Tag: Qatar

10 places up in FIFA ranking for Team Melli.

Team Melli climbed 10 places up in the latest FIFA/Coca Cola ranking issued today in Zurich.  Iran is now 41st in the world with 700 points one rank below Poland and one above its group rival in the World Cup 2014  , Nigeria who are 42nd. Iran continues to hold the top ranking in Asia, with South Korea placed second with 608 points followed by Japan with 605 on third. Australia, the Asian Cup winner has fourth with a massive 37 places rise in the table. The Asian teams climbs are all attributed to the results of the recent Asian Cup 2015 held in Australia.    
Rank Team Total Points Previous Points +/- AVG  2015 Avg.  2014 AVG WGT 2014 Avg. 2013 AVG WGT 2013
41 IRN      Iran 700(700.50) 588 10 342.12 444.24 222.12 242.98 72.89
54 KOR     Korea Republic 608(608.24) 487 15 343.57 225.59 112.80 277.31 83.19
55 JPN     Japan 605(604.87) 563 -1 327.02 205.07 102.53 386.87 116.06
63 AUS     Australia 548(548.21) 329 37 272.38 259.19 129.59 229.34 68.80
66 UAEUnited Arab Emirates 529(528.94) 408 14 245.47 377.77 188.88 241.93 72.58
71 UZB     Uzbekistan 493(492.64) 464 0 202.48 287.67 143.84 331.28 99.38
82 CHN     China PR 429(429.19) 339 14 244.98 189.38 94.69 140.03 42.01
91 OMA     Oman 368(367.51) 346 2 146.02 255.33 127.66 167.45 50.23
94 IRQ     Iraq 360(360.10) 269 20 225.82 59.48 29.74 163.04 48.91
97 JOR     Jordan 353(352.54) 346 -4 102.88 310.32 155.16 160.85 48.25
98 KSA     Saudi Arabia 351(351.10) 318 4 122.58 297.06 148.53 127.91 38.37
103 BHR    Bahrain 322(322.48) 292 7 162.53 183.65 91.82 108.93 32.68
109 QAT     Qatar 305(305.34) 347 -17 141.62 150.66 75.33 173.98 52.19
 

"Iran's Messi" a class above Qatar in the AFC Asian Cup

by Luke Costin

MELBOURNE, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) --- Any scout in the world not aware of Sardar Azmoun should be now after "Iran's Messi" delicately scored the winner over Qatar in Sydney on Thursday.

Sardar cleverly drew a defender before dragging a low cross under himself and sealing Iran's 1-0 win and qualification for the knockout stage.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran's next opponent, scored a goal within 15 seconds on their way to sealing their quarter-final berth over Bahrain in Canberra.

Sardar, having run just past the low cross from the right field, stuck out his right leg to flick the ball under himself. He made no mistake with his second touch sending the mostly-Iranian crowd wild.

The 20-year-old has been linked with English powerhouses Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham in the current January transfer window, and based on this form, his Russian club, Rubin Kazan, may get another few pounds from a transfer of their young star.

Three minutes in, Sardar had already shown Asia why he has been compared to the three-time World Player of the Year with a delightful header that narrowly missed its target.

The only blemish in Sardar's performance was something partially out of his control.

Acute cramp struck Sardar down on the hour and forced an early substitution.

It showed that, perhaps, playing in Russia had left him under- conditioned for the Australian warmth.

Qatar's goalkeeper Qasem Burhan, coming off a 4-1 loss to UAE, was clearly low on confidence and often found himself lucky not to concede earlier than the 52nd minute.

Not 60 seconds after the break, an Irani corner drew Qasem into "no-man's land," but resulting strike missing an open goal.

Sardar azmoun -940x627

Desperate defending from the Maroons was necessary throughout as Iran peppered the goal with plenty of near chances.

Morteza Pouraliganji flew in over the top to meet a corner kick sweetly in the first half, only to beat the unguarded right post.

Minutes later, Ashkan Dejagah had a speculative crack from wide in the area that zipped past the goal, barely missing the far post.

Those in the stadium commended Iran's frenetic fans for making the 22,672 crowd feel closer to 100,000.

Earlier in nation's capital, the Emirates took just 14 seconds to puncture the Bahraini defenses and kick-start their 2-1 win.

A shocking defensive error from the kick-off led to Omar Abdulrahman delivering a pinpoint ball to Ali Mabkhout, who put away his third goal of the tournament.

Jaycee John Okwunwanne equalized in the 26th minute but it was his captain Mohamed Hussain's own-goal header that was the decider.

UAE produced their best chances from free kicks including the pieces and, through some luck, scored in the 73rd.

From a free kick in left field, Hussain rose highest, only for his errant clearance to find the top corner of his own net.

Straight after the kick-off, right back Abdulla Omar took on the Emirati midfielders only to give the ball up to his Emirati namesake.

A sublime lofted through ball from Omar to Mabkhout allowed the tournament's leading goal scorer the time to run around the goalkeeper.

Nigerian-born Okwunwanne's one goal, from a perfect corner kick by Faouzi Aaish, so easily could have been a brace just three minutes later.

But it was not to be, his powerful header denied by an aware keeper.

Bahraini center-back Mohamed Duraj may miss the dead rubber against Qatar after painfully pulling a groin and being stretchered off midway through the second half.

UAE's superior goal difference means Iran needs a win in Brisbane on Monday to steal top spot and potentially avoid the reigning champions, Japan, in the quarter-finals.

Iran vs. Qatar : “keep it tight at the back”

14th January 2015 In addition to being the match that could decide Team Melli qualification, the match against Qatar on Thursday, will also be another test of Carlos Queiroz’s defensive game plan. A win by Team Melli will take it to the sixth consecutive quarter finals appearance of the Asian Cup. Iran’s proud record started in 1996 edition , in which Team Melli played in 5 consecutive tournament and never losing a match in regulation time. Iran will be facing a wounded Qatar, and that could be a two edged sword. The multi-National team of Qatar could have already conceded although publically they are putting up a brave face and a defiant attitude. On the other hand, they still believe that there is nothing to lose, they still stand a chance for qualifying and end up playing their best football, the one that we have seen they can excel in, in front of Team Melli.
Ismaeel Abdulatif batteling with Morteza Pouraliganji
Djamal Belmadhi has assembled a decent team including many new faces. He dispensed with the Latin American contingents as they were failing to deliver and instead he picked a few North Africans and players from his native Algeria to replace the likes of Fabio Cesar, Andrés Sebastián Soria. Neutralizing foreign players is a fundamental standard procedure in Qatar sport including the National Football team. The result against UAE was hardly an indication of Qatar weakness neither was it in any way and sign of the might of the UAE team. The difference between these two Gulf nation teams are minimal hence a 4-1 result was a freak result that should not be read too much into. The reality remains that Qatar is strong opponent for any team and still stands a chance in the tournament. The Qataris will be hoping that Thursday’s match will be the turnaround point in their fortunes. On the other hand, Iran is placed comfortably in the table. A win will be a perfect result, but a draw is not going to be a disaster either. No Team Melli fan should hold his breath hoping that Team Melli will be going to the jugular either. Carlos Queiroz will stick, and religiously so , to his strong defensive ideology regardless to the opposition.  Since the World Cup and the term parking the bus was associated with Team Melli , even the offensive minded Iranians are becoming convinced with the Queiroz ideology in a classic bandwagon effect. The reality is that Team Melli does not have the ingredients of an lethal offensive team , so why play some tactics that the coach does not have the right resources for it? It makes sense to everyone even with a stronger position and a few field advantages over Qatar, for Team Melli to play the same old game plan hoping for a low margin win. If you do not have the players like Khalatbary to run havoc on defenders , or a schemer such as Mojtaba Jabbari or Ali Karimi to masterfully orchestrate the midfield and feed your forwards, then offensive plans have to be shelved and Queiroz stick to “keep it tight at the back” approach. Carlos Queiroz has to be credited with introducing the new players in the defense line, hopefully he would give more playing time to Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh instead of the inert Shojae, whose selection remains an enigma with his pathetic and lethargic performances. also It will be a tight match but surprises in football can be expected. We hope those would be in the shape of a handsome victory for Team Melli.
Reza Ghoochannejad chased by Hussain Ali Baba of Bahrain
[divider]

Head 2 Head

This will be only the second time that Iran and Qatar meet in the Asian Cup. The first was in Doha in 1988 edition when Team Melli beat the host nation Qatar 2-0 with goals from Karim Bavi and Farshad Peyous. That match was also the first official game between the two teams.
H / A / N Matches W D L Goals + / -
Home 6 4 2 0 16 - 4 +12
Away 13 7 3 3 15 - 11 +4
Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 +0
Total 19 11 5 3 31 - 15 +16
Date Comp. H / A / N Final score Stadium Attendance
04.06.2013 World Cup Qualifier A 1 - 0 AlSadd Stadium , Doha 11872
12.06.2012 World Cup Qualifier / Round 4 H 0 - 0 Azadi Stadium , Tehran 80000
29.02.2012 World Cup Qualifier / Round 3 - Group E H 2 - 2 Azadi Stadium , Tehran 55000
06.09.2011 World Cup Qualifier / Round 3 - Group E A 1 - 1 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium , Doha 8125
28.12.2010 Friendly A 0 - 0 Khalifa Stadium , Doha 3000
28.12.2009 Friendly / Qatar Intl. Friendly Tournament A 2 - 3 Suhaim Bin Hamad-Doha Qatar Stadium 3000
09.11.2008 Friendly A 1 - 0 Al Saad Stadium , Doha 5000
11.08.2008 WAFF H 6 - 1 Takhti Stadium , Tehran 5000
10.01.2008 Friendly A 0 - 0 Al Saad Stadium , Doha 2000
24.03.2007 Friendly / Friendly A 1 - 0 AlGharafah Stadium , Doha 7000
13.10.2004 World Cup Qualifier / WCQ A 3 - 2 Doha 3000
18.02.2004 World Cup Qualifier / WCQ H 3 - 1 Azadi - Tehran 0
01.08.2001 Friendly / Friendly A 1 - 2 Doha 0
27.09.2000 Friendly A 2 - 1 Al Sadd Stadium , Doha 5000
07.11.1997 World Cup Qualifier / WCQ A 0 - 2 Doha 20000
03.10.1997 World Cup Qualifier / WCQ H 3 - 0 Azadi - Tehran 70000
01.06.1996 Friendly / Friendly A 1 - 0 Khalifa Stadium , Doha 10000
17.05.1996 Friendly H 2 - 0 Takhti Stadium , Tabriz 30000
02.12.1988 Asian Cup / Group 1 A 2 - 0 AlAhli FC Stadium , Doha 20000

QATAR DETERMINED TO BOUNCE BACK

www.afcasiancup.com

14 January 2015 Michael Church

Sydney: Djamel Belmadi is hoping his Qatar team can put their disappointing 4-1 loss at the hands of the United Arab Emirates behind them as they prepare to take on three-time AFC Asian Cup winners Iran at Stadium Australia on Thursday evening. The Algerian coach was still at a loss to explain the Group C defeat in Canberra on Sunday as the Gulf Cup champions prepared for the crucial meeting with Team Melli off the back of their first defeat in 11 games. “We lost the opening game because we played (it) like a friendly game,” said Belmadi. “It was not our day or our real level, especially after the good competition in the Gulf Cup.

“We expected something different. But now it’s the past and we have to make a reaction. Of course we are all disappointed. They have got the ambition to make a different game tomorrow. “My main job was to work more psychologically than something else. Of course, we had to analyse what happened in this game and to correct it. “But I know this group that I have. I have chosen them and I know that we are able to change things and we can do much, much better even when things look difficult, even for some people impossible. But for us, it’s not impossible and we’ll try to show it tomorrow.” The Qataris face an Iran side that won their first game 2-0 against Bahrain and for whom victory in Sydney on Thursday evening would mean securing a place in the quarter-finals. With Carlos Queiroz’s side having impressed at the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil in June, Belmadi knows his team face a tough challenge to pick up their first win of the tournament. “It will be a decisive game against a big team that qualified for the World Cup and who played against strong teams at the World Cup. We are prepared and we know it’s going to be a tough game,” he said. “But we’re also used to playing against teams that are stronger on paper than us, like Morocco and Australia. The team is relatively young and the average age is 23 years old and even though we’re here for the competition we’re here to learn and to learn fast. The same team played at the Gulf Cup and we ended up winning the competition. “We have a plan and like always we will try to find the solution because it’s a good team, well organised, really aggressive and they don’t give you too much space, so we will have to find a solution. Every team has some weakness, like the others. We will try to find this weakness and try to find the way to score and to win this game.”

five star players and five must-see games

Sebastian Hassett

 , The Sydney Morning Herald , Football reporter

 
Quick on the ball: Attacking midfielder Ashkan Dejagah will be a threat in Group C for Iran.Quick on the ball: Attacking midfielder Ashkan Dejagah will be a threat in Group C for Iran.
  FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH Ashkan Dejagah (Iran) 
Iran v Nigeria: Group F - 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil One to watch: South Korean superstar Son Heung-Min dazzles against Paraguay. Photo: Getty Images

You might have seen Dejagah before, for his two years with Fulham in the English Premier League will have many fans well-aware of his dazzling talents. Granted, they weren't enough to keep the Cottagers in the top flight, and Dejagah duly swapped the rigours of the Championship for the riches of Al-Arabi. The Qatari club didn't mind shelling out to get him, either – they had to pay up to $12 million to bring him across. He's worth every cent. Probably the quickest player on the ball in the entire continent, with his blistering pace on the ball arguably the biggest weapon Iran has at their disposal. Dejagah is at his best when he's given room to move out wide and he'll give great service to Iran's front line, led capably by Reza Ghoochannejhad and Karim Ansarifard. He hasn't always produced his best form for Team Melli but they certainly need him to this January.

Khalfan Ibrahim (Qatar) 

Flashback to 2006 and the Asian football world was more than a little shocked at the AFC awards night when the name Khalfan Ibrahim was named as Asian player of the year. He'd only made his international debut that same year, aged 18, although it was the year Qatar won football gold at the Asian Games and Ibrahim was the key player. He would throw in the occasional starring role thereafter but apart from a blinding 2008-09 season with Al Sadd (scoring 15 goals in 21 games), his potential probably wasn't being realised. But after rediscovering his scoring boots in 2011, he hasn't looked back, landing some incredible goals for club and country (his one-man "Maradona" effort against Al-Rayyan is a must-see on YouTube). He's only ever played for Al-Sadd (his father's club) but would cut it any league in the world. Expect to find him on the left-side of the attacking front three – and expect to see him dazzling the crowds with his dribbling and finishing.

Son Heung-min (South Korea) 

There's a fine tradition developing of young Korean and Japanese footballers plying their trade in Germany and Son may very well be the best of them. Since swapping Hamburg for the mighty Bayer Leverkusen in 2013, his career has gone from strength to strength. Still only 22, who knows how good he'll become in the coming years. He's been linked in the past few weeks with a $38 million switch to the premiership – where Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham are said to be potential suitors. Not a bad list of admirers, although Bayern Munich would surely fancy him as potential replacement for their ageing wingers. This is the youngest South Korean team seen for some time and it looms as the most exciting generation since the 2002 side that went all the way to the semi-finals of the World Cup on home soil. Without question, Son will be their creative inspiration for years to come.

Keisuke Honda (Japan) 

Has probably wrestled back the "best player in Asia" tag after Shinji Kagawa's recent troubles at club level. After struggling at first in Italy, he's now adjusted and is arguably the best player at AC Milan and one of the best in Serie A. What makes Honda so good is simple: his razor-sharp technique is up there with the very best in the world. That amazing first touch and control means he is rarely thrown off, even by very physical players. He's adept as a big-game player and loves the grand stage, as evidenced in winning the Asian Cup golden ball four years ago. He's now 28 and has only improved as a player since, maturing into a world-class playmaker. Deadly from set-pieces, he's also a huge goal-scoring threat, and is just as capable splitting open a defence with the deftest of passes. He's got a certain swagger – confidence or arrogance, depending on your view – that some find off-putting but when you're this good, why not?

Omar Abdulrahman (United Arab Emirates)

Big hair, bigger talent. Is coming into this tournament under an injury cloud but if he's anywhere near full-fitness, watch out world. This is the guy who might just change how you think about Middle-Eastern footballers. There are probably only a few clubs in the world who could fork out the transfer fee his club, Al-Ain, will seek. Not that the club's owner, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, needs to sell a player of his huge talent – although Manchester City (also owned by Abu Dhabi royal family) are tracking him and may be an obvious fit. The worry is that he hasn't played since picking up an ankle injury in the Gulf Cup semi-final against Saudi Arabia in November and has scarcely trained since. Be hopeful he's feeling on his game: his ability to control a match makes him a contender to knock off Honda and co as the best player in Asia. In this Asian Cup, the Emirates' destiny lands on his shoulders.

Squads of UAE , Qatar and Bahrain.

Team Melli will be facing a tough task against 3 well prepared team in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia. With all the 3 opponents starting their preparation at least six months ahead of the competition and playing numerous friendly games, Team Mell has only managed one game against South Korea in Tehran while a scheduled match against Palestine was canceled in Azadi by the guests. Team Melli should have one last friendly against Iraq in Sydney. On paper , Qatar is considered the favorite to qualify or top the group. Iran & UAE have equal chances to join the Qatari team while Bahrain is not been given much hope by the experts after their poor showing in the Gulf Cup and going through their 3rd coaching changes in a short time.  

UAE

Exciting Al Ain playmaker Omar Abdulrahman has been included in the 24-man United Arab Emirates squad for next month's AFC Asian Cup in Australia. 23-year-old Abdulrahman played a key role in Al Ain's progress to the AFC Champions League semifinals this year. He has been selected in the squad by coach Madhi Ali, despite not having played competitive football since sustaining an injury during last month's Gulf Cup. UAE were defeated 3-2 by eventual runners-up Saudi Arabia in the semifinals. "Omar Abdulrahman is fine, his doctor reports he has started jogging. He needs five to seven days to get back to full fitness," coach Ali told the official AFC Asian Cup website. UAE are in the all-West Asian Group C of the elite continental competition along with fancied Iran -- who impressed at June's World Cup in Brazil -- and neighbours Bahrain plus Gulf Cup winners Qatar.   Ali has named six players who were not part of the Gulf Cup squad for the elite continental competition beginning in January. Al Ahli goalkeeper Majed Nasser and Al Wahda centre-back Hamdan Al Kamali have been recalled to the side. UAE will play friendlies against Jordan and Kuwait after reaching Australia on Wednesday. After the friendlies, Ali will trim his squad down to 23 players. UAE -- who reached the final of the competition in 1996 when they were hosts -- take on Qatar on Jan. 11 in their first group game in Canberra. Squad: Goalkeepers Majed Nasser, Ali Khaseif, Khalid Essa, Defenders: Mohammed Fawzi, Abdulaziz Haikal, Abdulaziz Sanqour, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohamed Ahmed, Ismail Ahmed, Mohanad Salem, Midfielders: Ismail Al Hammadi, Hassan Ibrahim, Majed Hassan, Khamis Esmail, Habib Fardan, Amer Abdulrahman, Haboosh Saleh, Mohamed Abdulrahman, Omar Abdulrahman, Forwards: Ali Mabkhout, Ahmed Khalil, Salem Saleh, Saeed Al Kathiri   [divider]

QATAR

Doha: Experienced striker Sebastian Soria was left out of Qatar's 23-man squad for next month's Asian Cup with the Gulf Cup winners instead opting for uncapped African-born forwards Tresor Kangambu and Mohammad Montari. Soria won his 100th cap for Qatar in October and marked the milestone by scoring in a 3-0 success over fellow Asian Cup finalists Uzbekistan but it was not enough to make the squad for the Gulf Cup tournament the following month. The 31-year-old has continued to score goals for Qatar Stars League champions Lekhwiya but national team head coach Djamel Belmadi opted against a recall when he named his travelling party for the Jan 9-31 tournament in Australia. The Algerian instead went for the Congolese-born Kangambu, a wide forward who plays alongside Soria at the league leaders, and El Jaish's striker Montari, who was born in Ghana.
The 27-year-old Kangambu moved to Qatar four years ago, while 21-year-old Montari has been in a rich vein of form for his club side in recent weeks. The duo joined Asian Player of the Year nominee Khalfan Ibrahim in the squad after the Al Sadd playmaker was recalled after he missed the Gulf Cup because of injury. Qatar have been drawn in an all West Asian Group C in Australia alongside Bahrain, Iran and United Arab Emirates. The Maroons faceD final warm-up matches against Estonia , which saw them easily win  3-0 and Oman next week before they kick-off their campaign in Canberra on Jan. 11 against the UAE. The 2022 World Cup hosts staged the Asian Cup four years ago, matching their tournament best showing of a quarter-final berth in 2000.   Squad : Goalkeepers: Saad Al Sheeb (Al Sadd), Ahmed Sufyan (El Jaish), Qasem Burhan (Al Gharafa) Defenders: Ahmadi Ali Mukhtar (Al Sadd), Abdelkarim Hassan (Al Sadd), Ibrahim Majid (Al Sadd), Mohammed Musa (Lekhwiya), Khalid Muftah (Lekhwiya), Abdulrahman Issa (El Jaish), Bilal Mohammed (Al Gharafa) Midfielders: Khalfan Ibrahim (Al Sadd), Ali Assadalla (Al Sadd), Karim Boudiaf (Lekhwiya), Mohammed Muntari (El Jaish), Majed Mohammed (El Jaish), Khaled Al Zereiqi (El Jaish), Boualem Khoukhi (Al Arabi), Abdulaziz Hatem (Al Arabi), Ahmed Abdul Maqsood (Umm Salal) Forwards: Hassan Al Haidos (Al Sadd), Ismaeel Mohammad (Lekhwiya), Mohammed Tresor Abdullah (Lekhwiya), Meshal Abdullah (Al Ahli)
 

BAHRAIN

  The Bahrain national soccer team arrived yesterday in Balart City, Australia, for their second training camp ahead of the 2015 Asia Cup to be held in Australia from January 9 to 31. Bahrain are in Group 'C' with Iran, Qatar and the UAE. Bahrain completed their first training camp in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday and the second camp will run till January 7. The team will play its first friendly match tomorrow against Saudi Arabia. They held their first practice session yesterday evening under the supervision of national coach Marjan Eid and his assistant Isa Al Sadoon. The team warmed up and worked out some tactical moves while the goalkeepers trained separately under goalkeepering caoch Abdulla Belal. Faisal Bu Dahoom and Abdulla Abdo also trained separately under physical fitness trainer Deen Taylor as they are yet to fully recover from recent injuries. The team will have an early evening training session before the friendly game tomorrow. Coach Eid has included all three professional players - Fawzi Ayesh, Abdulla Omar and Jessi John - in the squad which was cut from 27 to 23 before leaving for Kuala Lumpur. The trio were not selected by the previous coach Adnan Hamad of Iraq for the 22nd Gulf Cup held in Riyadh in October. Bahrain failed to qualify for the knock-out stage and coach Hamad was sacked. The best position of Bahrain was in the 2004 edition in China where they were ranked 4th. Bahrain has a player nicknamed  "Karimi" after the famous Iranian player Ali Karimi.   Goalkeepers :Sayed Mohamed Jaafar (Muharraq)  Ashraf Waheed (Manama), and Hamad Al-Dosari (Al Riffa) Defenders : Mohammed Hussain (Al Nasr KSA), Hussain Baba (Al Kuwait FC KWI),  Rashid Al-Houti (Al Busaiteen) ,  Abdullah Al-Hazza (Al Hidd) , Faisal Ali Budahoom (Al Riffa) , Mohammed Daij (Al Riffa), Walid Al Hayyam (Muharraq) Midfielders: Abdullah Yusuf (East Riffa), Abdulla Abdo (Al Riffa), Abdullah Shallal (Al Riffa), Sami Al-Husseini (Al Busaiteen) , Abdullah Omar(Al Riffa), Fawzi Ayesh (Al Saliyya QAT),  Abdul Wahab Almalood (Al Hidd) Forwards : Ismail Abdullatif (Al Nahdha KSA),  Abdulwahab Ali, Syed Zia Saeed Muharraq)  , Seyed Ahmed Jaffar "Karimi" (Al Busaiteen), Jaycee John Okwunwanne (Al Khraityat QAT), Mohammed Tayeb (Al Najma)   [divider]  
Group C
UAE, Iran, Bahrain, Qatar
11 Jan 2015
06:00pm
           
UAE    vs.  Qatar
Canberra Stadium
**********************************
 
11 Jan 2015
08:00pm
           
Iran   vs.      Bahrain
Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
**********************************
 
15 Jan 2015
06:00pm
             
Bahrain  vs.   UAE
V
Canberra Stadium
********************************** 
15 Jan 2015
08:00pm
             
Qatar   vs.     Iran
Stadium Australia
********************************** 
19 Jan 2015
08:00pm
             
Iran  vs      UAE
V
Brisbane Stadium
********************************** 
19 Jan 2015
08:00pm
         
Qatar  vs. Bahrain
V
Stadium Australia

Qatar seals a 3-0 win against Estonia

Doha: Qatar downed Estonia 3-0 in a warm-up game for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup to extend their unbeaten streak to 10 games. The Persian Gulf Cup title holder scored through Mohammad Muntari, Abdul Karim and Mohammad Ismail  to put the match beyond Estonia’s reach in the first half. Although the result was a good sign of this team's progress, the game plan and the fluid like football that the Qatari team displayed against the European opposition , was highly impressive. Qatar continuing to play in such a style and immaculate performance , will undoubtedly make it one of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 title contenders and certainly the favorite team to qualify from group C that also includes Team Melli, UAE and Bahrain
The 2014 Persian Gulf Cup champions will begin their Asian Cup campaign against the UAE on January 11 before taking on Iran and Bahrain.
Qatar will play their final friendly on New Year’s eve in Canberra against Oman.

Zlatko Kranjcar on the brink of signing for Omid Team

Jafar Kashani , the Manager of Iran’s Omid team (Olympics) has announced that his federation and Zlatko Kranjcar are on the brink of signing a contract for the appointment of the Croat , formerly Persepolis and Sepahan coach , as the head coach of Iran’s Olympic team. “I am very confident that it is a matter of days for the final contract to be signed. From my side, I am fully satisfied with the outcome of the negotiation and quite pleased by the way that Kranjcar has negotiated the contract with us. He is a professional man, with high degree of integrity and values. He is not the opportunist type who negotiates even the minutest of detail regarding money or payments. Kranjcar has declared that if he fails to take Iran to the Olympics, he will resign his job with expecting any compensation or severance pay.”
Kranjcar watch Omid Team in Qatar alongside Kashani
Kashani and Kranjcar met in Doha where the Omid team is setting camp. Kashani concluded that “as far as I am concerned it is a done deal; however, I am not the only person in the federation. The process needs to go through the right channels before it is finalized, sealed and delivered.” Kashani refused to disclose the financial deal but said it is not very far from what Vingada was getting. The proposed contract will be for 21 months until the Rio Olympics.   "Omid Team ", translated into English  means "Hope Team". It refers to the Olympic or the U23 team.  

Team Melli will play Benfica Reserves !

Iran's Team Melli will be playing a friendly match against the reserve team of Benfica in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup! The match will be played at 10:30 in the morning next Tuesday 14th October 2014.

Team Melli squad is currently in Carlos Queiroz homeland and so far has managed to arrange two matches only, one of which would have been a real test for Team Melli which has lost valuable preparation time for the upcoming premiere Asian Competition. Due to procrastinating of Queiroz and Kaffashian on signing a contract extension, Team Melli had no coach or a program until a few weeks ago.

The match against full strength Benfica, would have been a strong duel to test Queiroz’s much favored defensive system. However, since the famous Portuguese club and three times European Cup holder is involved in the Champions League and the National Team of Portugal is busy with the European Cup qualifiers, Benfica coach Jorge Jesus has preferred to field the reserve team giving his main players enough rest for the tough schedule ahead. Benfica will be meeting Sporting Covilhã in the Portuguese cup on 18th October.

On the other hand, Iran opponents in the group have been having a busy schedule from the summer as UAE has played strong oppositions like Paraguay , Lithuania, Norway, Georgia & Armenia while Qatar played the likes of Uzbekistan, Peru, Morocco, Indonesia and Macedonia.

It is rumored that a friendly match against Palestine is on the cards next for Team Melli, but it has yet to be finalized.

 

Ashkan Dejagah leaves Fulham for Al-Arabi

bbc.com  -29 July 2014 Last updated at 14:34 GMT

Championship club Fulham have sold Iran international Ashkan Dejagah to Qatari side Al-Arabi for an undisclosed fee.

The 28-year-old winger joined the Whites from Wolfsburg in summer 2012 and made 49 appearances during his time at Craven Cottage, scoring six goals. "Having spoken with Ashkan, we decided in the best interest of both Fulham and himself, that he would leave the club," Fulham boss Felix Magath said. "We wish him very much luck for the future at Al-Arabi." The German boss added: "During his time with us, he made some good appearances and scored some memorable goals. "However, we decided to part ways. "It will always be our policy to have players who are committed to the club and have a desire to work for the common goal." Dejagah featured in all three of Iran's games at the World Cup in Brazil.
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