Tag: Amir Ghalenoei

Team Melli to play in a 4-side tournament

According to the official website of the Football Federation, Teaam Melli under  Amir Ghalenoei is going to participate in the 4-side 2023 Jordan international Football tournament in Jordan. This tournament is expected to be played in the Jordanian capital Amman with the presence of the host nation, Iraq, Qatar, and Iran.

This tournament which normally takes place during the autumn  2023 window of the FIFA International Match Calendar, will be held in Amman, Jordan in October this year. FIFA days for the period are 9–17 October 2023

In last year’s edition Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Oman participated in the tournament. Jordan won the tournament by defeating Oman 1–0 in the final

Iran draws with Russia in a friendly.

Team Melli tied Russia 1-1 on Thursday at the Azadi Stadium. Both goals came from penalties scored by Anton Miranchuk ( 28′) for the Russians, while Mehdi Taremi leveled with his penalty at the beginning of the second half.

It was quite a decent start for Amir Ghalenoei in his return to the Team Melli bench after 15 years from his first stint. Iran was the better team in both halves and dominated the games for a long time. It was Mehdi Taremi and his teammates who deprived Iran of a deserved win with wastefulness and some erratic final shooting. Moghanlou, Mohebbi were also guilty of missing golden opportunities.

Russia was neither short of practice nor individual skills and the sanction imposed against the Russian athletes does not seem to have affected their performance. Valery Karpin seems to have a good job with the domestic league players. There were some delightful moves from the guests in Azadi and some quick counters, however, Iran was solid at the back, and the combination of central defenders, Khaikzadeh and Kananizadegan, who were the key defenders in qualifying Iran for the World Cup, were forming a formidable front to protect Beiranvand goal.

It was a clumsy challenge by Ezzatollahi that cost Iran a penalty.

With Azmoun absent, Mohammad Mohebbi and the debutant Shariyar Moghanlou filled in to support Taremi. However, despite the support from the flanks especially from Ramin Rezaeian, the forwards failed to turn those chances to goals. Moghanlou had a debut to forget.

Overall, it was quite a good challenge for Ghalenoei as he becomes more familiar with the players and the roles they can fill in.

Next will be Kenya, a lighter opponent but a physically strong team.

Hossein Faraki seems to be the lead candidate for Team Melli job.

With the withdrawal of Amir Ghalenoei and Mehdi Tarter, the exclusion of Yahya Golmohammadi from the initial list, and the outright rejection of the offer to coach Team Melli by Ali Daei, Hossein Faraki seems to be the leading candidate for the job.

Notwithstanding the two other candidates (Majidi & Nekounam) both of whom have discipline and stability issues in addition to lack of proper international experience required for the job, Faraki seems to tick all the boxes of FFIRI and most importantly to the authorities, being politically acceptable and loyal.

 In an interview with ISNA, Hossein Faraki acknowledged that his name was amongst several for the post of Team Melli head coach and said ” I was offered the chance for the job in a call made by FFIRI leadership. They sent me an invitation and asked me for a roadmap and plan for participating in the AFC Asian Cup 2023. Of course, there are other options and they specified a deadline for me to respond.”

He continued: “Anyway, it is the national team and it is where I played for many years and had coaching experience too. In the last one or two years, I have had proposals from several clubs, which I have not yet decided on. One of the reasons was the Corona issue, and after that, I realized that the place I want to go to, must have the right conditions and atmosphere to conduct my job. Maybe some clubs have problems and lack facilities, and I also wanted to be in a place where the conditions are available so that I can have an impact. I would like to do something for the national team if I can,”

The former coach of the national team added: “If I feel that something can be done, I will think about it. Many people would love to see me take the post and would love for this to happen to me and for me to get what I deserve. There are different opinions in this regard. Some agree and some disagree, but everyone is entitled to his opinions are it should be respected “

” So far I have not sent my program but I am in the process and will soon submit it to the federation. It will be sent by tomorrow and whatever the outcome will be, it will happen.”

“I don’t like to talk about speculation,” Farraki said about the selection of an Iranian or foreign coach for Team Melli. “Anyway, the decision maker is the Football Federation. Many of our coaches have potential and the desire of every coach is to lead the national team. We also need to motivate the Iranian coach. Foreign coaches have their own values, but under the current circumstances, it is better to give the Iranians the opportunity.

Faraki was born in Tehran on 22nd March 1957 and started his playing career with PAS Tehran from 1976 to 1992), He played for Team Melli  (22 caps/11 goals for Iran), and his coaching career included Esteghlal Tehran, Sepahan Isfahan, Persepolis Tehran

Hossein Faraki played for Team Melli in the first Iranian qualification for the World Cup in 1978. He also won third place in the AFC Asian Cup 1980 in Kuwait with the national team. Faraki served as assistant coach to Branko Ivankovic for three years. Faraki also has the experience of being the head coach of Iran’s Omid national team in 2004. He led Foolad Khuzestan to the League Title in 2012-2013. He also led the Sepahan Isfahan team to the title in 2013-2014, so within 2 years, he has led two different clubs to the championship titles in the Iran Premier Football League.

Amir Ghalenoei out of the race for Team Melli head coach job.

One of the main internal options for the leadership of Team Melli has withdrawn from the race.

According to news agency reports, Amir Ghalenoei, Hossein Faraki, Mehdi Tartar, Farhad Majidi, and Javad Nekounam were named as the final five internal options of the Football Federation to lead the national team. Among the candidates, only Amir Ghalenoei has prior experience in leading Team Melli. The former Esteghlal coach and current Gol Gohar Sirjan head coach was at the top of the list, however, Ghalenoei immediately announced his withdrawal.

 On his personal page, Ghalenoei announced his decision in an Instagram post story. The reasons behind his decision were not obvious except for mentioning that the timing was not right for him to accept such a move. Ghalenoei also had a veiled dig against the federation for omitting the names of the leading candidates for the Team Melli job, particularly Yahya Golmohammadi.

On the other hand, it is also reported that Mehdi Tartar has also withdrawn from the race which leaves Hossein Faraki, Mehdi Tartar, Farhad Majidi, and Javad Nekounam as the three choices. The latter has just abandoned his job as head coach of Foolad Khuzestan while still involved in the race for AFC Asian Champions League title. His petulant and highly unethical attitude makes Nekounam unworthy of coaching the National Team of Iran. His poor record in coaching and the controversies that seem to surround him in every match create unhealthy surroundings in Team Melli.

Farhad Majidi is no better than Nekounam either.

From that list, Hossein Faraki seems to be the only viable coach with experience and the right conduct for the job.

Meanwhile, the head of the football federation emphasized that we are in no rush to choose the head coach of the national team and said: “We are currently busy with holding league games and there is no possibility of forming a national team. We are thinking about both Iranian and foreign options and we have to choose the option of the head coach of the national team with special prudence and sensitivity (….) ”

A perennial failure figure in selecting a proper coach for Team Melli, Mehdi Taj is known for his authoritarian decision-making. He has always been prompted and guided by the government in form of the Minister of Sports. Therefore the appointment of the future Team Melli coach will be highly dependent on that person’s loyalty to the regime values, Islamic revolutions principles, and being an obedient servant, much more than his competency, experience, and skills in coaching.

The options for domestic coaches are quite narrow, while a foreign coach seems to be a remote possibility due to figures that the FFIRI cannot possibly afford to pay in addition to the crumbling of the Iranian currency against the dollar.

 

Team Melli ready for an Iranian coach.

It is high time this federation, aka the regime, thinks of appointing a National coach to lead Team Melli in the next stage which is the AFC Asian Cup 2023 and beyond.

It is now over 11 years since an Iranian head coach has managed Team Melli. The last one who could speak Farsi was Afshin Ghotbi, who left his post following the elimination of Iran in the quarter-finals of the AFC Asian Cup 2011.  Before him, it was Mayeli Kohn who was fired as soon as he was recruited, and before that Ali Daei.

The disappointing failure in the FIFA World Cup should ring some alarm bells in the FFIRI or the Ministry of Youth and Sport, the de facto ruler of football in Iran. There is nothing to suggest that Carlos Queiroz has anything more to offer Team Melli. In fact, his sudden return was an act of desperation by one man whose recent return has created controversy as head of the Football Federation. Mehdi Taj took a gamble by listening to several senior players who thought that Queiroz would be a much better option than Dragan Skocic with less than 3 months to go to the World Cup. That gamble failed, and Team Melli left Doha with two defeats, the first of which was a painful humiliation for Iran’s football.

The return of Mehdi Taj is not a good omen for Iran football. The man is a political appointee and his priority is certainly not toward football development or growth. The object is to safeguard the regime’s interest using the popularity of football as a tool. Such appointments are quite common in Iranian establishments.

The gamble on Queiroz, who was fired from his previous two jobs due to failures,  was part of the plan to preserve the regime while it was suffering the most serious of internal challenges. Queiroz served a purpose and with a handsome payment for a few months, he would abide by the rules.

After  8 years of the Portuguese man and millions spent, Team Melli Queiroz has achieved nothing that a decent local Iranian coach would not achieve. It is now the right time to pick that decent Iranian coach to lead Team Melli in Doha, like the last time under Ghotbi. There is no lack of candidates either, but the best candidate must be Yahya Golmohammadi.

At 51 and after an illustrious football career as Team Melli and Persepolis player, Golmohammadi coached several teams like  Naft Tehran, Zob Ahan, Tractor Sazi, and Padideh before he took over Persepolis in 2020 (for the second time in his career).  Golmohammadi managed to win the league title twice with Persepolis.  While not perfect and has his shortfalls, Golmaohammadi, proved many times that he is a skillful and consistent coach with a winning mentality who can control and lay down the best game plans for his players and could also control rebel players too. Under limited resources and shortages of star players, he lead the team to the title while others clubs with better players and resources failed to do so.  Golmaohammadi therefore must be a leading candidate for Team Melli.

Amir Ghalenoei is consistently ranked near the top of coaches in Iran. The former Head Coach of Team Melli and a record holder of League titles wins as a coach has the attributes and abilities of a successful coach.  His major shortfall has to be the temperament that has put him in all sorts of trouble. This is possibly the only setback with Ghalenoei.

Javad Nekounam is a young and upcoming star in coaching in Iran. His shortage of experience in coaching is covered by his long playing career in Spain under quality coaches. He learned from the best.

In any case, there would be other contenders for the Team Melli head coach job, the important matter is that this federation must give the Iranians the opportunity to manage their own team the way that Morocco, Japan, Australia, and many other teams in the World Cup have done. FFIRI has to put trust in Iranian coaches at some stage, and there is no better time than now. I should be a long-term project too.