Tag: Saman Ghoddos

Brute force win Iran 3 – 0 Bahrain.

Team Melli revitalized its chances of qualifying for the next round of FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar after a convincing and comprehensive win against Bahrain by three goals to nil.

Sardar Azmoun scored two goals (54′),(61) and Mehdi Taremi (79′) scored the third. The first half of the match played in Bahrain’s National Stadium ended goal-less.

The match started with both teams feeling the stress of the game. Both teams had several stray passes while Team Melli was starting its offense with aimless direct football from Kanani and Khalilzadeh from the central defense area. All their balls lacked the accuracy for Azomun and Taremi to work with. Bahrain Team tried to take the match to the Iranians but their offensive moves were far too shy and when they reached Beiravand, none of the balls created anything serious for Team Melli.

What the Bahrain team excelled in, though, was the quick transformation to multi-layer defense whenever the Iranians were building their offensive moves. Building a solid impenetrable central defensive wall with numbers. That made the job of the Team Melli forwards that much difficult. The first real chance of scoring came in the 19th minute when Azmoun and Taremi beat the Bahrain defense offside trap, but Taremi wasted the opportunity heading high.

In the second half, Dragan Skocic did a masterclass by pulling Milad Mohammad out and sending Saman Ghoddos in. The result was swift and deadly. Skocic depleted the classic mass defense breaker by instructing his player to penetrate Bahrain’s solid defender from the middle playing one-two balls. Azmoun, from a clever pass that opened Bahrain defense wild, scored past the hapless Seyed Mohammed Jaffar in Bahrain goal. Six minutes later, Azmoun was on the end of a classic Saman Ghoddos defense-splitting pass, running with the ball powerfully and confidently to score again. 2-0 for Team Melli and Bahrain Team has a mountain to climb.

Seyed Mohammed Jaffar in Bahrain goals was the star of the Bahrain Team as the score margin would have been much higher if it was not for his heroics.

Mehdi Tarem scored Iran’s third from Ahamad Nourallahi’s assist after Torabi cleverly robbed the ball from Bahrain right back near the corner. Taremi on receiving the ball from Nourallahi, cooly wrong-footed Syed Jafar and scored the final goal.

It is a confidence-boosting win associated with a polished performance. Much credit has to go to the under-rated Dragan Skocic for his intelligent game-changing tactics and substitutions. Alireza Jahanbakhsh who disappointing against Hong Kong was given a rest with Ehsan Hajsafy taking his place. Azmoun and Taremi really clicked in this match, most probably after a long briefing by the coaching staff. Defenders were solid while the midfield played as well as they could under the circumstances.

The next Match against Cambodia might see a different lineup but with the same game plan. Iran is now second in the table behind Iraq.

Possible Line Up against Hong Kong.

Skocic knows very well that he has no choice but to win four of his four matches in order to have a chance of qualifying for the next stage of the World Cup 2022 qualifiers and more importantly for him, to keep his job as the head coach of this team. Hence, his slightest mistake in picking the lineup could be irreparable.

Team Melli, which has the most stars compared to previous years, has gone to Bahrain without a preparation game in recent months so the match against Hong Kong will not only a must-win 3 pointer, but also a preparation for the tougher oppositions ahead in form of Bahrain and Iraq.

Dragan Skocic intends to deploy a 2-4-4 formation in this match, in which Alireza Beiranvand will keep his post in the goal. Skocic will continue using the pair.  Shojaa Khalilzadeh and Mohammad Hossein Kananizadegan in the heart of the defense. He will use  Sadegh Moharremi, who was called up to the national team again after months of injury, as a right-back. In the left-back post, although the coach has many options such as Ehsan Haj Safi and Milad Mohammadi for selection, his intentions seem to be on using Vahid Amiri as a left-back. The Persepolis midfielder, who has also played as a defender for his club team in the last two months, has impressed Skocic in this makeshift role.

In the midfield, Skocic intends to use Ahmad Nourollahi and Saeed Ezzatolahi along with Ali Gholizadeh. The selection of the fourth player among options such as Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Mehdi Torabi is none other than Saman Ghoddos. The Brentford midfielder, who has been delayed from joining the national team due to his club play-off and subsequent promotion to the English Premier League, is set to start the match against Hong Kong.. The possible presence of Ghoddos in today’s squad will be seen as a surprise from Skocic by many observers, however, it makes sense as Ghoddos has completed a successful season while Jahanbakhsh was the opposite.

Skocic’s easiest job was picking the two forwards. The head coach of Team Melli has a potent strike force that automatically picks itself upfront.  Mehdi Taremi and Sardar Azmoun, are the most powerful strikers of the national team in the last couple of decades and will be starting the match. Kaveh Rezaei, Mehdi Ghaedi, and Karim Ansarifard will be on the bench with the possibility of one of them being introduced late in the match.

It remains to be seen how Skocic’s technical thinking will play out on the pitch in the first leg of the return leg. Last minutes events could also affect his final selection.

 

Possible Line Up

 

3 Team Melli players leave camp after positive corona test results!

Team Melli’s first training session was held today in preparation for the friendly match against Syria.

The team is camping at at the National Football Center and the session started from 11:30 am today (Wednesday).

After the start of training, Dragan Skocic briefed the players for a few minutes, then followed by various exercises..

Team Melli is missing a few regulars this time mostly due to travel restriction due to covid19. Amir Abedzadeh was not invited to the camp due to quarantine laws on Madeira Island in Portugal , Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Saman Ghoddos due to flight restrictions from England, Morteza PouraliGanji and Sadegh Moharrami are both on the injury list while and Kaveh Rezaei has tested positive for coronavirus. Meanwhile, Mehdi Ghaedi, Aref Gholami and Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri, all three players from Esteghlal, left the camp due to  positive corona test.

This training session lasted for 70 minutes with a focus on light physical work.

The second training session will be conducted tomorrow (Thursday).

 

 

Two Team Melli legionnaires shine for their teams.

It was another sweet week for Team Melli player in Europe.

Yesterday, Mehdi Taremi was the Man of the Match for FC Porto in the 3-1 win against FC Famalicão

Porto got themselves started with Taremi’s first-time goal in the 13th minute before the Iranian’s goal was canceled out seven minutes later through Jhonata Robert’s penalty. Sérgio Oliveira scored from the spot-kick too just moments later, dispatching Porto’s second of the night and giving his side a 2-1 lead going into the break.

Mehdi Taremi once again displayed his quality and added greater comfort to the visitors’ lead in the 57th minute, looping a header into an unattended net to grab a second for himself and make it 3-1.

Famalicão aimed for a final push but, in times of desperation, Porto proved to be ruthless on the counter, adding the finishing touches to a 4-1 victory with a precise drive from João Mário, fresh off Sérgio Conceição’s bench.

Taremi has scored 6 goals in the Primeira Liga so far for Porto.

Today, yet another nearly forgotten Team Melli player made the headlines for his team. Saman Ghoddos, assisted in the first goal while scoring the second and the winner for his club Brentford in the third round of the FA Cup in London.

Ghoddos, who is still not a fixed starter for the Championship side that is aiming to win promotion to the Premier League, has shown enough quality and skill to challenge for a starting place. In today’s match, he was chosen as the Man of the Match, and with this 2-1 win against Middlesbrough, Goddos has helped his team to a place in the FA Cup fourth round draw.

Saman Ghoddos interview in Brentford.

Saman Ghoddos was welcomed to Brentford after he signed on an initial one-year loan deal. The Team Melli attacker was straight into his work at Jersey Road before sitting down with the club PR for his first chat as a Brentford player. The Iranian international talked about his long-awaited move, what he wants to bring to the squad and his first impressions of the club.

 

Saman Ghoddos heading to the Championship outfit Brentford.

Brentford agreed a deal with Amiens to sign attacking midfielder Saman Ghoddos.

The Ligue 2 outfit has given the Team Melli player the green light to leave the club after their relegation from France’s top flight last season as per a contract clause.

A source at Brentford has told Football Insider that the 27-year-old has already undertaken his medical over in France and that the move is set to be completed shortly. Ghoddos will have to undergo the mandatory 2 weeks self-quarantine as per British regulation on new arrivals into the country.

Ghoddos has been a long-term target for Bees boss Thomas Frank and the Championship outfit tried to sign the playmaker last summer.

However, he remained with Amiens but spent most of the season on the sidelines through both suspension and injury as the club were relegated.

He was suspended from playing for four months and fined by FIFA after he reneged on a written contract with Spanish outfit SD Huesca to move to France.

Having returned to action back in January this year, he suffered a hip injury which kept him sidelined for seven league games and he managed to make just two more appearances before the French football season was cut short.

The 21-cap international star now looks set to bolster Brentford’s side as Frank’s men look to bounce back from their play-off disappointment last season. The team is one of the challengers for promotion to the premier league this season.

Brentford kicked off the 20/21 campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Birmingham, although they progressed to the next round of the League Cup with a 2-0 win over Southampton.

Ashkan Dejagah recalled to Team Melli.

After being surprisingly dropped by Team Melli selectors, Captain and midfield player Ashkan Dejagah has been recalled to the squad.

This is despite the fact that the training of the team which is in preparation for the Hong Kong match in the qualifying rounds of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 started two days ago. According to the FFIRI website, Ashkan Dejagah has been invited to join the rest of his teammates as of today (Tuesday). The federation’s website did not indicate which player Dejagah is replacing as the permitted 23 man squad quota has already been announced by the coaching team. There is no news of any injuries in the current squad.

Dejagah was not on the national team’s starting list for the camp.

It is unclear if Marc Wilmots and his foreign assistants were involved in this selection partly because the Belgian head coach has not been around and yet to be paid by the federation since commencing his duty. Most probably the selection is a reflection of Vahid Hashemian’s views. The Iranian assistant coach probably wanted to make an immediate impact by selecting two new players and ignoring some experienced ones.  Saeed Ezzatollahi has been dropped from the squad, which probably is quite justified because of his lack of match practise, although Jahanbakhsh who has Temporary Email not played for Brighton in the  Premier League is included. Ashkan Dejagah has been one of this season’s best League players in Iran’s domestic football. His exclusion has certainly raised a few eyebrows.

Saman Ghoddos is serving a FIFA ban so he is ineligible for inclusion.

Saman Ghoddos , a repeat story for Iranian players.

Saman Quddos has been suspended for four months after being sued by Spain’s Huesca club in addition to paying € 5m in damages. The FIFA ruling was due to a preliminary agreement by the Swedish club Ostershunds and Saman Ghoddos for transfer to the Spanish club, but instead of heading to Spain Ghoddos turned up in France to sign for the French side Amiens.

This FIFA rule is reminiscent of the one handed to Mehdi Taremi on September 2017. A Persepolis player at the time , all parties agreed on terms of the contract to transfer to Turkey’s Çaykur Rizespor Club. At that time, Taremi was suspended for four months after unilaterally breaking his contract and returning back to Iran. Taremi’s suspension meant his absence from Team Melli

Persepolis was also banned from two transfer windows. It came at a time when Iran has already qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2018  and its presence at the Russian World Cup was assured. Taremi declined to appeal to CAS for fear of prolonging the proceedings and missing the World Cup all togother.

Carlos Queiroz, the then head coach of Team Melli, commented  “It certainly hurts both Taremi himself and Persepolis club as well as the fans. Even the national team suffers because the player cannot be mentally ready. What we need to do is keep the player mentally and physically fit for the next few months so that he doesn’t have problems with the international games. But what happened in 2017 was a strange and shameful act that is damaging to Iranian football’s reputation and one has to accept responsibility for it.” the Portuguese concluded.

About two years later, Saman Goddos is committing the same act of indiscretion. Ghoddos , of course, has the right to appeal and he might succeed in reducing the ban, although it is quite doubtful. The point that needs emphasis, however, is the lack of professionalism and poor awareness of Iranian players.  It does not take a distinguished person to realize that contracts have to be honored and breaking it is unlawful.  It is not only about the law but also the ethics and integrity of a person involved in a contract.

The lack of success of the many Iranian players in Europe can be summarized in one main phrase, lack of professionalism. That of course entails, ethics, commitments, teamwork, team integration and dedication. Iranian players seemed to be poorly prepared for Europe and the lack of true professional management and advisors has reduced their value and potential to succeed outside Iran. Saman Ghoddos should have known much better as he grew up in the European environment, but!

Marc Wilmots has not yet commented on the Ghoddos suspension.

 

Östersund and Saman Ghoddos are sanctions by FIFA

Team Melli and Amiens player Saman Ghoddos is suspended from all football activities for four months while his former club Östersund is prohibited from transfer market for transfer windows as a result of Ghoddos’ messy move from the Swedish club last summer.

Ghoddos was transferred to Amiens in French Ligue 1 at the end of last summer, but before that, it was rumoured that Ghoddos was on his way to Spanish club Huesca.

According to Huesca, the clubs have agreed terms and Ghoddos should have flown down to sign, but Östersund then withdrew.

According to the Football Channel , there will be consequences for both Östersund and Ghoddos.

“The player has been sentenced to pay compensation to SD Huesca and sporting penalties have been imposed on the player and Östersunds FK with reference to Article 17, sections 3 and 4,” FIFA has informed the concerned parties in an email.

Ghoddos is thus suspended for four months and Östersund is prohibited from two transfer windows.

In addition, Ghoddos will pay over 40 million to the Spanish club, which should be paid within 30 days according to Huesca’s website.

ÖFK  appeal

Östersund Football Club’s press officer, Niclas Lidström, tells SVT that they are surprised by the decision and that they will appeal the FIFA ruling.

“We have today decided to start a process to appeal. At this moment, we do not wish to comment on the case, we are sure that we will get it right in the appeal process,” he said in a press statement.

Ghoddos also turned down a move to English Championship club Brentford at the last minute at the beginning of the current season.

If the Östersund appeal fails, Ghoddos will be unable to play for Team Melli in the FIFA World Cup 2022 Asian qualifiers until the new year.

FIFA began to investigate the case on June 12, 2019 against Östersunds FK and Ghoddos as the result of a complaint filed by Huesca. the Spanish club alleged a break of contract and other violations in relation to the transfer of Saman Ghoddo’s from Östersund. When Ghoddos was due to leave Östersund in August 2018, there were rumours that he was going to Huesca and it finally went as far as the Spanish agent Quique Pena wrote that Ghoddos was ready for the club. Nevertheless, Ghoddos eventually went to French Amiens and then Huesca believed that there was a violation. “I can confirm that Fifa is conducting an investigation against Östersunds FK, concerning the player Saman Ghoddos and that it is the Spanish club SD Huesca that filed a case,” said Hans Hultman, Fifa’s press secretary for DN. On the part of Östersund, the club maintained silence and did not comment on the report.

“ÖFK as an organization has no comments on the information you have asked about,” wrote club head Niclas Lidström in a text message to DN.

Team Melli players news & transfers.

Omid Noorafkan, who is a member of the Belgian football club Sporting Charleroi has agreed terms with Foolad Sepahan on a one-year deal. Noorafkan was on a loan deal with Esteghlal but his contract with Sepahan is a permanent one, according to ISNA. Noorafkan has already joined Sepahan squad and has been training at the club training ground from today (Tuesday). Massoud Tabash, managing director of Sepahan Club, confirmed this in an interview with ISNA.

Saman Ghoddos transfer to the English Championship club Brentford has fallen apart at the last minute with the Iranian not agreeing personal terms.  Ghoddos returned back to his club Amiens SC in France and joined the squad for training.  Ghoddos already played two matches for his club in League 1. The Iranian midfielder is one of the very few successful Iranian legionnaires’ in Europe. Last season he played 27 times for Amiens and scored 4 goals.

Meanwhile, in Qatar, Omid Ebrahimi‘s contract with his club Al Ahli is about to run out. According to one source, Ebrahimi who had a very good season with Al Ahli is sought by several QSL clubs. Al Duhail seems to be the favourite to sign him. No official announcement has been out from either side.

In Belgium, Kaveh Rezaei is still registered with Club Brugge however, he has not featured in any matches yet. He was in the 18 man squad on one match but was an unused substitute. Club Brugge seems to be looking for options to sell the Iranian forward by the 2nd of September were the European transfer windows will close. The Iranian forward is surplus to requirements at Belgian team Club Brugge according to coach Philippe Clement who has made it clear that Rezaei no longer figures in his plans.

One of the options for Rezaei is to return to Charleroi. The 27-year-old striker has played 11 times for Club Brugge and scored just one goal. Rezaei joined Club Brugge for a reported club-record fee of €5 million in August 2018.

Ali Gholizadeh, another Team Melli player in Belgium has made a cameo appearance for his club, Sporting Charleroi coming in at the 88th minute of a league game. His status seems to be a bench warmer with Charleroi however there are no indications that the club is going to release him.