Tag: Allahyar Sayyad

Destination Turkey.

The two mighty neighbors Turkey and Iran have a heavy mutual influence on each other, due to geographical proximity, economic benefits, linguistic and ethnic relations. They were also regional rivals at some stage of history and fought each other for influence and power. In modern times, the relation has been peaceful and friendly.  Football formed part of this peaceful relationship and also created a regional rivalry.

The Turkish association with European football and its membership in UEFA, has immensely benefitted its development. The Turkish national team, despite making it to the World Cup twice only in their history (1954 & 2002), was always considered to be better and stronger than Iran’s Team Melli from the early 50s. Those days, the two countries played a lot of football against each other including a regional tournament called RCD which was a three side annual tournament that also included Pakistan in the 60s.

However, like many things after the 1979 revolution, with Iran’s major change of political ideology, the two countries experienced less than a cozy relationship, football naturally suffered from this cold relation and the two countries cut off their football connection. Neither side showed any interest in playing friendlies against the other, no doubt politics playing a major role in the break of footballing relationship.

Meanwhile, Turkish football, at club level at least, was thriving. The trio, Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, and Besiktas were as good as many first-rate  European clubs. With financial clout and huge fan bases, Turkey became the focus of attention and the destination of many foreign players.  For years, the Turkish clubs employed the services of European, African and Latin American footballers, those included some household names in football. However, the majority of the big name European signings were players at the twilight of their careers who were there for a last-ditch attempt to enrich their bank accounts before hanging their boots rather than seeking glory.  The success of the policy of the Turkish clubs in attracting high profile aging footballers was mixed perhaps moderately successful at best.

What the Turkish club ignored was the abundance of talents on the eastern and southern borders. Iran and to a certain extent, Iraq had a wealth of young talents that were there for the taking. Since the late nineties, European clubs, particularly the German realized that as a number of the best Iranian players were employed by clubs like Bayern Munich , Hamburg, Hertha Berlin, and Arminia Bielefeld While talented Iraqi players headed south to the Persian Gulf states. At no time, the Turks endeavored to attract Iranians and Iraqis to play for their teams, although it would have been a good investment and certainly cheaper for them too.

By the beginning of the second decade of the millennium, The Turkish clubs, at last, looked at Iran. There had to be something special in that country’s football that can generate quality players for Team Melli.  With shoestring budgets, Iranian clubs managed to continuously deliver talented players thus enriching Team Melli and many 0f those young players eventually heading outside Iran to play professional football. In the process, Iran has made 4 appearances in the FIFA World Cup after a break of 20 years since the initial one in 1978, but also steadily climbed in the FIFA World Ranking to approach the elites. Meanwhile, Turkey managed one appearance in 2002.

That made the Turkish clubs think hard and employ scouts to talent hunt in Iran and seek bargains and future investments from the Persians.

For the Iranians, Turkey is the perfect destination for a professional player. The culture, the climate and the proximity of the two countries make it an ideal place to play football, to develop and to make a decent living.  Although the flood gates had hardly opened on the Iranians, the Turkish clubs are beginning to be shrewd as they are constantly on the lookout for talented players even as young as 18 years old. In the case of Allahyar Sayyadmanish, who was hardly a fixed player in his club Esteghlal, such investment could turn out to be a clever an astute move by Fenerbahçe. The giant Turkish club is now seeking the services of the 19 years old Iraqi forward Muhanad Ali Kadhim from Al Shorta Club.

It is a win-win situation for both sides. Iranian Players can develop well in Turkey with training facilities and passionate fans enhancing the league to become one of the best in Europe. It is certainly the right environment for aspiring young Iranian and Iraqi players.

 

Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, is an 11th Iranian footballer in Turkey.

Naser Sadeghi (Galatasaray / Konyaspor)
Mohammad Khakpour (Vanspor)
Reza Shahroudi (Altay)
Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh (Erzurumspor)
Mohammad Moemeni (Erzurumspor)
Hamed Kavianpour (Kayserispor)
Sajjad Şhahbazzade (Alanyaspor) ♣
Payam Sadeghian (Osmanlıspor) ♣
Vahid Amiri (Trabzonspor) ♣
Majid Hosseini (Trabzonspor) ♣

♣ currently active.

Iran U-17 Stuns Germany 4-0

Iran stunned Germany 4-0 in the biggest upset of the tournament so far to qualify for the knock-out round of the FIFA U-17 World Cup on Tuesday.

Iran, who controlled the proceedings throughout the Group C match, scored through Younes Delfi (6th and 42th), Allahyar Sayyad (49th) and Vahid Namdari (75th) at the Nehru Stadium in Margao.

Nothing went right for the Germans who were disorganised in the midfield and they could not trouble the rival defence. Their defence also kept a lot of space which the Iranians exploited with repeated forays.

Iran's Younes Delfi celebrates with team mates after scoring his team's first goal against Germany in their Group C fixture. Getty

Iran’s Younes Delfi celebrates with team mates after scoring his team’s first goal against Germany in their Group C fixture. Getty

Iran, who beat Guinea in their opening match, now sit on top of the group with six points and thus qualified for the round of 16.

Germany, who beat Costa Rica 2-1 in their opening match, now need to win against Guinea in their final group match in order to qualify for the knock-out round. Guinea and Costa who played out a 2-2 draw today have one point each.

Iran play their last match in Margao against Costa Rica on 13 October while Germany travel to Kochi to play against Guinea.

Iran, who adopted a defensive approach in their last match, today preferred to play an attacking game and the move paid off as they took the lead in the sixth minute when Younes Delfi took a shot which deflected from rival defender Jan Boller’s leg and found the net.

The early goal put the Germans in complete shambles. The Iranians attacked the German citadel regularly and could have increased the lead but keeper Luca twice denied Mohammed Ghobeishavi from scoring.

Luca Plogmann once again had to dive to bring a save from llahyar Sayyad in the 25th minute.

The pressure on the Germans was so much that they conceded another goal in the 42nd minute as Younes Delfi once again scored with a glancing header from a free kick taken by Mohammed Sharifi. The Iranians were 2-0 up at half time.

The Iranian defence gave a good account of themselves and did not allow the Germans any space to operate inside the danger zone.

The Germans had only one chance to score in the dying minutes of the first half when John Yeboah’s try went over the bar from close.

After the change of ends, Younes Delfi could have scored a hat-trick but German keeper Luca once again came off to his side’s rescue and denied him in the 48th minute when he blocked his shot.

But a minute latter, Delfi made a good move on the right and send a cross into the box which Allahyar Sayyed headed the ball into the net to kill the contest in favour of Iran.

Substitute Saeid Karimi then played a one-to-one pass with Vahid Namdari who shot home from close to complete the rout.

Iran U16 storm past Vietnam into the semi-finals

The Glory days of Iranian football and Futsal is continuing with the U16 booking its berth in next year’s FIFA U17 Championship  and the AFC U16 Championship 2016 semi-finals currently held in Goa, India.

Goa: Allahyar Sayyad bagged a brace as Islamic Republic of Iran advanced to the semi-finals of the AFC U-16 Championship India 2016 after a resounding 5-0 quarter-final victory over Vietnam at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium On Sunday.

Sayyad opened the scoring after 29 minutes before Mohammad Ghaderi doubled their advantage early in the second half and Alireza Asadabadi gave Vietnam a mountain to climb just after the hour.

A dominant Iran then put their opponents to the sword as Amir Khodamoradi and Sayyad’s double wrapped up a comfortable win as Abbas Chamanian’s side progressed to the last four and also ensured a return to India for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup as one of the tournament’s top four teams.

Vietnam began confidently and had their first chance of note on eight minutes when Nguyen Tran Viet Cuong’s powerfully struck left-foot effort from 20 yards was tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Ali Gholam Zadeh.

The custodian was again on hand in the 16th minute to save Vu Quang Do’s volley from 10 yards after Nguyen Trong Long picked out the defender with a deep corner from the left.

Without their injured skipper Aref Alipour for a second game in succession, Iran came back into the tie and broke the deadlock in the shortly before the half hour.

Ahmad Jalali picked up the ball on the left and delivered an inch-perfect delivery towards Sayyad, who got in between two defenders to head home his second goal of the tournament from six yards out.

Iran then opened up a two-goal lead a minute after the restart as Ghaderi controlled stand-in captain Mohammad Sharifi’s ball over the top with his chest before firing low into the bottom right corner from 15 yards.

And the game was all but over as a contest by the 61st minute when Iran added another through Asadabadi’s third of the campaign.

Sayyad robbed a hesitant Nguyen Thanh Binh of possession 25 yards from goal before racing into the box and, after Vietnam ‘keeper Huynh Huu Tuan got down to block the forward’s low drive, Asadabadi was on hand to tap into an empty net.

The Iranians were threatening to run riot as Ghaderi broke in from the left and crossed for Khodamoradi to side-foot home from 10 yards on 68 minutes.

Substitute Alireza Savari then had an instant impact when he found Sayyad four minutes later and the lively forward confidently dispatched into the bottom right corner from 12 yards.

The Southeast Asians almost grabbed a consolation with five minutes remaining but Nguyen Khac Khiem was narrowly off target from inside the penalty area as Iran claimed their biggest win of the campaign.

Coach Abbas Chamanian boys will be facing the winners of North Korea vs Oman match next Thursday.

 

Iran U16 defeats the Saudis in AFC qualifiers

the-afc.com

Goa: Substitute Alireza Asadabadi’s winner capped a stunning come-from-behind victory for Islamic Republic of Iran as they defeated Saudi Arabia 3-2 in the AFC U-16 Championship India 2016 opener in Group A on Thursday.

Mansor Al Beshe had begun the day’s action in stunning fashion with a superb strike inside five minutes before Dhari Al Anazi doubled the advantage just before the break.

Iran roared back after half-time though and Allahyar Sayyad made it 2-1 two minutes into the second period before first Mohammad Sharifi and then Asadabadi completed the comeback in a dramatic two-minute spell at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Midfielder Al Beshe netted the tournament’s first goal in spectacular style four minutes in as he unleashed a thunderous strike from fully 25-yards out that rocketed into the net past the despairing dive of Meraj Esmaeili in the Iran goal.  

The Iranians looked to restore parity in swift succession and captain Aref Alipour did go close with a free-kick from distance on 19 minutes.

And just after the half-hour, Mohammad Ghaderi went even closer as the midfielder wriggled into the penalty area before striking a firm shot that was well saved by Hashem Al Asmari.

Abbas Chamanian’s team continued to press for an equaliser but were kept out by a resolute Saudi side who then went on to extend their lead three minutes before half-time when Mali crossed in from the left for the onrushing Al Anazi to steer home.

Within the seconds of the restart Iran could have reduced the deficit but Sayyad volleyed Saeid Ahani’s cross over the bar.

The substitute was not to be denied a second time in quick succession though as on the 47th minute Sayyad broke through on goal and struck the ball emphatically past Al Asmari.

The action flashed from end-to-end as Al Anazi could have restored the two goal cushion but somehow blazed over from six-yards out after Esmaeili could only parry Mali’s shot.

But in the space of just two minutes the game and scoreline had turned on its head.

On 68 minutes, Sharifi turned home from a goalmouth scramble after a corner and just moments later, with Saudi Arabia still reeling from the leveller, Asadabadi found himself one-on-one with Al Asmari and finished coolly to spark frenzied celebrations on the Iran bench.

Saudi Arabia could have snatched a point at the death as Mali flicked the ball on for Naif Al Mas but the captain could only blaze over as Iran secured the victory.

Iran coach Abbas Chamanian:
“I made the substitution before half-time because I wanted the team to be mentally prepared for the second half. We were better than Saudi Arabia in the first half but they scored two goals. In the second half we had good opportunities to score after we changed our tactics to 4-4-2. We were able to score three goals and two of our substitutes scored a goal each.”

Saudi Arabia coach Mohammed Al Abdali:
“In the first half we dominated the game and could have scored more goals. The Iranians scored in the first two minutes of the second half and that gave them confidence. We warned our players at half-time that 2-0 is a risky scoreline, not a comfortable position. We could have scored not just at the end of the game, but halfway through the second half. If you don’t score then you get punished, but hopefully we will learn from this.”