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Taremi’s brace sinks the UAE

Al Rayyan: A Mehdi Taremi double earned Iran a 2-1 win over the United Arab Emirates in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ at Education City Stadium on Tuesday.

Taremi opened his Qatar 2023 account in the 25th minute, moving behind the Emirati defence to take advantage of an intelligent Sardar Azmoun pass before coolly slotting home.

Team Melli thought they had doubled their lead in the 33rd minute when Ehsan Hajsafi’s whipped delivery from the left was headed home by Ali Gholizadeh, but following a VAR check, the goal was ruled out for offside.

Coach Amir Ghalenoei’s men started the second half the same way they finished the first and were within a whisker of doubling their lead when Azmoun pounced on a poor clearance on the edge of the Emirati area and hit on the half-volley, but his effort passed just wide.

It was the UAE who had the best chance of the early proceedings of the second period when Yahya Al Ghassani was brought down inside the box by Hossein Kanaani. Al Ghassani stepped up to take the resulting penalty, but his attempt was saved by an excellent diving save from Alireza Beiranvand.

Team Melli’s star duo Azmoun and Taremi combined again to make it 2-0 in the 65th minute when the AS Roma forward cut inside and fed his teammate with a well-weighted pass and Taremi emphatically converted into the roof of the net to double Team Melli’s advantage.

UAE goalkeeper was called upon to make a flying reflex save in the 73rd minute to deny Ramin Rezaeian’s curled free-kick from the left side.

Another VAR call had a goal from substitute Mohammad Mohebi overturned after the Iranian forward was deemed to have fouled Khalid Al Hashemi inside the box in the build-up before he struck the rebound home after Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s initial shot hit the crossbar.

Al Ghassani made up for his missed penalty kick with a decisive goal in added time of the second half as he broke free down the left, cutting inside on his right foot and finding the far corner with his finish to half the deficit.

Despite the defeat, the UAE join their opponents in the Round of 16 as Group C runners-up, edging out Palestine on goal difference after the Palestinians beat Hong Kong, China 3-0 in the simultaneous kick-off at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.

There was joy for Palestine though as they confirmed a first ever knockout stage appearance as one of the best four third-placed teams. 

Team Melli needs to regain the fan’s confidence.

What the fans and critics saw from Team Mell’s last match is quite different than what Ghalenoei observed from the bench. Apparently, the head coach thought his team played quite well. He referred to the match statistics as proof. He did, however, admit that there were some individual mistakes in the match against Hong Kong.

From our perspective, it was a bad performance from Team Melli. It was quite different than the match versus Palestine where despite gaps in the team, the win was with a big margin. Against Hong Kong, the players were embarrassing at times and certainly, a coach of the caliber of Ghalenoei should not accept that and be courageous enough to admit and mend these shortfalls. Team Melli failed to deliver and was well below the expectations of the fans.

The worry is how the team can deteriorate so badly in a matter of days!

Understandably, that kind of admission would be difficult to announce publically, not from Ghalenoei anyway, however, the hope is that, if Team Melli has a serious aspiration to win the Asian Cup, the players and the coaching staff have to elevate their standards and performance quickly enough to be taken seriously. Right now, Iran is a rank outsider according to opinions here.

There is no doubt that this Iran Team has the full potential and has quality players that can challenge any of the teams here in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023. The match against UAE in a few hours, should not be hard work for Ghalenoei’s players, a win is the least of the expectations, anything less than a win will not be satisfactory and will shake the confidence of the fans further.

Absence of Team Melli Fans from the streets of Doha

The Qataris have become professional hard-core organizers of great events. This Asian Cup 2023 is no exception. Everything is well organized for an event of this magnitude. The streets of Doha are vibrant with fans from across Asia, It is colorful, cosmopolitan, relaxing yet exciting. Fans chanting and waving their teams’ flags are adding to the flavor of the tournament. However, the conspicuous absence of Iranian fans is disappointing. With Iran being next door and traveling to Doha as easy as flying between two Iranian cities, it is rather puzzling not to see more fans from Iran making the trip.

The match between Iran and the UAE is sold out online. It will be interesting to see how many fans actually attend the match at Education City Stadium.

Obsessions with which team will Iran meet in the round of 16.

Any team that aspires to lift the Asian Cup trophy, has at one stage meet strong opposition. Iranian media here has been speculating, calculating, hoping, and obsessing about the next opponent in the round of 16. The fact remains that as long as Team Melli heads the group, they should be playing a third-rank team of any of the three groups in the round of 16. In theory, that should not be a hard task for Iran.

Iran v UAE: Group C decider

the-afc.com
Doha,
Head coach Paulo Bento highlighted intelligent play and humility as qualities his UAE side need if they are to get a result against Iran in their third match of the AFC Asian Cup™ Qatar 2023 on Tuesday.

The UAE currently sit second in the group with four points to their name, but a defeat at Education City Stadium and other results going against them could see Bento’s men exit the competition in the group stage for the first time since 2011.

After a convincing 3-1 win over Hong Kong, China in their opening fixture, the UAE were held to a 1-1 draw against Palestine in a game they finished with 10 men after defender Khalifa Al Hammadi was sent off in the 37th minute. Bento also received a red card just before the final whistle, meaning he will be suspended for the Iran clash.

“Preparation for this match is going as normal,” said Bento.

“We are trying to recover as much as possible. The last game was difficult for us especially after minute 37 when we started playing with one player less. That was an important factor for sure.”

“We prepared our strategy for the next game against one of the strongest teams in Asia and the strongest in our group. It is a team that is composed of very good, experienced players, some of them play in high-level competitions. They play together for a long time and they don’t change their way of playing too much.

“It is a team that is easy to see their strengths, but not easy for the opponent to counter them, so we need to make a very good game in many aspects. We should be clever in the way we play against Iran and compete very well and be humble to accept that in some moments we will not dominate the game, so we have to control it in a different way, and reach the best possible result in a different way.”

And while Iran were one of the first teams to book their place in the next round, head coach Amir Ghalenoei acknowledged some problems faced in their last game against Hong Kong, China, insisting his side will not take things easy against the UAE on Tuesday.

“We are happy we were able to qualify for the next round,” said Ghalenoei.

“Based on our analysis and statistics, we had more than 70% possession and completed more than 200 passes against Hong Kong. In this tournament, in only two matches were one of the teams unable to complete 100 passes, one was India vs Uzbekistan and the other one was Hong Kong against us.

“We did have some problems, our passing accuracy was not great, we gave an opportunity to the opponents and their chances came from mistakes of our players, but I want to say thanks to all my players for the effort they put in against Hong Kong.”

UAE v IR Iran
Venue: Education City Stadium (Al Rayyan)
Kick-off: 18:00 (UTC+3)

“Tomorrow’s game will not be easy because we want to win and qualify to the second round as leaders. UAE are in good condition under Paulo Bento, and it will not be an easy match, Also Palestine still have a chance to qualify and because of the spirit of fair play, we want to play at our best too.

“Every player in the team knows they should have their best individual performance in order for us to be successful.”

Statistics

TEAMFIFA RankAFC RankPWDLGFGAGD
IRAN21218143126422
UAE648181314426-22

The Tajik heroes make history in Doha

Doha: Head coach Petar Segrt applauded the mental resilience of his players after Tajikistan came from behind to defeat Lebanon 2-1 in their AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ Group A tie on Monday.

Victory meant Tajikistan sealed a place in the knockout stage in their debut campaign, with a Round of 16 clash against the Group C runners-up on Sunday as their reward. 

#AsianCup2023 | Group A : Tajikistan 2 - 1 Lebanon

The 56-year-old may have lost his spectacles amidst the joyous scenes after the final whistle but Segrt could see clearly where the match was won against Lebanon.

“It was a fantastic game, a tough game,” said the Croatian. “Don’t forget, two times we got our goals canceled, it was the right decision but mentally, it can be draining so I’m very proud of my players, they showed great fight.

“Lebanon played well but I thought we would get chances because we could see them tiring, so we just needed to keep attacking. This kind of game, you play for your life. 

“I believe in these boys, they have great characters. Tajikistan people are fighters and they will fight until the end.

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“Just this morning I spoke to Joachim Low (former Germany manager) and told him this is a wonderful tournament and you can see that in this game.

“For us, this is a big dream to qualify for this tournament. Then the dream became to qualify for the knockout stage. Now we dream again.”

Bassel Jradi opened the scoring for Lebanon just after half-time but Kassem El Zein’s red card turned the tide in Tajikistan’s favour with Parvizdzhon Umarbaev netting the equaliser in the 80th minute before Nuriddin Khamrokulov headed in the winner two minutes into stoppage time.

A disappointed Lebanon head coach Miodrag Radulovic admitted the red card was the turning point in a match that was seemingly proceeding the way he wanted.

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“It’s very difficult to talk after this game because we had everything in our hands,” said Radulovic. “We played a good game, perfect until 56 minutes then after one lapse of concentration, we got a red card. 

“In such a tough game, it’s difficult to play so long with one man less. But I’m proud of my team’s performance and fight. Even with one man less, we still created chances to score. This team has a great future.”

Defeat meant Lebanon’s wait for a knockout stage appearance continues but for Tajikistan, the dream lives on. 

Team Melli sweats it to narrowly defeat Hong Kong!

Team Melli beat Hong Kong 1-0 in its second match of Group C of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.

The only goal of the match was scored by Mehdi Ghayedi in the 24th minute. With this win, Iran has 6 points and is leading the group ahead of UAE with 4 points. The group decider will be against the UAE where Team Mlli needs one point to maintain the top position in the group while the UAE has to win to lead Group C.

In one of the worst performances by Team Melli in recent times, the Ghalenoei team was weak in every aspect of the professional game. Be it the passing, mental agility, tactical discipline, tackling, man marking and agility.

Since Ghalenoei is the responsible person for selecting the players to start the match and for the game plan, it was a bad mark for the Head Coach who has yet to taste defeat since he took over more than a year ago. These days have an eerily remanence of his last time at the helm of Team Melli in 2006 to 2007 ., where the team was performing near perfection until he fell in the last hurdle against South Korea in the Penalty kicks at the quarter-final of the Asian Cup 2007. Most of the criticism back then was targeted at Ghalenoei as he was accused of failing to instill discipline in his team with players acting up in the penalty kicks amongst other shortfalls in the Asian Cup 2007.

In this match, the fans were expecting a bonanza of goals, or at least as many as the team scored against Palestine last time out. But instead, and from kick-off, it seemed that the engines of Team Melli lacked oiling, perhaps needing a major overhaul.

One positive aspect of Ghalenoei’s selection is the replacement of Ezatollahi with the much more versatile Cheshmi, despite a few initial errors at the beginning of the game by the Esteghlal holding midfielder. But most of the problems were in Saman Ghoddos who was the MVP of the last game, but in this one, he decided to have a day off! His passing, vision, and dynamism were truly lacking. There was no help from Jahanbakhsh either, Ghaedi was perhaps the only bright star of the whole team and his goal was a testament to his enterprise and energy.

Mehdi Taremi has not done anything to mitigate the fears of the fans who believe that he is not a man for big occasions. Taremi, regrettably, is looking like an amateur league player in Team Melli Jersey. He has yet to score or provide an assist in the last two matches. He seemed to be unaware of Shahriyar Moghanlou’s existence in the same team or maybe they were not on speaking terms. There was little passing and understanding between the two forwards. That in itself brings on the question of why Moghanlou if Azmoun is fit and ready.? Nothing of worth came from Jahanbakhsh either.

If that was bad, the worst line of the team was undoubtedly the defense line. How lucky Team Melli was in facing a team that could not shoot straight in Hong Kong? From the shakey Beiranvand to the clumsy Kanani, and wayward Mohammadi, to the disorganization and lack of understanding between the players in a systematic defense, all those were a recipe for disaster. Hong Kong, despite the gallant attempts, just lacked the quality to take advantage of all the gifts awarded to them by the benevolent Team Melli defense.

Iran’s defense is truly on shaky ground. They were supposed to have an easy day out supplementing the offensive line, but the reality is that they were quite lucky not to concede goals. That might not be the case next time or in the knockout stages where it is quite likely that defensive blunders will cost Team Melli dearly.

Ghalneoei himself did not fare well either. He was visibly angry on the bench and at times covering his face in embarrassment. If we have to go by the cliche about ‘Second Halves’ being the coach’s half, then the Norwegian Jorn Andersen beat Ghalenoei hands down. He skillfully reorganized his team in the second half, found the weakness of the Iran team, and tightened his central defense while exerting pressure on the flanks to prevent danger from Iranian wingers and half-backs., The only thing that he fell short of, as mentioned before, was the lack of finishers in his team in front of the Iran goal.

Hong Kong has to be credited for this performance.

Iran v Hong Kong updates

Team Melli will play its second match in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 against Hong Kong at 20:30 local time today. Following Iran’s 4-1 win against Palestine, this match will be the confirmation of qualification to the next round in case of a win.

Shoja’a Khalilzadeh has been added to the injury list of Team Melli after the central defender received a knock in the match against Palestine. He is not available for tonight’s match and his replacement will be Seyed Majid Hosseini.

Mehdi Torabi who was not included in the Palestine match due to an injury, is also available for selection by the coaches.

Khalilzadeh is not the only change in the expected lineup as two key players are available and will most probably start the game. After fully recovering from his slight injury, Ramin Rezaiean will be one of the starters. The right winger played a few minutes in the previous game and showed no sign of any problems.

Also, Sardar Azmoun will be starting the game along with Mehdi Taremi. Karim Ansarifard will return to the bench. Azmoun was the last player to join the squad, hence Ghalenoei opted to use him in the second half against Palestine.

Against Hong Kong, there is also a possibility of a change in the middle of the field, where Team Melli lacks dynamism and energy with Saman Ghoddos taking the full burden. The defensive midfield needs to be better equipped, hence the chances of dropping the ineffective Ezatollahi are quite high.

MATCH PREVIEW: Iran v. Hong Kong

Doha: Head coach Amir Ghalenoei is expecting more of his Iran players when they take on Hong Kong, China in their second match of the AFC Asian Cup™ Qatar 2023 at Khalifa International Stadium on Friday.

Team Melli started their journey in style, putting four goals past Palestine from four different scorers as all of Karim Ansarifard, Shojae Khalilzadeh, Mehdi Ghayedi, and Sardar Azmoun contributed to the 4-1 victory on Sunday, but Ghalenoei insists his team still has more.

“The last match was difficult; we had to fight a lot and, in the process, picked up two injuries,” said the Iran boss.

“We have some injured players, and we could make 3-4 changes. When I said I was not satisfied with our performance in the previous match, it was because I know what my players are capable of. We are ready for the match tactically and we know our players are technically sound and very creative.

“We should think every match is a final and go step by step, so right now we are only thinking of Hong Kong. I am sure it will be a difficult game. Playing every three days and with injuries, we need to be wary.”

#AsianCup2023 | Group C : Islamic Republic Of Iran 4 - 1 Palestine

Team Melli enjoyed nearly 62% of the possession during their first game of the tournament, but Ghalenoei is more focused on how the team utilises that possession.

“[Pep] Guardiola brought ‘Tiki-Taka’ but he himself is changing; number of passes is not so important, it matters how many players you put out of play by each pass, the possession and how well you complete it. That is the priority for me.

“Every player has a specific responsibility at his club, but at the national team, their responsibilities are different. Mehdi Taremi might not have scored, but we gave him special duties, and he is performing very well.”

Hong Kong started their campaign with a 3-1 defeat to the United Arab Emirates but did enjoy a moment of happiness when Philip Chan scored their first AFC Asian Cup goal since 1968, also marking the 1,000th goal in the history of the competition.

The East Asian side have welcomed the return of veteran centre-back Helio from injury, providing a boost for head coach Jorn Andersen before the team’s clash against IR Iran on Friday.

AFC Asian Cup: Hong Kong midfielder Chan vows team will stick with fast-and-furious style for daunting Iran encounter

  • Hong Kong are expected to lose their second Group C game, but Philip Chan says there is no thought of damage limitation
  • Defender Oliver Gerbig says team ‘belong at this level’ following fine UAE showing

Paul McNamara

Philip Chan Siu-kwan said Hong Kong would go into their AFC Asian Cup clash with Iran on Friday bearing no ill effects from a controversial opening defeat by United Arab Emirates in Qatar.

And the midfielder, whose strike in Sunday’s 3-1 loss was the national team’s first in the tournament since 1968, was backed up by defender Oliver Gerbig, who said the result proved Hong Kong “belong at this level”.

Conventional wisdom suggests Hong Kong’s best option would be to try and limit the damage against Iran, with a view to pushing for victory over Palestine in their last Group C fixture on Monday.00:29

A win, coupled with a relatively healthy goal difference, could see them squeeze into the last 16 as one of the strongest third-placed finishers.

But Chan, a totem of Jorn Andersen’s fast-and-furious philosophy, said there was no temptation to ease off against the tournament’s second-highest-ranked team, who started their campaign with a 4-1 win over Palestine.

“It is going to be a very tough game, but look at our performance against UAE, there were no restraints,” Chan said. “There is no turning back now. We are going to challenge every team in the group stage, and try to get to the last-16.

“I know my teammates, and have no doubt we will not be mentally affected by anything that happened against UAE.

“We have made big improvements with the coach [Andersen], and done a really good job building this team. We used to be more conservative, but now we are trying to move forward, take shots on goal, and show the best of ourselves.”

Andersen identified Chan early as a player carved in his favoured aggressive mould. Of the 31-year-old’s 19 international appearances, 17 have come since the Norwegian took charge two years ago.

“I would not speak for myself, but whoever the coach picks, the minimum requirement is to be aggressive, and to not be conservative, which is a good thing in football,” Chan said. “We have to try to win in every game, and show we are capable of competing.”

Gerbig is the bolter in Andersen’s team. He was out of the squad as recently as September, and across four matches in the October and November international windows spent only one minute on the field.

Oliver Gerbig muscled his way into the Hong Kong team after impressive pre-tournament form. Photo: Xinhua

The 25-year-old impressed in a pre-tournament camp to the extent head coach Andersen called Gerbig “the winner from our preparations”.

Gerbig won his third cap against UAE, and, although the victim of a harsh first-half penalty decision, was solid in the heart of defence.

“I think we belong [at this level],” Gerbig said. “We wanted at least a point against UAE, but it was a positive performance. We put up a fight and showed we are not easy to play against. At 1-0 and 2-1 down, we said to keep believing and pushing. That is the mentality of this team; we keep going.

“We are improving and have shown we can play at this level, and that Hong Kong has good football players.”

Kitchee player Gerbig exemplified the “keep going” mantra when he was exiled from the national team squad.

“I put my head down, kept working and waited for my chance,” he said.

“I believed in my ability, but had to show it to the coach and earn his trust. The training camp was intense, with a lot of running. I worked on things the manager wants from his defenders, and my physicality and aggression improved.”

Azmoun action week continues as his club coach is sacked!

Jose Mourinho has been sacked by Italian side Roma after two-and-a-half years in charge – with former club captain Daniele De Rossi replacing him until the end of the season.

The Portuguese manager, 60, joined the Serie A side in May 2021 and won the Europa Conference League in May 2022. He was instrumental in bringing Sardar Azmoun to AS Roma.

The former Chelsea, Manchester United, and Real Madrid boss also guided the Italian club to the Europa League final last year, where they were defeated by Sevilla on penalties.
But Roma have won just one of their last six Serie A games this season – leaving them ninth in the table – and were recently knocked out of the Coppa Italia by city rivals Lazio.

He compared himself to Harry Potter – perhaps implying he still has the “magic” touch as a manager – following that defeat. During the match, he received a red card for the second successive game – saying he was “raising expectations” for what the club can achieve. The club’s American owners, Dan and Ryan Friedkin, thanked Mourinho for his “passion and efforts” in a statement announcing his sacking.

They later announced that Rome-born De Rossi – who spent 18 years at the club as a player, making more than 600 appearances – will take over the role until the end of the season.
Mourinho won two Premier League titles and three cups during his first spell at Stamford Bridge, before being sacked and joining Inter Milan, where he won two Italian league titles and a second Champions League.

Mourinho then joined Spanish giants Real Madrid, winning one La Liga title, before a second spell at Stamford Bridge, in which he won his third Premier League.

He later had spells at Manchester United – winning a Europa League title – and Tottenham Hotspur, before joining Roma.

With Azmoun in Doha playing for Team Melli in the AFC Asian Cup, it is not clear if he will be in Daniele De Rossi’s plans or if he will improve his game times in the presence of Lukaku and Dybala. A good showing in Doha will certainly improve his reputation in AS Roma.

Roberto Mancini furious at some Saudi Players, expels six from the squad

The Italian Roberto Mancini, the head coach of the Saudi national football team, revealed the reasons for the expulsion of several players from the squad in Doha, indicating that whoever hesitates or refuses to stay has to leave without hesitation.
This came during the press conference held along with Saleh Al-Shehri, the Saudi striker, on Monday, before confronting the Oman team on Tuesday, in Doha in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023. The Italian explained the events with each player and the reason for the expulsion, as the conference inaugurated, saying: “We have 3 players who do not want to participate, They are Salman Al-Faraj, Sultan Al-Ghannam, and Nawaf Al-Aqidi.” He explained: “Salman Al-Faraj does not want to play experimental matches. He said that when he first joined the squad. The other two wanted to start the games and would not be content to sit on the bench. Either start all matches or they are not going to stay with the team!!

The problems were not limited to the trio that Mancini mentioned in the press conference. He revealed the circumstances of other cases by saying: “Also, Mohammad Maran, Ali Hazazi, and Khaled Al-Ghannam all have expressed their unhappiness in the camp for various reasons, and were quite vocal about it. So, our response was quick: leave the camp now.”
On the future of the players who were excluded for non-technical reasons, he said: “There is no room to call them again. There are lots of players who want to represent the national team of their homeland and it is worth giving them the opportunity. What happened here is a strange matter. In my whole career as a player and a coach, I have never experienced such behavior before. This is alien to the sport of football”

About the chances of the Saudi national team, in the AFC Asian Cup, the former Italy and Manchester City coach said: “There are many strong teams here such as Japan, Australia, Iran, and South Korea, and we will do what we can in this tournament. We will deal with each stage as it comes. Right now. the focus is on our match with Oman. Certainly, it is a difficult match, which we will have to play with a greater focus in this meeting, especially as it is the opening match.”