Tag: Montazeri

Macedonia vs. Iran

 

Team Melli carried out its last practice session on Wednesday in Skopje’s main Stadium Philip II in preparation for the game against host Macedonia in the friendly international on Thursday.

The training session led by Carlos Queiroz was mostly light drills including acceleration practise, shooting and group passing. This was the only practise for the match stadium which will kick off at 1730 local time  (20:00 Tehran Time)

Macedonia played against Azerbaijan on Sunday winning 3-1 with goals scored by M. Radeski, Goran  Pandev and  Nestorovski .  The 32 years superstar of the team and Captain Goran Pandev  is the most senior player and plays in Italy with Genoa. 

Team Melli will be playing with the same usual line up possibly with two attackers, Azmoun and Taremi. However , Queiroz might find it more appropriate to solidify his midfield which could relegate Taremi to the bench while leaving Azmoun to spearhead the attack.

The absence of Teymourian could be significant loss , however there are plenty of good options for Queiroz in the midfield area although none has the experience of Teymourian. Ashkan Dejagah will be leading from the midfield.

Goalkeeping remains the most critical of the lines with 3 options that have not been performing up to a satisfactory level. Queiroz will be working extra to ensure a solid defense line featuring  Hosseini , Montazeri in the middle of the defense while Hajsafy will occupy the left back position and Rezaeian on the right. 

This will be the 4th match between Macedonia and Iran at full international level. The honors are even between the teams with a win each and one draw.

CURRENT FIFA WORLD RANKING

MACEDONIA  141        –       IRAN   42

FYR of MACEDONIA  Squad

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club
GK Stole Dimitrievski 25 December 1993 (age 22) Spain Granada B
GK Igor Aleksovski 24 February 1995 (age 21) Republic of Macedonia Makedonija Gj. P.
DF Vanche Shikov 19 July 1985 (age 30) Austria Austria Wien
DF Stefan Ristovski 12 February 1992 (age 24) Croatia Rijeka
DF Kire Ristevski 22 October 1990 (age 25) Hungary Vasas
DF Leonard Zhuta 9 August 1992 (age 23) Croatia Rijeka
DF Darko Velkovski 21 June 1995 (age 20) Republic of Macedonia Vardar
DF Egzon Bejtulai 7 January 1994 (age 22) Republic of Macedonia Shkendija
DF Gjoko Zajkov 10 February 1995 (age 21) Belgium Charleroi
MF Ivan Trichkovski 18 April 1987 (age 29) Cyprus AEK Larnaca
MF Aleksandar Trajkovski 5 September 1992 (age 23) Italy Palermo
MF David Babunski 1 March 1994 (age 22) Serbia Red Star
MF Enis Bardhi 2 July 1995 (age 20) Hungary Újpest
MF Bojan Najdenov 27 August 1991 (age 24) Republic of Macedonia Rabotnichki
MF Nikola Gjorgjev 22 August 1997 (age 18) Switzerland Grasshopper
MF Boban Nikolov 28 July 1994 (age 21) Republic of Macedonia Vardar
MF Dejan Peshevski 5 August 1993 (age 22) Slovakia Podbrezová
FW Goran Pandev (Captain) 27 July 1983 (age 32) Italy Genoa
FW Ilija Nestorovski 12 March 1990 (age 26) Croatia Inter Zaprešic
FW Marjan Radeski 10 February 1995 (age 21) Republic of Macedonia Shkendija

Head2Head

Venue Matches W D L Goals + / –
H 3 1 1 1 5 – 4 +1
A 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 +0
N 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 +0
Total 3 1 1 1 5 – 4 +1

Matches

Date Comp. H / A / N Final score Stadium Attendance
18.11.2009 Friendly H 1 – 1 Azadi Stadium – Tehran 1000
11.11.2005 Friendly / Tehran Intl. Tournament H 1 – 2 Azadi Stadium, Tehran. 27000
09.06.2000 Others / LG CUP H 3 – 1 Azadi – Tehran 40000

Mehrdad Pooladi , from the EPL to La Liga and now Qatar !

Mehrdad Pooladi was the top Iranian player in the World Cup. This is not just some wise guys opinion, but based on actual data, statistics and figures from each player’s performance that FIFA has introduced. He was solid in left back and was one of the reasons that the defense of Team Melli held tight, until the Bosnia match that is.

 Right after the World Cup conclusion, the rumor mills were talking about the English Premiere league as the next destination of the Persepolis left back. Then there was a mention of La Liga while Osasuna was also cited in the midst of clubs that have been chasing Pooladi. The player himself confirmed to the media that he has two offers from European clubs. He was in the process of choosing the best deal and naming the club soon. Suddenly however, it was the good old Qatar Star League  (QSL) that seems to be the destination of the best Iranian player in the World Cup. We are not sure whether Pooladi has got his bearing right.  

Like nearly half of the starting lineup of Team Melli , Pooladi is heading towards the hot temperatures of Doha to join a Qatari first division club. But unlike Jabbari , Dejagah , Montazeri and  Hosseini who are playing for higher ranked teams and title contenders, Pooladi is joining a newly promoted team , Al Shahania. The modest club has just gained promotion and working on a tight budget, relatively speaking. Al Shahania’s mission for the coming season is to maintain their place in First Division and perhaps cause a few upsets in the cup.

The deal has not been officially announced yet as Pooladi will be flying to Doha on Friday to complete the formalities. Qatar league has yet to start. Meanwhile Persepolis has been complaining about Pooladi’s absence from the squad, but the player said that he is not a Persepolis player anymore,  he is a free agent and out of contract. He does not quite understand why Persepolis is talking about absence.

So, the chapter of the most famous and Marquee players of Team Melli and their transfers to the grand arenas of Europe is just about close. There has been rumors of Karim Ansarifard going to the Spanish league, but frankly we have heard so much of these false grand plans, that we will not dignify the pages of teammelli.com with such stories until it actually happens.

Meanwhile, another Team Melli player Reza Haghighi is still persisting with Persepolis for a release so that he can be close to his Team Melli teammates in Qatar.

Um Salal intends to keep Pezman Montazeri

The Qatar Stars League (QSL) club , Um Salal intends to re-sign their Iranian defender Pejman Montazeri while dispensing of the services of all their other foreigners. 

sqd-montazeri2013

The Qatari TV channel Al Kas website , in an exclusive announced the intention of the club after the board reviewed the performance of the players and coach. The Turkish head coach Bulent will continue with the club and it is reported that he was instrumental in the decision of cancelling the contracts of the Brazilian forwards  Cabori and Victor Simoes and the Moroccan Othman Al Assas while keeping on the services of Montazeri.

Ex- Esteghlal player Montazeri has joined Um Salal in the January transfer window when the team was lingering in the bottom of the league table struggling for survival. Um Salal , managed to stay up and keep its place in the league while the famous and Marquee club Al Rayyan , which was playing in the AFC Champions League , was relegated for the first time in its history.

With Montazeri Joining Um Salal , it was a continuation of Iranian players’ strange trend of joining struggling clubs outside Iran. Jahanbakhsh  with NEC , Dejagah with Fulham , Davari with Eintracht Braunschweig  and Ghoochannejad Charlton Athletic !

Although the news of Montazeri remaining with Um Salal is not officially confirmed, the Qatari League will be a buzzing with agents looking at Iranian players in the aftermath of the public outcry of their wages in Iran. Many Iranian would be looking elsewhere to make a living and Qatar seems the ideal league due to its riches of the country and proximity to Iran. There are already some strong rumors that several Qatari clubs are looking at Teymourian. Of the other Iranian players in the QSL , Mojtaba Jabbari is still contracted to Al Arabi with no news of his future at the middle of the table club, while Fereydoon Zandi, the player he replaced when Zandi suffered a horrific broken leg, is still recovering from his injury.

zandi-ferry(1)

“Querioz will stay until World Cup 2018” claims Kaffashian

The head of Football Federation FFIRI , Ali Kaffashian reveled today that Carlos Queiroz has agreed to extend his contract for another 4 years (Until World Cup 2018 in Russia) pending the resolution of some financial issues.

In a statement to ISNA news agency , Kaffashian said that despite earlier news about Queiroz not staying beyond his contract , the Portuguese coach has verbally agreed the extension. Asked by the reporter what made Querioz change his mind despite some  lucrative offers from Europe and South Africa, Kaffashian said  “Yes, Carlos Queiroz has many concrete offers from Europe and some of them were financially better than ours, but he prefers to work with Iran as he spent enough time here and he is quite familiar with the surrounding (…)”  

Pressed by the reporter on when will Queiroz give a definite answer , Kaffashian said “I personally think that within 20 days , he will give us a definite answer. What is important for us is that Queiroz is interested to continue coaching Team Melli. For us this is quite a good news and I think he will agree to continue with us.”  Kaffashian did not mention if his administration has given Queiroz any deadline for an answer nor did he elaborate if the federation is considering any other candidates if the Portuguese coach decides not to continue.

Queiroz was not available for comment and has been non-committal about his future with Team Melli, although the South Africans have taken it for granted that he will coach them after the World Cup.

Asked about the steps taken by the FFIRI to coordinate with the clubs on Team Melli program and why the supposed liaison and coordination meetings between Team Melli coaches on one side and club coaches on the other , did not materialize?  Kaffashian gave the customary wishful thinking that everyone should work towards the interest of Team Melli while he refrained from giving any reasons for lack of communication between his staff including Queiroz and the clubs! However , he pointed out that Queiroz has already met with Ghalenoei , Esteghlal’s coach.

“What about if the clubs do not agree with the set program of Team Melli because they we not consulted. Are you going to use political pressure by asking the government to pressurize the clubs?”  asked the reporter. The Head of FFIRI responded “I hope the situation does not develop to that extend that we have to exert political pressure on the clubs. I think we can iron out all the issues without any difficulties.” In response , the reporter said that the media have already been reporting that the meeting between Queiroz and Ghalenoei was fruitless and there was two different views with no accord in sight”, Kaffashian refuted that claim and said “In fact , it was a good meeting and both sides agreed on the road plan for Team Melli. The fact that they were introduced to each other and talked was in itself quite significant for us!”

Kaffashian said that Qatar FA has not responded yet on the request for the release of Montazeri and Jabbari for Team Melli camp. Both players will be playing in the Amir Cup during the time Team Melli’s is setting camp. There is no obligation for the clubs to release their players according to FIFA’s rules. Kaffashian said that he is willing to travel to Qatar to negotiate their release or send some one to deputize for him. Kaffashian did not say what tools he will use to convince the Qatari teams to release their Iranian players while actively engaged in an important competition.

Kaffashian said that he has no idea about the progress of attracting Aria Jasuru Hasegawa, the 25 years old Japanese Iranian player, to Team Melli. He was quite hopeful that the South Africa Training camp will be on again so Team Melli can play the host country “Nothing is definite yet ” Kaffashian said in his usual proverbial manner” We are still negotiating with other teams to play friendly matches. We will announce the plans when we get the approval of our opponents”.

And we live in hope.