Tag: Sepahan Esfahan

Tabrizi fans victim of the biggest prank!

If that was not the world’s biggest prank , then I don’t know what it.

It all happened early Friday evening in Yadegar Imam Stadium in Tabriz, the home of Tractorsazi team which was playing for the Championship title for the first time in its history. The Tabrizi team needed to win the match against arch rival Naft , themselves needing the 3 points to win the title.

The stadium was over filled to the rim. As usual in Iranian stadiums, there was little regards for safety and regulation. Eyewitnesses in the stadium have mentioned hundreds or thousands of seats that were occupied by two persons. All emergency exits and pathways were occupied by the passionate Tabrizi fans that were ready to enjoy the mother of all celebrations at the end of the game. That would be Tractorsazi’s Persian Gulf League title season 2014/15.

There was a third team involved in the last day title race, and that was Sepahan Esfahan playing at home against Saipa. Sepahan, needed to win but also needed the match in Tabriz between Tractorsazi and Naft Tehran to end in a draw for Sepahan to win the title.

All was going well for Tractorsazi and they were 3-1 up in the second half and well on the way for the celebration of the century. Sepahan two goal advantage against Saipa was meaningless. But then disaster struck.

Team Melli veteran midfielder Andranik Teymourian , the assist provider for the first goal and scorer of  2nd for Tractorsazi  was sent off a couple of minutes after his team’s 3rd goal. The rest was all downhill for the Tabrizi team. Naft scored twice to equalize and make it 3-3 and that was the result after Alireza Faghani blew his whistle at the end of the game.

Millions of TV audiences were astonished by the celebrations that ensued. It was so unreal, illusionary, bordering a joke. Nowhere in the world, have fans celebrated their team becoming second like these fans were doing in Tabriz. A pitch invasion that threatened the safety of the players, huge chanting and celebration for those in the stands who could not join the mass on the pitch , waving flags, scenes of frenzy captured by the Iranian TV was part of this incredible event.

tractorsazi vs. Naft Tehran

To top it all , the local TV commentator, who had no idea why the fans are behaving like that but acted and reasoned that the fans in Tabriz are unique in the world ,  and even celebrate their team losing the style in style !!

There was something that was definitely not right……Surreal , false and comical in all that.

And then the truth was revealed. Someone has played the biggest prank of them all on the unsuspecting Tabrizi fans.

It all started when a few minutes before the end of the match, the Public Address announcement urged the fans to be ready for the celebration. When the match finished, someone has informed the bench of Tractorsazi that the match in Esfahan ended 2-2 while the fact  was Sepahan have won it 2-0.

The euphoria began, the celebrations, while truly incredible and exuberant was all the result of one of the biggest pranks in the history.

The follow up to this incredibly heart breaking episode for the Tabrizi fans, while their rivals had the biggest laugh, was even sillier than the event itself. It goes beyond saying that lying, rumor mongering and fabrication of news is institutional and a way of life in Iran.  At least 80,000 people were in the stadium, many carrying radios and smartphones that have all the information they needed about the match in Esfahan and elsewhere in Iran. How on earth this mass was cheated into believing the lies is itself quite incredible.

One Azerbaijani official claimed that there was a total loss of communication in the stadium, a seriously retarded claim, while others demanded that people responsible for this  are put to trial and severely punished.

faghani red card Teymopurian

Ando Teymourian , in the aftermath of this prank said that Friday was one of his darkest days in football. “Not only the result itself and the loss of the title in the last quarter of the match was heart breaking but the false news that lead the masses in wild celebration and then realizing it was all false, just added a huge insult to the injury. I am really sorry for the fans. I do apologize to every warm blooded Tabrizi fan. This is all I can say.”

Hossein Faraki does it again . Sepahan lift the League title for the 5th time.

A thrilling finale to the Persian Gulf League season which saw the championship change hands three times in 90 minutes, ended today. Tractorsazi Tabriz, Naft Tehran and Sepahan Esfahan were all in it for the championship title, with the first two meeting in Tabriz and Sepahan facing Saipa t home.

The final day of the league began with Tractorsazi leading the table and needing a win against the other contender Naft Tehran to secure the title for the first time in the history. Naft was in the same situation as Tractorsazi , while Sepahan not only needed all the three points of the match against Saipa , but also for the two teams drawing in Tabriz , in order to snatch the title.

 Mehdi-Sharifi-Sepahan_

SNATCHING THE TITLE

Snatch is the most appropriate term for Sepahan eventual Championship title as they have been chasing the leaders for weeks without actually making the top until 9 minutes from the season end.

The match in Tabriz in an over-filled Yadegar Imam stadium estimated to be at 70,000 started shockingly for the host as Ezzati scored Naft’s goal within 9 minutes. That result meant the title was for Naft, but Tractorsazi soon responded. The brilliant partnership between Ando Teymourian and the Brazilian forward Edinho , produced two goals for the Azeri team. The first one came on the 37th minute when a nice weighted cross from Ando found unmarked Edinho on the right. The top league scorer, calmly dribbled the on rushing Naft Defender Shiri, before slotting the ball to the right far corner of Biranvand goal to score the equalizer.

Eight minutes later on the stroke of halftime , the roles was reversed as Edinho, on the left flank, was the provider of an immaculate low cross which found the on rushing Teymourian, to head home past Biranvand reach to the far end of the Naft goal. On both of Tractorsazi goals , Biranvand was found wanting and guilty of poor positioning and action.

Now , Tractorsazi was the champion despite Sepahan leading Saipa in Esfahan.

In the second half Tractorsazi cemented their lead with a third beautifully taken goal by the young and promising forward Farid Karimi, who was surrounded by 4 Naft players but managed to beat them and easily put the ball under Biranvand’s open legs!

3-1 for Tractorsazi as Yadegar Imam Stadium erupted.

Naft Tehran, A fine team with grit and talents.
Naft Tehran, A fine team with grit and talents.

MORE THRILLING MOMENTS

But there was more action and thrill awaiting the fans. The fate of this match turned upside down when only two minutes after Tractorsazi’s goal, Ando Teymourian, the most experienced of Tractorsazi players, got his marching orders from Iran’s top referee Alireza Faghani. With just short of half an hour to go, suddenly Tractorsazi was feeling the heat.

In the 76th minute and after consistent waves of Naft attacks, Ali Ghorbani pulled another goal back for his team to make it 3-2. Tractorsazi had 14 minutes to hold on to their lead to win the title, but Lenardo Padovani , the Naft defender took full advantage of a horrible mistake by Hamed Lak in Tractorsazi’s goal to score the equalizer.

It was a massive heartbreak for Tabrizi fans.

SEPAHAN ESFAHAN, RECORD BREAKING TITLE.

Sepahan were still leading Saipa for the remainder of the 9 minutes of the League season 2014/15 as the two goals scored by Mehdi Sharifi in Esfahan was good enough for the Esfahani team to win its record 5th title.

Hossein Faraki, proved beyond shadow of doubt that he is currently the best Iranian football coach by far, winning his second title in a row with two different clubs.

TEAM MELLI FORTUNES

As far as Team Melli is concerned , the matches of the last few rounds and the thrilling finale , showed plenty of promise and talents to replace the old guard in the team, if only one Carlos Queiroz allows that to happen. The Portuguese coach , was nowhere to be seen in any stadiums for the last day of the league as he has left Iran and missed the thrills of what he labels as a boring league.

The worrying part is that Team Melli will be truly struggling in the goalkeepers department as Naft Tehran’s Alireza Biranvand and Tractorsazi’s Hamed Lak both where culprits in their performances. Their standard was consistent with their earlier showings in the league. Both are on Team Melli squad list but certainly liabilities and hardly worthy of a place in Team Melli. With Peykan relegated and with them Mehdi Rahmati, it is difficult to see him bounce back that soon or be picked up by Queiroz. There are no other significant talents who can be considered a worthy candidate for Team Melli goalkeeper position discovered in the league.

Sajjadi “We will pursue Queiroz, if evidence is presented!”

Deputy Minister of Youth Sports said “if evidence is presented against Carlos Queiroz violating our values, we will deal with him as we did with others!”

The veiled threat to the Portuguese coach came in the aftermath of the public prosecution of Zlatko Kranjcar, in which the ministry of youth & Sport has accused the Croat coach of consuming alcohol in players’ dressing room!

Nassrollah Sajjadi, like his boss Goudarzi , who has not made any great attempts to conceal his contempt towards football , starting from Kaffashian and his administration to the footballers and coaches in club and Team Melli, has once again wielded the sword of threat. Not only this ministry has said little to praise anyone related to football, it has consistently been hostile and hardly screened their disapproval of Carlos Queirroz and Zlatko Kranjcar.

Sepahan CEO Merhrzad Khalilian with Zlatko Krajncar

The Ministry of Youth & Sports has been widely criticized and ridiculed for their narrow-minded and immoral way they dealt with Kranjcar in which the most basic of human rights has been disregarded by a Ministry. One of the sharpest reaction was that of the Sepahan CEO Mehrzad Khalilian who called the accusation that Kranjcar consumed alcohol in his team’s dressing room as fabricated , fraudulent and uncivilized. Even the government supporting media has been vocal in their criticism of a Ministry that has installed itself as the judge, the jury and executioner of morality cases thereby over-stepping its authority that is the function and responsibility of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic.

After that episode with Kranjcar, while being reminded about the cultural differences of foreign coaches , the Ministry to be seen as applying their own version of law on everyone, now is in pursuit of Carlos Queiroz for the same reasons as Kranjcar!

As if the never ending problems with Team Melli ahead of the Asian Cup are not enough, now Queiroz has to deal with this side issue and this lot!

 Khalatbary sends a sublime message to Queiroz

 MohammadReza Khalatbary inspired Sepahan , defeated Gostarish  Foolad Tabriz 4-1 to regain the leadership of the Persian Gulf League. Khalatbary helped himself to a hat trick beginning from the first few seconds of the match with less than a minute played when he scored from an acute angle after easily dribbling past two defenders to hammer the ball in the roof of the net.

Khalatbary scored his second with a lovely taken free kick immaculately sent to the furthest end from the hapless Gostarish goalkeeper.

In the second half, a bit of the old trickery and juggling by Khalatbary , lead to a foul on him in the penalty area. There was no doubt who was going to take the spot kick. Hadi Aghili, Sepahan’s Captain is the regular penalty taker, but a bit of a pleading by Khalatbary and a bit of common sense , gave the left footed winger his chance to complete his hat trick . Khalatbary, obliged and  chipped the ball while wrong footing Gostarish keeper.

It was a 5 star performance from Khalatbary who played a major role in Sepahan offensive onslaught on the team from Tabriz. Such inspiring performance augured well for Sepahan and Hossein Faraki in their quest to win the title once again. With Khalatbary at his best, it is difficult to see any defender catching up with him. The only black mark on this performance today was his temperament. The player has yet to learn from years of playing professional football and can be easily intimidated by the opposing team if they elect to play dirty against him.

Khalatbary , who was controversially omitted from Team Melli final list to the FIFA World Cup 2014 and never picked up after it again , played with grit and determination as he was on a mission. It was nothing but marvelous. He has also sent a clear message to Team Melli and Queiroz. With such a sterling performance, Khalatbary does not need to go to the media , shed tears, claims injustice ,  claim he is been robbed of his rightful place in Team Melli. The Sepahan winger did it in style and by letting his goals and performance do the talking. As luck has it, good old Carlos Queiroz was not in the Fooladshahr Stadium to witness the magic of Khalatbary.

In the post match press conference, Khalatbary was asked about the allegation on Kranjcar and his alcohol consumption. , he responded by saying ” I have the highest respect for this man. As a person and as a professional. I categorically reject any such accusations against him.  I have no idea who initiated such rumors, but I can assure you that it was none of Sepahan players or staff because we simply did not notice these alleged violation and consumption of alcohol. It is a shame when people resort to such dirty tricks against others, I feel sorry for those who tarnish the image of a genuine man”“

Mohammdreza Khalatbary’s performance against Gostraish , was a breath of fresh for the disappointing Iranian football which has little to cheer about nowadays.

A special mention has to go to Ehsan Hajsafy. His performance and adaptability, surge of speed, shooting and crossing was a mark of a great player in the making. No doubt , Hajsfay is on the radar of many top teams in Europe.

Hajsafy-chased-by-Ahmed-Musa

Barazay “Kranjcar is the perfect coach for Omid Team”

The Captain of Team Melli U-23 , known as the Omid Team , has spoken to ISNA about the aspirations and the prospects of the team.

Behnam Barazay , the current Rah Ahan player and the Captain of the U23 team , believes in strong preparation games ” unless we play against quality teams for our friendly games to get the big experience , I am afraid we will not be able to qualify for the Olympic Games.”

The young striker , is also confident that the Croat coach Zlatko Kranjcar is the best candidate for the Omid team ” He has coached at different levels, his record is quite good , he coached in Iran and his approach is professional. I believe he is the perfect coach for Omid Team.”

“Although many players prefer to work with Iranian coaches, and I am one of those players , as communication is easier , however a coach in the class of Kranjcar can make a big difference.” Barazay added.

Regarding the recent failures specifically in the Asian Games in Incheon, Barazay said ” The players were under tremendous stress after the Asian Games. In the Qatar camp , quite a lot of work was done on the psychological aspect but fear of losing still causes a lot of stress.”

About his own future career and whether he will follow his teammates Alireza Jahanbaksh and Sardar Azamoun in to Europe,  Barazay Did not want to think about that for the time being although he received an offer from an Arab team. ” All my concentration right now is on the form of my team Rah Ahan. I have  not succeeded in gaining the full confidence of Hamid Estili yet. My goal is to do that. I need to get it right here in Iran before thinking about abroad and becoming a legionnaires”

The situation with the appointment of Kranjcar took another weird twist when it was decided that a committee within the football federation will have to examine the Croat coach resume and give its seal of approval before the coach can be appointed. This development cam up aright after Ali Kaffashian and Habib Kashani confirmed the appointment of the ex-Sepahan Esfahan coach as the head coach of the Omid Team. Many observers are suspecting some interference by the Ministry of Sport who always claims that they have no role in appointing coaches for National Team , but in reality they exert pressure on the FFIRI and Kaffashian to pass their own candidates.

 

Behnam Barazay

Behnam Barazay

Hossein Faraki appointed as Sepahan coach

After the abrupt resignation of the Croat coach  Zlatko Kranjcar from Sepahan , Hossein Faraki was signed as the head coach of the Esfahani club.

Faraki will start his job with immediate effect this weekend when his stuttering team faces the only unbeaten team in the league , Padideh.

Farki was the prime candidate for coaching Team Melli after the World Cup when Kaffashian suddenly did a U-turn and decided that Queiroz shall remain in charge.   At this time , Team Melli is still coach less while Kaffashian keeps telling everyone that Queiroz is the coach but has not signed yet!

Meanwhile , all the teams of the Iran Group C in AFC Asian Cup 2015 ,  have played at least two friendly matches or more in their preparation for the premiere competition. Today Bahrain beat Kuwait 1-0 , while Qatar lost 0-2 to Peru.

 

Zlatko Kranjčar “I will think about Team Melli job”

The Croatian coach of Sepahan Esfahan , Zlatko Kranjčar, said that he will think about Team Melli job offer after the World Cup if it was offered to him.

After winning against the city rivals Zob Ahan in a closely fought match 1-0 on Friday , the Croatian coach said that his whole effort at the moment is to win the remaining 4 matches of the current season and challenge for the league title. In the post match press conference , Kranjčar was asked about the Team Melli Job, in which the Croat coach said :

“I think the source of this rumor is no one other than Carlos Queiroz himself. He has been talking to some reporters , and now it is doing the round and hearing it from the press. I think it is not a very wise move by Team Melli coach to say something like that. When he spreads the news that he is leaving and someone else will be taking over, while the players have serious work to do in the World Cup, it will affect Team Melli. Such a fact will diminish the player’s enthusiasm and will reduce their interest in what the coach is saying knowing that he will not be around after the tournament is over. ” The Croat said.

“My whole focus now is on Sepahan both in the league and the Asian Champions League. Team Melli has a coach and in my opinion , he is the best person for the job right now. If he leaves after the World Cup when his contract expires, and if the job is offered to me, then I will certainly think about that offer. I have no other comments on that.”

Kranjčar , however, praised  Queiroz saying “Although Queiroz has created a havoc for the league with his program where some teams will be waiting for weeks without playing while others will be playing once every 4 days, I still believe Queiroz is best suited for the job and the federation should keep him. He has achieved quite a bit for Iran including qualification for the World Cup.”

Asked whether he can iron out his problems with Queiroz the way he did with Ghalenoei in a meeting a few days back, Kranjčar responded “First of all , Queiroz did not invite me to that meeting , he also did not come to Esfahan to discuss the issues in question. Most importantly though , I don’t think it would achieve much. I still stand firmly on my point. Arranging a Team Melli camp during the Asian Champions league is plainly wrong and there is no two way about it. And to make it worse , they are asking for our best players to join the camp and do not play in the ACL!”