Tag: Asian Games

Team Melli records vs. Bahrain

Bahrain is one of the few Asian and Arab opponents that have given Team Melli a run for their money throughout the years. Although Iran has double the wins vs their tiny Persian Gulf nations in their 17 matches, Bahrain has always been a stubborn opponent for the big teams of Asia.

Here is the dashboard of the games played between the two teams.

 

 

 

 

all matches

Date Competition H / A / N Result Venue Attendance
11-Jan-15 Asian Cup H 2 – 0 Melbourne Rectangular Stadium 17,712
12-Dec-12 WAFF N 0 – 0 Kazma SC Stadium, Kuwait City 1,200
11-Nov-11 World Cup Qualifier A 1 – 1 National Stadium, Riffa 18,000
11-Oct-11 World Cup Qualifier H 6 – 0 Azadi Stadium, Tehran 83,000
24-Sep-10 WAFF / Group A N 3 – 0 King Abdullah Stadium – Amman 12,000
31-Aug-09 Friendly A 2 – 4 National Stadium, Riffa 1,500
21-Mar-08 Friendly A 0 – 1 National Stadium, Riffa 3,000
08-Jun-05 World Cup Qualifier H 1 – 0 Azadi Stadium, Tehran 90,000
09-Feb-05 World Cup Qualifier A 0 – 0 Manama 30,000
06-Aug-04 Asian Cup / 3rd Place N 4 – 2 Workers Stadium, Beijing 10,000
19-Oct-01 World Cup Qualifier A 1 – 3 National Stadium, Riffa 8,000
14-Sep-01 World Cup Qualifier H 0 – 0 Azadi Stadium, Tehran 50,000
07-Apr-00 Asian Cup Qualifier H 3 – 0 Azadi Stadium, Tehran 40,000
04-Apr-00 Asian Cup Qualifier N 0 – 1 Al Hamdaniya Stadium, Aleppo 30,000
03-Oct-94 Asian Games N 0 – 0 Hiroshima Stadium, Hiroshima 5,000
20-Aug-75 Olympics Games Qualifiers H 3 – 0 Amjadieh Stadium, Tehran 25,000
07-Sep-74 Asian Games H 6 – 0 Ekbatan Stadium, Tehran 10,000

 

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Jakarta Asian Games- Football groups to be re-drawn!

According to the Mehr news agency and the  FFIRI website, the UAE and Palestine were not included in the first groups draw.

It is said that the two countries have completed their registration process correctly and in accordance with the rules of the Asian Game.  However, their names were dropped!  To correct this, the organizing committee will arrange the second lot  which will be held with 26 countries.

Based on this, the new draw will be held July 23rd of July in Jakarta.

In the previous draw, Iran U23 team was in Group F along with Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and North Korea. North Korea  is the winner of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

Asian Games Men Football matches are played by teams with under the age of 23. Each team can have up to three players over the age range with Wildcard entering the game.

The Asian Games 2018 will begin on August 27, but the men’s soccer games will begin on August 23rd.

Aref Gholizadeh, former Team Melli player passes away.

Aref Gholizadeh, the former Taj and Team Melli player of the 50’s has passed away today.

Gholizadeh was born in Baku , Azerbaijan  during the Soviet Union rule and moved to Tehran when he was 10 years old. Some sources claim Gholizadeh was born in Tabriz. His official records show the year of birth as 1938 however , Gholizadeh has said that he was 10 years older than the records.

Aref was discovered by Ali Danaeifard when he was playing on sandy grounds. Danaeifard was a master of spotting talented players and he was instrumental in shaping Gholizadeh to play at top level of Iranian football when he took him to Taj Club ( currently Esteghlal).

Gholizadeh was a central defender with exceptional flight and heading ability towering over forwards taller than him. He was nicknamed the “Golden Head” or Aref Sar Talaae” because of this powerful heading ability.

Gholizadeh was first selected for Team Melli during the Asian Games 1051 held in New Delhi, however , he did not get a chance to play and remained a substitute during the tournament.  Despite of that disappointment, Gholizadeh collected a Silver Asian Games medal after Iran lost to India 1-0 in the final.

 

Vingada on the brink of becoming Team Melli U-23 coach

Nelo Vingada , the 60 years old Portuguese coach is at the brink of signing a 3 years contract to coach Iran’s U-23 team.

The much traveled coach who had a short stint as Perspolis head coach in 2009 , has been negotiating with the FFIRI for months and it is reported that both sides have agreed terms and the signing will be conduct after the return of Ali Kaffashian from Iraq.

Currently , there is no coach for the U-23 team or Olympic team , however , with the 17th Asian Games Incheon 2014 in mind next September , followed by the Rio Olympic Games 2016 qualifiers, FFIRI opted to have a long term plan for the U-23/Olympic team. The appointment of a high profile coach was deemed as a priority.

The selection of Vingada was no doubt influenced by Carlos Queiroz , a close friend and associate. The pair (Queiroz and Vingada) led Portugal to lifting the FIFA U21 World Cup back in 1989 & 1991. Vingada’s last involvement with Iranian football was his advisory role to Queiroz during this current World Cup campaign [Full story]

The selection of the experienced Vingada will at least mean harmony between the two coaches of Team Melli, as Queiroz has not been having a cordial relationship with other club coaches in Iran.  Club coaches have accused the Team melli coach of ignoring them in making decision that affects their teams and the matter came into a a loggerhead with the 4 clubs coaches taking part in the AFC Asian Champions league.

The other coach who was on FFIRI short list for the Olympic team was the Danish Flemmings, who coached his country’s u-21 team and also Mes Kerman youth teams.

Vingada has a tough job reviving the fortunes of the disappointing Olympic team which has failed to qualify for the final stages since 1980. After qualifying for the Moscow games, the first achievement of the post-revolution , Iran boycotted the Moscow Olympic games and subsequently the football teams did not have a chance to improve on their best performance in 1976 Montreal Olympics.  However , the U-23 team has performed very well at the Asian Games level winning a gold medal in 2002, one bronze medal 2006 and one fourth place ranking in 2010.

The proposed squad which will be available for Vingada will mostly consist of the U-21 players with prominent players such as Sardar Azamoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh available for selection.