : 9\
Kick-off: 17:3  Half-time 1 – 0  Full-time4 – 0
Venue : Azadi Stadium (Tehrān)

Attendance: 29,900

GOALS
Ehsan Hajsafi (PG) 33′
1 – 0
Sardar Azmoun 61′
2 – 0
Ehsan Hajsafi (PG) 66′
3 – 0
Alireza Jahanbakhsh 78′
4 – 0

LINEUPS
IRAN
M. Mazaheri : P. Montazeri [83′ J. Hosseini] , M. Pouraliganji , R. Rezaeian , E. Hajsafi (Capt.), O. Ebrahimi [68′ D. Shojaeian] , V. Amiri , S. Ezatolahi, M. Taremi [ 66′ K. Ansarifard], S. Azmoun , A. Jahanbakhsh
Coach: Carlos Queiroz

INDIA
G. Singh Sandhu ; A. Khongjee [ 20′ P. Kotal ], Augustin Fernandes , S. Jhingan, N. Das, P. Halder , R. Borges , B. Jairu 36′ H. Khabra] , J. Lalpekhlua , H. Narzary [ 64′ L. Fanai] , U. Singh
Coach: S. Constantine
SUBSTITUTES
IRAN: K. Ansarifard , D. Shojaeian, J. Hosseini, E. Pourghaz, K. Kamyabinia, M. Akhbari, M. Shojaei, M. Torabi, Milad Mohammadi, R. Ghoochannejhad, V. Ghafouri
INDIA: P. Kotal, H. Khabra, B. Jairu, L. Fanai, Arnab Mondal, C. Lobo, F. Fernandes, K. Singh, S. Pal, S. Passi, S. Singh, V. Rai