Tag: Ali KArimi

Sepahan and the FFIRI clash over release of Ali Karimi

Sepahan Esfahan reacted sharply to the threats of sanction by the football federation FFIRI on the release of Ali Karimi the promising young forward to Team Melli U-23.

Ali Karimi is among the players selected by Nelo Vengada for the Olympics team which is currently in a training programs which includes several camps and international friendly matches. The next match will be in Jordan. With the start of the Persian Gulf Football league only days away , Sepahan Esfahan club opted not to release their forward for the camp as the team needed to focus on the league with several difficult matches ahead.

The release of the players to the national teams’ non- official competition, which is completely up to the judgment of the club, has apparently created a wave of discontent in the FFIRI. In an internal memo from Mehdi Taj to Ayottlahei , both discussed the possibility of a sanctions against Sepahan calling the club a repeat offender following its refusal to release the player for Team Melli fo the South Africa camp while it was still engaged in the AFC Champions League.

Sepahan released an official statement sharply criticizing the federation personnel for lack of understanding of the law. The statement said that it will deal with the matter when Sepahan Management receives and official correspondence from the FFIRI regarding this matter. Sepahan is preparing the team under the Croat coach Kranjcar.

It is not clear why the FFIRI is so blatantly acting ignorant on FIFA’s regulations that governs the release of players , a law that has been discussed umpteen times before Iran’s participation in the World Cup. It could very well be just bullying tactics by the FFIRI to intimidate clubs to release their players despite the commitment of these clubs to play in domestic and/or continental leagues. In both cases of the scenario,  it one conducts unbecoming from the very people who are supposed to uphold and abide by the rules.

Javad Nekounam is on the brink of breaking the record.

 

The Captain of Team Melli , Javad Nekounsm is only 3 games short of equaling Ali Daei’s total match appearances for Team Melli. Ali Daei with 149 games, is the top Iranian players and also the highest scorer for Team Melli with 109 international goals. Daei , has in fact scored 112 goals , but 3 goals were removed from his records for various reasons.

With Nekounam still 34 and a year or so from hanging his boots , the Al Kuwait player will surpass Daei if he is included in the AFC Asian Cup 2015 campaign.

Nekounam has also done quite well in the scoring department with  37 goals sitting the the 4th place 1 goal behind the recently retired Ali Karimi.

 

Season Openin. Subst. Goals Yellows Reds
2000 1 5 0 0 0
2001 6 4 0 1 0
2002 11 1 0 1 0
2003 13 0 1 2 0
2004 18 0 7 3 0
2005 11 0 4 2 0
2006 11 0 2 2 0
2007 8 0 4 3 0
2008 8 0 4 1 0
2009 8 0 2 3 0
2010 6 0 1 1 1
2011 10 0 5 0 0
2012 8 1 1 1 0
2013 8 0 6 0 0
2014 7 1 0 2 0
Total 134 12 37 22 1
By season | In opening squad | Substituted in | Goals | Yellow cards | Red cards

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Top Team Melli players appearances list

 

Name Openin. Subst. Goals Yellows Reds
1. DAEI, Ali 144 5 112 9 2
2. NEKOUNAM, Javad 134 12 37 22 1
3. KARIMI, Ali 118 10 38 15 0
4. MAHDAVIKIA, Mehdi 106 4 13 10 2
5. HOSSEINI, Jalal 87 2 6 2 0
6. BAGHERI, Karim 84 3 50 10 1
7. KAEBI, Hossein 82 8 2 24 1
8. ZARRINCHEH, Javad 79 1 1 2 1
9. GOLMOHAMMADI, Yahya 78 2 5 11 0
10. MIRZAPOUR, Ebrahim 76 0 0 0 0
11. TEYMOURIAN, Andranik 75 7 9 21 1
12. NOSRATI, Mohammad 74 8 5 13 0
ABEDZADEH, Ahmadreza 74 3 0 3 0
RAHMATI, Mehdi 74 2 0 3 0
15. ESTILI, Hamidreza 72 9 12 4 0
16. PARVIN, Ali 68 4 11 0 0
17. VAHEDI-NIKBAKHT, Alireza 66 10 14 11 1
AGHILI, Hadi 66 3 10 8 0
GHLEECHKHANI, Parviz 66 0 14 0 0
20. PEYROVANI, Afshin 65 2 0 3 0

[divider]

 

Top Team Melli Goal Scorers

Name Openin. Subst. Goals Yellows Reds
1. DAEI, Ali 144 5 112 9 2
2. BAGHERI, Karim 84 3 50 10 1
3. KARIMI, Ali 118 10 38 15 0
4. NEKOUNAM, Javad 134 12 37 22 1
5. MAZLOOMI, Gholamhossein 31 11 19 1 0
6. PEYOUS, Farshad 30 4 18 1 1
7. ALIDOUSTI, Hamid 25 2 15 0 0
8. BEHZADI, Homayoun 32 3 14 0 0
GHLEECHKHANI, Parviz 66 0 14 0 0
HASHEMIAN, Vahid 39 10 14 6 0
MOHAMMADKHANI, Nasser 22 5 14 0 0
VAHEDI-NIKBAKHT, Alireza 66 10 14 11 1
13. JABBARI, Ali 33 4 13 0 0
MAHDAVIKIA, Mehdi 106 4 13 10 2
15. ESTILI, Hamidreza 72 9 12 4 0
FARIBA, Behtash 13 3 12 0 0
ROWSHAN, Hassan 31 7 12 0 0
18. AZIZI, Khodadad 41 6 11 7 0
FARAKI, Hossein 12 10 11 0 0
GHOOCHANNEJAD, Reza 16 1 11 1 0
KALANI, Hossein 24 0 11 0 0
MAJIDI, Farhad 24 23 11 5 0
PARVIN, Ali 68 4 11 0 0
REZAEI, Gholamreza 36 14 11 7 0

Ali Karimi announces his retirement from football.

One of the stars of Iranian football, Mohammad Ali Karimi , has announced his retirement from football.

 This is not the first time that Karimi (35years) has announced his retirement from club or/and National team activities, however Karimi in an emotional letter declared that his decisions this time is final and irreversible. 

Ali Karimi Born in Shahryar on 08th November 1978 , became one of the most skilful players of his generation. He came to fame with Persepolis , after recruiting him from Fath club where Karimi started playing regular football.  Despite calling Persepolis his home club, Karimi spent most of his professional career outside his beloved team starting in 2001 with Al Ahli of Dubai, Bayern Munich (2005-2007),  Qatar FC (2007-2008) , returning to Iran with Persepolis (on Loan) 2008-2009 , Esteel Azin (2009-2011) including a loan period with Schalke 04 in 2011, Persepolis (2011-2013) and finally Tractorsazi in Tabriz (2013-2014).

As famous as his dribbling skills, Karimi was well-known for his temperament.   His career was in jeopardy early on when he was suspended from all football activities for one whole year by AFC for kicking a referee in Vietnam is some youth tournament. Karimi’s problems with authorities and coaches continued throughout and reached its peak with his now famous confrontation with Ali Daei.  

Many critics believe that Karimi would have been one of the best in the world if he had the right temperament and balanced approach to the game.

After finishing the season with Tractorsazi in a disappointing fashion, Ali Karimi was hoping for a recall to Team Melli, that he already announced his retirement from. However, despite Carlos Querioz talking highly about his skills and calling him one of the best footballers, the Team Melli coach elected to ignore Karimi for the World Cup although the Tractorsazi midfielder played several games in the qualifying rounds of the 2014 World Cup to help the team.

With Karimi being out of contract with Tractorsazi , and the Tabriz team not showing clear interest in  signing him for another term , Karimi looked for a suitable club and found none to his interest. Going back to Persepolis was very much out of question, not with Ali Daei at the helm. Between the disappointment of missing on the World Cup, not being able to return to Persepolis and not getting the attention of other clubs that Karimi thinks he still deserves, the “Wizard of Tehran” has finally announced his retirement.

Ali Karimi has played 128 times for Team Melli , scoring 38 goals.  He is a holder of Asian Games Gold medal in 1998, was part of the World Cup 2006 squad and played in there AFC Asian Cups, 2000, 2004 and 2007. On personal level, he won the AFC player of the year award in 2004.

 Karimi is the third highest Team Melli player in international appearances, after Daei (149) and Nekounam (146) . Ali Karimi is also the third highest goal scorer after Daei’s World Record 109 goals and Bagheri’s 50 goals.

 Karimi will leave a legacy that is difficult to repeat in the near future.

Ali Karimi attracts the interest of a foreign club.


Ali Karimi ex-Team Melli player has opted to pause his contract extension negotiation with Tractorsazi Tabriz for another season , pending the final outcome of talks with an unknown foreign club that is interested in Karimi’s services.

This news comes as a surprise as the 36 years old midfield player has recently announced his intention to wind down his football career and retire from Team Melli with the objective of hanging his boots soon. With a foreign club being a suitor, Karimi’s career seems to be revitalized and seems to want to extend his playing career outside Iran.

In a recent poll by TeamMelli.com , the majority of the voters (45%) named Ali Karimi as the top player that should have been included in Queiroz list for the FIFA World Cup 2014.

Karimi played many years of his football outside Iran. After leaving Persepolis in 2001 he played with Al Ahli of Dubai where he became a living legend for the locals, then for Bayern Munich, Qatar FC , Al Siliya  and Schlake 04 , before returning back to the Iranian league.

Tractorsazi Tabriz club, is currently coached by , Rasoul Khatibi  a former  Team Melli teammate.

The popular club from Azerbaijan has failed to qualify for next season’s Asian Champions League and parted company with its Portuguese coach Toni Oliviera following that failure. Tractorsazi , is owned by a mixture of Military organizations and Pasdaran with a minority shareholding by car manufacturers Saipa. Tractorsazi has the third largest fan base in Iran after Perespolis and Esteghlal however , the attendance have dramatically fallen last season due to the poor results.

Despite the government organization ownership and control, the club supporters are notorious for their Azeri separatists chants during the matches.