Tag: Tottenham

Arsenal interested in highly rated forward Azmoun as Lacazette replacement

Arsenal are eyeing Zenit St Petersburg forward Sardar Azmoun.

Onze Mundial says the Gunners have identified Zenit St Petersburg forward Sardar Azmoun as a potential Alexandre Lacazette replacement.

Lacazette is wanted by a host of top European clubs, including LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid. The 30-year-old’s contract expires next June, meaning a pre-contract can be arranged from January.

And Zenit’s Azmoun – dubbed the ‘Iranian Lionel Messi’ – is on the Gunners’ list to replace the Frenchman.

They are not the first Premier League side to be linked with his services. Azmoun revealed last month that he had rejected Tottenham during the summer.

On a potential transfer, he said: “I never said that I was leaving Zenit. The media wrote that I was undergoing a medical examination and agreed on everything with a certain team. I have a contract, even if I wanted to leave, the club will not allow it. It was the media that sent me to another team.”

“I had offers from Lyon, Roma, Bayer [Leverkusen], and Tottenham. But all the proposals were rejected, this year I will not move anywhere.”

The Iranian forward impressively scored 19 goals in 29 appearances for the Russian club last season. Currently, on duty with his national team playing in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers.

Beiravand in defiant mood

Team Melli and Antwerp’s goalkeeper was in a defiant mood when interviewed by a Dutch website. Here is the excerpt.

And then the sky cleared. He conceded seven goals in his first three matches, but in the past ten days, he collected three clean sheets. Alireza Beiranvand (28) is currently doing so well at Antwerp – last night he was Man of the Match against Eupen – that even an extra goalkeeper is no longer so urgent. ‘All the Iranian people are praying for me,’ he claims.

‘It was so difficult’ we could not describe the first months of Beiranvand near Antwerp any better. Months after his arrival was first announced, he still arrives at the Bosuil behind schedule. At a time when goalkeeper Jean Butez has been training for weeks with the team. Result: Beiranvand is warming the bench. ‘But the fact that I wasn’t playing meant that I had to train twice as hard. Leave? Didn’t think about it for a second. Never. I wanted to do my best to convince the coach.’  ‘You are two months behind,’ the coach told me when I arrived. But it’s not that I hadn’t done anything for two months, huh … It was frustrating that I didn’t get a chance. I was really angry. Watch out, that had nothing to do with Jean. He’s my best friend off the field. But on it, he is my nemesis. ‘

 

Casillas & Kepa

Ultimately, Beiranvand got his chance. Against Tottenham in the Europa League and afterward at home against Club Brugge. That did not go smoothly. Even more: Ivan  Leko was remarkably hard on Beiranvand after the match. Something Beiranvand and his 3 million Instagram followers could only accept moderately.

‘How could he say such a thing? You do not do that. I was mentally broken by those statements. A coach is like a father, then such a statement is a major mental blow. If a coach talks about you like that, you don’t think you will get a chance anymore of course. Look at the relationship between José Mourinho and Iker Casillas at Real Madrid at the time. He also put it behind him. But those things sometimes happen. Kepa, one of the best goalkeepers in the world, is now also on the bench at Chelsea. And somehow I knew that sooner or later I would get my chance. I’ve never doubted myself. Not a moment. And haven’t regretted signing here for a second, really. Every day I enjoy working more and more in Europe. And all the Iranian people are praying for me. That inspires me even further to work harder. I did not come to Antwerp to stay here for the rest of my life. From here I will go to one of the best clubs in the world, you will see. ”

AFC Annual Awards in need of reforms.

Once again the pathetic AFC Annual Awards are upon us, and once again the much criticized set of awards is being flaunted as the première platform of Asian Football top awards. Accusations that the awards are highly politicized, has very little to do with reality and lack of transparency has marred this annual process. All hopes of improvement and reform has been meat by deaf ear of the hierarchy of AFC with the announcement of this year’s list.

Unfortunately, it is the only award that the rest of the world looks at , as because no other forum or reputable organization nor any strong media in Asia bothers about creating a highly respectable alternative. So, for the those World Media unversed and the less informed in Asian football  , these awards can be mistakenly be taken as the representative of the best of Asian Football excellence while the reality is so far from it.

Year after years and without any culpability, the AFC announces a short list of names for the awards which has little relevance to reality or actual standards. The worst of the awards is the “AFC Player of the year”  which has been the main target of critics and frankly has been scandalous on occasions. All sort of criticism and accusations have been targeted by many who were affected by these nominations.  Political clout, influences and lobbying has been said to play the major part of nomination and selection of supposedly the best Asian footballer. No all criticism were impartial though as the West Asian Arab states have been always vocal when their nominees were absent from the list!

In reality, the flaw in the nomination process seems to be apparent when previous candidates and winners are scrutinized.  A quick look at the historic data and past winners will confirm to any knowledgeable person that the AFC list is out of touch with the real world. AFC Player of the year has even been selected on nepotism during Bin Hamam’s days and hardly improved ever since.

Whether the new President is willing to tackle this issue, or even if he has any interest in reforming this particular process or maybe very well be covenant with the highly unpopular process , is yet to be seen. However, the secretive on goings behind the scene or under the table in the nomination and selection procedures, is quite a thorn in AFC’s credbility.

At least the FIFA award has some transparency and is much closer to reality . That is hardly the case with the Asian version of the award.

Take a look at this simple and no brainer  list of quality Asian players who had made headlines in Europe with their exploits in European Champions League and the Leagues like Son Heung-min (Tottenham) , Sardar Azmoun (FC Rostov) and Keisuke Honda (AC Milan)  and what AFC thinks who should the best in Asia 2016 based on God know what ; Omar Abdulrahman (AlAin & UAE) , Hammadi Ahmed (Air Force & Iraq) and Wu Lei (Shanghai SIPG & China PR)

Not that the AFC nominees are bad players, but when it comes to the top awards, the excellence has to be measured in a systematic method. There is no way that these players have anything near the three top Asian players in performance and quality, but then again you be the judge.

Iran 1 -0 Qatar : Match reports

Goal.com

A solitary goal eight minutes into the second half was enough to send Iran and United Arab Emirates through to the second phase with one game left to play in the group stage

Sardar Azmoun demonstrated why he is reportedly attracting the interest of top Premier League clubs with a sublime individual goal as Iran beat Qatar 1-0 in Sydney to reach the Asian Cup quarter-finals and knock the Gulf champions out.

Rubin Kazan striker Azmoun has been linked with Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool and it was easy to see why on the evidence of his stunning second-half strike at the ANZ Stadium on Thursday

azmoun-scores

Azmoun produced a fine turn and finish to ensure Carlos Queiroz’s side will progress from Group C with the United Arab Emirates, both nations having won their first two games.

Iran beat Bahrain 2-0 in their opening game of the tournament last weekend and did just enough to see off Qatar, who produced a much-improved showing following their 4-1 hammering at the hands of the UAE but crash out with a game remaining.

Iran and UAE, 2-1 winners over Bahrain on Thursday, lock horns in Brisbane on Monday to determine who will finish top of the group.

Both sides looked short of ideas going forward in a frantic start, but it was Iran – backed by an impressive contingent of vociferous supporters – who looked more dangerous as the first half progressed.

Midfielder Karim Boudiaf came to Qatar’s rescue with a crucial intervention when Masoud Shojaei looked poised to get on the end of Ashkan Dejagah’s cross from the right 23 minutes in.

Iran were happy to let Qatar see plenty of the ball, before trying to pick them off on the break, although an initial lack of quality in the final third made it hard to see where the opening goal would come from.

Morteza Pouraliganji had a header cleared off the line by Ahmed El Sayed and Dejagah let fly with a right-footed strike that flashed wide of the far post as Iran ended the half on the front foot.

Queiroz’s side then moved in front seven minutes into the second period, and it was a moment of quality that was worth the wait as Azmoun sent the Iran fans into raptures with a sublime goal.

The 20-year-old took a pass from the lively Dejagah with his back to goal, spun Almahdi Ali with a sharp turn and kept his composure to apply a right-footed finish.

Azmoun’s night was cut short 10 minutes later when he was carried off with an injury, which did not appear to be serious, soon after Qatar had lost Ismaeel Mohammad to injury.

Mohammed Muntari had half a chance to draw Qatar level, but Ali Reza Haghighi comfortably saved the striker’s header.

Qatar pushed forward in search of an equaliser, but were unable to fashion one and crash out in disappointing fashion as Iran march on.

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Iran beats Qatar to make Asian Cup quarter

Adrian Warren, AAP January 15, 2015, 10:12 pm

A sublime piece of skill from Sardar Azmoun booked Iran’s passage into the Asian Cup football quarter finals and condemned Gulf Cup champions Qatar to an early exit.

Sardar’s slick turn and clinical shot in the 52nd minute at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium on Thursday earned Iran a 1-0 win, their second victory from as many games.

It leaves them second in their group on goal difference behind the United Arab Emirates, who earlier in the day defeated Bahrain 2-1 in Canberra, and will now meet Iran in Brisbane next Monday.

Qatar, who were coming off a 4-1 opening game loss to the UAE, had a decent share of possession, but struggled to create good chances.

Russian-based Sardar’s goal delighted the vast majority of the 22,672 fans in attendance in Sydney, with Iran’s passionate and colourful fans ramping up the noise level of support to the max each time their team got close to Qatar’s penalty area.

Iran one of the pre-tournament favourites, were more consistently dangerous than Qatar and were good value for the win, which they achieved with a second straight clean sheet.

Qatar, who entered the tournament on a long unbeaten run, lacked penetration and didn’t get a single shot on target in the first half.

Just before halftime, Morteza Pouraliganji’s flying header from an Iran corner was headed off the line by Ahmed Elsayed, while Sardar had a firm fourth minute header saved by Qatar goalkeeper Qasem Burhan.

It was a similar story in the second half, even after an apparently injured Sardar came off just after the hour.

His substitute Reza Ghoochannejhad had four shots at goal, three of them saved, as Iran sought the cushion of a second goal.

The Qatar goalkeeper also had to push away a shot from Ehsan Haji Safi.

Qatar Substitute Meshaal Abdullah hit a post with a header in stoppage time, but he was judged offside.

Iran midfielder Andranik Teymourian was named man of the match.

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