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Ghalenoei game plan vs Hong Kong

After a convincing comfortable win in the first match for Team Melli against Palestine, Amir Ghalenoei opted to give his players a day off on Monday. The players were happy to take the off day to roam around the city of Doha to observe the majestic infrastructure and the modern shopping areas.

Ghalenoei and his coaching staff remained in the hotel planning for the next match vs Hong Kong that will be played on Friday. The concern about injuries has died down as it seems all the players on the injury list have recovered and can play if Ghalenoei wishes to use them. The head coach, however, is contemplating a change in the lineup to give the main players some rest while giving fringe players the chance thus spreading the workload amongst a maximum number of players in this long competition that needs fresh players, not over-worked or exhausted ones.

Hong Kong lost against UAE in its first match 1-3 with two penalties conceded. Despite that loss, Hong Kong looked quite good and managed to control the game at different periods. The team has improved in the last few seasons and with the naturalized players, there is flair and industry, and confidence is high. It is not a team that should be taken lightly by Iran despite the 4-0 drubbing the last time these two met in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Azadi.

There is no question of Ghalenoei putting a weakened team against Hong Kong as a win is essential. Players like Azmoun, Taremi, Ghoddos, and Jahanbakhsh are essential in the team lineup. Other players can be rested such as Saeid Ezatollahi who had a pretty bad match against Palestine and also suffered a trauma on his nose. A rest for that player will do both himself and the team a ton of good. Cheshmi or Ebrahimi would be the ideal options to replace Ezatollahi.

Mehdi Torabi, who was not even on the bench against Palestine, Ali Gholizadeh, and Mehdi Ghaeydi are good options to start as midfielders alongside Ghoddos.

There have been questions about the defense and conceding the goal has worried the local Iranian media. The Ezatollahi blunder has raised the question although it was an individual error from one player. The overall standard of defense was quite good against Palestine, however, a change of personalities would be beneficial. Some younger energy will do Team Melli a world of good.

The status of 3 injured Team Melli players.

Team Melli’s medical officer briefed the media on the status and conditions of the players after the match against Palestine in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023.
Dr. Prahan Khanleri told the media department of the national football team that 3 players needed special attention after the match. Shoja’a Khalilzadeh suffered a contusion in the heel bone in the match against Palestine. He was substituted in the last minute of the first half. Fortunately, the injury is not serious and he will be available for the next match against Hong Kong.


Saeid Ezzatollahi, who had a nosebleed in the match and was about to be substituted, is also fine. on his condition, Dr. Khanleri said that Ezzatollahi’s nose was traumatized, but he should have no issues being available for the next match.

About Saman Ghoodos, ” Saman suffered a minor injury on his left leg, that knock will not prevent him from playing. He will be added to the team after recovery training and treatment on Monday.

Meanwhile, Team Melli performed recovery training at the hotel in Al-Ryyan, Qatar on Monday.

Azmoun has an amazing scoring record.

Sardar Azmoun scored against Palestine to reach the 50-goal mark equaling Karim Bagheri. As Azmoun has a higher Goal Per Match GPM, he stands second only to the legendary Ali Daei whose record will not be broken anytime soon.

Azmoun is only 29 years old and has a good 5-6 years left for him to reach a scoring figure close to Daei. He has been playing for a decade for Team Melli and narrowly missed selection for the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014. However, he has been present in every season since, and this year he celebrates 10 years with an amazing record of 50 goals.

Azmoun’s records show that he played an average of 7.6 matches for Team Melli every year and scored 5 goals in these 7.6 matches an average of .66 GPM. A terrific record only bettered by the legendary Ali Daei whose Goals Per Match is 0.74

Astonishingly, Sardar has yet to play in the domestic league, although he was registered with Sepahan at the start of his career. As he was playing abroad all his career, he missed many chances to play for Team Melli.

SARDAR AZMOUN CAREER
SeasonOpenin.Subst.Caps.GoalsYellowsReds
2014123100
20159211720
2016628810
2017538610
201810010210
201910010820
2020101110
2021909620
2022628200
2023617800
2024011100
Total63137650100

TEAM MELLI TOP SCORING CHART

RANKSCORERGOALSGPMACTIVE
1ALI DAEI113.74N
2SARDAR AZMOUN50.66Y
3KARIM BAGHERI50.54N
4MEHDI TAREMI45.58Y
5JAVAD NEKOUNAM41.26N
6MOHAMMAD ALI KARIMI38.29N
7KARIM ANSARIFARD29.29Y
8GHOLAMHOSSEIN MAZLOOMI19.45N

THE 100 CAPS (CENTURY) CLUB

Only 8 players in the history of Team Melli have managed to pass the 100 caps club, the latest of them is Karim Ansarifard. The list is headed by Javas Nekounam followed by Daei with Ehsan Hajsafy lurking in third place with 15 matches short of Daei. The 33-year-old Team Melli Captain has a good chance of surpassing both Daei and Nekounam as Team Melli is involved in the FIFA World Cup 2026 preliminaries with games coming thick and fast.


RankPlayerCaps
1Javad NEKOUNAM 157
2Ali DAEI 151
3Ehsan HAJSAFI 136
4Mohammad Ali KARIMI 130
5Jalal HOSSEINI 114
6Mehdi MAHDAVIKIA 111
7Andranik TEYMOURIAN 101
8Karim ANSARIFARD 101

Post-match analysis: Iran vs Palestine

Team Melli started the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 with a convincing win against what was thought to be a tricky fixture versus the resolute Palestine. The 4-1 scoreline could have been even better if the forwards finished their chances much better style.

Although Ghalenoei’s initial lineup surprised quite a few observers, it turned out to be quite a revelation. The team played well, their intricate passing was a mark of an organized team and the individual skills added a flavor to the overall performance. Ansarifard and Ghayedi, both bench players in the squad, started and scored goals. Sadegh Moharrami, another player who is not on top of the coach’s list as a starter, played a superb match both in defensive and offensive roles.

It was an excellent performance by the team, however, as always, there were the odd concerns. Saman Ghoddos was the maestro of the team. He is becoming increasingly a key player and his importance to the team is such that his absence will negatively affect the performance. A replacement player at his level cannot be found, as no other playmaker can match Saman’s ability. The closest is perhaps Ali Gholizadeh.

On the side of the midfield role, the defensive or holding midfielder is Saeid Ezzatollahi, a player who has failed to impress for many seasons. The only positive aspect about this player is his physique and work rate. His passing, positional awareness, and individual skills including dribbling are quite suspect. Today, he gifted Palestine with an assist while it was much easier for him, a tall player, to clear the ball instead of sending it sideways. That move was difficult to digest, thankfully Team Melli was 3 goals up by that time. Rouzbeh Cheshmi, is a much better choice for a holding midfielder, with Omid Ebrahimi, even at 37, supplementing that role.

The other concern is Mehdi Taremi. There is no doubt about the quality of the Porto striker and his importance to Team Melli. He has proven time and again that he is a prolific striker who can compete at the highest levels of international football. Yet, there is a marked weakness. Taremi needs ten chances to score one goal. His rate of conversion is quite poor. He really should have finished at least two chances to score today.

On a positive note, the match against Palestine, showed the rest of the teams in the AFC Asian Cup 2023, that any team that intends to lift the trophy, it has to go through Iran.

1. Ali Beiranvand: Confident and reliable as always. He could not be faulted much on the goal conceded, as the defense should have covered better. otherwise, he was not really tested [7.3]

3 Ehsan Hajisafi: There is a trace of some pace and skill loss and perhaps hesitancy in some duels, but he stood well against the attacks and was firm. Did not venture forward much. [7.2]

4 Shoja’a Khalilzadeh: A quality performance at both ends of the field. His goal was the icing on the cake as he finished like a seasoned striker. Unfortunately, he was substituted late in the first half after clashing against a Palestinian forward while clearing the ball. [8.0]

13 Hossein Kanani: Nothing major to fault in his performance except for the early yellow card when an opposition player dribbled him forcing him to commit a foul. [6.7]

2 Sadegh Moharrami : A brilliant performance by the right back, perhaps one of the best in a Team Melli jersey. Confident, skillful, pace, and timely tackles highlighted his performance. This was quite assuring for Ghalenoei. [8.0]

6 Saeid Ezatolahi: continues to be a disappointment in Team Melli jersey. His gift to the Palestine forward that resulted in the goal, slow thinking, and wrong or incompleted passes against a modest team will be more than a concern comes the stronger matches. [6.2]

18 Mehdi Ghayedi: A delightful performance from the little winger. He was a menace to the Palestinina defense and his dribbling ability is an asset to the team. He was a good selection by Ghalenoei to start the game. His marvelous goal from Jahanbakhsh’s assist speaks volumes about his ability to finish [8.1]

10 Karim Ansarifard: A Drem start for the seasoned Team Melli forward. Passing a century of games for Iran, Ansarifard is still going strong. His moves show how much has the European experience improved his performance. Excellent finish for the opening goal. [7.8]

9 Mehdi Taremi: It was not to be his day as Taremi ended the match empty-handed, with no goals or assists. There is so much expectation from the fans that an average performance by Mehdi is considered a bad performance and disappointing. He missed many chances that a striker of his caliber should finish in the net. Saying that his presence in the team is still effective and important. [7.2]

14 Saman Ghoddos: The MVP of the match. Ghoddos is becoming a key squad player. His vision, passing accuracy, dead balls, and energy are outstanding. Two assists for the day and a near-perfect performance. [8.9]

7 Ali Jahanbakhsh: A much better performance from him and a big improvement from previous outings. Jahanbakhsh provided a quality assist to Ghaedi but he was also active throughout the match. He was winning balls and tackling well. Hardly put a foot wrong even while being constantly harrassed and fouled by a rough Palestinian defense. [8.0]

SUBSTITUTES

19 Majid Hosseini: A fine replacement for Khalilzadeh late in the first half. He hardly had any difficulty containing the Palestinians’ attacks and combined well with Kanani in the center of defense. An assuring figure if Khalilzadeh could not make the next match. [7.5]

21 Mohammad Mohebi: Replaced Ghayedi but failed to replicate the performance of his hometown teammate in the second half. Sometimes he portrays a frustrating figure especially if he does not get the proper pass. Needs to address such frustrations on the field. [6.5]

20 Sardar Azmoun: Replaced Ansarifard in the second half and his impact was instantaneous. Scored from short range to make the score 4-1 for Iran. Despite some more chances between him and Taremi, the pair could not add to the scoreline, and the communication between them failed to click. Still, his presence alone up front is an asset to the team [7.8]

23 Ramin Rezaeian: not rated due to short time on the pitch
8 Omid Ebrahimi: not rated due to short time on the pitch

Team Melli breezes past Palestine

Team Melli started its challenge for the AFC Asian Cup with a predicted win in front of 7,691 spectators against Palestine at Education City Stadium refereed by Abdul Rahman Al Jassim from Qatar. The match saw the observance of a one-minute silence for the victims of the Israeli-American attack on Gazza, which ended 4-1 for Iran. In the other game of Group C, the UAE won three to one against Hong Kong to get off to a good start.

Team Melli stormed in the lead as it took Karim Ansarifard just about a minute to open the scoring from a Saman Ghoddos assist.

Ten minutes later, Saman Ghoddos, sent a free kick to the far corner of Palestine where Shoja’a Khalilzadeh was lurking after he cleverly lost his marker. The center-back, met the ball finishing into the net to give Iran a 2-0 lead. With two early goals, Team Melli had comfortable time to pass the ball around. However, the Palestinian team embarked on a rough play and was lucky to escape with only six yellow cards by the end of the match.

In the 37th minute, the beautiful teamwork resulted in the third goal. Alireza Jahanbakhsh received the ball just outside of Palestine’s box. He then sent a weighted ball for the onrushing Mehdi Ghayedi on his left. The tiny winger made no mistake sending a powerful shot to the far right corner of the Palestinian keeper Rami Hamadah. 3-0 for Iran and still plenty of minutes until the end of the first half.

The rough game of the opponents resulted in its first casualty for Iran as Khalilzadeh, the scorer of the second goal had to leave the field after a wild tackle from the Palestinian player.

The final minutes of the half, saw quite a blunder by Saeed Ezatollahi on a free kick for Palestine. Instead of clearing the ball away, he headed it right in front of Palestine forward, Tamer Seyam who had the easy task of finishing it into the net of hapless Beiranvand. Ezatollahi’s gift was unexpected and it created the loudest cheer of the day in Education City.

In the second half, Azmoun and Mohebbi replaced Ansarifard and Ghayedi. So, all Team Melli scorers have left the field. The rough game of the Palestinians continued but that did not prevent Sardar from scoring Iran’s fourth and his 50th goal in an Iranian Jersey to equal Karim Bagheri’s record.

There were lots of missed opportunities by Team Melli while Beirnvand made a great save near the end of the second half. Mehdi Taremi was unfortunate not to score. He had many chances but could not make any count.

The excellent performance of Saman Ghoddos who had two assists in this game, earned him the Most Valuable Player of the match. Sadegh Moharrami was at his best and a delight to watch. Ramin Rezaeian played a few minutes and despite not creating any chances, he seemed to be fit for the coming matches. That is crucial for Team Melli.

Iran leads the table with 3 points ahead of UAE who beat Hong Kong 3-1, on goal difference. Team Melli will meet Hong Kong next to consolidate the lead.

AFC Asian Cup 2023: The contenders in action

On the third day of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023, two contenders for the title will start their campaign under different conditions.

Japan and Iran the two top-ranked teams in Asia will start against Vietnam and Palestine respectively.

For the Japanese, who are everyone’s favorite to lift the trophy, it is a difficult start against a stubborn team in Vietnam, however, the odds of losing even a point are quite low as Japan is in top form in years.

Palestine is another tough team to beat. The goalkeeper and the defense line of Team Melli will have a comfortable shift but the midfield and the forward line will have to do all the work to break the stubborn Palestine defense. The 99th-ranked team in the FIFA Ranking can frustrate the Iranians as they have already done to a few teams before.

With Sardar Azmoun being a late joiner to the squad in Doha, he may start the match on the bench while Taremi will have Asadi or Moghanlou partnering him in the attack. Jahanbakhsh will occupy the right wing and Mohebbi will be pushing from behind the trio. Saman Ghoddos will be the maestro of the midfield. His performance is the key to the success of the team. Gholizadeh has a good chance of partnering with Ghoddos, while Ezatollahi will operate as the holding midfielder.

the status of Ramin Rezaeian’s injury is not clear yet. He would have been ideal for a match like this where the opposition packs its defenses in two layers.

The slight injury to Beiranvand is still a worry, but with Hosseini and Nizmand, there should not be any alarms as both are capable of covering for Ali Beiranvand in case he is unable to start.

Earlier in the day UAE meets Hong Kong in the same group at Khalifa International stadium

Iran-Palestine: Match preview

  • 24 hours to go for Team Melli’s first Match.
    * Palestine will not be easy prey.
    * Ghalenoei “We will play attacking football”

Iran and Palestine will start their campaign in the 18th AFC Asian Cup 2023 at Education City Stadium at 20:30 local time. In the pre-match Press Conference, both managers followed the standard narratives and claims about the importance of the match, with Ghalenoei considering it like a Final for Team Melli!

What is certain though, is Palestine will be playing a solid defensive game, perhaps like parking a double-decker in front of their goalkeeper. The responsibility is on Ghalenoei to form a plan to break this tactic which is now being followed by many weaker teams in front of more powerful opposition.

This gameplan by Palestine, with an eye on quick counterattacks on Iran’s goal might spring a surprise on the final result. The more the Palestinian team can hold on, the more difficult is the task for Iran and that includes the psychological pressure and fan’s reaction to a deadlock.

On the other hand, an early goal by Iran will make Team Melli play at a comfortable pace and dictate the match. On paper, Iran is a much stronger team in every sense. They have the experience, the pedigree, the quality, and have been playing some eye-catching football recently. They are undefeated in two years since losing to the USA in the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Palestine has not enjoyed much success at the international level and has been winless since they defeated Bahrain 2-1 in March 2023. Palestine played eight matches since and has failed to register a win, losing 5 times and drawing 3. In those 8 matches, they scored one goal only while failing to score in seven. This team has a big problem up front. On the other hand, they have a solid defense and one that has yet to crash against the might of Australia, Uzbekistan, and Saudi Arabia.

So, expecting a goal ruch from Azmoun and Taremi, is easier said than done, hence the importance of an early goal.

Interestingly, they have two professional players who play in the Israel league. They have not featured as regulars as many other professionals occupy the starting lineup.

First time
This will be the first meeting between Iran and Palestine in the AFC Asian Cup; the last time Team Melli faced a team for the first time in the competition was on 12 January 2019 v Vietnam – scoring a 2-0 win.

Win target
Palestine is yet to register a victory in the AFC Asian Cup, having gone winless (D2 L4) in the 2015 and 2019 editions; this is their third appearance in the competition.

Unbeatable
Iran are unbeaten in each of their last 20 group stage games (W15 D5) in the AFC Asian Cup; in fact, the last time they lost the opening game in the competition was a 1-2 loss to Iraq in 1996, having won the last six such games since then on the bounce. 

Terrific duo
No player recorded more touches in the opposition box in 2019 than Iran’s duo of Sardar Azmoun (42) and Mehdi Taremi (33); Palestine’s best player in this category in the previous edition was Mahmoud Wadi with six such touches. 

Milestone
Sardar Azmoun has scored 49 goals for Team Melli. He needs just one more goal to equal Karim Bagheri who has 50 goals and is only second to the legendary Ali Daei in the list of the highest scorers of Team Melli.

Who will lift the AFC Asian Cup 2023?

Predicting the team that will lift the AFC Asian Cup is not something that has any value at this stage as football, time and again, has proven to be a strange game, full of surprises, and winning a title in the most prestigious tournament can have twists and turns that not even the best analyst can predict.

However, what can be said makes sense is the ranking and performance of the teams beforehand and the expected results based on the earlier performance.

Japan: Without a shadow of a doubt, Japan sits right at the top of the ranking and their chances of lifting the trophy for the fourth time are quite high. Not only did the Japanese perform well at the Asian level, they even managed to beat the best of Europe in their own home. A 4-1 result against Germany will stand as a monument of the might of the Japanese and the resilience, power, and strength of depth of this team. Japan also put 4 past Turkey and Canada also beat Tunisia 2-0. Before that Japan toyed with El Salvador beating them 6-0 and five days later Japan gave Peru a lesson in football with a 4-1 win just before humiliating Germany 4-1.

It does not take much expertise to predict that Japan is the team to beat. that is easier said than done.

TEAM INFO

Coach: Hajime Moriyasu (from 2018-)

Injured or Suspect Players: Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal) – Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton)

LAST FIVE MATCHES

17/10/23FRIJapan2 – 0Tunisia
16/11/23AWCJapan5 – 0Myanmar
21/11/23AWCSyria0 – 5Japan
01/01/24FRIJapan5 – 0Thailand
09/01/24FRIJapan6 – 1Jordan

Odds: 1 : 3.2

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

South Korea has a star-studded squad, and by the virtue of having perhaps the best Asian footballer in Son Heung-Min, the chances of this team are only second to Japan. Despite their results not matching the greatness of Japan, they are still a powerful team with a great military-like discipline that has a lot to say in Qatar. They have demonstrated their strength against Iran and can surprise any of the teams. The recent appointment of the German Jurgen Klinsmann and and former hero Ch Du-ri as an assistant and perhaps an interpreter as Cha is fluent in German, shows that the Korean FA are determined to seriously challenge for the title that eluded them since 1956. A strong team with many stars playing in Europe the Koreans are confident that this might be their year.

TEAM INFO

Coach: Jurgen Klinsmann (from 2023)

Injured or Suspect Players: NONE

LAST FIVE MATCHES

3/10/23FRIKorea Republic4 – 0Tunisia
17/10/23FRIKorea Republic6 – 0Vietnam
16/11/23AWCKorea Republic5 – 0Singapore
21/11/23AWCChina PR0 – 3Korea Republic
06/01/24FRIIraq0 – 1Korea Republic

Odds: 1 : 5.5

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

Iran, under Amir Ghalenoei, has proven to be one of the strongest in Asia and a difficult team to beat. Despite a few problems and shortfalls the team has enough talent to seriously challenge the likes of Japan and South Korea. In Azmoun and Taremi, Iran has a prolific duo up front not matched by any other Asian team. A near-half-century wait to lift the Asian Cup will give the Persians the greatest motive in making this tournament one to remember for the Iranian Fans.

TEAM INFO

Coach: Amir Ghalenoei (from 2022)

Injured or Suspect Players: Ramin Rezaeian (under treatment)

LAST FIVE MATCHES

17/10/23FRIQatar0 – 4IR Iran
16/11/23AWCIR Iran4 – 0Hong Kong, China
21/11/23AWCUzbekistan2 – 2IR Iran
05/01/24FRIIR Iran2 – 1Burkina Faso
09/01/24FRIIndonesia0 – 5IR Iran

Odds: 1:8

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

Australia, a powerhouse in Asian football a team that has already lifted the title once at home in 2015. The Socceroos is still a force to be reckoned with in this year’s edition. The Socceroos are a mix of experienced and young players with 19 of the 26 currently plying trade in European leagues while only four are playing in the domestic A-League. The remaining three play in Japan and Saudi Arabia.

TEAM INFO

Coach: Graham Arnold (from 2018)

Injured or Suspect Players: None

LAST FIVE MATCHES

13/10/23FRIEngland1 – 0Australia
17/10/23FRIAustralia2 – 0New Zealand
16/11/23AWCAustralia7 – 0Bangladesh
21/11/23AWCPalestine0 – 1Australia
06/01/24FRIBahrain0 – 2Australia

Odds: 1:6.5

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

Saudi Arabia: Conquerors of Argentina in the group stage at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Saudi Arabia are is on nearly equal terms in challenging for the trophy with Iran and Australia.

The Saudi Pro League underwent a huge transformation in 2023 with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, and Neymar headlining an importation of talent that lifted the competition to a new level. That uplift will, in turn, have had a trickle-down effect on the Saudi players already plying their trade in the league. The recruitment of the most expensive coach in the tournament shows how the Saudi Government is determined to win this Asian Cup. Surprisingly, the last two friendly matches against Hong Kong and Palestine, both Team Mellio opponents at the group stages, were less than convincing.

TEAM INFO

Coach: Roberto Mancini (from 2023)

Injured or Suspect Players: None

LAST FIVE MATCHES

16/11/23AWCSaudi Arabia4 – 0Pakistan
21/11/23AWCJordan0 – 2Saudi Arabia
04/01/24FRISaudi Arabia1 – 0Lebanon
09/01/24FRISaudi Arabia0 – 0Palestine
10/01/24FRISaudi Arabia2 – 0Hong Kong

Odds: 1:8

outsiders

Uzbekistan intends to gate-crash the party. The Central Asian teams have seen a big stride in football from youth to senior level. In this third stint at the helm of an Asian nation, Katanec will be — at the very least — looking to achieve with Uzbekistan what he managed with Iraq at the 2019 Asian Cup, when he led his former side to the round of 16 before they were beaten by eventual champions Qatar. The team has many young players augmenting the experiences of the likes of Eldor Shomurodov a player who has been the best in Uzbekistan football in the last few years.

Qatar: The Defending Champions and Host is considered an outsider. The Team has suffered under the Carlos Queiroz regime. The Qatari selectors failed in their due diligence in picking Queiroz who is a devotee of defensive football while the Qatari Team has always thrived in their attacking mentality. That marriage did not last long and now Qatar under a new head coach Tintin Márquez has a mountain to climb. An experienced Spaniard drafted in from Qatar Stars League side Al Wakrah, Márquez was appointed less than a month out from the Asian Cup after the Qatar FA sacked former Real Madrid boss Carlos Queiroz.

Azmoun was dismissed before joining the Team Melli squad

Lazio and AS Roma football teams met in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday evening. The match ended with Lazio winning 1-0. Zaccagni (51′ penalty) scored the only goal of this match for Lazio. Sardar Azmoun, Team Melli striker, was replaced Rick Karsdorp’s in Roma’s lineup in the 58th minute to vitalize the front line and prevent the team from losing, but he was unable to get anywhere until he was finally expelled from the field in the 90th minute due to a fight with an opponent player!

Meanwhile, the player has arrived in Doha to join the squad on Thursday. It wasn’t the best of circumstances for the naughty boy of Iran, known for his explosive reaction during bad times.

Iran beats Burkina Faso in Kish Island.

Team Melli defeated the West-African team Burkina Faso 2-1 in a closely contested match on Friday evening in Kish Island in a full capacity Olympic Stadium.

The guest opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Saman Ghoddos was robbed in front of the Iran goal for Konate to beat the outstretched Beiranvand with a low powerful strike. Mehdi Taremi equalized in the 42nd minute after a scramble in front of Burkina Faso’s goal. Omid Ebrahimi scored Iran’s winner in the 71st minute as a result of another scramble inside the box.

It was a tale of two teams as Ghalenoei changed the entire 11 players that have started the match with a new team plus a couple more substitutions in the second half. Despite a slow start by Iranian players, the guest showed aggression and pace that managed to disturb the rhythm of Team Melli passing game. Like usual, the middle of the park was ineffective with Saeid Ezatolahi once again raising question marks about his standard and suitability to operate as a holding midfielder In Team Melli. Errors in passing and lacking accuracy has marred his performance in this half. While Ghoddos was less not as effective as usual in the role of playmaker. The two other midfielders cum-wingers Mohebbi and Jahanbakhash failed to make an impact on the match.

Despite those deficiencies, Team Melli managed to threaten their gusts several times, but a wasteful Taremi and Moghanlou squandered a few chances that could have made the second half more comfortable than it was.

The second half saw the entire team changed for the first time in the history of Team Melli matches. The introduction of Rouzbeh Cheshmi as a defensive midfielder replacing the lame Ezatolahi, in addition to Ali Gholizadeh and Omid Ebrahimi, refreshed the midfield while Khalilzadeh in defense and Haj Safi on the left back solidified the defense. However, neither Ansarifard nor Asadi replacing Moghanlou and Taremi in the second half made any significant impact up front.

At the final whistle of the Iraqi referee, Amir Ghaleneoi must have been quite relieved by the narrow win but less than comfortable to see how his team can be contained and easily outpaced by a pressing and aggressive team.

It seems that Alireza Beiranvand sustained an injury in the first half and his substitution was necessary. On the bench Beiranvand was treated with heavy ice pack on his knees. Rezaeian was not involved as he is still being treated and the coaching staff did not risk him for this match.

Iran will play Indonesia next in Doha in the final preparation game before starting its campaign in AFC Asian Cup vs Palestine.