Tag: Saudi Arabia

The dirty beautiful game of football.

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[column size=”1/2″] Once again and with tedious regularity, stories of corruption in World Football crops up. The most popular sport in the world and by far the top money generator has been polluted for a long time. FIFA, football’s world governing body, has been engulfed by claims of widespread corruption. Icons of football such as Micheal Platini , Franz Beckenbauer, Joseph Blatter and a host of other influential football personalities have been indicted, suspended or jailed as a result.

It is foolish to think that after all these events and exposures; corruption in football has vanished or even subsided. There is far too much at stake, too much of interest, far too much money that fools like us spend to watch our cherished game. The criminal minds and Mafia’s of this world are always on the lookout for the source of money. What’s better than that rich and beautiful game of football.

This week was the FIFA day with most countries playing for a place in the FIFA World Cup 2018, in itself a dubious and controversial venue full of alleged corrupt practices. For most countries, the prestige of qualifying to the finals is prized enough to do everything possible, legally and honorably, but for some even going beyond ethics and letter of the law to ensure the that rich payout.

Mission possible

Saudi Arabia, a country that has invented the project of humongous expenditure on football using its petrodollars in the 70’s, has not qualified for the World Cup since 2006. It is a matter of honor for them because any success in football is attributed to the efforts of the ruling clan. Failure reflects badly on them, especially when things are not politically comfortable for them on the diplomatic scene. The despot regime is desperate for positive PR where it has little to show in the past few years with accusations of harboring Islamist extremist and involvement in 9/11.

The World Cup 2018 campaign was not going very well for the Saudis in the opener match at home against the resolute Thai team. It was heading for a goal-less draw. But by the grace of God , and a little compassion from the Chinese referee, the simplest of contact between a Thai defender and Saudi forward was called a penalty in the 84th minute. The Saudi’s scored, the Thai were furious and heartbroken feeling betrayed.  Questionable call is quite simply a gross understatement.

Five days later the story repeated itself with the Saudi’s against Iraq in Malaysia this time. Iraq was leading by a goal when Qatari referee called two consecutive penalties in 81st & 88th minutes to ensure all 3 points goes in the rich Saudi’s bag.

 

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[column size=”1/2″] The Saudi haul

2 matches, 6 points, 3 penalty goals. Is it a coincidences?.

 

Not if you dig deep enough into the practices  of the highly influential Saudis , who have handpicked the current President of AFC Shaikh Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain, a tiny island state that the Saudi dominate financially and politically.

AFC , time and again , has been influenced by the Saudi pressure and there is no doubt about that.

Nomination of Australian referee Williams is yet another cause of debate which AFC could have very easily avoided. Creating psychological pressure on Iran is one way that the Saudis, who are sworn enemy of Iran, will show its influence against its hated neighbor. Out of the hundreds of referees, they had to choose the one that the Iranian despise and have issue with. Even if there is no bad intent by the AFC, the IQ of the administrators in the Kuala Lumpur AFC HQ should be much higher than to create such controversy.

AFC of course is famous for the Bin Hammam affair whose ill repute made world headlines.

Of course, Asia , Africa  and Latin America are not the only culprits. The whistle clean Europeans are also as shady, however, they do seem to be doing it diligently , cunningly and artfully. TV deals are perhaps this biggest basis of corruption and a highly kept secret deals with no transparency on why certain broadcasters win, not necessarily on the basis of highest bids.

Europe does it better

But the corruption is not limited in the corridors of power in Europe. A few days ago a Slovakian defender has made a startling claim that England’s World Cup qualifier against his country was fixed.  England scored in the 96th minute two minutes over the top of added time declared by the referee. It is fair to say that the Slovak Keeper was being treated in that added time.

Whether we like it or not, corruption is part and parcel of football, and most sports for that matter. Simply said, the stakes are too high and the money, easy money that is, is plentiful for the sharks.

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Iran drawn against Korea Rep. again.

Iran was drawn with Korea Rep. , Uzbekistan , Qatar , China and Syria in Group A of the FIFA World Cup 2018 Final qualification rounds.

The draw was conducted by AFC General Secretary Dato Windsor John, with a helping hand from former Korea Republic star Park Ji-sung. Numerous personalities were in attendance, headed by the coaches of the teams that will contest the third round.

The latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking was used to split the 12-country field into six pots. These were then drawn into two groups of six teams, who will do battle for direct qualification to Russia 2018 between 1 September 2016 and 5 September 2017.

Both group winners and runners-up will go straight through to the 2018 World Cup. Meanwhile, the two teams that finish third will meet in a two-legged showdown on 5 and 10 October 2017. Whoever triumphs in this double-header will look to secure their spot at the finals in an intercontinental play-off – also to be played over two legs – against the fourth-placed country from CONCACAF qualifying.

Australia , the AFC Asian Cup title holders is grouped with Japan , Saudi Arabia, UAE , Thailand, and Iraq in group B.

The two teams Iran and Korea Rep. will renew their rivalry once again in the qualification for the World Cup. In the last encounter , the relationship between the coaches were making the headlines and as there was not love lost between Carlo Queiroz and the South Korean Choi KANG-HEE . The South Korean for all his rhetorics ended up in the losing side and eventually resigned his job, South Korea survived by the skin of their teeth after Uzbekistan failed to score one more goal to put them ahead on goal difference in the other group matches.

The draw avoided a potential problem for FIFA and AFC after the Saudi’s claimed they will refuse to play in Iran.

Iran, Japan, Korea Rep.,  Australia and Qatar are the top seeds for qualification. The first round will commence on 1st September 2016.

 

MATCHES SCHEDULE

Matchday One
September 01, 2016 Thursday Iran vs. Qatar – H

Matchday Two
September 06, 2016 Tuesday China vs. Iran – A

Matchday Three
October 06, 2016 Thursday Uzbekistan vs. Iran – A

Matchday Four
October 11, 2016 Tuesday Iran vs.  South Korea – H

Matchday Five
November 15, 2016 Tuesday  Syria  vs. Iran – A

Matchday Six
March 23, 2017 Thursday Qatar vs. Iran – A

Matchday Seven
March 28, 2017 Tuesday Iran vs  China – H

Matchday Eight
June 13, 2017 Tuesday Iran vs. Uzbekistan – H

Matchday Nine
August 31, 2017 Thursday South Korea vs. Iran – A

Matchday Ten
September 5th, 2017 Iran vs. Syria – H

Carlos Queiroz looks for ‘miracle’ as Iran target World Cup return

BY JOHN DUERDEN

 

Carlos Queiroz never seems to age, with only a lengthening CV providing proof of passing time.

It makes for impressive reading, but the 62-year-old still wants to do more. “I am attracted to the idea of taking four different national teams to a World Cup because only one or two guys have done that and it would be nice for my coaching career,” Mozambique-born Queiroz told ESPN FC.

It would be quite a feat, but at the moment the Portuguese coach is focusing on taking Iran — his third national team after South Africa and Portugal — to a second successive World Cup in Russia 2018.

The feat is harder than many people realise it to be, Queiroz argues. Though there are four automatic World Cup berths for Asia, the reality is a little different.

“In Asia, three nations have a credit card for the World Cup — Australia, South Korea and Japan,” he says with just a hint of a smile and a what-can-you-do shrug of the shoulders.

“That leaves just one place for Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Uzbekistan, China and North Korea. That is seven

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz is preparing to guide Team Melli to their second straight WC ahead of Thursday’s qualifier vs. Guam.

nations and almost of all these have great conditions, facilities and financial resources.”

Iran — who were under international sanctions for eight years — have been at a disadvantage, according to Queiroz. There have been struggles to gain access to funds due from FIFA and the AFC and the consequential inability to pay for training camps and facilities. Years of cancelled friendlies also took a toll.

For Queiroz, it is becoming more difficult for Iran to compete with rivals with better financial resources. “There is real passion for the game in Iran, you don’t have to ignite it,” he said.

“With passion, players and desire, you have a big chance. But how many times can you work a miracle?

“Money talks everywhere, and we need resources to create a foundation. We need experience but how are you going to gain it if you don’t have friendly games, if you don’t have nations to play? This is a cat and mouse game and is very difficult to deal with.”

Carlos Queiroz hailed Iran’s spirited performance against Lionel Messi’s Argentina in last year’s World Cup.

The sanctions were lifted in July but the former Real Madrid coach is unconvinced that things will change anytime soon.

It was against such a backdrop that Iran made it to the 2014 World Cup, clinching a spot on a warm June night at the Ulsan World Cup Stadium.

Team Melli’s celebration upset the South Korean hosts, who felt it was over the top and aggressive. But according to Queiroz, who was formerly an assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manshester United, it was emotion released after a long and testing campaign.

It was not the end of stress, however. “Our preparation for the World Cup was not playing national teams but a couple of first division teams from South Africa. We are grateful, don’t get me wrong, those friends were fantastic for us but it was not enough.

“We need more experience, more players who are mature to play a World Cup. We want to be there with a chance to compete and win and in the World Cup we can only do that if we have quality players and experience.”

Even so, the memories of Brazil are still warm. “The performance was great. The players and the team got a lot of respect. They brought pride to the nation, there is no doubt about that,” said Queiroz.

Especially against Argentina when Iran only lost 1-0 due to a piece of Lionel Messi magic in the 91st minute and could have won, had the referee given what seemed to be a pretty clear penalty when Pablo Zabaleta had fouled Ashkan Dejagah in the area 10 minutes into the second half.

“I was sure that they would not be able to score, but when you have God on the pitch, sometimes you can make miracles,” said Queiroz.

“I cracked the joke then that Argentina had everything on their side. They had Messi who played for them — Messi could have been born Iranian, but God made him to be born in Argentina.

“Then they also had the referee who was a little bit distracted when he didn’t give us that penalty, that scandalous penalty. Sure, if we had scored then, it could have inspired Argentina to come back — you never know in football. But those two combinations were difficult to deal with.

“We fought hard at the World Cup. It was OK. It was 50 percent of what I wanted.”

Queiroz coached Iran to a quarterfinal appearance in the Asian Cup in January but lost the thriller against neighbours Iraq.

It comes back to Russia 2018. Iran are strong favourites to top Group D and move into the final round of qualification despite a disappointing start with a 1-1 draw in Turkmenistan in June.

“More than 50 percent of the team are young and it is a new team,” Queiroz said. “I expected a little more from them. In fact, the game got a bit complicated for us after we had scored. There are no excuses though. The pitch was OK for both teams, the weather was very hot.

We need to praise Turkmenistan — they fought for the result and we lacked the experience to control the game and get the three points. But we are still in a good position to move to the next round.”

On Thursday, Guam come to Tehran. The island with a population of 170,000 were genuine minnows until recently. Now the Matao are top of the group with six points from games at home to Turkmenistan and India and have climbed the rankings to 146.

Queiroz is wary of the team who are confident, ambitious and with nothing to lose. He is respectful of the job English coach Gary White has done. “They are doing well. They have a lot of players with experience in the United States leagues,” said Queiroz.

“I am not surprised, because I have been there and found the Guam players to have this competitive nature and sport education which are the foundations of American sports. The coach is doing well because I saw videos and the team is very well organised with good discipline and it is going to be difficult.”

For Carlos Queiroz, life as Iran coach is never easy and you sense that he quite likes it that way. “That is why we are coaches, born to suffer in life. We will do our best and that is all we can do.”

John Duerden is ESPN’s Asia football correspondent who also works for BBC Radio, The Guardian and World Soccer. Twitter: @JohnnyDuerden

Omid team rout Nepal 5-0

Iran’s U23 team (Omid Team)  defeated Nepal U23 5-0 in Group C of the AFC U-23 Championship match held at Azadi today. The first half ended 2-0 for Iran U23.

Iran’s goal were scored by Arsalan Motahari  minute 15 [1-0]  , Behnam Barzay from the penalty spot in the 28th minute [2-0]  , Sardar Azmoun on the 54th [3-0] , Ali Karimi on the 67th minute [4-0] and Shahin Saghebi on 88th minute [5-0].

IRN-NEPAL P4

Unfortunately, the match was played in front of empty Azadi Stadium bar a few hundred that turned up to cheer the Omid players. Nowrooz Holidays is one of the reasons for lack of interest by the fans.

The match was a one sided affair where Iran’s Omid controlled from the beginning not allowing the Nepalese team any time on the ball. Nepal, despite having a few good players, lacked in confidence and ambition and seemed to focus on conceding the least number of goals.

Despite the supremacy of Omid Team , the result does not truly reflect the game as the Iranian players wasted a handful of scoring chances. Considering the opportunities missed, the result could have been easily in double figure by minute 75 of the match. Some slack finishing, lack of vision, complacency and inaccuracy in the last shoot by the Iranian forwards, saved the blushes of the Nepalese team. Credit must also be given to the Nepalese goalkeeper , who was their best player by far, who executed some heroics to keep the powerful Iranians at bay.

 

Alireza Jahanbakhsh was given a rest day after his long journey from Holland where he played his last game in the league by winning promotion for NEC some 10 weeks before the league conclusion.

Azmoun played with finesse and style however, he was found wanting on several easy balls that he should have scored. One of the more beautiful scenes of the match was his close range powerful header that was spectacularly saved by Nepal keeper.

IRN-NEPAL P18

Despite the emphatic result and the supremacy of the Omid Team against what was a weak opponent whose priority was damage limitation and time wasting, the overall shape of the team was lacking in several areas. The team looked and played like 11 individual talented players each with his own excellent skills.  What blemished the display, however, was the poor teamwork especially in the finishing.

Improved and more efficient Teamwork is needed against the better oppositions. With more games ahead and practice sessions, it is hoped that weakness areas are covered , although none was apparent against a weak team. The are enough talented players in this current Omid team for Iran to stand a very good chance on making it to the Olympics. The onus is on the coaching staff to maintain discipline and good standard in the long road to qualification.

For the first official match , the team gave the few hundred fans in Azadi , quite a lot of hope and by the time Saudi Arabia meets Iran in the last match , the team should have jelled together much better and understanding between the players improved.

IRN-NEPAL P8

 

 

 

the-afc.com

Tehran: Iran took the early initiative in Group C of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers as the Group C hosts ran out comfortable 5-0 winners over Nepal in Monday’s later match at the PAS Stadium following Palestine’s 2-0 defeat of Afghanistan.

Arsalan Motahhari, who came off the bench to score in Naft Tehran’s 2-1 come-from-behind win over Al Shabab in last week’s AFC Champions League, put the home side one up after 14 minutes before a 27th minute penalty from skipper Behnam Barzay gave Iran a 2-0 lead to take into the interval at the PAS Stadium.

Sardar Azmoun, scorer of two goals for the senior side at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, made it 3-0 ten minutes into the second half and after Ali Karimi added to the Russia-based winger’s strike with Iran’s fourth in the 67th minute, Shahin Saghebi rounded off the victory three minutes from full time, with the substitute getting his name on the score sheet ten minutes after coming on to replace captain Barzay.

Iran are not in action again until Friday when they take on Palestine who will be looking to go into the meeting with the Group C hosts having recorded their second win of the campaign when they face Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams from all groups will join hosts Qatar at the AFC U-23 Championship 2016, with January’s 16-team competition also serving as Asia’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Rio.

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

Schedule & Results:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

NEPAL U-23 TEAM SQUAD

GK: Alan Neupane , Amrit Chaudhary , Bikesh Kuthu

 

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

 

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

 

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

Bahrain hammers Saudi Arabia 4-1 in a friendly

Bahrain National football team hammered its Saudi Arabian counterpart 4-1 in a friendly match played on the Australian soil.

Bahrain is in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 along with Iran , Qatar and the UAE. The result was a severe setback for the Romanian Cosmin Olăroiu who has recently stated that his team is in Australia to challenge for the title.  Saudi Arabia failed to win the Gulf Trophy at home losing the final to Qatar. Bahrain , on the other hand , suffered a heavy defeat only a month ago in the Gulf Cup against the same Saudi Team 3-0 , a result that lead to the sacking of the coach.

Meanwhile , the Saudi  striker Nassir Al Shamrani, who is the AFC Player of the Year  2014, created yet another controversy when he physically assaulted a Saudi fan before the match with Bahrain. Al Shamrani , who plays for Al Hilal club in Riyadh , was offended by the the fan carrying a rival team flag. The player did not take kindly to the fan and decided to teach him a lesson. Nassir Al Shamrani, a volatile and undisciplined player is already suspended by AFC disciplinary committee for 8 matches for attacking an Australian player in the final of this years AFC Champions League.

Kudos to AFC for ignoring sportsmanship and fair play by selecting this violent player as the best player in Asia !!

Bahrain is currently being coach by a replacement coach Marjan Eid who took over in Riyadh after the sacking of the Iraqi coach Adnan Hamad.

Bahrain plays Iran January  11th in the first appearance for both teams in the AFC Asian Cup 2015 at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

Iran qualifies for the semi-finals of AFC U-14 Championship.

Hamedan:

Mohsen Godarzi scored a cracking decisive in the 40th minute as Iran edged Saudi Arabia 1-0 to enter into the semi-final of the AFC U-14 Championship as Group A runners-up.

 The Saudi players gave a good fight to the hosts and after Timor-Leste scored an equaliser elsewhere at the Mofateh Stadium against DPR Korea, Iran had to suffer an anxious ending of the match.

The failure of Timor-Leste to win combined with Saudi’s inefficiency in front of Iran goal ensured that the hosts progress as group runners-up and wait for the opponents from Group B as their potential foe for the semi-final. Both the matches of Group B will be played on Saturday.

Compared to previous matches, Saudi were much better on Friday as they came close twice early in the match including a chip from midfielder Aldhuwayhi Abdulaziz which rattled the cross bar.

Iran’s midfielder Mohammad Sharifi also struck the side bar just before the half time.

As both the sides were playing entertaining football, Godrazi’s individual brilliance separated the sides after he connected a powerful leftfooter from the edge. He dribbled past two Saudi defenders before unleashing the shot which left Saudi goalie Alshamrani Anas Ibrahim clueless.

“Iran against Saudi match is always an important match and today was no different,” Iran coach Heidar Sharifi said after the match.

“We (Iran and Saudi Arabia) are considered as traditional powerhouse of Asian football and we respect each other very much.

“We knew that it was not going to be easy task against a Saudi side who are under the vigil of a master tactician Omar (Abdulla).

“But we were also determined to win and the credit goes to all the players and technical staff for this great win.

“I don’t have any preference on my semi-final opponent, whoever is our opponent we will play to win,” he added.

His counterpart Abdulla was also magnanimous in defeat.

“The good sign is that we continue to improve and that is what my objectives were in the tournament,” said the Saudi coach.

“These players are still very young and have a lot of football ahead of them so this tournament was a good learning experience for them.

“They will be much better in next AFC U-16 Championship in 2016.