Tag: Palestine

Team Melli Final Training Schedule for AFC Asian Cup announced.

Iran’s football federation announced the schedule for the final Team Melli training camp up to the AFC Asian Cup 2019  in UAE.

the federation’s official website mentioned that after the approval of the President of the FFIRI, the training plan will be held in Qatar and will last until the AFC Asian Cup.

The squad will utilize Camp Aspire facilities that was provided by the Qatari Football Federation. Most training session will be held in Camp Aspire while official matches will be held at designated stadiums. The camp will start on  December 17th  and conclude on January 2nd  2019. The squad will fly to Abu Dhabi on January 2nd, ahead of its first game on December 7th against Yemen  in Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

During the training Camp in Doha, Team Melli will play 2 friendly matches and possibly a third against Lebanon which is yet to be confirmed.

The first match will be against Palestine on the 24th December, and a week later , Team Melli will face Qatar..

Meanwhile, the final roster for the Asian Cup will be announced on December 26th.

Jakarta Asian Games- Football groups to be re-drawn!

According to the Mehr news agency and the  FFIRI website, the UAE and Palestine were not included in the first groups draw.

It is said that the two countries have completed their registration process correctly and in accordance with the rules of the Asian Game.  However, their names were dropped!  To correct this, the organizing committee will arrange the second lot  which will be held with 26 countries.

Based on this, the new draw will be held July 23rd of July in Jakarta.

In the previous draw, Iran U23 team was in Group F along with Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and North Korea. North Korea  is the winner of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

Asian Games Men Football matches are played by teams with under the age of 23. Each team can have up to three players over the age range with Wildcard entering the game.

The Asian Games 2018 will begin on August 27, but the men’s soccer games will begin on August 23rd.

Iran’s U23 team (Omid Team) will start its long journey for the Rio De Janeiro Olympic Games 2016 Qualification at Azadi Stadium against Nepal on Monday 23rd March 2015.

The match on Monday is not expected to attract large number of fans due t the Nowrooz holidays and also due to the low expectation from a sting of failure by Iran that has hit this particular age group.

 

Mohammad Khakpour, a former Team Melli defender has been given this mammoth task and will be making his first attempt at this level of football to take Iran to the Olympics.  Last time Iran made the Olympics games was back in 1980 Moscow games which eventually it boycotted.

Group C of the AFC U-23 Championship consists of Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Afghanistan and Iran will be played in Tehran. The final rounds will be played in Qatar nine months from now.

On Paper the group looks easy enough for Iran to make the final championship rounds along with Saudi Arabia. However, with recent Iranian teams performances against inferior oppositions, nothing is taken for granted. Omid Team personal have already been talking about the strength of the Nepalese team, the first of Iran’s opponents. Saudi Arabian teams at any level, of course are always very competitive and difficult to beat.

Palestine has emerged as a strong team at senior level and their U-23 remains as unknown quality. Neighboring Afghanistan has been solidly progressing at football and their players have a good knowledge of Iranian teams.

The squad was boosted with the news that Azmoun and Jahanbakhash will be joining them despite the objection of Team Melli coach Queiroz.  A ruling by Ali Kaffashian favored Omid Team and frustrated Queiroz who has considered robbing of these two players from him as the final nail in the coffin.

 

 

 

Schedule & Results:

23-03-2015 15:00
AFGHANISTAN PALESTINE
Venue: PAS Stadium, Tehran
23-03-2015 17:00
NEPAL I.R. IRAN
Venue: Azadi Stadium, Tehran

****************************************************
25-03-2015 15:00
PALESTINE SAUDI ARABIA
Venue: PAS Stadium, Tehran

25-03-2015 17:00
AFGHANISTAN NEPAL
Venue: Azadi Stadium, Tehran

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

27-03-2015 15:00
SAUDI ARABIA AFGHANISTAN
Venue: PAS Stadium, Tehran
27-03-2015 17:00
I.R. IRAN PALESTINE
Venue: Azadi Stadium, Tehran

****************************************************
29-03-2015 15:00
NEPAL SAUDI ARABIA
Venue: PAS Stadium, Tehran

29-03-2015 17:00
I.R. IRAN AFGHANISTAN
Venue: Azadi Stadium, Tehran

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

31-03-2015 15:00
PALESTINE NEPAL
Venue: PAS Stadium, Tehran
31-03-2015 17:00
SAUDI ARABIA I.R. IRAN
Venue: Azadi Stadium, Tehran

 

 

 

NEPAL U-23 TEAM SQUAD

GK: Alan Neupane , Amrit Chaudhary , Bikesh Kuthu

 

DF: Man Bahadur Tamang , Kalu Thapa, Aditya Choudhary , Aakash Thapa , Ananta Tamang , Dinesh Rajbanshi

 

MF: Gaurab Budhathoki, Heman Gurung , Hemant Thapa Magar , Jagjeet Shrestha , Jangbu Sherpa , Kamal Shrestha , Prakash Budhathoki , Sulav Maskey , Bishal Rai B

 

FW: Ranjan Bista , Amar Dangol , Biswas Shrestha , Anjan Bista , Bimal Gharti Magar

Jahanbakhsh & Azmoun not available for Omid Team.

Jaffar Kashani , the manager of Omid Team ( Iran U23) announced that despite their request , Alireza Jahanbaksh and Sardar Azmoun will not be available to join Omid Team during the qualification rounds of the Olympic Games 2016 , instead they will be part of the Team Melli squad playing two international friendly matches in the holiday periods.

Omid Team will be playing the first stages of the qualifying matches in a round ribbon group along with Nepal , Palestine , Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia in the period from 23rd to 31st March in Azadi stadium. During the same period Team Melli will be taking full advantage of the FIFA day and have already arranged two important and momentous matches against Chile and Sweden.

Sardar Azmoun was one of the stars of the recent Asian Games 2015 where he scored two goals and desevedly has established himself in Team Melli. Alireza Jahanbaksh was less fortunate and was not able to produce the quality that was hoped from, yet this player remains an important part of Carlos Queiroz grand plan in rejuvenating the team.

Kashani criticized his employer FFIRI and claimed that the team is not getting the full support of the federation!. The reality is that Kaffashian has already declared for support for Omid Team in their quest to qualify for the nest year Olympics after 40 years of absence by Iran.

“Because we are not Carlos Queiroz , our request to change the league program has been refused. We have demanded that league to be stopped for one week in order to allow us to take part in the Kuwait camp where we could have played two friendly matches, but we don’t get the same attention as Team Melli gets.” Kashani moaned.

Kashani also bitterly complained about the lack of commitment by the league clubs by not releasing their players whenever they are required by Omid Team program.  Kashani then repeated his usual drama by threatening to resign if  his requests are not met by the federation or the clubs create difficulties for the team.

Jafar Kashani already resigned this same position and vowed never to return to work with this federation after his effort to recruit Zlatko Kranjcar was turned down.  However , to the surprise of many observers, the man did a 180 degrees turn and announced that he is a soldier who will answer the call of duty for the country any time he is required !.

The manner that he resigned and then came back within a few days ,  leaves a lot to be desired in what many people consider the Achilles heel of Iranian football and that is poor quality , untrustworthy and erratic management.

 

AFC Asian Cup in numbers

With the group stage done and dusted, here are key statistics that have emerged from the latest edition of Asia’s premier tournament.

0 – Iran, Japan and Korea Republic all conceded zero goals in the group stage of the tournament. Iran were the last team to win the AFC Asian Cup after conceding no goals in the group stage when they claimed the title in 1976 – they defeated Iraq 2-0 and South Yemen 8-0 in their three team group.

1 – Tournament debutants Palestine scored their first ever AFC Asian Cup goal when Jaka Hbaisha found the back of the net in the 84th minute of his side’s 5-1 defeat to Jordan.

2.54 – There has been an average of 2.54 goals scored per match in the 24 group stage clashes at the tournament.

3 – China won all three of their group matches for the first time at an AFC Asian Cup. This is the eleventh straight tournament the Chinese have participated in and they’ve now been undefeated on four occasions during the group phase – 1992 (one win, two draws), 2000 (one win, two draws), 2004 (two wins, one draw) and 2015 (three wins).

4 – Hamza Al Dardour equalled the record for most goals in a single AFC Asian Cup match after scoring four goals in Jordan’s 5-1 win over Palestine. Three players had previously achieved this feat at the AFC Asian Cup – Behtash Fariba (Iran – 1980), Ali Daei (Iran, 1996) and Ismaeel Abdullatif Bahrain, 2011). Daei’s four goals came in the shortest space of time knocking in his first in the 66th minute before converting a penalty to take his tally to four on 89 minutes.

8 – Australia scored the most goals in the group stage of the tournament with 8 ahead of Japan on 7 and the UAE with 6.

11 – Palestine conceded the most goals in the group stage. After going down 4-0 to Japan, Jordan’s Hamza Al Dardour scored four goals as they went down 5-1 to Jordan before being defeated 2-0 by Iraq.

14 – The UAE’s Ali Mabkhout scored the fastest ever AFC Asian Cup goal when he put the ball in the back of the net just 14 seconds after his side’s match with Bahrain kicked off.

23 – Korea DPR scored their first AFC Asian Cup goal in 23 years after Ryang Yong-gi scored in the 12th minute of his side’s clash with Saudi Arabia in a match they went on to lose 4-1. They only had to wait another four days until they had another ball in the back of the net despite it being an own goal by China’s Gao Lin.

24 – The 2015 AFC Asian Cup broke the record for the most amount of matches without a draw at 24.

90+1 – Reza Ghoochannejhad scored the latest goal of the group stage after scoring the winner in the first minute of stoppage time against the UAE. The win ensured Team Melli topped Group C and avoided a quarter-final clash with defending champions Japan.

135 – There have been 135 saves made by the goalkeepers at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

487 – Oman ended a goal drought of 487 minutes when Abdulaziz Al Muqbali scored against Kuwait in his side’s third match of the tournament. They went on to win the match 1-0.

Queiroz seeking Pooladi & Rafei release.

Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, Team Melli manager spoke of the possibility of inviting  Persepolis Captain  Mohammad Nouri to Team Melli in case of the failure in getting the release of Pooladi  and Rafei from Military Service.

During the Sunday training session of Team Melli, Mohammad Nabi said “As Carlos Queiroz has stated earlier, our opponents have prepared themselves quite well. On our side, we have tried our best to match them and  prepare the team for this competition (…) . Our start was with the match against South Korea followed by several training camps”

 “We have up to January 1st to submit the final list to the Asian Cup Organizing committee and the AFC. Because of that, Queiroz opted to leave two vacant places for the players he wants to add.” Mohammad Nabi added without mentioning the name of the players in Queiroz’s mind. When pressed for an answer and if the two places are reserved for Pooladi and Rafei, , Mohammad Nabi said “Yes. These two players are in the plans of Queiroz and he wishes to include them in his squad. But, I and Mr. Kaffashian are law abiding and need to stick to the regulations of this country. However, there are some negotiation between the Minister of Sports and the Military on the subject matter.”

“We do not have the liberty of playing an international friendly match without the approval of FIFA. The Palestine match was registered with FIFA and the unilateral cancelation of this match by Palestine FA was totally an unprofessional act. Nevertheless, any actions to be taken against the Palestinians , is the job of Ali Kaffashian” Mohammad Nabi said in reaction to the match cancelation and the demand by Queiroz for compensations from Palestine FA..

“We have played 7 friendly games in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup and still have one more to go against Iraq in Sydney.” Mohammad Nabi thus considers playing against reserves of club teams as preparation matches !

pooladi_mehrdad_

“Carlos Queiroz assessment of the squad and the players’ forms is quite good, however more work is needed. Sometimes friendly games matches end up with results that might not be the same if it was an official match (..)”

“Our preparation program started three and a half months ago.  We had a very well laid program with the help of the Football League commission. The only setback was this Palestine match cancelation which has really hurt our plans.” The Team Manager explained.

Team Melli manager said that “The Coach has the full authority to select which players he wants. He has an assessment program where the players are technically fully analyzed and evaluated according to the requirement of the game plans. Mohammad Nouri is one of the players that might be added to the list.”

Queiroz shocked at the Palestinian FA friendly match cancellation.

Team Melli head coach was livid by the sudden cancellation of the game between Team Melli and Palestine. Queiroz expressing his deep disappointment by the unilateral cancellation of the game, described it as a shock for Team Melli. “The only reason we returned back to Tehran and ended our training camp in South Africa was to honor our contract and play the Palestinians in Azadi. I am shocked at how they have dared to cancel this match at last minute without giving us the opportunity to amend our training schedule. “

Queiroz demanded compensation from the Palestinian FA and said “we are wasting valuable time sitting here in Tehran doing nothing because of them (Palestine FA). They should compensate us and pay to fly to Australia a few days earlier as they canceled the game themselves. We already had so much problems as it is and this one was the last thing we needed.”

Palestine FA has requested this friendly match a few months ago and was accepted by FFIRI and have cancelled it without giving any reasonable justification. “Their behavior is totally unacceptable “ Queiroz said.

While Queiroz has the full right to be livid at this unprofessional Palestinian attitude which simply ignored Team Melli commitments, there is no chance of  compensation payment from the Palestinians. Politically, Palestine is the darling of the regime and the money flows one way  only and that is from Tehran to Palestine not the other way round.

Even Palestine abandons a friendly against Iran!

What has this world come to for Team Melli ?

Evan Palestine has refused to turn up for a scheduled friendly match it was supposed to play against Team Melli citing logistics difficulties!

Palestine , ranked 133 in FIFA ranking which last played against Team Melli in October 2011 and lost 7-0, was supposed to be the second and the last international friendly match in the entire Team Melli preparation program before the AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia.

Now that the Palestinians have not turned up , Carlos Queiroz and his men will be heading to Australia with only one real match under their sleeve to face the rest of the Asian teams. That was the narrow 1-0 win against South Korea in Azadi. 

Despite all these downturn of events and the dismal and lackluster preparations for the continents greatest and prestigious football tournament, some players are still upbeat and think they are in with a chance of winning it

Calros  Queioz , however , is much more realistic and truthful in his approach., He only promised to fight in every match, and that is the best he can offer the nation under the wretched training program the team is undergoing now. The current South African Training Camp has only one legionnaire’s player while the majority are absent.

Team Melli routs Platinum Stars 6-0

Team Melli defeated Platinum Stars 6-0 in its final preparation match of its training camp in Johannesburg , South Africa.

Mohammad Nouri scored a hat trick, while Habib Gordani, Masoud Hassanzadeh, and Sajjad Shahbazadeh scored a goal each to complete the rout against the bottom of the table South African First Division team . Platinum Stars played a league match on Saturday against Free State Stars and lost 3-1. For the match against Team Melli , mostly reserve players were utilized by the struggling South african team.

South-Africa-friendly-ornado-pirates-2

This match concludes the weak and low-key preparations by Team Melli in South Africa.  While almost all the legionnaires who are expected to form the bulk of the team line up are absent , except for Azmoun, the federation failed to arrange any quality opposition to test these players against strong teams which Iran will be facing in Australia. The 3 breadcrumb friendlies were mostly due to personal contacts of Carlos Queiroz , however none of the South African clubs were prepared to field their strongest side due to league programs commitments and the upcoming festive seasons holidays.

Team Melli is scheduled to return to Tehran on December 24th. The next friendly before the AFC Asian Cup 2015 will be against Palestine.

South-Africa-friendly-ornado-pirates-1

Team Melli program: South African camp is on, Palestine match finalized.

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General Secretary of the Football Association, said they have not been able to find a national or club side to play friendly preparatory games against  in South Africa while Palestine game in Azadi is confirmed.

Mohammad MohammadNabi was commenting on the latest plans for Team Melli including the training camp in South Africa which he said is now finalized and will commence on 14th December.

He added that after the national team’s training camp and on return from South Africa, the players will rest for 2 days and  according to the current program , Team Melli will play the Palestinian national team  in Azadi on the 28th December. After that following a two days rest , the team  will fly to Australia for the final phase of preparation and training just before the AFC Asian Cup commences..