Carlos Queiroz has defended his Team Captain performance while tangled himself in a strong attack on “Iran Varzeshi” newspaper, a leading football and sport daily.

After the Guinea match, some of the criticism against the players included that of Javad Nekounam , who showed much sign of fatigue and ineffectiveness.  In his usual coarse and harsh manner, Queiroz did not shy from some serious accusations against critics and this time a newspaper. He said “ on Saturday, one of the newspapers published wrong and false article about Team Melli and Captain Javad Nekounam, which requires me to respond to those false allegations,”

[pullquote]”These people have consistently written against us.” [/pullquote]

“First of all , we know very well that the article written in that newspaper was personally targeting Nekounam and have been pushed by people that have an agenda against us which we are aware of (…). These people have consistently written against us, we know them very well and we know who drives them to do so and what motives they have. It is all clear to us.”

“The second thing I want to say here in the motive behind these articles is to destroy us and mislead the public by publishing pure lies and fabrications. What is even more disturbing is why, after we qualified to the World Cup, there is so much attack on the team and players after just one friendly game?”

“These attacks are targeting the most effective and one of the best scorers of Team Melli during the World Cup qualification matches, and also the leader of the team. He is the same player that was a candidate for the AFC player of the year. It is exactly such ill-treatment of the player that made him leave Iran’s football”

“I am forced to state some facts that I normally reserve for myself. Nekounam ran 5.488 Km in the 1^st half and 5.891 in the 2^nd for a total of 11.379 km”

“With such figures, I want to inform the public about the facts rather than the false allegations published in the newspapers.”

On the other hand, Iran Varzeshi’s editor-in-Chief , the newspaper that Queiroz was referring to , denied the accusations of the Portuguese coach and warned about a lawsuit against Queiroz for slander.

In response to the scathing attack by Queiroz , Saeed Zahedian , mentioned that “our evidence of what they wrote is the footage of the game , while we have not seen any evidence of Queiroz claim about his famous 11.379 km that Nekounam has supposedly run”

Zahedian went on explaining his newspapers motives and emphasized that they do not need someone to teach them about patriotism and Team Melli’s interest. “It is our duty to publish what we think in our own opinion, what are facts and without prejudice. Occasionally, these facts are bitter pill to swallow for some.”

The editor-in-Chief mentioned that our argument with Queiroz is purely technical not personal. “We have loads of issues that we are concerned with, however , we try quite hard to publish it in a way that has minimum negative effect on the team. For instance, on what basis Queiroz selects Alireza Haghighi , a player (Goalkeeper) who has not featured regularly for his clubs for 3 seasons and as soon as he joins a second division Portuguese club, he is suddenly picked for Team Melli?” We want to know what criteria this coach is using and what about applying the same selection criteria to Afshin Esmaeilzadeh who is also playing abroad and has much more playing time?”

[quote]It is so clear to everyone in Iran, that Queiroz does not care much about the domestic league [/quote],

Zahedian continued “how on earth can he ignore quality players who are regularly playing for their club and excelling in their performance , yet he selects a player that has not been active for 3 years simply because he is now in Portugal?.”

“Regardless to what Queiroz thinks, we will continue analyzing , supporting and criticizing Team Melli’s performance as we see it fit. We do not seek his permission or his approval. It is our duty to publish what we think is appropriate and we are not driven by the interests of others.”

On the issue of Nekounam running, Zahedian claims that according to their calculations, Nekounam has run for just about 5 km not 11 km as claimed by Queiroz.

Carlos Queiroz has time and again displayed little tolerance for criticism and his confrontational and volatile attitude has left him and his team into troubles.

The Portuguese coach , Nelo Vingada , finally put pen on paper and signed a two year contract to coach Iran’s Olympic team /U-23, according to Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA)

It is believed that the prolong negotiations between FFIRI and Vingada and failure to reach an agreement , was mainly due to the selection of an assistant coach. While FFIRI insisted that a local Iranian coach must accompany Vingada as his right hand man, the Portuguese wanted a hand picked coach of his own, most probably a Portuguese coach, while he did not mind any number of additional Iranian coaches. It is not clear what was the final agreement

Vingada will be leading Iran until the conclusion of the Rio Olympics in 2016.

ISNA claims that the value of the contract for Vingada will be US$ 360,000 per annum.  A Physical trainer , who will also be a foreigner , will be recruited as part of Vingada’s coaching team.

Nelo Vingada , who was recommended to FFIRI by Team Melli’s coach Carlos Queiroz , has a decent record in the coaching of Olympic teams.  Vingada lead his own country Portugal in the  1996 Atalanta Olympics games to fourth place. He also coached the Egyptian Olympic Team in Beijing 2008 and reached the quarter finals before being eliminated by Côte d’Ivoire. Vingada also coached the Jordanian Olympic team.

Iran has a dismal record in the Olympics games football particularly post revolution.  The last time Iran qualified for the Olympic Games was 1980 Moscow where Iran withdrew from the games due to politics. All attempts after 1980 resulted in failure to qualify. If Vingada manages to reach the Olympics, he will break a 36 years of absence from what is considered to be the most important youth football event on international calendar.

 

Guinea defeated Iran 2-1 in a Azadi Stadium  in a friendly international match as part of Iran’s preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil.

Guinea scored two quick goals in 34 and 36 minutes , the first one from a long range shot by Kevin Constant  that easily passed under Davari’s arm,  while the second was a beauty similar to the first however much more powerful  from  Ibrahima Traoré  who tormented the Iranian defenders , leaving Davari to just watch the ball . Reza Ghoochannejad scored Iran’s goal at minute 55 from a fine exchange between Dejagah and Jahanbakhsh.

The deserted Azadi seats was not a good omen for Team Melli as Carlos Queiroz stuck to his old guns putting up his best line up minus the injured Ando Teymourian. All the legionnaires were starting which pretty much represents the strongest team that Queiroz has at his disposal.

Despite that, Team Melli was soon exposed for lack of pace, stamina and inferior tactics against the much quicker and younger African team. The first half was controlled by the guests and their superiority was answered by the two quick goals by Constant and Traoré .

Iran’s best efforts was two long range shots by Haddadifar and Nekounam

in the second half , with the introduction of Khosrow Haidary and Alireza Jahanbakhsh Iran started much better and managed a string of offensive moves that resulted in a goal by Ghoochannejad. Despite the better ball possession, however , the lack of creativity , futile crossing and some sub-standard finishing , was not enough to change the result.

With less than 100 days to go to the World Cup , it is highly unlikely that a major improvement will be seen in Team Melli. Over-aged , short of pace , short of leadership on and off the field  and  based on this match  where an average African team , not in the top league of the elite of Africa, Team Melli must fear for the worst. Against the might of Argentine and the two other powerful teams, there is a lot lacking in every department. . Some players, like Masoud Shojae , have no place in Team Melli  , while Queiroz  blind faith in foreign based have not exactly turned into a triumph card. Two of the new players Davari and Beitashour have not added any value to the team , but Davari’s horrid form lately and his performance against Guinea is very serious concern for the fans.

With tried and trusted players like Nekounam and Jabbari , lethargic ,  fatigued and displaying a visible drop in form , Queiroz will have a mighty task defending his reputation and that of Iran.

Guinea 23 years old forward Idrissa Sylla suffered a serious head injury while training with his team in Azadi Stadium today.

The practice session was stopped for awhile and finally the team managers decided to call and ambulance to take Sylla to an emergency ward in a Tehran hospital. Apparently Sylla and another teammate went for heading the same ball with a teammate when the head crash occurred.

The incident affected the morale of the visiting Guinean team.

Team Melli will be meeting Guinea in a friendly match on Wednesday as part of the preparation program for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2014.

Guinea squad left Conakry on Saturday for a reunion in Germany before heading to Tehran. coach of the Guinean team, Michel Dussuyer recently reappointed, summoned 22 players. Listed below are the main squad: 

Goalkeepers: Abdul Aziz Keita (ASK) and Naby Yattara (France).

Defenders: Thierno Bah (France), Babacar Camara (ASK), Abdoulaye Cissé (Fello Star), Pay Djibril Tamsir (Moldova), Florentin Pogba (France), Baissama Sankhon (France) and Issiaga Sylla (France).

Midfielders: Ibrahima Conte (Belgium), Kevin Constant (Italy), Sadio Diallo (France), Mohamed Diarra (Denmark), Boubacar Fofana (Portugal) djiba Keita (CIK) and Michel Landel Guy (France). 

Forwards: Alhassane Bangoura (Spain), Salim Cissé (Portugal), Seydouba Soumah (Slovakia), Idrissa Sylla (Belgium), Ibrahima Traoré (Germany) and Mohamed Lamine Yattara (France ).

Team Melli consisting mostly of reserve players . defeated Kuwait 3-2 in Enghilab Stadium , Karaj in the final round of the AFC Asian Cup qualification match.

in a thrilling final minutes of the match , while Iran was leading 2-1 , Kuwaiti forward Fahad Al  Rasheedi scored Kuwait equalizer while 3 Iraninan defenders were surrounding him , yet he beat Ahmadi easily. However ,  that joy was short lived as substitute Karim Ansarifard scored in added time to cut short the Kuwaiti celebration of the equalizer. Yaghoub Karimi send an immaciulate cross from the left where Ansarifard rised to head home on the far side of desperate Al khalidi.

Team Melli scored as early as the 1st minute when Yaghoub Karimi from the right , beat his marker easily and send a powerful low volley into the Kuwaiti net. Kuwait equalizer came through Mosen Bengar when he deflect a ball into Rahman Ahmadi’s net.

An own goal also restored Iran’s lead when Payam Sadeghian send a low cross from the right hand side in the 2nd half  which was met by Kuwait’s Husssin Al Fadhel deflecting it into his own net.

The match was played in a good spirit until the petulant Kuwait keeper Al Khaldi nearly started a mass bust up. In front of the referee , he pushed Bakhtiyar Rahmani from the back although the Iranian midfielder made a gallant effort not clash with the keeper. Following that a spate of shoving and pushing started mainly by Messaed Nada who was acting like a gang member. Sanity prevailed after the officials of the two teams intervened, but the shock was the Kyrgyzstan referee action. He awarded the victim , Rahmani a yellow card for no offense at all, while he left the two Kuwaiti  players who started the assault , unpunished.  Such is the standard of refereeing in Asia, unfortunately.

In a wise and logical move by Queiroz , the Portuguese coach elected to use his B team for this match while he has a match against Guinea in two days time. The gamble paid off nicely and despite some setbacks, the reserve team under the Captaincy of Ehsan Haj Safy played well and above expectation. There were some nice passes exchanges as the team created several scoring chances.

Iran & Kuwait qualify for the AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia.

 

 

Teams	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
I.R. IRAN	6	5	1	0	18	5	13	16
KUWAIT	6	2	3	1	10	7	3	9
LEBANON	5	1	2	2	7	12	-5	5
THAILAND	5	0	0	5	5	16	-11	0

 

[divider]

 

AFC.COM report

 

Karaj: Karim Ansari Fard’s stoppage-time header secured a 3-2 victory for Iran over Kuwait in Group B of AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 qualifying on Monday, ensuring Carlos Queiroz’s side finished on top of the standings.

Both nations fielded unfamiliar sides having already guaranteed their tickets for the finals in January of next year, and the Iranians’ experimental line-up took the lead after just two minutes through Yaghoub Karimi.

Mesaed Nada levelled the scores in the 18th minute with a deflected effort before the Iranians regained the lead 16 minutes into the second half, when Payam Sadeghian found the back of the net. Jorvan Vieira’s visitors thought they had done enough to claim a share of the points when, with a minute remaining, a fine effort from Fahad Al Rashidi restored parity once again, only for Ansari Fard to secure the win a minute into added time when he nodded in Ehsan Haj Safi’s cross.

“Today’s match was worth three points and we finished the qualifying group stage with 16 points,” said Queiroz after the game. “It also was a good chance for some players to experience an international match.

“Some of our players had trained with us in only two sessions. And some were earning their first national cap.

“We confronted a strong Kuwaiti side who had stopped us in Kuwait with a draw. Some of the new players were naturally a little anxious at the beginning of the match, but we got control during the second period. I am satisfied with the victory.”

The result left Kuwait on nine points, seven behind the Iranians but secure in second place ahead of third-placed Lebanon’s meeting with Thailand in the group’s remaining fixture on Wednesday.

“I don’t want to criticise my players, because they played well and I am proud of them,” said Vieira.

“It was a good game and I am satisfied with my players. We conceded a very early goal, which unbalanced the game and my players lost their concentration. Also it was this lack of focus in our defence which caused the goal.

“We got back into game after conceding the first goal by scoring the equaliser. It was a deflection however, but we ended the first half well.

“We resumed the second half just fine, but tiredness was the reason which blocked us. Our mistakes, which are normal, punished us although we played fine.

“After conceding the second goal we didn’t get disappointed and tried to stay in the game and level the match. We found the equaliser but unfortunately we conceded the third goal.”

Both nations will go into the draw for the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 finals, which will be held at Sydney Opera House on March 26 for the tournament, which kicks off on January 9, 2015.

 

Correction to AFC.COM report.

The 1st equalizing goals for Kuwait was scored by Iran’s Mohsen Bengar as an own goal, while Iran’s second goals was scored by a Kuwaiti defender NOT Payam Sadeghian.