Team Melli's training camp the preparatory games against Russia (March 23) and Kenya (March 28) that started today was joined by several legionnaires but with a notable absentee.
Domestic league players, who have been invited to the national team camp, have introduced themselves to the technical staff this morning at the Olympic Hotel. Ahmed Noorolahi, Mohammad Hossein Kananizadegan, and Shoja Khalilzadeh, the three legionnaires playing in the UAE and Qatar have also been added to the national team camp. It is reported from the camp that Bayer Leverkusen striker Sardar Azmoun has requested the national team's coaching staff to be excused from joining this camp. Apparently, Azmoun will not accompany the team in the upcoming games with Russia and Kenya due to family reasons and with the permission of the head coach.. Azmoun's presence in the team camp was especially important for Russian media and experts because of his time with Rubin Kazan, Rostov, and Zenit for many years, and was considered one of the best foreign stars of the Russian league.
Hossein Hosseini, Hossein Pourhamidi, Alain Dinka (GK coach) , Alireza Bairanvand and Payam Niazman.
Today, the Football Federation also introduced the assistants of Amir Ghalenoei. According to this, Saeed Elhawi, Rahman Rezaei, Ali Asghar Ghorban Alipour, Alian Dinka (Goalkeeper Coach of Tractor ) and Ali Kamangari (Analyzer) are members of the national team's technical staff. Due to the limited time between the end of the league games and the start of the camp, the first foreign assistant to the head coach of the national team will be introduced after this camp, and another Iranian coach will be added to the current staff.
Amir Ghalenoei has picked up his first squad ahead of the two international friendlies against Russia and then Kenya both in Azadi Stadium, Tehran.
There were no major surprises as the bulk of the previous Team Melli squad was picked. Ghalenoei, however, did not call eight players from the previous squad of Carlos Queiroz. Karim Ansarifard, Saman Ghoddos, Ali Karimi, Milad Mohammadi, Abolfazl Jalali, Morteza Pouraliganji, Amir Abedzadeh and Majid Hosseini. Apart from the latter who is injured, the rest have been suffering performance issues or warming their club's benches.
One of the notable absentees is Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, of Hull City in the championship. Although he is back after a longish injury deprived him of playing, it seems that Sayyadmanesh still requires more time to fully recover.
Of the new players, many of them passed 25 years of age bracket, Hezbavi of Team Melli U19, is the most significant. Despite his good performance in Uzbekistan in the AFC U19 Asian Cup 2023, he was unable to lead the team to the finals, although his selection to Team Melli is a good consolation.
According to a news report, the Kenyan Football Federation officially announced that the national team of Kenya will face Iran on March 28th in an international friendly match at Tehran's Azadi Stadium.
Before this, Iran's national team has a match arranged against Russia on March 23rd at Azadi Stadium. Amir Ghalenoei will lead Team Melli for the first time since his recent appointment as Head Coach.
Kenya's national team, Harambee Stars, will flex muscles with Iran in an international friendly on March 28, Football Kenya Federation chief executive officer, Barry Otieno has confirmed. Stars will travel to Tehran for the match as they make their comeback to the international stage after being banned by the world football governing body, Fifa, in February of last year.
Otieno has urged Kenyans to rejoice over the national team's return after a year away, adding that the friendly will be the ideal chance for them to freshen up after getting rusty from inactivity. “On March 28, the Harambee Stars return to the pitch for the first time in over a year. This is a big moment for Kenya. I expect a great match and urge all Kenyans to rally behind the team so that we can move forward together," Otieno remarked.
The FKF boss said they would deploy every resource at their disposal to help Kenya qualify for the next Africa Cup of Nations.
National team head coach Engin Firat welcomed the fixture, saying Iran will provide a good test for Kenya. “Iran is a World Cup nation and is ranked 24th in the world. Playing them in our first match back after suspension will help us assess where we are which is the first step in rebuilding the team and working our way to a high level of competitiveness," Firat said.
“It is important to keep the team engaged and to keep working so that we can play at a good level when we return.” The Turkish gaffer revealed he will name the provisional squad on Thursday morning, before the start of a residential training camp on March 19.
Engin Firat, has previous coaching experience in Iran's Saipa and Sepahan clubs. Firat was also the assistant of Ali Daei on the Iranian national team at one point in time.
Iran and Kenya have met twice with both matches played in Iran with Iran also winning them both.
IRAN v KENYA
Head2Head
FIFA Ranking:
Iran - 24th [1551 pts]Kenya -101 [1202 pts]
Mohammad Mehdi Nabi, an executive at the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), has announced the cancellation of Team Melli’s second friendly game. The match was scheduled to take place after their friendly against Russia.
According to Nabi, the reason for the cancellation was that Iraq suggested hosting the match in their country. However, this proposal was not accepted by FFIRI due to their prior arrangement to play against Russia in Tehran. “We have finalized one game and our goal is to have a second match here in Tehran as well,” said Nabi.
FFIRI personnel are actively seeking another team to play against on FIFA day. Amir Ghalenoei will test his selection against Russia on March 23rd. It is believed that most legionnaires will be available for this match, which coincides with the Nowrooz festivities. The exception is Majid Hosseini, whose Turkish club announced his injury last week.
Amir Ghalenoei is wasting no time in his quest to prepare Team Melli for the two upcoming friendlies on FIFA Day.
The newly appointed Team Melli head coach will announce the list of 23 to 26 players after the conclusion of the match between Golgohar and Foolad Kusestan in the Hazfi Cup. on March 17th. The training camp will commence on 19th March as the players will start arriving at the National Teams Training center in Tehran. Despite the prior announcement that the coaching team has already been selected, the assistants to Amir Ghalenoei in the Iranian national team has not yet been determined, and considering that Mehdi Taj is away from the country, attending the FIFA Congress, Ghalenoei had meetings with the executive officials of the national team today to prepare for the camp. Mehdi Taj announced yesterday that the names of Ghalenoei's assistants have not yet been determined, but a foreign coach will be part of the coaching staff alongside national coaches.
On the other hand, an ongoing poll by ISNA on the question of whether Ghalenoei is the right choice for Team Melli had a 50-50 split.
Iran will play Russia and then Iraq on the first FIFA Day of the year
The English conservative right-wing "Daily Telegraph" has reported disturbing claims that Iran's Team Melli is risking elimination from the FIFA World Cup as a result of the Iranian government supplying attack drones to the Russian forces for use in Ukraine. The full article (read below) is yet another proof if needed indeed, that politics supersedes any sporting values and fair play especially when the event negatively affects the American and European interests or the interest of other protected groups or minorities that the colonialists support for political reasons.
While decades of sanctions by the west have failed to shake the ruling clan in Iran from their fundamental values, they very much affected normal Iranians, lowering their standards of living, reducing their life expectancy, and dragging millions of ordinary Iranian women and men into poverty. Sanctions have not managed to change the regime's policies however they managed to make them stronger. In desperation and an act of cowardice, the west is now using dirty tricks and politicizing football for its purpose. FIFA will be under severe pressure from the USA and the NATO countries to punish Iran football this time, after their military, banking & finance, Economical and political sanction have not worked for over 40 years.
The hypocrisy and double standards of the west are a true insult to the intelligence of any human being following world events. There never was a call to sanction the USA and UK for their role in invading and bond bombing countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria or their role in the genocide of the Yemeni people!
Who is the victim in this case? ....Team Melli fans all across the world and not just Iran itself. The ruling clan does not give a hoot if Team Melli travels to Doha or not. Their priority is somewhere else.
Fifa is facing calls to throw Iran out of the World Cup weeks before their opening match against England after “kamikaze” drones made by the country were used in the latest wave of attacks by Russia against Ukraine. Several people were killed, according to the Ukrainian government, during strikes that included the use of explosives-packed Shahed-136 drones which detonate upon impact with a target.
The attacks took place barely a month before England – the Government of which has been supplying arms to Ukraine to repel Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the country – take on Iran at the World Cup. Chris Bryant MP, the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Russia and former Foreign Office minister, told Telegraph Sport any nation founded to have “provided military support” for Putin’s invasion should be banished from world sport. He added: “Sporting authorities around the world and in every sport should be looking very carefully at Iran’s direct engagement and support for Putin in his illegal invasion of Ukraine. Dictatorial regimes relish sporting success. We should deny them that opportunity.”
Fifa and Uefa threw Russia out of world football in the wake of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, including from March’s World Cup play-offs and the entire 2024 European Championship.
Belarus, whose government has been supporting the invasion, were also forced to play their home games behind closed doors in a neutral country until further notice. Uefa last week refused to rule out taking further action against the latter nation after it deployed soldiers on the Belarus-Ukraine border.
Fifa has been approached for comment.
Iran already faces European Union sanctions over this week’s drone attacks if Tehran’s involvement is proven. France and Germany, both parties to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, have made it clear they believe fresh sanctions are necessary given such transfers of weaponry violate a resolution by the UN Security Council. Speaking ahead of an EU meeting in Luxembourg, Denmark’s foreign minister Jeppe Kofod said: “What we can see now: Iranian drones are used apparently to attack in the middle of Kyiv, this is an atrocity.”
Iran foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani denied his country had provided Russia with drones.
He said: “The published news about Iran providing Russia with drones has political ambitions and it’s circulated by western sources. We have not provided weaponry to any side of the countries at war.”
Iranian climber who competed without hijab goes missing
Meanwhile, a female Iranian athlete who flouted the Islamic Republic rules and competed in a climbing competition without wearing a hijab, has gone missing according to reports. Rekabi is reportedly only the second female athlete to shun the country's strict hijab rules as protests continue to grip the country after the death of Mahsa Amini.
The footage shows Rekabi, from Tehran, competing without a headscarf and with her hair tied in a ponytail at the International Federation of Sport Climbing Asian Championships final in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, on Sunday, October 16.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, a member of the Iran Football Federation’s Board of Directors, said that a planned friendly match with Russia has been called off.
The head coach of the Russian national football team Valery Karpin had said that his team will play Iran in a friendly match in Tehran or Doha on November 16.
“We cannot play Russia on November 16 because we will travel to Doha on November 11. Team Melli will play a friendly match with one of the Persian Gulf countries in Doha,” Nabi said.
Iran will meet Uruguay in a friendly in Austria on Friday and play Senegal four days later.
The Russian football federation has announced upcoming friendly matches against Kyrgyzstan and Iran, with the latter likely to take place in Tehran, according to reports.
Russian teams at all levels remain banned from UEFA and FIFA competitions following the onset of Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine – a situation that prevented the Russian team from attempting to qualify for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
But they can play friendly internationals and will take on an Iran team that will play at the World Cup in a group alongside the USA, England, and Wales.
The Iranians will host the Russian team managed by Valeri Karpin in a game planned for November, with a date and location to be confirmed but which will likely take place in Tehran, according to Match TV.
The match against Kyrgyzstan is scheduled for September 24 in Bishkek’s Dolen Omurzakov Stadium and will be the first football meeting at this level between the two nations.
The coaching staff of the Russian national team is happy to have the opportunity to get together again and hold a full-fledged training camp,”said manager Karpin, who later announced a provisional 35-man squad for the meeting with Kyrgyzstan.
“Iran are a World Cup participant, a team with a good rating. There are questions about the dates of the matches, Iran plays the first match on November 21 at the World Cup [against England].
“Negotiations are underway,”added Karpin when asked about an exact date.
The Russian national team has not played since a World Cup qualifying defeat to Croatia in Split back in November.
That loss ended their hopes of qualifying directly for Qatar, although Russia was due to play Poland in a European qualifying playoff semifinal in Moscow in March, before a potential qualifying final against Sweden or the Czech Republic.
Russia is currently ranked number 35 in FIFA’s men’s ratings, with Iran in the 22nd spot and Kyrgyzstan down in 95th.
Commenting on the latest developments in the Team Melli camp, Hassan Kamranifar said: "We are closely coordinating with the head coach of the national team, Dragan Skocic. Our contract was finalized on Monday and will be announced to the public in the next two days. We will have a good preparation for the first Fifa day break including playing some friendly international games. This Fifa day will start from 30 May to 14 June and we will have a period of 14 days for the Team Melli training camp. We hope to play at least two to three friendly games."
In response to the question, in which country will the Team Melli camp will be held, He stated: "It will probably be in two different countries. First, we go to a country other than Qatar and then we go will camp in Qatar on the next available FIFA day in September 2022. Kamranifar continued: "First we will go to Canada and then we will travel to Qatar. The venues in Canada have also been finalized. If you allow me, it will be finalized tomorrow or the day after tomorrow and we will announce the two more games." The Secretary-General of the Football Federation said that it is better for the national team to play at least two games in Canada, despite the distance : "Yes, we talked to two other countries for friendly matches to play in Canada." There is also the issue of stadiums because the distances between Canadian cities are vast. If we are going to fly for 5-6 hours for the second game, we will return to Qatar. I cannot name the opposing team at this time. They themselves have said that the nominal contract should not be finalized."
Kamranifar also announced the possibility of facing the Albanian team and said: "European teams are involved." The Russia game has been canceled. Albania has played against Russia and we are trying to play against Albania as well"
Team Melli will hold its first training camp under the leadership of the Croatian head coach in mid-September.
The team faces three important challenges for holding camp with the availability of players, which can overshadow the camp objectives and Team Melli preparation.
Skocic has yet to have a single training session with Team Melli since Covid19 has upset football activities worldwide. The first schedule camp for Dragan Skocic will be overshadowed by more events as FIFA has just announced the postponement of the Qualifiers from October 2020 to yet unannounced dates in 2021.
The Croatian coach will have the opportunity to face the squad for the first time. Circumstances allowing, it will help the head coach to identify the players he needs for 4 crucial and decisive matches in the qualifying round of the FIFA World Cup 2022.
In this camp, the national team will have arranged two friendly matches, the first match against Uzbekistan will be held on September 9th. The national team will play another match before that, which, according to speculation and information in the Arabic-language media, will be played against either Syria or Palestine, but nothing is certain at this time.
However, two important issues have overshadowed the camp with all the player's availabilities, which could be a problem for Skocic's as he may not be able to hold his camp with all the players.
Corona and visa restrictions
Most of the Team Melli squad consists of professional players working outside Iran, mainly in Belgium, Portugal, Qatar, etc., and a few who are playing in Russia, England and Croatia. The hardship that faced Alireza Biranvand in his trip from Iran to Belgium is a bitter reminder, and this issue has raised concerns for most legionnaires that they may have difficulty returning back to their country of work.
Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, Belgium, etc., provide a two-week quarantine for travelers to countries such as Iran to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. For this reason, Iran, like the Iraqi national team, may restrict the participation of the legionnaires to prevent any problems and difficulties for those playing in foreign leagues. The availability of foreign-based players is of course overshadowed by their availability and release by their employers. With the Leagues scheduling in Europe in such a mess, it is highly unlikely if any player is released by their clubs unless they are of now value to their squad, like Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
The AFC Champions League commitment
The AFC Champions League league will start in Qatar with four Iranian representatives competing for the coveted prize. For this reason, these four clubs will keep their players and not release them for Team Melli. Iranian clubs have never won the AFC Champions League title since its new format and are not considered as title contenders this season either, but will be always trying to upset the rivals and be at full strength.
However, in recent days there have been reports that players' passports have been submitted to the national team's department for friendly matches with Uzbekistan in Tashkent. Given that the players will have to rest for a few days on their return from the camp in Uzbekistan, the possibility of the players' absence from the four teams in the camp will be strengthened or at least they will remain with the national team for a shorter period.
Hazfi Cup.
The League Organization Committee announced that it is willing to postpone the final of the “Hazfi Cup” to a later date for the sake of Team Melli Training Camp in Uzbekistan. However, the organizer's condition is that there should be a firm decision on the dates and confirmation from Team Melli administrators before a conclusion is made. Hazfi Cup, which is becoming a real farce in Iran’s football with chaotic and ever-changing scheduling, was to be held mid-September.
With all these problems, Team Melli may not be able to hold the camp at all and with the recent postponement announcement by FIFA in regards to the qualifiers, the Team Melli camp might also be postponed, prolonging Skocic attempt to meet Team Melli players for another few months.
National team head coach Engin Firat welcomed the fixture, saying Iran will provide a good test for Kenya. “Iran is a World Cup nation and is ranked 24th in the world. Playing them in our first match back after suspension will help us assess where we are which is the first step in rebuilding the team and working our way to a high level of competitiveness," Firat said.
“It is important to keep the team engaged and to keep working so that we can play at a good level when we return.” The Turkish gaffer revealed he will name the provisional squad on Thursday morning, before the start of a residential training camp on March 19.
Engin Firat, has previous coaching experience in Iran's Saipa and Sepahan clubs. Firat was also the assistant of Ali Daei on the Iranian national team at one point in time.
Iran and Kenya have met twice with both matches played in Iran with Iran also winning them both.
