Tag: Ramin Rezaeian

Team Melli stuns Wales with two late goals.

Rozbeh Cheshmi and Ramin Rezaeian scored two late goals against Wales in Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan, Doha to ensure Team Melli grab all three points in an exciting and dynamic match.

The 2-0 win puts Iran in the second position in Group B on goal difference behind group leader England. The USA is third and will be meeting the leaders later this evening.

Team Melli had five changes from the previous match with Azmoun making the starting lineup and Jahanbakhsh benched. Gholizadeh also made the start-up. The match was balanced in the early stages but slowly Team Melli managed to take a grip on the match.  However, efforts by Azmoun and Taremi did not yield any results. Ali Gholizadeh scored a goal from a nice assist by Azmoun but he was deemed offside.

The first half ended goalless

In the second half, Iran was much the better team and threatened Wales consistently. The poor finishing and the slow transition from defense to attack marred Team Melli's performance. Azmoun shot against the post and seconds later Gholizadeh curled a beauty into the far corner of Hennessy but that ball also hit the upright.

In the dying minutes of the match, Taremi was released from a long ball. He beat the offside trap and was one-to-one with Hennessey, The Welsh keeper came all the way outside the box to cut the ball. He fouled Taremi in the process and also denied him a goal-scoring opportunity, a clear red card case. However,  to the shock of the Iranians, the referee opted for a yellow card to the Welsh Keeper. Moments later, the referee was invited to look at the situation by VAR referees. The review resulted in the rightful decision of sending Henessy off.

Dying minutes of the added time. Rozbeh Cheshnmo lathed at a loose ball from outside the box to score from a low powerful shot right into the corner of Welsh goal. 1-0 to Iran. The Welsh then went on an all-out attack leaving their backlight. two minutes later, a counterattack and a beautiful pass by Taremi ended up with Rezaeian chipping the Welsh keeper to make it 20-0.

Iran deserved this valuable win against the 10-man Wales and needs a similar result to assure qualification to the next round.

Central defence partnership of Team Melli is under threat!

One of the main reasons for the success of Team Melli in winning all the matches in World Cup qualifiers in Bahrain was the solid fortress-style partnership in the heart of the defense.

Dragan Skočić opted for Shojaá Khalilzadeh and Hossein Kananizadegan and created a strong partnership between them, and the result was spectacular.  Iran conceded one fluke goal from Hong Kong and was solid against the rest. This partnership continued in the third round of the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers as only South Korea (3 goals) and Lebanon (1 goal) managed to score against Team Melli. It is a record that any team can be proud of in such a high level of competition.

 However, the return of Carlos Queiroz to Team Melli is threatening this partnership.

The Portuguese coach is fond of the duo Morteza Pouraliganji and Ramin Rezaiyan, both of whom were invited by FFIRI to submit their documents for the issue of visas for Austria. Pouraliganji's return comes after more than a year of absence from the field due to a severe injury followed by operations. His decision to return to Iran domestic league football in the year of the 2022 World Cup is to be close to the selectors. He joined Persepolis and so far performed well in the three matches he played registereing good statistics. The sudden return of Queiroz will again put him as a favorite amongst the rest of the central defenders.

 Like Queiroz himself, Pouraliganji will benefit from the hard work of Shoja Khalilzadeh and Mohammad Hossein Kananizadegan, who were one of the main factors of early qualification of Team Melli to the Qatar World Cup,

There is no question about the technical abilities or performance of Khalilzadeh, but his place in Team Melli is threatened by the bad relationship with Queiroz. The issue came to the surface after the defender gave an interview that was critical. This defender's opinion about how he can affect the future of the defensive composition of the Team did not set well with Queiroz and Khalilzadeh like many other players before was banished from Team Melli.

Queiroz, unlike his predecessor Dragan Skočić, has zero tolerance for any type of opposition. In that sense,  it is quite likely that will make Khalilzadeh will be watching the World Cup games on TV rather than defending the three colors jersey. The Portuguese man will most probably see the return of players such as Seyed Majid Hosseini, Morteza Pouraliganji, and even Roozbe Cheshmi.

Team Melli will leave for Austria next week to play two preparatory games against Uruguay and Senegal under Carlos Queiroz. While Uruguay has published the name of the squad for the match against Iran last week, FFIRI has not finalized its list.

Ali Karimi Joins Al Duhail

 Ali Karimi, Team Melli, and former Esteghlal midfielder who was transferred to the Qatar Star League side, Qatar Sports Club at the beginning of the season, has moved on to Al Duhail. in the winter transfers on loan.

After former Persepolis midfielder Bashar Rasan joined Al-Qatar, the club's officials removed Ali Karimi from the list and transferred him to Al-Duhail. Al-Duhail team is led by French "Sabri Lamoushi". Previously, Ramin Rezaeian, Team Melli defender played half a season for Al-Duhail, but he was included in the surplus list and went to Al-Siliyah. Karimi replaces Rezaian in Al-Duhail, with whom he will play in the Club World Cup.

Iranian legionnaires mixed fortune.

2019 has been a difficult year for Team Melli.

There was high hope for the Team to lift the Asian Cup for the first time since 1976. Iran was the favorite for the AFC Asian Cup and reached the semi-final without much difficulty too. Then a moment of madness and breakdown of discipline allowed the Japanese to open the scoring and the rest was a steep uphill struggle for the Team Melli. The match ended in one of the worst defeats of the decade after Japan scored 3 goals. That was also the end of an era as Carlos Queiroz Finally packed his bags for good.

Then came a relatively unknown quality in the form of a Belgian coach who did not last the distance on his last job with the Ivory Coast. Marc Wilmots started brilliantly with a big win in a friendly against Syria and a draw away to South Korea. The real test, however, was the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. It started well against the two weakest teams of the group, but when they faced the first real test, Team Melli failed tactically and lost to Bahrain. There was hope that the second match away to Iraq will yield a better result but like the match against Japan the semi-final of the Asian Cup, the poor tactical discipline of the players and lack of concentration in the last seconds meant another defeat and now the qualification is at perils.

Wilmots left the Job, which he frankly hardly got involved in, and Team Melli is now coachless.

Despite the disappointing Team Melli results, some of the players have been having a good year abroad.

The most delightful of the successes must be that of Al-Shahaniyah Iranian defender, Ramin Rezaeian. Despite his post of a defender, he is one of Qatar's top five goalscorers by the end of the year.

Rezaian who is on his second season with Al-Shahaniyah is becoming a hot commodity in Qatar Star League (QSL). Rezaian, despite being a defender, has also been among the best players in Qatar. His name in Top Scorers list is among the elite of the league such as  Baghdad Bonajah (19 goals), Akram Afif (17 goals) who are the two top scorers. Rezaeian, Mohammed Montari and Thiago Parisa of Al-Khour are next all on 9 goals.

Interestingly enough, Team Melli center forward, Karim Ansaifard has scored 5 goals only in the same, he plays for  Al -Sailiya.

The Other refreshing performance must go to Kaveh Rezaei who is making real waves in the Belgian league. His disappointment at Brugge last season is all but forgotten as the 27 years old Sporting Charleroi forward has scored an average of a goal in every two matches bagging 8 goals so far this season. His compatriot and teammate Ali Golizadeh also scored 3 goals.

Sardar Azmoun is also having his best season ever and is being sought after by many clubs hoping to lure him out of the Russian League.  Sardar has scored 7 goals in the league so far which is on winter break. He scored 9 all season last term. Zenit is leading the table in Russia.

Another of the legionnaires who exploded on the scene abroad is Mehdi Taremi.  The Team Melli Center forward and Azmoun partner upfront joined the Portuguese club Rio Ave and not only he managed to make a sensational start in the cup competition by scoring 4 goals, his tally so far is 5  goals in 10 games ( a goal every two matches) in the league. Taremi suffered several nagging injuries meantime while in Portugal, but the winter break should keep him fit and ready for another adventure.

Also in Portugal, another Team Melli player has been doing quite well with Desportivo Aves. Mehrdad Mohammadi has been brilliant and scored 5 goals in a team that is struggling near the end of the table.

Alireza Jahanbaksh who is the most expensive Iranian player in history had been having a torrid time since joining Brighton from AZ Alkmaar, but in one week the star player scored two wonderful gaols for his club to take the headlines.

Two very disappointing stories of Team Melli players are those of Saeid Ezatollahi and Samman Ghoddos. The former had a long injury that threatened his career. After a full recovery, he struggled to regain even a fraction of his previous level. He is now warming the bench in AS Eupen, a team in the Belgian league at the bottom of the standing. The 23-year-old Ezatollahi has made one appearance for Eupen this season, while his Team Melli teammate in the same club, Omid Ebrahimi has featured 12 times in the league for AS Eupen.

 

Saman Goddos is a sad story as he is suspended by FIFA for breach of contract. On 29 August 2019, FIFA suspended the  French Ligue 1 side Amiens SC Saman Ghoddos from all football activities for four months plus a €4 million fine for his failure to report to Huesca in the La Liga in accordance with a signed contract.

Is Ivankovic the right choice for Team Melli now?

OPINION

One cannot ignore all the talks about the rift between Marc Wilmots on one side and the FFIRI, Iranian Media and fans on the other.

The Belgian coach has failed to meet expectations and that 14-0 win against Cambodia looks now more a hoax that gave him and his players a serious false impression of superiority and self-esteem that was brought down back to earth in Bahrain.

It is safe to say that Wilmot's team lacks special players in midfield to open the game and feed the forwards but also Wilmots himself does not know his best lineup. There were several other technical shortfalls and the dearth of focus by the players. Wilmots also failed with his players’ selection and substations. He was technically outsmarted by the coaches of Bahrain and Iraq.

Two crucial losses on the trot seem to be good enough justification to relieve the man who was accountable from his duty, but what about the timing? In fact, the timing is perfect as it gives the new coach over three months of plotting and planning. That period will surely be enough for a person like Ivankovic who is very familiar with Iran’s football.

The Professor has many advocates in Iran’s football and if he cannot do the job for Team Melli, it is difficult to imagine any other foreign coach doing it. His familiarity with the players, many of them he coached in Persepolis, his knowledge of the culture, his awareness of the players' discipline and behaviour are great assets to add to his technical awareness and savvy tactics.

It has to be mentioned that Ivankovic is a strict disciplinarian and has no time for petulance, sulkiness and general misconduct that is rife amongst the Iranian players. In his time at Persepolis, he got rid of several players due to disciplinary issues, the most famous of them is the current Team Melli Back Ramin Rezaeian.  Ivankovic could also face problems with other players who are stars in their own rights but not too professionals in attitude and conduct. One such player is Sardar Azmoun.

It is a terrible thing for a person to lose his job, especially in the festive season, but if this unfortunate action has to be carried out, now is the best time for Team Melli but not necessarily for Marc Wilmots.

Analysis of the loss to Bahrain.

Team Melli’s loss to Bahrain is far from destructive and it is too early to call on the success of the coach. However, there were many factors in the loss that needs to be highlighted. Those factors are thus discussed

  • Weather
  • Tactical error
  • Players Selections
  • Late substitutions
  • Lack of Discipline
  • Bahrain’s solid defensive game plan.

Weather

The unbearable weather condition culminated into a lethargic & energy-less performance by Team Melli players. Of course, the bad weather conditions, principally the high temperature and humidity is the biggest challenge for players. It is true that weather affected both teams, Bahrain players, however, are more adapt to such weather than the Iranians.

Tactical Error

If the coaching staff of Team Melli analyzed and studied the opposition, then their reading was faulty for one main reason. Playing 4-3-3 away from home against a fairly solid defence is a risk especially when the weather condition is a disadvantage. A line up to fulfil a balanced game-plan seems a better proposition than prioritizing offence. There was no need for 3 front players, none of whom are adapt to supporting the defence on transitions or retreat on counter-attacks against them. It would have been more prudent for Wilmots to secure the back four with a couple of competent holding midfield players and two offensive midfield players.

As time was passing, it would have been quite clear for the coaches of Team Melli that the opposition has a solid defensive game. At no time was there an obvious plan change to penetrate this defensive wall. The lack of variety in Iranian attacks only helped Bahrain coach read the Iranians well and counter it.

Players Selections

There were no issues with the defensive line up where Hosseini & Kanan-Zadegan occupied the centre of the defence while Milad Mohammadi and Ramin Rezaeian operated on the flanks. Pouraliganji’s absence was claimed to be due to a slight knock but Majid Hosseini should have easily covered him. Unfortunately, the young Trabzonspor defender was far from his best committing two vital errors one of which lead to conceded a penalty. Hosseini was slow and caught off position several times in the match.

 The two main players’ selection issues were in the Midfield and Forward lines.

It is difficult to understand what the coach wanted to achieve with the trio of Ebrahimi, Hajsafi & Mohebbi in the centre of the field. There was a clear lack of a solid holding midfielder, and if Hajsafi was supposed to be the man then he fell short of carrying out the task. Mohebbi selection left many scratching their heads. Just because he scored two goals in his debut against Cambodia does not make him fit for a match away from home in a totally different environment and priorities. He was lost and should have been substituted much earlier. Ebrahimi was excellent in the midfield. He was the schemer and played some delightful balls for his teammates, but he was a one man show in the midfield. He would have benefitted from having Noorullahi or Dejagah on his side.

In the forward line, lining up with 3 forwards, one of whom was completely out of sync and disconnected from the rest, was a tactical suicide.   In fact, the trio was not complimenting each other but also becoming an obstacle in the heavy traffic of Bahrain’s penalty box. An experienced coach should have picked that as early as the first 20 minutes of the match. Karim Ansarifard was a non-performer in this lineup.

Late substitutions

Sometimes the game does not go according to plans and the team might need a shake-up or a change in the assets. Wilmots should have recognized that much earlier than he did against Bahrain. The coaching team was reactive rather than being proactive. It was easily one of the main shortfalls of Wilmots and his assistants in this match.

Lack of Discipline

The Achilles heels of Iranian football. Whether at club level or international, the players seem to be always in a combative mode arguing with referees and easily being intimidated by tricky opponents. Acts of indiscipline normally lead to loss of concertation and errors. In two consecutive matches, Team Melli must consider itself lucky not to lose two players for offences that deserved red cards. Against Cambodia, it was Pouraliganji with his wild lunge on the goalkeeper and against Bahrain; it was Azmoun who was the culprit.  Sardar reacted angrily against the referee for not giving a penalty to  Iran. Despite being awarded a yellow card for his dissent, Azmoun did not stop arguing. It was as if he was daring the Uzbek referee to give him another card! Such a petulant act by a player who does not seem to learn from his failings and continues committing these irrational acts.

Bahrain’s solid defensive game plan.

The Portuguese coach of Bahrain Hélio Filipe de Sousa was much better prepared for the match against Iran and put a solid defensive strategy that did not allow the top guns of Team Melli penetrating his defences. Using two layers of the defensive system, he managed to neutralize Azmoun and Taremi quite easily without allowing any of them clear shots at the target. With Ansarifard, the job of covering him was easier as the Iranian forward was ineffective. Bahrain depended on counter-attacks in the hoping of grabbing a goal which they did in their limited number of attacks.

Wilmots failed to react to such a defensive plan and slow to address it. Essentially, he had little solutions to counter the Portuguese game plan.

Final words

In summary, failure in a match is part and parcel of football. It is surely not a tragic loss to Bahrain as Team Melli still looked solid. This defeat, although caused by an individual error of Majid Hosseini, is the collective result of many factors that have been addressed above. Individual errors and slip-ups can occur anytime, the team that is prepared and has learned from its mistakes, usually can storm the weather and come out winners. The repeated occurrence of similar mistakes spells doom.

Marc Wilmots has not had enough time to get familiar with the team. It is quite doubtful that he selected many players, if any, of his own choice leaving Hashemian and others to offer suggestions. A two to three days training session before the match is simply not adequate enough for a new coach to get familiar with the capabilities of his squad.

However, Wilmots must address some issues immediately. In order for him to succeed, he needs to read the games much better and do his homework on Iraq from now.

Question of indiscretion!

One thing that not even the strongest critic of Carlos Queiroz can deny, is the fact the Portuguese head coach of Team Melli has introduced and implemented a strict discipline code and a no nonsense policy towards his Iranian players, that has helped Team Melli to develop. Queiroz demands discipline, hard work , commitment from his players. Any indiscipline or insubordination would result in the culprit being thrown out of the squad for good. There is no appeal committee with Queiroz. Many players have experienced that too.

Queiroz always claims that he does his work in a systematic manner using advance tools in player’s analysis and not based on affiliations or issues that are not performance or character related.

Yet, the Portuguese master has a habit of paradoxical behaviors that defeats his preaching and practices.  Ramin Rezaeian is one such case.

Rezaeian was not invited by Queiroz to the Team Melli squad for the last match against Bolivia. Rightly so, since he is out of competitive match practice as he did not join any team after the World Cup after his contract with the Belgian club K.V. Oostende has ran out.

However, after a few months without training, the player turned up in the Team Melli training camp that he was not invited to, and joined the training sessions, presumably with the approval of Carlos Queiroz. Although that is odd, there have been cases of former players training with their previous clubs to get in shape and gain some valuable practice for the next/future team.

Perhaps, that was the good intention of Carlos Queiroz with Rezaeian.

But the strangest decision and a kind of shock for the observers was when Rezaeian, the uninvited player, was seen on the Azadi bench on Tuesday during Bolivia game!! No matter how one likes the player, when he is not part of the team sheet, it means exactly that in professional football, he simply cannot occupy a seat on the team bench as that is reserved for the substitutes and coaching staff.

The Portuguese is very quick to criticize and denounce anything out of order or thing he does not like. He is very vocal too. Yet, he does not seem to explain what was Rezaeian doing on the bench?. Of course, no matter what justification, the laws and practices of football are very clear about the occupation of the bench which Queiroz in his own wisdom, decided to ignore!

In professional football, the one that Queiroz always rants about being part of it for decades, players who are not listed on the match sheet, normally are granted special seats in the stands but certainly NOT on the bench which was so over-crowded on Tuesday it resembled a crowded Tehran Bus.

Naturally, the question that begs itself to be asked is if that coach was Daei or Ghalenoei or any Iranian national, what would have been the reaction of the media and Critics towards such a decision? Would he not be accused of being unprofessional and bias?

Food for thought

Ramin Rezaeian, finally plays in Europe.

Ramin Rezaeian, a 27-year-old Iranian right-back who had been tested two weeks ago at an internship in the Netherlands, signed a two-year contract with KV Ostend, the Jupiler Pro League

The ex-Persepolis player, who won the Persian Gulf Pro League title, has convinced Yves Vanderhaeghe and the sports team of his value. Rezaeian  has proven that he is also capable of evolving on the flanks .

Rezaeian faced uncertainty and desperation when his Croat coach Branko Ivankovic insisted that he has no place in his team and will not accept him playing for the club under any circumstances. The action by Branko was due to Rezaeian's poor attitude and professionalism. Despite efforts from a host of people including assurance by Ali Parvin that Rezaeian will be playing in Persepolis this season, The Croat stood firm and Parvin promise was not fulfilled

Rezaeian who was a major part of  Team Melli campaign (19 caps, 2 goals), already guaranteed to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia,  is very popular player in Iran. The number of subscribers to his Instagram account is even more than one million. It is this popularity that has gone to his head and nearly spoiled his career. KV Ostend, is the third team that has inquired about him and gave him trials.

 

Team Melli on track for the Uzbekistan match

Team Melli is on course in preparation for the crucial match against Uzbekistan on Monday.

FIFA announced the name of the referees for the match. Ahmad Abu Baker Said Al Kaf from Oman will be assisted by Hamed Suleiman and Abu Baker Saleem. The fourth referee is Omar Mubarak all from the Sultanate of Oman.

The Omani referee was the fourth official in 4 matches in the recent FIFA World Cup U-20 championship 2017 in South Korea. He was not assigned any matches to referee. His last international match was in Sydney on 27th March 2017 refereeing the match between Australia and UAE which the host won 2-0.

Meanwhile, the FFIRI has encouraged the fans not to go to Azadi Stadium in matchday unless they carry a ticket on hand. The ticket sales for the match against Uzbekistan is all on-line through a dedicated website. No tickets will be sold on the match day from kiosks.

FIFA was given assurance by the FFIRI and the security authorities that strict measures and tight security will be implemented on match day following the terrorist attacks Parliament and the Ayatollah Khomeini mausoleum a few days back.

Carlos Queiroz is relying on his team's solid defence with a perfect defensive record of not conceding a goal since the opening match, while he will be deploying  a powerful offensive line up front to unsettle the Uzbek defenses. Azmoun has been in top form , while both Ansarifard and Ghoochannejad had their best ever forms playing in Europe. domestically , Mehdi Taremi has been the best Iranian forward and the league's top scorer.

To supplement the forwards, Jahanbakhsh and Vahid Amiri will be feeding the attackers with their runs and crosses on the flanks , leaving Dejagah and Ezzatollahie to cover the middle of the field.

There are no injuries worries to report in the squad , however , Ashkan Dejagah is short of match practise and made a short appearance for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga following a long injury. Ramin Rezaeian is without a club after he was sacked from Persepolis , nevertheless the defender form was quite good against Montenegro in the recent 2-1 win.

 

Morale boosting win for Team Melli against Montenegro.

Team Melli defeated Montenegro 1-2 in a friendly International match in the capital city Podgorica on Sunday.

Team Melli was camping in Austria, before travelling to Montenegro for the match. Both Iran and Montenegro are preparing for the FIFA World Cup2018 qualifiers next week.

Iran played a goalless draw against Montenegro three years ago before the World Cup. The Montenegro team has performed well in the current World Cup qualifying rounds with good results such as the win against Denmark in Copenhagen.

According to Queiroz at the pre-match press conference, Montenegro game style is similar to Uzbekistan and that is his reasoning behind arranging this match.

Iran and Uzbekistan's national teams will play Azadi Stadium next week with Team Melli looking for a win to seal their qualification for the second consecutive World Cup.

Team Melli line up against Montenegro included : Alireza Beiranvand, Morteza Pouraliganji, Pejman Montazeri, Saeid Aghaei, Ramin Rezaeian, Saeid Ezatolahi (Ezzaat Pourqaz) Ehsan Hajsafi (Ali Karimi) Ashkan Dejagah (Reza Ghoochannejhad) Mehdi Torabi, Karim Ansarifard (Milad Mohammadi) and Sardar Azmoun (Ehsan Pahlavan)

Iran played the final ten minutes of the match short of one player after the expulsion of Morteza Pouraliganji for a second yellow card.

In the tenth minute Sardar Azmoun scored for Iran again after 8 months dry run. Aghaei sent a long ball to Rezaeian who headed towards Torabi and the quick and artistic move of  Mehdi Torabi was effective in gifting the goal to Sardar Azmoun.

After the goal, Montenegro took the majority of possession and threatened Team Melli several time. Biravand in goal was a saviour and prevented the collapse in the first half. However in the 31st minute the hosts scored the deserved equalizer through their star player  Jovetic the ex- Manchester City player and currently playing for Seville in the La Liga.

Saeid Ezatolahi powerful shot from a free kick, the header against the bar by Azmoun were among the two most serious attempts by Team Melli to take the lead again. Montenegro had several chances too but the half ended in a 1-1 draw.

In the second half, the substitute Ali Karimi’s cross and followed by Ramin Rezaeian header, once again to Sardar Azmoun , set up the second goal for Team Melli. The young striker has increased his goals tally to eighteen with this brace.

The host once again had most of the possession but to no real threat on the solid and tight Iranian defence.

Apart from the dismissal of Pouraliganji , the match went According to script that Queiroz wanted it

The game ended 2-1 as Asian top ranked team in the FIFA rankings, gathered valuable points to add for next months.

Queiroz once again, gave two players their debut. Saeed Aghaei and Ehsan Pahlavan made their first appearance for Team Melli and played quite well against the organized Montenegro team.

Both of them were encouraging.

Queiroz gave a chance for seventeen players in the match and utilized his full quota under the rules. Many fixed players did not get a chance to play including the likes of Jahanbakhsh, Taromi, Shojaei, Amiri and Jalal Hosseini.

The make-shift team of Queiroz has proved that he has managed to create two parallel teams capable to compete at the highest levels in any match. So that injuries and suspensions, without prejudice to the team, does not affect the overall performance.

This was a morale boosting win against a European team away from home.