Tag: UAE

List for UAE And Korea Rep matches announced.

Dragan Skocic announced the list of Team Melli players to play against the UAE and South Korea in the final qualifying rounds of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Majid Hosseini, Ehsan Haj Safi, and Kaveh Rezaei are the three changes from the last squad in an otherwise unchanged squad.

With a perfect winning record and players who have delivered, Skocic rightly stuck to the same skeleton of Team Melli players. With two tough matches ahead, Team Melli can set very comfortably at the top of the table with a high chance of qualifying to Qatar with all the six points of the October matches.

Despite the lack of preparation and minimal training before the first match against UAE, the team seems to have a good understanding and performed quite well in the last two matches.

Team Melli is currently at the top of Group A of the 2022 World Cup final qualifiers in Asia with 6 points, two ahead of nearest rivals South Korea whom they meet in Azadi.

Goalkeepers

Alireza Biranvand, Amir Abedzadeh, Payam Niazmand.

Defenders

Shoja Khalilzadeh, Mohammad Hossein Kananizadegan, Majid Hosseini, Milad Mohammadi , Omid Nourafkan, Sadegh Moharremi,  Saleh Hardani, Siavash Yazdani,  Ehsan Hajsafy

Midfield

Ahmad Noorollahi, Milad Sarlak, Yasin Salmani, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Saeed Ezatollahi, Vahid Amiri, Saman Ghoddos, Mehdi Torabi , Ali Gholizadeh.

Forwards

Karim Ansarifard, Mehdi Ghaedi, Kaveh Rezaei, Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi.

 

 

Analysis of the matches vs UAE and Korea Rep.

 In an interview on the prospects of Team Melli, the former lecturer and football analyst Amir Haj Rezaei spoke of Team Melli chances for the upcoming games against the UAE and South Korea in the group stage of the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar,

“The unity and empathy of the players can be clearly seen in the games of this team. The most important factor in shaping a team’s success is their sense of engagement, duty and technical responsibility”. Haj Rezaei continued: “The victory of the Iranian national team against Syria and Iraq was very important and we were able to defeat teams that were always a problem for us during the period of Carlos Queiroz, but now we see that they have nothing to say against Team Melli.”

Referring to Dragan Skocic’s excellent statistics on the Team Melli bench, Hajrezaei added: “He was not a leading coach and not a front runner for the post of coaching Team Melli, but now he has proven himself to everyone. Although Skocic, was not a household name, his success on and off the field are speaking volumes about him and his reputation is growing bigger and bigger.”

“There is no call to ignore his performance and credit the victories to other issues such as the legionnaire players and the management of the federation. The fact is that the current pillars are harmonized and we see successive successes in the senior team because of many factors, not just one.” HajRezaei who was a former assistant coach of Team Melli commented on differences and comparisons between Skocic and Carlos Queiroz ” I really do not understand why there is a need to compare these two people, who have nothing to do with each other. Each has done his own thing. The only point I like to point out is that during Queiroz, there was no stability and high tension as a result of the Portuguese coach’s demeanor.”

“but talking about the past does not help the current situation. We need to enjoy the results over time and learn from them when we fail to achieve our goals.”

He noted: “Team Melli will have a lot to say against the UAE and South Korea, and I think it is not necessary to create giants and hype the opposition like they are doing to  Al-Hilal, which really did not perform well against Esteghlal.” Hajrezaei added: “The fact is that we have neglected our resources and do not enjoy it, then we talk about the small assets of other teams.”

“Let us stop criticizing the team on every point and remember to be supporters aiming for the success of Team Melli. Let’s leave the technical issues for the coaching staff,  and focus our energy on being supporters of Team Melli which currently has at least three good players in each position.”

Nizar Mahrous appointed as Head Coach of Syria

The former Syrian National team star and current coach Nizar Mahrous has been officially appointed as the head coach of Syria.

The Syrian Football Association decided to appoint Nizar Mahrous to succeed the Tunisian Nabil Maaloul who reigned after the federation failed to pay his wages. The Federation said in an official statement, published today, Wednesday: “After the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Syrian Arab Football Association, three days ago, and after studying and discussing the names proposed by the Technical Department, the Coaches Committee, and the National Teams Committee, and after communicating with the proposed names, it was decided to appoint Nizar Mahrous as Technical Director (Head Coach) .

Mahrous (58 years) was approached by the federation immediately after the departure of Maaloul, however, after the negotiations reached advanced stages, the former national Team player agreed. It is expected that Mahroos’s assistant technical and administrative staff will be announced at the end of next week.

This is the second stint of Mahrous with The Syrian National Football Team. In May 2011, Mahrous was appointed manager of Syria. On 24th August 2011, he quit after FIFA disqualified Syria from the 2014 World Cup qualifiers for fielding an ineligible player.

Mahroos, who has previously trained several local and Arab teams and achieved good results with them, has a very difficult task ahead, as he will lead the Syrian team in the third qualifying round for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. The Syrian team’s group included Iran, South Korea, the Emirates, Iraq, and Lebanon.

There was no mention of the contract details

Carlos Queiroz set to lead Iraq.

The former Team Melli head coach will aim to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with Iraq, a feat that has failed the Iraqis for 35 years.

Carlos Queiroz is the No. 1 candidate to lead the Iraq team, in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, after the team parted with coach Srecko Katanec.

Srecko Katanec has led the Iraqi team since 2018, helping the team qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup as well as advance to the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup. However, on July 15, he decided to leave the Iraqi team after 6 months without receiving a salary.

Very quickly, the Iraqi Football Federation targeted the famous coach Carlos Queiroz as a replacement. The Portuguese born in 1953 is currently unemployed, after terminating his job with the Colombian team in December 2020.

Carlos Queiroz is one of the most famous coaches in the world. He led the Portuguese team with Ronaldo to the 2010 World Cup. After that, he had 8 years with Team Melli, achieving a historic back-to-back qualification to the World Cup 2014 and 2018. Before that, he also twice. helped Portugal’s U20 team win the FIFA U20 World Cup in 1989 and 1991.

Carlos Queiroz is likely to lead the Iraqi team to the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Photo: Twitter Iraqi Football Federation.
Carlos Queiroz is likely to lead the Iraqi team to the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Photo: Twitter Iraqi Football Federation.

At the club level, Carlos Queiroz worked as an assistant to Alex Ferguson at Man United in his prime. In addition, he also had a season as a coach of Real Madrid, with the team winning the Spanish Super Cup.

According to local media, Carlos Queiroz is excited about the prospect of leading the Iraqi team. However, he also asked the Iraqi Football Federation to pay him 80% of his salary in advance, which is expected to be up to 1.75 million USD/year. It is expected that this week, the two sides will agree on the final terms.

In the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, Iraq is in Group A with Iran, South Korea, UAE, Syria, and Lebanon. They will open the World Cup qualifying campaign with a match against South Korea away on September 2. On September 9, they will meet Iran at home. Historically, Iraq has only attended the World Cup once, in 1986.

Reports: Iraq & Syria may lose hosting rights.

According to the UAE Al-Ittihad newspaper, two Group A teams Iraq and Syria may well lose the chance of playing their home matches in their own country.

Ittihad quoted informed sources in the Asian Football Confederation headquarters, the AFC has asked Iraq and Syria to nominate alternative venues for their home matches in the third qualifying round of the FIFA  World Cup Qatar 2022 in a neutral country.  According to the newspaper, security issues and the coronavirus situation of the two countries are factors that influenced the denying of the hosting and requirement to nominate other countries for holding their home matches.

The final decision has to be resolved by the end of July (less than another month), as the third round qualifiers start on 2nd September. However, FIFA has stated that countries in each group cannot nominate their group rivals venues to host home matches. Al-Ittihad also stated that the president of the Syrian Football Federation has begun negotiations to select an Arab country to host on neutral ground. Reflecting on the news, Iraqi journalist Ali Nouri also protested against the decision by FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation and called on the Minister of Sports, Adnan Darjal, and the Iraqi Federation’s normalization committee to pursue the issue of hosting Iraq on its own soil. Iran, South Korea, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and the UAE are in the Group of the third round FIFA World Cup qualifiers. This report does not mention the name of Iran and the issue of its hosting.

GROUP A: Iran rivals historical data review

With the draw of the third round concluded in Kuala Lumpur AFC headquarters, Iran has been grouped with Korea Rep., Syria, Iraq, UAE, and Lebanon.

While navigating this group of teams is not as easy as it looks on paper, the historic data supports Iran and draws a clear picture of superiority against its rival, the exception being South Korea which the teams are neck to neck on records.

Iran has played a total of 114 matches against these 5 teams with a percentage of wins set at 57%. Only 15% of the matches ended in a loss against these rivals.

The latest team that defeated Iran in any match was Iraq back in the 2nd round. UAE never won against Iran in official competition matches.

 

Korea Rep.
H / A / N Matches W D L Goals + / –
H 7 5 2 0 10 – 03 7
A 11 3 6 2 08 – 08 0
N 13 5 1 7 15 – 22 -7
Total 31 13 9 9 33 – 33 0
Syria
H / A / N Matches W D L Goals + / –
H 13 6 6 1 29 – 10 19
A 8 5 3 0 10 – 03 7
N 7 4 3 0 08 – 03 5
Total 28 15 12 1 47 – 16 31

Lebanon
H / A / N Matches W D L Goals + / –
H 4 4 0 0 14 – 0 14
A 5 3 1 1 11 – 02 9
N 1 1 0 0 2 – 0 2
Total 10 8 1 1 27 – 02 25

Iraq
H / A / N Matches W D L Goals + / –
H 12 9 1 2 19 – 08 11
A 3 2 1 0 04 – 01 3
N 14 6 5 3 17 – 12 5
Total 29 17 7 5 40 – 21 19

UAE
H / A / N Matches W D L Goals + / –
H 5 4 1 0 4 – 0 4
A 7 5 1 1 13 – 04 9
N 4 3 1 0 7 – 0 7
Total 16 12 3 1 24 – 04 20

OVERALL RESULTS
P W D L GF GA
114 65 32 17 171 76
57% 28% 15%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last meetings

Iraq 15-06-21 WC Qualifier N 1 – 0 16 Days
Syria 03-03-21 Friendly H 3 – 0 3 Months
Korea Rep 11-06-19 Friendly A 1 -1 2 years
UAE 19-01-15 Asian Cup H 1 – 0 6 years
Lebanon 19-11-13 Asian Cup Qlfy H 4 – 1 7 Years

 

Loss records

In the same FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Team Melli has suffered its last loss. Surprisingly Lebanon was the latest team that has defeated Team Melli again in the World Cup qualifiers but that was 8 years ago. The third-ranked defeat came from Kore Rep in the quarter-finals of the AFC Asian Cup 2011 in Qatar and that was 11 years ago.

The record of the last defeat goes to Syria which managed its only win against Iran in the Qualifiers some 48 years ago.

 

TEAM MATCH DATE YEARS Result Competition
IRAQ 14-11-2019 1.5 1 – 2 World Cup QLFY
LEBANON 11-09-2012 8 0 – 1 World Cup QLFY
KOREA REP 22-01-2011 10 0 – 1 ASIAN CUP
UAE 02-09-1997 23 1 – 3 FRIENDLY
SYRIA 15-05-1973 48 0 – 1 World Cup QLFY

 

 

Iran hosting of AFC Asian Cup 2027!

Recently there have been some reports, possibly leaked to the media by FFIRI, about Iran requesting the hosting of AFC Asian Cup 2027.  This suggestion has been carried by many media and sports publications.  The is article discusses whether this possibility is realistic or just another gag to entertain the Iranian fans under the lockdown of COVID-19.

For a starter, news, or rumors of  FFIRI application for Iran to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027 has been met by a wave of criticism from football fans and critics mainly targeting the Iranian federation’s action. This comes at a time when the Asian Football’s most prestigious event  (AFC Asian Cup) requires major resources and infrastructure while Iran’s football, in general, is in the midst of a major crisis that is unparalleled in the country and will probably take years to recover.

* Hosting under current infrastructure?

At first glance, attention needs to be drawn to stadiums with FIFA standards, which are not available in Iran, as Sheikh Salman, the AFC president, recently announced that to host the event, which will be 24 teams tournament, eight to ten stadiums will be required. Despite the construction of stadiums such as Imam Reza, Shohadaye Foolad and Naghshe Jehan, etc., Iran is still miles away from such a standard required for hosting.

* Logistics and accommodation

 The important issues are those related to the transportation, logistics, accommodation, and marketing in such competitions, which require high fortitude and cooperation of government agencies and cannot be done by an organization such as the Football Federation or the Ministry of Sports. A look at the list of requirements for each country to hold this event shows that Iran has not had a history of holding major events since 1976, that is 44 years ago when the competition had 8 teams and most matches were played in the state-of-the-art newly built Arayamehr Stadium.

The current sporting infrastructure has not developed efficiently since the revolution. War, Political environment, priorities, sanctions, and most importantly financial resources were poorly allocated for sports venues.  Unless one believes in a miracle, it is really difficult to envisage all the factors merging towards achieving the target of 10 stadia by 2027

* Poor facilities of host cities.

Of course, there will be other Iranian cities that will host the group matches. Not all efforts and resources would be channeled towards hosting in Tehran only. In the current state, there are many problems in terms of transportation, logistics, and sports infrastructure, across the main cities in Iran. Although some cities have good facilities such as Mashhad which has an international airport and modern subway system, it lacks a proper FIFA Standard stadium while other options such as Esfahan has a good stadium that can easily host matches, but their transportation facilities and accommodations lag behind.

The most vital of the facilities, accommodation is a problem in other cities as well. The lack of  5-star hotels in some cities, as well as the difficulties of obtaining customs and visa permits, and finally the ban on women’s presence in the stadiums culminate in a poor chance of hosting.

Naghshe Jehan Stadium, Esfahan.

* Advertising revenues and copyright laws.

In a strange system, in Iran, the broadcaster never pays the football federation. In fact, IRIB the government-owned broadcaster and the only authorized TV and Radio broadcaster had the audacity to claim that it should be the other way round as IRIB is doing football a favor by broadcasting matches!

In Iran, there is no Copyright laws either, at least not the way it is recognized and practiced internationally.  Clubs or the federation cannot claim nor count on revenues from companies who commercially use logos or other materials to sell their products. Therefore there are no official kits or jerseys by the clubs because cheaper products can be sold alongside genuine products without the protection or respect of copyrights.

While, the case of advertising revenues can be easily sorted out for the Asian Cup tournament, as the AFC has a solid and well laid down contractual clause that is legally binding, the copyright laws is well outside the football federation’s jurisdiction and AFC has no role to play in it. Copyright protection requires the government to initiate and produce legislation. It has to be passed as a law.  Then the suggested copyright law clauses need to be approved by the Majlis (parliament) and that in itself is not an easy task. The judiciary also needs to be on board and prosecute the offenders. Different government within governments like Pasdaran, Sepah, and the religious establishment will always have their own rules and understanding of any law. In brief, it is not an easy task to create copyright laws in Iran,  where chaotic political-religious system rules supreme.

Several attempts of the establishment of this law have failed, and it is unlikely that such laws will be established by 2027 or before.

* Financial and executive crisis in the Football Federation.

 Iran’s request for hosting the Asian Cup will be looked upon in association with the integrity, strength, legitimacy, and competency of the persons running the football federation. At the moment, FFIRI is in crisis and facing sanctions by FIFA for many issues but mainly due to government interference. With such shady administration, it is unlikely that many will vote for Iran while the administrators are busy saving their own skins.

Former FFIRI President, who has been outside Iran for many months, is under scrutiny for financial irregularities

 

 

 

in 2014, UAE won the hosting of the 2019 Asian Cup instead of Iran. The UAE, met the conditions and the requirements to host the event and was able to prepare for the competition in four years. It has a well-established copyright law that is strictly implemented. There are plenty of international airports that are served by hundreds of airlines, it had the ideal infrastructure, hotels, stadia, perfect road system, Trams(Dubai), and resources, so it was a no brainer for it to be chosen as hosts.

How is Iran compared now? will it have the chance this time with competition from Saudi Arabia and India?

Given the country’s economic situation and existing sanctions, the efforts required to establish or amend laws like copyright, intellectual property protection, women in the stadium, and the resources required to massively upgrade the stadiums in Tehran and other Iranian cities, the answer is a categorical NO.

There are far too many problems and issues for Iran’s hosting of major sporting events in the magnitude of the Asian Cup. Any such attempt by FFIRI to send the hosting file to AFC as a candidate for AFC Asian Cup 2027 will only be an embarrassment for Iran while it may serve as a propaganda tool for the current FFIRI administrators.

Branko Ivankovic : ” No intention to coach Team Melli”

Former  Team Melli and Persepolis coach Branko Ivankovic says he has no intention of coaching Iran national football team.

Ivankovic led Persepolis to the Iranian domestic treble last season but left after they failed to pay him his salary, a common practice in Iran in the last few years.

The 65-year-old coach, considered as one of the best foreign coaches of Team Melli, won the gold medal in 2002 Asian Games and led Team Melli to third place in 2004 AFC Asian Cup.

The Croat coached Iran at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where the Team Melli failed to qualify for the next stage after losing to Mexico and Portugal. while drawing with Angola.

“At the moment, I have a lot of offers from Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Japan and China but have not accepted them so far. In Al Ahli, I was fired after three matches, something I never experienced such a thing before. I believe I worked well for the team as it needed some changes in dressing room but this is football and I accept it,” Ivankovic said.

Asked why he left Persepolis at the end of the last season, Ivankovic said, “I had four fascinating years in Iran and I so much miss the country. However, I was forced to leave Persepolis because they didn’t pay our salaries for about one year. At that time, Al Ahli gave me a good offer and I accepted it,” he added.

Persepolis have lost three times in the last 10 matches but Ivankovic says they are favourites to win the title for the fourth time in a row.

“I think Gabriel Calderon needs time in Persepolis because he is a great coach. Persepolis fans love their team and support their players and coaches. In my opinion, Persepolis and Sepahan are vying for the title in the current season,” Ivankovic stated.

Ivankovic believes that Team Melli had a chance to qualify for the next round at the FIFA 2018 World Cup.

“I think (Carlos) Queiroz preferred to defend in Russia. Iran could have played attacking football against Portugal and Span. After beating Morocco, Team Melli should have taken risks,” said Ivankovic .

“Is there any chance to return to Team Melli if he receives an offer?”

“I would prefer to work at club level. I am not going work as a national team head coach,” Ivankovic concluded.

Perfect start for Iran U19 starts with a solid win vs Kyrgyzstan

Iran’s U19 national football team started the qualification for the final tournament in a positive manner defeating a stubborn 3-0 in the match held today Wednesday in Pas stadium in Ekbatan.

This is the first victory of the team coached by Sirous

The AFC Asian U19 Youth Championship Group D  qualifying match between Iran and Kyrgyzstan ended goal-less. Both teams efforts to score were futile with some of their best chances to score wasted as neither could find the opener as the score remained 0-0 at half-time.

In the second half, the tide changed and the stubborn defensive game-plan of  Kyrgyzstan crumbled early. The second half started with Iran’s pressing hard to break the deadlock. In  the53rd minute Iran scored the opener.  Aria Barzegar jumped above the defenders to finish off Ahmad Reza Jalali’s perfect delivery from the left flank.

The goal spurred Seyyed Akbar PourMousavi’s side to push forward as they dominated the game and their persistence paid off in the 78th minute when Alireza Monazami rose highest to head home Iran’s second goal. It was a well-taken header, as Monazami managed to increase the deficit for his team.

 Yassin Salmani sealed the match for the host in the 82nd minute. Salmani cooly slotted the penalty spot-kick to make it 3-0.

Despite the good result, Pourmousavi’s team lacked good finishing. There were individual flashes of good moves by the young players but as a cohesive unit, it seems that the team needs much more time to gel. Kyrgyzstan team was defensively strong with good physical shapes. The team was mostly dependent on their defensive play including some rough handling of the Iranian forwards. Despite their good efforts, especially in the 1st half, the team lacked punch upfront and were technically weak in ball handling. Their aerial defences left a lot to be desired.

 With this result, Iran is in the second in Group D by goal difference. Kyrgyzstan will meet UAE next while Iran will face off against Nepal on Friday at 17:45

Iran’s U19 plays Kyrgyz Republic in the AFC Asian Qualifiers.

Iran’s U19 team will play its first match today 6th Nov. vs Kyrgyz Republic in PAS Stadium, Tehran in the qualifying rounds of AFC Asian U19 championships 2020 qualifiers.

According to the official website of the Football Federation, the line up will be as follows:

Amir Hossein Nikpour, Ahmed Jalali, Hossein Shavdari, Mohammad Reza Asgari, Alireza Asad-Abadi,  Yasin Salmani, Hossein Zvari, Mehdi Hashemi Nejad, Hussein Nokhodkar, Ali Sobhani and Aria Barzegar

In the first match of the group, UAE defeated Nepal 4-0 earlier in the day.

Iran’s U19 is coached by Sirous Pour-Mousavi