Tag: Turkey

Late strike by Ansarifard gives Iran a narrow win against Lithuania

Karim Ansarifard scored a late winner to give Iran a 1-0 victory over Lithuania in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Friday.

Carlos Queiroz’s side, who will face Morocco, Spain and Portugal in Group B at the World Cup, went into the game on the back of a 2-1 friendly defeat against Turkey in Istanbul and struggled to create chances against Edgaras Jankauskas’ lively Lithuania side.

After going in goalless at half-time, Iran spent much of the second half pinned back by waves of Lithuanian attacks, with Justas Lasickas firing over the crossbar before substitute Povilas Leimonas failed to hit the target after a neat passing move culminated in a chance on the hour mark.

Iran came to life in the last 10 minutes of the game, piling forwards and creating a number of chances before Olympiacos striker Ansarifard tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area and found the net in the 88th minute.

While the result – Iran’s fourth victory in their last six international friendlies – will have pleased Queiroz, the manner of his side’s performance will have given him food for thought ahead of their group opener against Morocco on June 15.

This was the last friendly of Team Melli. Due to a mixture of issues, games against Greece and Kosovo were cancelled. At the last minute it was been able to arrange this game against Lithuania. The Iran was the first team to arrive in Russia and has been in Moscow for 3 days, where it will play. its fifth participation in the World Cup.

Lithuania is a fourth tier team of Europe, which has not played in any World Cup, nor is it expected to do so in the short and medium term. The team consists of local players who play in their country’s, infima league, where their first division players, would have problems playing in the third division of Spain, for example.

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Chaos supreme in Iran`s preparation matches.

The saga of Team Melli friendly games disruptions and cancellations continues unabated.

When it comes to arranging friendlies ahead of major tournaments like the World Cup or Asian Cup, one way or another it always seems that the schedule is marred by chaos and disorganization. The preparations for this FIFA World Cup 2018 is no exception.

Majority of the problems are self-inflicted, as it stems from the fact that the administration with feeble international public relations , lack of management and organizational skills added to the head coach shenanigans and antics , leads to chaos for Team Melli.

While most federations have a two-year calendar, published and known to the media and the clubs, Iran’s FFIRI plays it by the ear. Guessing games requirement , picking opponents ,  embarking on secretive negotiations thereafter striking last-minute deals, added to lack of transparency by officials, paints a grim picture of the important issue. of arranging friendly games for Team Melli.

The Federation officials always justify their failures and numerous match cancellations on factors such as sanctions and difficulties in finance transactions,  however , although this may be true in few cases, the culprit remains the poor  events management and chaotic programming of FFIRI.

Only a few days ago , yet another important test for Team Melli against Greece was canceled ! This was announced by Greece head coach only. No one exactly knows the real reason as FFIRI are not forthcoming. Luckily FFIRI found an alternative option in Kosovo. Perhaps not a stern test as good as Greece , nevertheless it was an essential match for Team Melli.

Another shocker followed soon as Kosovo also cancelled or turn it down depending on your perspective. The Reason was clear this time and quite frustrating too. Kosovo did not fancy playing an International football match behind closed-door depriving their fans as Queiroz demanded!

Queiroz has such habits which FIFA should really put a stop to it. Playing behind closed doors should not be accepted at international level. After all the National Team of any country has millions of followers and is not a private property of an individual, that is why it is called a National Team.

The last test match is now on the 8th of June against Lithuania. The fans would think at least this one will pass smoothly without any glitches, right?

Not that simple. The first surprise is that this match will NOT  be played in a STADIUM!

After Kosovo , the Lithuanian were not amused either when they discovered that the Lithuanian team will play Team Melli in the training field of the Spartak stadium in Tushino on June 8.

 RIA Novosti head coach Edgaras Jankauskas said :

“At first we thought that the match with Iran would take place at the Spartak stadium, but it turned out that we will play in the training field! We will not be able to bring our strongest team to Moscow, because the date is unofficial, and the championship in Lithuania is now going on.”

Before hoping and praying for Team Melli’ s success on the field in what looks like a really tough group, some prayers must go to the FFIRI  to get themselves competent and professional administrators who can do a better support job than what they are offering now.

Kosovo turns down Queiroz request for a friendly.

Team Melli’s request for a friendly match  against Kosovo has been turned down.

The Iran-Kosovo friendly match was supposed to be played on June 13th in Istanbul, Turkey. The
meeting was refused according to the Kosovo football website, which is attributed to the country’s Federation.

The Kosovo Football Federation issued a formal statement announcing the cancellation of the visit, as the Iranian side has requested the match to be held behind closed-door!  The Kosovo Federation did not entertain such request.

Carlos Queiroz has this habit of playing matches behind closed-door where even journalist are not allowed to enter the stadium. This antic, presumably for hiding a special tactics that he has up his sleeve, has never worked and is considered obsolete in the Modern Football world!

Team Melli is currently in Istanbul Turkey on a training camp preparing for the FIFA World Cup 2018, Group B matches against Morocco, Spain and Portugal.

Morocco announces FIFA World Cup 2018 squad

Morocco coach Herve Renard announced a provisional list of 23 players and three reserves that will make up the North African team, who return to the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

The team will begin their preparation in Rabat on 24 May before taking part in three warm-up matches, prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™.

Renard’s Atlas Lions will play Ukraine on 31 May and Slovakia on 4 June (both games in Geneva, Switzerland) before taking on Estonia in Tallinn on 9 June.

Morocco’s match schedule at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

All squads are provisional until the final list of 23 players is announced by FIFA, following their submission by participating teams, on 4 June.

Morocco provisional squad

Goalkeepers: Mounir El Kajoui (Numancia, Spain), Yassine Bounou (Girona, Spain), Ahmad Reda Tagnaouti (Ittihad Tanger);

Defenders: Mehdi Benatia (Juventus, Italy), Romain Saiss (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England), Manuel Da Costa (Basaksehir, Turkey), Badr Benoun (Raja Casablanca), Nabil Dirar (Fenerbahce, Turkey), Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid, Spain), Hamza Mendyl (Lille, France);

Midfielders: M’bark Boussoufa (Al Jazira, UAE), Karim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord, Netherlands), Youssef Ait Bennasser (Caen, France), Sofyan Amrabat (Feyenoord, Netherlands), Younes Belhanda (Galatasaray, Turkey), Faycal Fajr (Getafe, Spain), Amine Harit (Schalke, Germany);

Forwards: Khalid Boutaib (Malatyaspor, Turkey), Aziz Bouhaddouz (St. Pauli, Germany), Ayoub El Kaabi (Renaissance Berkane), Nordin Amrabat (Leganes, Spain), Mehdi Carcela (Standard de Liege, Belgium), Hakim Ziyech (Ajax, Netherlands)

Queiroz hopeful to make it to Round 16 in the World Cup 2018

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz said in an interview with Agência Efe that he believes he can take his team to the Round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and chose the country where he was born in Portugal as a ” Group B” favorite, completed by Spain and Morocco.

In charge of the Iranian team since 2011, Queiroz has made the Team Melli one of the top teams in Asia, beating virtually all regional rivals in the World Cup preparation round.

Despite the confidence in his team, Queiroz acknowledges that Spain is not only favorite to pass the stage, but also to the title.

“Iran is a country that is not on the list of priorities for the press, but the work we have done in recent years deserves a little more attention. Overall, Asian football is not always present in the news, unless you speak Japan and Korea, which have a lot of influence in Europe in general, “he said.

In the friendly of this Fifa day, Queiroz chose to face two rivals of the region. First, playing Tunisia, who are in Group G of the World Cup. Then he takes his team to face Algeria, who competed in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but did not qualify to Russia 2018.

“We always have a lot of difficulties during the preparation. There are some issues we are always struggling with, such as financial difficulties and relations with other countries, which are sometimes not easy for Iran. But we always try to do our best and, with colleagues, seek solutions, “explained the Portuguese head coach.

“We are going to play with Tunisia, Algeria and Turkey, which everyone knows is very strong even though they are not in the World Cup, as well as with Greece and Lithuania, we are better than we were in the last World Cup when we practically did not play with anyone,” he said.

Asked if group B is the group of death, Queiroz stressed that the two favorites are Spain and Portugal, but said nothing is decided. For him, Iran and Morocco are outsiders but will try to qualify for a place in the last 16 of the World Cup.

“It is no secret that Spain and Portugal are favorites, but I do know that Iran will be there, and it is very difficult to know who will advance, I do not want to choose, but it will be them (the Spanish team) who will decide, but I want Iran and Portugal to move on, “he said.

Queiroz ” Guam visa hassles nothing to do with soccer”

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) Iran coach Carlos Queiroz says the frustrations faced by the tiny Pacific island of Guam in obtaining visas to travel to Tehran for a World Cup qualifier next month give just a glimpse of the problems long faced by his team in negotiating international soccer.

Iran, Asia’s top-ranked soccer team, has been dealing with the effects of American-led sanctions for years.

Those sanctions may have been lifted in July, but as yet Queiroz says there has been no let-up in the complications involved with being in charge of Iran’s soccer team.

As well as the absence of some western embassies in Tehran, the Iranian Football Federation has struggled to gain access to international funds, hold overseas training camps and play warm up matches.

Iran also has visa problems ahead of its Nov. 17 World Cup qualifier in Guam.

Guam is an unincorporated U.S. territory and entry requirements are the same as for any other U.S. destination. However, in a bid to boost tourism, the U.S. federal government has implemented a Guam-only visa-waiver program for most Asian countries.

”The situation is very complex because Guam play under the umbrella of the United States, but this is football,” Queiroz told The Associated Press. ”It is very difficult for us to find a way to get visas for our players because Guam demands the list 60 days in advance.

Not only that, all the players must go the American Embassy but there is none in Iran,” he added. ”So the question is: how can I find a way to release players from their club duties to spend three or four days in a foreign country to get the visas? We are in trouble.”

TM training May15 876

Queiroz, who took Portugal to the 2010 World Cup and Iran to Brazil 2014, wants the Asian Football Confederation to step in and find a resolution to the problem.

”The AFC should come across and, once they accept Guam to play in this competition, they must be clear with the rules,” the Portuguese coach said. ”Guam must find a way not to force the Iranian players to spend three or four days to get a visa in a period when the clubs don’t release the players so this is a very difficult situation for us.”

If no other solution presents itself, Queiroz, a former coach of Real Madrid, is ready to use what should be training time before an October qualifier against Oman to secure the visas.

”This is what we have at the moment. Instead of preparing for the game with Oman we will instead have to go to Turkey or the (United Arab Emirates) instead and go to get the visas to play against Guam which is a bizarre situation.”

Guam has similarly complained of its problems obtaining the proper documentation to enter Iran for its Sep. 3 qualifier despite, according to the Guam Football Association, starting the visa application process in June.

”Any visa or logistical matters are being handled by my executive and president Richard Lai and they are capable of dealing with it,” Guam coach Gary White told Associated Press. ”As far as I’m concerned, we are playing in Iran on September 3 until told otherwise. My focus is on the team and the preparation of the team. We are excited and motivated and are looking forward to what should be a great test.”

Guam, under its English coach, has won both games so far in the second round of qualification and sits on top of its group.

The island of just 170,000 people has climbed to 146 in FIFA’s world rankings and is one of Asia’s most improved teams, but playing Iran is as testing off the field as on.

These are problems Iran should be accustomed to. Years of sanctions affected the ability of the IFF to access funds from world governing body FIFA and the AFC, and therefore pay for facilities or organize training camps overseas.

The cancellation of the relatively few friendly matches arranged for the team have been a common occurrence over the years.

After the 2014 World Cup, during which Iran gave a good showing despite earning a single point from three games, Queiroz explained that he was ready to leave but was persuaded to stay by a federation that believes the situation will change.

”It was my hope that things could change and that we could have the right conditions to prepare the team for the World Cup in Russia,” he said. ”The federation board still believes that with the end of the sanctions there is now a chance to put something in place to change the situation. Let’s see. I have this perception that things will not happen in the short term.”

Queiroz is fed up with broken promises.

The Portuguese coach is not a happy man after the cancelation of the proposed Turkey training camp which was supposed to be conducted for a week before Iran’s friendly against Uzbekistan.

On Saturday, Carlos Queiroz who was supervising the training of Team Melli in the local camp in Tehran spoke of the broken promises and how he was promised that everything will be available to him to conduct his job , but in the first real trial , the promises are already hot air.

“We can go on playing this silly game. I was assured of all the necessary resources to carry out the mission to qualify but just as before and like the old days, the promises were never delivered. I have specifically and strongly demanded that resources should be at hand as a condition of renewing my contract, now you can see what has happened.”

Queiroz refused to comment on the reasons behind the cancelation of the Turkey camp however, he emphasized that he needs resources to continue his job.

“We will start the World Cup campaign from tomorrows. Tell me, how can I conduct my job? If I talk, they will accuse me of being a bad boy and the bad man of football. Not that I really care as my priority is to defend the interest and reputation of Team Melli.” Queiroz added.

The cash strapped football federation is under severe pressure financially with a substantial amount of money due to the federation from the World Cup , still being held in Switzerland because of banking restriction on money transfer to Iran.

Uzbekistan friendly is canceled.

The proposed match between Uzbekistan and Iran has been canceled as the Uzbeks refused to travel to Turkey for the match. The initial verbal agreement was for the match to be played in Tashkent.

Kaffashian has suggested the match to be played in Turkey saving his squad time and money, however Uzbekistan Football Federation (UFF) declined the offer and the match is indefinitely postponed.

Instead of the friendly match , Team Melli will set up a 6 days training camp before the first match against Turkmenistan in the opening of the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers. Carlos Queiroz will be lead the team in Ashgabat for the opener.