Tag: North Korea

A Blooper for the Ages: Moghanlou’s Shocking Miss Against North Korea

One of the most embarrassing moments in Iranian football history unfolded during Team Melli’s match against North Korea at Azadi Stadium on Tuesday. Despite having already secured qualification in March, two rounds before the end of the campaign, Iran’s performance, or lack thereof, left fans in disbelief.

A Disjointed First Half

With several key players absent, head coach Amir Ghalenoei’s experimental lineup failed to click from the start. Ghalenoei, already a frequent target of social media criticism for his questionable substitutions, outdid himself this time with a decision that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

When young debutant Razzaghinia went down with an injury in the first half, Ghalenoei turned to his bench for a replacement. In a baffling move, he brought on Shahriar Moghanlou, a decision that defied logic and raised serious questions about player selection criteria.

The Miss That Summed It All Up

The defining moment came in the 37th minute. Mohammad Mohebi, after skillfully bypassing North Korea’s defense, found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Rather than taking the shot himself, he unselfishly squared the ball to Moghanlou, who had an open net in front of him.

What followed was pure farce.

Moghanlou, with no pressure and the entire goal at his mercy, somehow managed to miss completely, sending his effort wide in a manner more befitting a Sunday league match than an international fixture. The miss wasn’t just a personal embarrassment for the striker; it was a damning indictment of Team Melli’s deeper issues.

Cronyism or Incompetence?

Moghanlou’s inclusion in the squad had already raised eyebrows. The Ittihad Kalba forward, an average player at best in the UAE Pro League, is neither a regular starter for his club nor in particularly good form. His decline over the season made his call-up, and subsequent playing time, all the more perplexing.

Meanwhile, Iran’s domestic league top scorers, Amir Hossein Hosseinzadeh and Ali Alipour, watched from the bench. Both had started in the previous match against Qatar but were far from their best, though the entire team struggled after Milad Mohammadi’s reckless red card left them a man down.

Yet, even accounting for those circumstances, Ghalenoei’s insistence on fielding Moghanlou over proven goalscorers speaks volumes. The incident has reignited accusations of favoritism in Team Melli’s selection process, with critics arguing that meritocracy has taken a backseat to personal preferences.

A Moment That Symbolizes Bigger Problems

Moghanlou’s miss wasn’t just a blooper, it was a microcosm of Iranian football’s recurring struggles: questionable managerial decisions, inconsistent player selection, and a lack of accountability. Unless these systemic issues are addressed, such embarrassments will continue to haunt Team Melli on the international stage.

Mashhad Loses Hosting Rights for Iran vs. North Korea World Cup Qualifier Amid Infrastructure and Logistical Failures

Mashhad, Iran – The Iranian national football team’s final 2026 World Cup qualifying match against North Korea, originally scheduled to take place at Mashhad’s Imam Reza Stadium, has been relocated due to persistent infrastructure deficiencies and logistical complications. Despite initial enthusiasm for hosting the game in the holy city, unresolved stadium shortcomings and external pressures have forced the Football Federation to seek an alternative venue.

A Symbolic Request Meets Practical Realities

Team Melli’s head coach, Amir Ghalenoei, had pushed for Imam Reza Stadium as the host venue—not for its technical merits, but to allow players to visit the shrine of Imam Reza (AS). The Football Federation approved the request and submitted the stadium to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for approval, initiating efforts to bring the facility up to international standards.

However, what followed was a glaring example of institutional mismanagement.

Imam Reza Stadium Falls Short of AFC Standards

Despite being touted as one of Iran’s most modern stadiums, Imam Reza Stadium failed to meet critical AFC requirements. Key deficiencies included:

  • Inadequate access to the conference hall and mixed zone.
  • No separate spaces for team benches, compromising match protocols.
  • Poor spectator flow, raising safety concerns due to entrance and exit bottlenecks.

Despite repeated meetings between stadium officials and football authorities, these issues remained unresolved—a recurring theme in Iranian football administration.

Political and Social Obstacles Compound the Problem

Beyond infrastructure failures, the decision-making process was further complicated by:

  • Religious hardliners in Mashhad vehemently opposing women’s attendance, creating security concerns.
  • Overwhelming ticket demand, with requests far exceeding the stadium’s 20,000 capacity, risking dangerous overcrowding.

While the Football Federation claimed cooperation from local officials had mitigated some issues, the lingering threats and logistical hurdles made hosting the match in Mashhad untenable.

Another Blunder in Iranian Football’s Long History of Mismanagement

The relocation of this crucial qualifier is not an isolated incident—it is the latest in a series of institutional failures plaguing Iranian football.

  • A Pattern of Poor Planning: Imam Reza Stadium had already proven unfit for high-profile matches, most notably during Team Melli’s previous game there, where female fans were violently barred from entering. Yet, the Federation ignored these warnings, opting instead to indulge Ghalenoei’s sentimental request.
  • Chronic Disorganization: From last-minute venue changes to failure in enforcing AFC standards, Iran’s football authorities have repeatedly demonstrated incompetence and short-term thinking.
  • A Broken System: The fact that Martyrs’ Stadium in Shahr Quds—a venue with its own limitations—is now the likely alternative speaks volumes. Even Tehran’s iconic Azadi Stadium, despite its own issues, was bypassed, suggesting deeper logistical chaos.

Conclusion: A Federation in Disarray

This debacle underscores a harsh truth: Iranian football is being run into the ground by negligence and ineptitude. The Federation had ample time and prior incidents to disqualify Imam Reza Stadium from consideration. Instead, it wasted resources on a doomed proposal, only to scramble for a last-minute solution—a hallmark of its chaotic governance.

Unless drastic reforms are implemented, such embarrassments will continue to haunt Team Melli, both on and off the pitch.

Carlos Queiroz looks for ‘miracle’ as Iran target World Cup return

BY JOHN DUERDEN

 

Carlos Queiroz never seems to age, with only a lengthening CV providing proof of passing time.

It makes for impressive reading, but the 62-year-old still wants to do more. “I am attracted to the idea of taking four different national teams to a World Cup because only one or two guys have done that and it would be nice for my coaching career,” Mozambique-born Queiroz told ESPN FC.

It would be quite a feat, but at the moment the Portuguese coach is focusing on taking Iran — his third national team after South Africa and Portugal — to a second successive World Cup in Russia 2018.

The feat is harder than many people realise it to be, Queiroz argues. Though there are four automatic World Cup berths for Asia, the reality is a little different.

“In Asia, three nations have a credit card for the World Cup — Australia, South Korea and Japan,” he says with just a hint of a smile and a what-can-you-do shrug of the shoulders.

“That leaves just one place for Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Uzbekistan, China and North Korea. That is seven

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz is preparing to guide Team Melli to their second straight WC ahead of Thursday’s qualifier vs. Guam.

nations and almost of all these have great conditions, facilities and financial resources.”

Iran — who were under international sanctions for eight years — have been at a disadvantage, according to Queiroz. There have been struggles to gain access to funds due from FIFA and the AFC and the consequential inability to pay for training camps and facilities. Years of cancelled friendlies also took a toll.

For Queiroz, it is becoming more difficult for Iran to compete with rivals with better financial resources. “There is real passion for the game in Iran, you don’t have to ignite it,” he said.

“With passion, players and desire, you have a big chance. But how many times can you work a miracle?

“Money talks everywhere, and we need resources to create a foundation. We need experience but how are you going to gain it if you don’t have friendly games, if you don’t have nations to play? This is a cat and mouse game and is very difficult to deal with.”

Carlos Queiroz hailed Iran’s spirited performance against Lionel Messi’s Argentina in last year’s World Cup.

The sanctions were lifted in July but the former Real Madrid coach is unconvinced that things will change anytime soon.

It was against such a backdrop that Iran made it to the 2014 World Cup, clinching a spot on a warm June night at the Ulsan World Cup Stadium.

Team Melli’s celebration upset the South Korean hosts, who felt it was over the top and aggressive. But according to Queiroz, who was formerly an assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manshester United, it was emotion released after a long and testing campaign.

It was not the end of stress, however. “Our preparation for the World Cup was not playing national teams but a couple of first division teams from South Africa. We are grateful, don’t get me wrong, those friends were fantastic for us but it was not enough.

“We need more experience, more players who are mature to play a World Cup. We want to be there with a chance to compete and win and in the World Cup we can only do that if we have quality players and experience.”

Even so, the memories of Brazil are still warm. “The performance was great. The players and the team got a lot of respect. They brought pride to the nation, there is no doubt about that,” said Queiroz.

Especially against Argentina when Iran only lost 1-0 due to a piece of Lionel Messi magic in the 91st minute and could have won, had the referee given what seemed to be a pretty clear penalty when Pablo Zabaleta had fouled Ashkan Dejagah in the area 10 minutes into the second half.

“I was sure that they would not be able to score, but when you have God on the pitch, sometimes you can make miracles,” said Queiroz.

“I cracked the joke then that Argentina had everything on their side. They had Messi who played for them — Messi could have been born Iranian, but God made him to be born in Argentina.

“Then they also had the referee who was a little bit distracted when he didn’t give us that penalty, that scandalous penalty. Sure, if we had scored then, it could have inspired Argentina to come back — you never know in football. But those two combinations were difficult to deal with.

“We fought hard at the World Cup. It was OK. It was 50 percent of what I wanted.”

Queiroz coached Iran to a quarterfinal appearance in the Asian Cup in January but lost the thriller against neighbours Iraq.

It comes back to Russia 2018. Iran are strong favourites to top Group D and move into the final round of qualification despite a disappointing start with a 1-1 draw in Turkmenistan in June.

“More than 50 percent of the team are young and it is a new team,” Queiroz said. “I expected a little more from them. In fact, the game got a bit complicated for us after we had scored. There are no excuses though. The pitch was OK for both teams, the weather was very hot.

We need to praise Turkmenistan — they fought for the result and we lacked the experience to control the game and get the three points. But we are still in a good position to move to the next round.”

On Thursday, Guam come to Tehran. The island with a population of 170,000 were genuine minnows until recently. Now the Matao are top of the group with six points from games at home to Turkmenistan and India and have climbed the rankings to 146.

Queiroz is wary of the team who are confident, ambitious and with nothing to lose. He is respectful of the job English coach Gary White has done. “They are doing well. They have a lot of players with experience in the United States leagues,” said Queiroz.

“I am not surprised, because I have been there and found the Guam players to have this competitive nature and sport education which are the foundations of American sports. The coach is doing well because I saw videos and the team is very well organised with good discipline and it is going to be difficult.”

For Carlos Queiroz, life as Iran coach is never easy and you sense that he quite likes it that way. “That is why we are coaches, born to suffer in life. We will do our best and that is all we can do.”

John Duerden is ESPN’s Asia football correspondent who also works for BBC Radio, The Guardian and World Soccer. Twitter: @JohnnyDuerden

Sharifi “The Koreans were much stronger than us”

Haidar Sharifi , the head coach of Iran’s U-14 team currently participating in the AFC U14 Championship 2014 in Hamadan and, admitted that the “North Korean teams was stronger than us and whatever we tried , we could not shake them.”

North Korea defeated Iran U14 yesterday by one goal to nil in Haj Babaei Stadium. The goal scored from just inside the Korean half, about 50 meters out , was worthy of winning any match in style. The powerful free kick flew into the upper net from long-range.   Goals like this is hardly seen at this level of football, however , the Korean superiority was evident all around and they could have easily scored a few more on Iran U14. While the Koreans played a modern type of total football and nice exchanges, Iranian players , as usual , depended on their individual skill that failed them against a well-organized and very fit Koreans.  There is little doubt that the Koreans will be the major contender for the title as they have swept past the teams in the qualification with an astonishing ease.

“We are considering this defeat as a lesson learnt and hope that shortfalls are covered in the next vital match.” Sharif added.

Iran will meet Saudi Arabia on Friday and must win the match in order to qualify as the second of the group. The Saudi’s are without any points after losing the first against North Korea 2-0 and then surprisingly against Timor Leste 2-1 yesterday. Provided Korea defeats Timor Leste, Iran will qualify without having to defeat Saudi Arabia. Both matches will be played at the same time.

 

 

Superior North Koreans anrrowly defeat Iran U14

Hamedan: Captain Kim Pom-hyok scored second goal in as many matches of the AFC U-14 Championship as DPR Korea edged hosts Iran 1-0 in a Group A encounter on Wednesday.

 In the match played in front of strong host nation’s supporters, Kim slotted home a 25-yard freekick which decided the fate of the match.

With the win DPR Korea are almost certain of making it into the semi-final with six points from two matches. Iran, who had defeated Saudi Arabia in their first match, are still occupying the second position despite suffering defeat as they had defeated Timor-Leste who earlier stunned Saudi Arabia.

“After analysing the matches so far, I still believe that Iran are strong will make it through alongside us from Group A,” said DPR Korea coach Kim Chol-jin after the match.

“I thought it would be very difficult for us to beat the hosts but at the end of the day, we were clinical and our defenders did not give them chances so I was relaxed and did not have to make numerous changes during the match.

“Those boys who were not used will be fresh in upcoming matches,” he added.

Like the previous match against Saudi Arabia, DPR Korea relied on long balls and pile drivers and one of those from captain Kim reached the destination.

After DPR were awarded with a freekick, the dead-ball specialist took the charges and left the diving Iran goalie Meraj Esmaeili hapless as early as in the eighth minute.

Iran coach Heidar Sharifi was quick to defend his goalkeeper who, with the proper judgement, could have saved the ball.

“He was outstanding today,” said Heidar.

“There are mistakes even at the top level, you have to remember some brilliant saves he made today.

“We are not done yet, we have a match in hand and I am sure we will defeat Saudi Arabia and progress.

“In fact, I’m taking this defeat as a blessing in disguise as the young boys knew that how difficult it is to lose a match, we will rebound,” he stressed.