Year: 2014

Resounding victory for Iran Futsal

Iran national futsal scored  a resounding victory (7-2) against Guatemala team in their first game of the Grand Prix de Futsal 2014 Tournament , which started in Brazil from 12 to 16 November.

Futsal Team Melli began the match in a whirlwind style with Hossein Tayyebi .

The Iranian Legionnaire who plays for the Russian club MFK Norilsk Nickel , scored three quick goals in the first few minutes of the match leaving the Guatemalans players shell-shocked. Iran emphatically took advantage of the  turnovers and some defensive mistakes Guatemala players committed, and comfortably went ahead.

Iran vs. Guatemala Grand Prix 2014

With these goals, the Iranian team dominated the match and at the end of the first 20 minutes, Javid and Shajari scored a goal each to extend Iran`s lead to 5 goals.

In the second half, Iran changed strategy and opted for counterattacks and through Tavakoli and Hasanzadeh m scored two more goals , the sixth and seventh goal.

After the opening match of the Grand Prix, the coach of Iran, Jesus Candelas, commented on the performance of his team. “The game started well for my players who were quite eager to score and pick up pace and we did well in our start. We are here to improve our performance and, therefore, to win these matches is quite important,” he said.

About Costa Rica, next opponents of the Iranian, Jesus is cautious. “The next game we have to get better. I know their style quite well , but regardless , we are going for another win against Costa Rica” said the coach.

With this victory, the Iran will be prepared to face Costa Rica in the second round of this tournament on Friday.

 

Group A
-> Brazil
-> Colombia
-> Vietnam

Group B
-> Costa Rica
-> Guatemala
-> Iran

Fixture

 

Grand Prix 201412/11/2014 – 16.00 Local Time
São Bernardo do Campo (Brazil)

Iran – Guatemala
7 – 2  (5 – 0)
Match details:

Hall: Ginasio Adib Moises Dib
Goals:
Iran: Hossein Tayyebi (3) – Mahdi Javid , Mohammad Shajari , Farhad Tavakoli, Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh, 
Guatemala:  Alejandro Enriquez , Marvin Sandoval 
Starting Line up:
AliReza Samimi
Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh
Abolghasem Orouji
Farhad Tavakoli
Hossein Tayyebi 

12/11/2014
(1) 16.00 Iran – Guatemala 7-2 (5-0)
(2) 19.15 Brazil – Vietnam 8-1 (4-0)

13/11/2014
(3) 16.15 Costa Rica – Guatemala –
(4) 21.00 Brazil – Colombia –

14/11/2014
(5) 16.00 Colombia – Vietnam –
(6) 19.45 Iran – Costa Rica –

Grand Prix 2014 – Group A Standing
1. Brazil ———————-1-1-0-0–8–1-3
2. Colombia ——————–0-0-0-0–0–0-0
3. Vietnam ———————1-0-0-1–1–8-0

Grand Prix 2014 – Group B Standing
1. Iran ————————1-1-0-0–7–2-3
2. Costa Rica ——————0-0-0-0–0–0-0
3. Guatemala ——————-1-0-0-1–2–7-0

Ansarifard and Azamoun join Team Melli squad.

The two European based Team Melli players, Karim Ansarifard of Osasuna and Sardar Azmoun of Rubin Kazan have joint their teammates in Tehran.

With the arrival of these two, Team Melli is now training with full squad in preparation for Next week’s match against South Korea in Azadi. Today morning was the third training session under the supervision of Carlos Queiroz and most of the players were active in training including Hashim Beikzadeh who suffered a knock during training and given a day off. 

Alireza Haghighi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh were given a day off following their late arrival from Europe , while Nekounam and Ghoochanejad were given light training in the gym as a recovery exercise following their involvement in league matches with their respective teams  before their arrival to Tehran.

Ashkan Dejagah in a brief interview with ISNA admitted that many fans were disappointed with him for leaving a European Team to play for a Qatari team “I am aware of such sentiment by some of the fans. It is a matter of people’s opinion and I respect that. I am the same Ashkan who grew up playing in Europe and will remain true to my standards and principles. The fact that I am in a different league now will not result in performances degradation.”

Dejagah also acknowledged that they are in a tough group n the Asian Games. “These teams prepared themselves well and played several friendly matches. I monitor Qatar team closely and I see that they have developed into a fine and organized team much better than what they were at a few years back. We have to admit that we are in a tough group and need to be at our best to qualify.”

“I urge the fans to flock to Azadi to support the team. The Koreans are here to take revenge after two consecutive defeats, We need the backing of the fans and I dearly hope that they will fill Azadi” the ex-Fulham player , Dejagah said

Mayeli-Kohan incarcerated.

Mohammad Mayeli-Kohan was summoned to a police station in Tehran where he was arrested , hand-cuffed and sent to the notorious Evin prison to serve jail sentence of 4 months.

The jail sentence is the result of a judge verdict against the former Team Melli coach following a law suit raised by another former Team Melli coach Ali Daei for slander & defamation.  The two have been embroiled in a long dispute, much of it initiated by Mayeli-Kohan who engaged in a smear campaign utilizing a media which thrives on controversy. Being an outspoken and controversial figure , the Iranian media awarded much space and opportunity for Mayeli-Kohan to publicly accuse Daei of misdeeds including financial benefiting from Peresepolis club contract and misappropriation of funds. Mayeli-Kohan failed to produce any credible evidence during the trials.

This is the second time that Daei has won a court case against his sworn enemy Maylei-Kohan , who portrays himself as a person on crusade to clean Iran’s football  ( and the country , for that matter) from corrupt elements.   The first case resulted in an undisclosed settlement between the two parties with a claim that Maylei-Kohan has agreed to a cease and desist court order.

Mayeli-Kohan however, did not stop and continued his rhetoric, accusation and allegations against Daei.

The route of the animosity by Mohammad Mayeli-Kohan against Daei goes way back to 1997 when Mayeli-Kohan was the head coach of Team Melli playing in the World Cup 1998 qualifiers. Ali Daei was the leading forward and top goal scorer of the team. In a crucial stage, the two had a disagreement which leads Mayeli-Kohan to drop Daei from the team roster.  Daei’s exclusion raised much media & public criticism. Mayeli could not produce the one win that Iran required for direct qualification to the World Cup, and following two defeats and a draw in the last 3 matches, he was fired from his job. Daei’s exile from Team Melli was short-lived. Maylei-Kohan always believed that it was Daei’s power and influence which has led to his sacking from his Team Melli head coaching job.

In another interesting twist to the tale, Iran’s Sports Minister has interfered in the court proceeding of Maylei-Kohan and ordered the Legal advisor of his Ministry, Mazyar Nazemi to pursue the case in order to release Maylei-Kohan from prison!

The Minister‘s motive, according to Nazemi, is to protect the honour and reputation  of senior sport personalities in public and prevent disputes between two parties reaching such a stage. However , Goudarzi is not only interfering in a court of law , which is the highest authority in the legal system in Iran , he is in contempt as he himself has filed a libel suit against Daei in a court of law accusing a senior sport personality (Daei) of slander and taking the matter to the highest legal system in Iran exactly opposite what he preached in support of Mayeli-Kohan !

The minster is using public resources and spending public money interfering in a personal case that as little to do with him , a case which the court has already handled. The minister interference also draws a big question mark about his prejudice and partiality. His interference in the court verdict is a clear case of conflict of interest.

Son Heung-Min

No Iranian in the 2014 AFC Player of the year list.

2014 AFC Player of the Year nominees announced

Kuala Lumpur: Al Hilal striker Nassir Al Shamrani, Al Ain ace Ismail Ahmed and 2006 AFC Player of the Year Qatar’s Khalfan Ibrahim have been nominated for the 2014 AFC Player of the Year award.

The AFC Annual Awards will be held in Manila, Philippines, on November 30 in conjunction with the AFC’s 60th anniversary celebrations.

None of the nominees has achieved anything of significance in Asian football this season or the one before.

The list is reflecting the poor standard of the Asian football players, as none of the finalist has any reputation in Asian let alone World Football. It also highlights the Arab influence in the AFC as the nominated players are all Arabs and none have exactly set the continent or even their domestic leagues alight. With the criteria for selection of players in AFC being a peculiar system of accumulating points in the AFC champions league match, the whole process loses authenticity and legitimacy.

When Asian players such as Shinji Kagawa , Makoto Hasebe,  Son Heung-Min and  Keisuke Honda who all play in the best leagues of the world against the best players yet a players  named Nassir Al Shamrani suddenly becomes a candidate for best Asian player, then all one can assume is that nominations process has a serious flaw and has very little to do with superior performance or excellence in Asian Football , but more like a ceremonial presentation for some players based on feeble foundation of  criterion.

 

Iran Futsal team arrives in Brazil for Grand Prix 2014

Iran Futsal team arrived on Saturday 8th November to compete in the International Futsal Grand Prix to be held in Brazil from Nov. 11 to 16.

The tournament will gather five other teams, including hosts and defending champions Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam, Guatemala and Costa Rica, who are divided into two groups.

Group A consists of Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam.

Group B is Iran , Guatemala and Costa Rica.

The tournament will kick off on Nov. 12, with Vietnam facing Brazil. In their last match in HCM City last November, Vietnam won, 3-2.

The six teams will compete for the championship of the ninth edition, with the top two in each group advancing to the semi-finals.

The Brazilian Futsal Confederation has organized the FIFA-recognized Grand Prix, one of the world’s major tournaments for the sport, every year since 2005. Brazil won seven of the eight editions held so far, losing only once to Spain in 2010.

The Futsal Team is actively training under the supervision of Team Melli Futsal head coach Jesus Candelas. The Spaniard warned against taking the two Latin American teams lightly and dismissed any notion of the group being an easy passage. “Guatemala and Costa Rica are coming with full strength team and trying to prove a point. Both teams have strong line ups and it is not going to be a smooth sailing for us”

Team Melli arrived in Brazil on Saturday without several names including the recently injured Vahid Shafei

The names of the players sent to Brazil as follows:

Alireza Samimi, Sepehr Mohammadi, Alireza Vafaei, Hossein Tayebi, Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh, Farhad Tavakoli, Hamid Ahmadi, Ahmad Esmaeilpour, Mehdi Javid, Abolghasim Arooji, Behrouz Jafari, Mohammad Shajarian, Mohammad Reza Sang-Safidi  and Meysam  Khayyam.

Iran’s first match will be on Wednesday 12th Nov. against Guatemala while on on Friday 14th they will play Costa Rica.

Nelo Vingada sacked.

Omid Team (Iran’s U23)  head coach Nelo Vingada has lost his job following the poor results in the Asian Games and his Tax evasion problem with the authorities.

Ali Kaffashian announced the news by expressing his appreciation for the work that the Portuguese coach has done “We cannot continue working with Vingada anymore and regrettably his contract is as coach of the Omid Team is cancelled. We are actively looking at several options and I can confirm tha Zlatko Kranjcar is one of the candidates for the job” Head of FFIRI announced.

For the time being , Mahdi Tartar, Mohammad Khakpour and Hadi Tabatabaei will take over the team training which is actively preparing for the Qatar Friendship tournament until such time a permanent coach is appointed.

Iran lose to Portugal in the 3rd place playoff.

Portugal scored another victory over Iran in the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup 2014. The match between the two losing semi-finalists ended 3-0 for the Portuguese. 

The 3-0 win for Portugal over Iran had the same result, though different score, different day, and different style than they had earlier in the week but the win was still just as gratifying, if not more. The game was cerebral for the first two periods, neither offense scored and the defenses, even after Portugal began scoring, were magnificent. Portugal did not score until the last period but did so three times to pull away late against championship caliber Iran. The win gives Portugal 3rd place and Iran took 4th place out the 8 best teams across the continents. 

 

Portugal defeated Iran earlier in the tournament and while that could have been expected, it was also a bit of an upset as Iran is the defending Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup champion, so the outcome could have realistically gone either way, but neither side seemed disappointed to be playing in the 3rd place match after semi-final losses. The two squads fought hard in the opening frame and going into the middle of the period, neither side had scored. The second period started with some great opportunities for Portugal but the chances went unanswered and the goalless thriller continued into the middle of the frame. The momentum slowly began to shift as the Princes of Persia were asking all the questions but Portugal still had their world class keeper, Petrony, at their disposal, and the score remained tied at 0. The excitement increased as the saves piled up and the score was 0-0 going into the final break.

 

The pressure mounted for the two squads and that was evident in the 3rd period because both sides did not want to make the tiny mistake that gave their opponent the lead. The hope of an onslaught of goals was initiated by Jordan of the Selection of the Quinas when he blasted a mid-range shot past P. Hossieni to put the score at 1-0. Portugal found their confidence and added another goal, from Be Martins, that gave them a seemingly safe 2-0 lead. Be Martins got his second goal and was ecstatic to give his side an even bigger lead, at 3-0, and the Portuguese held onto that energy for the rest of the match, as they had earned third place in this gem of a tournament, when all was said and done. The final score was 3-0. 

 

Goals: 0-1: Jordan, min. 9 (3); 0-2: Be Martins, min. 6 (3); 0-3: Be Martines, min. 2 (3)

Brazil took home crown after besting Russia in o.t.

Team Melli list with the usual names announced.

The new list of players selected for Team Melli forthcoming training camp has been announced. The venue of training is still unknown. It is a toss between Kish Island or South Africa.

The list is not very different from the one that Queiroz has selected from the day he took the job. A few players here and there are selected but never given the opportunity to replace the older players especially those who fail to perform  Mehrdad Pooladi , Queiroz’s favorite player is not in the list , not out of the Portuguese coach choice , but because he was ordered not to pick him as a result of Military Services issues (the good old fake service certificate).

Mohammad Nouri , Persepolis Captain makes a comeback in Team Melli. The significant change in this current squad is that at last , the league leader manages a couple of players in the list.

Sousha Makani , the calamity Persepolis goalkeeper who has been one of the weak links of the popular Tehran club , has been selected ahead of icons like Mehdi Rahmati and Rahman Ahmadi in goal. On the other hand , Masoud Shojaei , whose team is lingering at the bottom of Qatar Star league and has been highly criticized for his poor delivery , is selected again. Another weak-performer in Karim Ansarifard, who is currently a peripheral player in a 2nd division Osasuna team in Spain is also selected. Ansarifard has failed to impress since joining Osasuna. On the bright side of the selection , Saghebi , the young Tractorsazi player who scored against Esteghlal in the top of the league clash on Friday and Abdulahzadeh  the promising Foolad Khuzestan youngster are included in the squad.

The problem though is that both players are also in the squad of the Olympic team preparing for the Qatar International Friendly tournament in January of 2015.

The Squad.

 

GOALKEEPERS

Alireza  HAGHIGHI (Penafiel), Sousha MAKANI (Persepolis), Mohsen FROUZAN (Esteghlal)

 

DEFENDERS

Hashim BEIGZADEH (Esteghlal), ,Jalal HOSSEINI (Al Ahli QAT) , Pejman MONTAZERI (Umm Salal SC  QAT), Morteza POURALIGANJI (Naft Tehran),  AmirHossein SADEGHI (Esteghlal) , Vourya GHAFFORI (Sepahan). MohammadReza KHANZADEH (Persepolis) , Habib GORDANI (Tractorsazi)

MIDFIELD

Andranik TEYMOURIAN (Esteghlal), Javad NEKOUNAM (Osasuna ESP), Ahmad ABDULLAZADEH (Foolad Khuzestan), Omid EBRAHIMI (Esteghlal),, Ehsan HAJSAFY(Sepahan), Ashkan DEJAGAH (Al Arabi QAT),   Khosrow HEYDARI (Esteghlal), Shahin SAGHEBI (Tractorsazi), Mohammad NOURI (Persepolis)

 

FORWARDS

Reza GHOOCHANNEJAD (Al Kuwat SC KWI), Sardar AZMOUN (Rubin Kazan RUS), Karim ANSARIFARD  (Osasuna ESP),  AliReza JAHANBAKHSH (NEC Nijmegen NED) , Soroush RAFEI (Foolad Khuzestan), Masoud SHOJAEI (Al Shahaniya QAT)

Heartbreaking loss for Iran’s Beach soccer team

Russia beat Iran 4-3 in the semi final of the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup 2014 held in Dubai , UAE

 The 4-3 win for Russia over Iran was as tough as they could have expected, maybe tougher, but they played an almost perfect game, tactics, offense, defense, everything. Russia came out with all the pressure on them and they set the tone early, letting Iran know they were ready. The Russians scored twice early but then tactically dropped back on defense which worked wonderfully until the final period when the Russians nearly fell apart, after their starting keeper, Bukhlitskiy exited the match, giving up three goals. Russia barely hung on, not from any help of the heavily lopsided Iran fanbase, and will play in the final on Saturday. Iran played valiantly and apart from the slow start, could have very well won, instead, they will play for 3rd place Saturday. 

 

In what is rapidly becoming a bitter rivalry, both teams jostled and played physical beach soccer but each with their own intentions. Iran wanted to prove their win last year in the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup final was not a fluke. The Russians wanted to show that they deserved to win last year and could beat the determined Princes of Persia. Russia struck first on a play that they have nearly perfected, the simple corner, on a finish from Krash, putting the score at 1-0. Russia was in top-form and nearly flawless to open the game and scored their second goal on a blast from Romanov that put the World Champions up 2-0. Russia took the momentum and their two goal lead into the middle frame. As champions normally do, they adapt to their opponents’ play, which is exactly what both teams did in the second, Iran attacked more but the Russian defense stayed rock solid and did not press matters, with the period ending with the same score, Russia up 2-0. 

 

Two of the world’s best keepers had their skills put to the test and despite the 2-0 Russian lead, P. Hossieni of Iran, was playing out of his mind as well, saving most shots rocketed his way. The final period was emotionally thrilling, to the point that the quality of play from both teams was so high that you had goose bumps watching, precision is an understatement but the struggle for both teams to score was forgotten by the crowd because of the extraordinary defense and goalkeeping. Russia would not be subdued for much longer and Shishin added another goal to push the Russian lead to 3-0. A switch in the Iranian goal could not stop the Russian machine and Paporotnyi scored his first for Russia, making the score 4-0. The European giants could not keep the shut out and Iran got on the board with a diving header from H. Abdollahi which brought the score to 4-1. The Princes of Persia still had aspirations of winning and scored again to put them down only two goals with five minutes remaining. The intensity grew with each passing second and the roar from the stadium might have registered on the Richter scale when in the final minute, Iran scored again, something out of nothing, from M. Ahmadzadeh, to get to within 4-3. Iran found the final answer and things exploded but the goal was after the final buzzer and was called off and Russia hung on 4-3.

 

Goals: 1-0: Krash, min. 5 (1); 2-0: Romanov, min. 4 (1); 3-0: Shishin, min. 9 (3); 4-0: Paporotnyi, min. 8 (3); 4-1: H. Abdollahi, min. 6 (3); 4-2: A. Naderi, min. 5 (3); 4-3: M. Ahmadzadeh, min. 0 (3).

Iran books a berth in the semifinal of Beach Soccer tournament.

Iran Beach soccer team defeated the African representatives Morocco 5-0 in the final match of group A, Ali Naderi and Ahmadzadeh scored a brace each and Boulokbashi added one for Iran to book a place in the semifinal against Brazil.

The match started with Iran controlling most of the possession , however some heroics from the African team , prevented Iran from scoring. The 1st period ended 0-0

The second period continued like the first with the Moroccans defending valiantly depending on the odd attacks or free kicks to score.

Ali Naderi eventually broke the Moroccan resistance with a late free kick goal in the second period The 2nd period ended 1-0

In the third period Naderi from a brilliant individual effort where he dribbled past several markers and shoot a diagonal ball to the far end of Moroccan keeper to make it 2-0.

Ahmadzadeh scored his first goal and Iran’s 3rd , with a nice volley into the ceiling of the Moroccan goal.

Ahmadzadeh suddenly became the darling of Iranian fans filling the stadia when he scored his 2nd with spectacular over head scissor kick to make it 4-0 with 3 minutes to go. It was the game’s best goal.

in the dying minute Boulokbashi wrapped up the match with the 5th goal from a long-range free kick made it 5 for Iran.

Iran , the defending champion, will be playing against Russia , the team that finished at the top of Group B at 18:45 UAE Time on Friday for a place in the final of the Samsung Intercontinental Beach soccer championship. In the other semifinal, Portugal will meet Brazil,

 

 

***************************************************************************************************************************

Iran advances to semis behind strong defense

Iran’s 5-0 win over Morocco was a heart stopper that had both teams on pins and needles from wire to wire. The defense and goalkeeping were outstanding and the goals that were scored were more than enough to satiate even the most offensive minded fan. The game was nearly scoreless for two periods before Iran hit the back of the net first, then exploded for three late goals in the final frame, which ended Morocco’s hopes of playing in the semi-finals. Iran will face Russia on Friday in the first semi-final. Morocco barely missed out on the semi-finals after they won their first match of the tournament but they will be playing in the consolation bracket against the USA on Friday.

 Naderi

Taking shots on goal is the only way to score but that was not how things worked for Iran in the early going. The Iranians threw everything at the Lions of the Atlas, including the kitchen sink but nothing struck the back of the onion bag. As the period progressed, the Moroccans got more and more shots on goal but the superb play from P. Hossieni, the Iran keeper, kept things level, at 0, going into the first break. The trend continued in the middle frame with both goalies having the game of their life, flying, sprawling, and crawling to stop every shot, which they both did, and heroically, until the Iranian captain put his team on his shoulders and scored the matches first goal with under a minute left in the middle frame on a direct kick to put the Princes of Persia up 1-0 going into the 3rd and final period.

Defense did not cease, particularly for the defending Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup Champions, Iran. Their back lines held tough and the offense, specifically their captain, A. Naderi, doubled his teams’ lead with his second goal and the Iranians looked in control going into the final minutes of the match. The Falcons were not done yet and in beach soccer leads are rarely ever safe, so to combat this, Iran kept striking and got their third goal, which put them up 3-0 with very little time left for Morocco to make the necessary comeback. M. Ahmedzadeh scored the third goal for his side and just for good measure, he added another, less than a minute later to put the game out of reach for the Moroccans. When the final whistle sounded, Iran was up 5-0, after another late Iran goal.

Goals: 0-1: A. Naderi, min. 0 (2); 0-2: A. Naderi, min. 8 (3); 0-3: M. Ahmadzadeh, min. 4 (3); 0-4: M. Ahmadzadeh, min. 3 (3); 0-5: F. Boulokbashi, min. 0 (3).

 

SAMSUNG BEACH SOCCER INTERCONTINENTAL CUP DUBAI 2014

Samsung-beach-soccer-2014-dancers

 

Upcoming Matches:

Friday 07.11.14

16:15 – Japan vs. UAE

17:30 – Morocco  vs. USA

18:45 – Russia vs. Iran (Semi-final)

20:00 – Portugal vs. Brazil (Semi-final)