Tag: Bahrain

12/02/2015

10 places up in FIFA ranking for Team Melli.

Team Melli climbed 10 places up in the latest FIFA/Coca Cola ranking issued today in Zurich. Iran is now 41^st in the world with 700 points one rank below Poland and one above its group rival in the World Cup 2014 , Nigeria who are 42^nd.

Iran continues to hold the top ranking in Asia, with South Korea placed second with 608 points followed by Japan with 605 on third. Australia, the Asian Cup winner has fourth with a massive 37 places rise in the table.

The Asian teams climbs are all attributed to the results of the recent Asian Cup 2015 held in Australia.

Rank	Team	Total Points	Previous Points	+/-	AVG 2015	Avg. 2014	AVG WGT 2014	Avg. 2013	AVG WGT 2013
41	Iran	700(700.50)	588	10	342.12	444.24	222.12	242.98	72.89
54	Korea Republic	608(608.24)	487	15	343.57	225.59	112.80	277.31	83.19
55	Japan	605(604.87)	563	-1	327.02	205.07	102.53	386.87	116.06
63	Australia	548(548.21)	329	37	272.38	259.19	129.59	229.34	68.80
66	United Arab Emirates	529(528.94)	408	14	245.47	377.77	188.88	241.93	72.58
71	Uzbekistan	493(492.64)	464	0	202.48	287.67	143.84	331.28	99.38
82	China PR	429(429.19)	339	14	244.98	189.38	94.69	140.03	42.01
91	Oman	368(367.51)	346	2	146.02	255.33	127.66	167.45	50.23
94	Iraq	360(360.10)	269	20	225.82	59.48	29.74	163.04	48.91
97	Jordan	353(352.54)	346	-4	102.88	310.32	155.16	160.85	48.25
98	Saudi Arabia	351(351.10)	318	4	122.58	297.06	148.53	127.91	38.37
103	Bahrain	322(322.48)	292	7	162.53	183.65	91.82	108.93	32.68
109	Qatar	305(305.34)	347	-17	141.62	150.66	75.33	173.98	52.19

28/01/2015

Ben Williams removed from refereeing a match in Iran.

Benjamin Williams, the controversial Australian referee has been stopped by AFC from removed as the referee of an official scheduled match in Iran.

Williams was supposed to be the referee of Foolad Khuzestan vs. Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the upcoming AFC Champions League match, but after the events of the Iran vs. Iraq match in Asian Cup 2015, the AFC has decided against sending the Australian to Iran.

Williams dismissed Iran’s left back Mehrdad Pooladi after two bookings for two innocuous offenses, both of which were controversial to say the least. The second booking was a flagrant carriage of injustice as seen by many independent observers. That dismissal meant Team Melli playing with 10 men for one entire half.

The AFC like FIFA, never admits to refereeing mistaken nor does it condemn them publicly. However, they do covertly suspend or discipline referees in rare cases where refereeing decision raises much controversy or strong protests. Ben Williams is a prime candidate for dismissal from the tournament after refereeing 3 matches in which he was error prone and whistle happy. Being an Australian has definitely saved his skin in this tournament, despite the fact that many of his compatriot media personalities have spoken against his decisions. Williams was not allocated any matches after the quarter finals and that controversial Iran vs. Iraq match.

Iran’s Alireza Faghani will referee the final match while Bahrain’s Nawaf Shukrallah will referee the playoff match. The two along with Rashvan Irmatov of Uzbekistan are considered to be Asia’s top 3 referees.

11/01/201511/01/2015

Perfect start for Team Melli in AFC Asian Cup

Team Melli defeated Bahrain 2-0 lead in the first match for the two teams in group C of the Asian cup. The goals scored in the dying seconds of the first half by Eshasan Hajsafi , while Masoud Shojaei made it 2-0 in the 71st minute in the second half..

Carlos Queiroz started with the nucleus of the world Cup team with two exceptions. Morteza Pouralganji and Vouriya Ghafoori were replacing Khosro Heydari and Amir Hossein Sadeghi in the defense line

hajsafy-scores-vs-Bahrain — Hajsafy’s strike seconds after his shoot floats over towards the goal.

The Iranian fans in the Melbourne created a wonderful atmosphere turning the Rectangle stadium into what the Australian TV commentator called a “Mini Azadi”. The vociferous fans loud chant was only challenged by a very whistle happy Australian referee whose continuous whistling threatened to spoil what was an intriguing encounter. Both teams started lively sharing possessions without creating any serious scoring chances.

Ashkan Dejagah was by far the most active of Iran’s players on the right flank. He managed to give the Bahrain defense some real work out, however the ex- Fulham player delivery and finishing were quite poor in comparison to his skills and work rate . He missed a glorious chance to give Iran the lead when Hajsafy put him through with a brilliant pass in the box ,

Ashkan only managed to find Bahrain Keeper Seyed Jaffar’s legs instead while he had better options including squaring to unmarked Ghoochannejad,

The game went on with Iran having a strong grip on the match but the end product was lacking despite being the more controlling side.

And then came a brilliant piece of work by Ehsan Haj Safi from a corner kick in the finals seconds of the half. Teymourian’s floating corner kick, was too close to Bahrain Keeper Seyed Jaffar who ball punched it away only to find Hajsafy. The Sepahan midfielder controlled the ball with a perfect touch before he chips a wonderful ball with side footing over a crowd of players in front of the goal into the net. A truly wonderful strike by one of the two best Iran players of the half.

The first half ended 1-0

Shojaei sidefoots his shoot towards the far end of Bahrain keeper

The second half continued with the rhythm of the first with both teams playing openly. The first real threat came from Bahrain on the stroke of the hour when Alireza Haghighi mad his first save of the match from a powerful strike by Bahrain’s Jessi John , whose ferocious shot was deflected by Iran’s keeper. However , 10 minutes later Haghighi left the crowd ins suspense and anxiety for a few seconds when he collected a ball and then ran into Bahrain’s Fouzi Aaish who dropped on the ground. The referee whistled for a foul, thankfully it was against Bahrain player who protested and was clearly upset at the decision. The replay clearly showed that it was in fact Haghighi who charged into Aayesh. Hs indiscretion and foolish act could have been quite costly except for the mercy of the Aussie referee.

Not long after that incident , Iranian fans were relieved to see Team Melli scoring again. in the 71st minute Masoud Shojaei , whose contribution to the team up to that moment was absolutely minimal , scored from another corner kick. The floating ball was sent to the left corner of the stretched arms of Bahrain keeper to end up in the net. 2-0 for Iran

With the 2 goal margin , Team Melli opted to control the match leaving the Bahraini team to venture forward. Queiroz introduced his new players , with Azmoun , Jahanbakhsh and finally Soroush Rafei coming into the game. Although their contribution were minimal , it gave the team a new look and certainly raised the confidence of the young players.

Despite Bahrain’s gallant attempts , except for one case where Haghighi had to deflect a shot into a corner, Iran defense remained solid and intact. The rookie Pouraliganji was superb in partnering the veteran Hosseini in the middle of the defense, Ghafoori on the right flank was also a revelation while Pooladi was the same solid defender of the World Cup games.

The lack of creativity on the midfield was quite evident. Nekounam and Teymourin doing their routine defensive duties and hardly venturing towards opposition territories. Masoud Shojaei , as poor as always and looked like a lost figure in the midfield simply walking the match off , while leaving the bulk of the offensive load on Hajsafy and Dejagah to feed Team Melli’s lone forward Reza Ghoochannejad who was trapped between 5 Bahrain defenders.

Despite all the preparations problems and many side issues that the team and coach Queiroz had to endure with , this was perfect start for Team Melli . There was the obvious shortcomings but at the end of the day , Iran had the higher quality and experience to finish the match on winning all the 3 points and deservedly so.

10/01/201510/01/2015

History of Iran vs. Bahrain

The tiny Persian Gulf Island state of Bahrain , has given Iran quite a few problems in football matches.

In 1974 during the Asian games , Bahrain came to Tehran not so much to challenge the Big Boys of Asia , but more to learn how the masters of the continent play their football. A 6-0 drubbing against a Team Melli which had a large number of reserves players in the team , was the beginning of what looked like a long domination by mighty Iran.

However, the first shock to the Iranians came in 2000 in Syria, when Bahrain defeated team Melli in Damascus during the Asian Cup 2000 qualifiers, thus recording the first setback of Team Melli against the minnows. Despite winning 7 out of 16 matches played between the two, Iran’s record against Bahrain can hardly be described as dominant and assured.

The worst result for Team Melli must have been the 3-1 defeat in Bahrain , when Iran needed just a draw to make it to the finals of the World Cup in 2002. This left a permanent mark in the ego of Team Melli and the fans especially since some Bahrain players did carried out unsportsmanship act by carrying the Saudi Arabian flag on their victory march at the end of the match.

This is only the 2nd time that the teams meet in the AFC Asian Cup finals. The first , back in 2004 in Workers Stadium , Beijing, China was the third place play off where Team Melli scored a 4-2 victory against the best team that Bahrain ever produced in its history.

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Quotes

Hadi Tabatabaei , Former Team Melli goalkeeper ” Bahrain is not going to be an easy team to defeat. One of the advantages of our team is their fighting spirit than can come to our advantage.”

“Since it is the first game of the competition , we need to tread carefully and ensure that we have strong defensive. We should not allow their players much maneuvering space. From what I have seen of other teams, our task is going b e quite hard to make it all the way, but let us not forget one of our strongest attributes and that is our fighting spirit .”

Vahid Talebloo, Former Team Melli goalkeeper “Our biggest advantage is the solid defense. We have performed very well in this area during the World Cup and since the standards in the Asian Cup is not as high as the World Cup , we should be doing fine. First matches always have this intriguing feel to it and can spring surprises. We did will in our first match against Nigeria in the World Cup and that gave us a boost for the nest against Argentina. We need to repeat that in Australia”

“I think we can make it to the finals but that is not going to be an easy job at all. There are so many strong teams in this edition and it is very difficult to pick a winner at this stage. We have the resolve, the quality and the willpower to make it all the way. the boys need to focus and do their best.”

Mahmoud Fekri , former Team Melli defender ” We must defeat Bahrain to have any chance of qualifying ti the next round. If we fail to qualify , then this is a real wake up call for Iran’s football and a disaster in making.”

“The normal cliché of the first match difficulties still applies, but the quality and standard of Iranian football is way above Bahrain’s despite this team being a stubborn opponent for us. If we have any aspiration , any claims for lifting the title , we have to win such matches. Let us not forget that our neighbors on the other side of the Persian Gulf , are progressing steadily and firmly in football. They have managed to build strong teams and are in the top ranks of Asian football.”

Mehdi Foonoonizadeh , Former Team Melli midfielder ” Considering the current team status and the poor preparation, I seriously doubt that our Team, Melli will be among the top 4 in this competition.”

“I also have virtually no hope of Team Melli lifting the trophy. In order to make the grade, the team should have had a proper program with as many friendly games as possible starting way back. This team has not had such preparation and all that the coaching staff have done is to summarize a six months work in two-week of intensive physical training in South Africa and Australia. You cannot substitute proper training by intensified two weeks hard labour camp. One other problem in the team is the high average age of the players compared to other teams. We have not really embarked in renewing the blood in our Team Melli in earnest. I hope that Queiroz starts doing that in Australia.”

“Japan and then Australia , are the two strongest candidates for the championship. ”

Mohammed Hussain , Bahrain Captain and central defender “The difference in standards between Bahrain and Iran is marginal. However , we still have to play to our best level against Iran else it will be difficult for us. We have several players playing in professional leagues out of Bahrain , many of them in Qatar where a number of Iranian national team players are also playing. We have a good knowledge about them and hopefully such knowledge will help us to gain the right result tomorrow.”

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Betting odds

Iran Win	Draw	Bahrain Win
1.62	3.5	6.25

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Match Details.

Iran vs. Bahrain

AFC Asian Cup 2015 – Group ‘C’

09:00 (GMT) – 12:30 (Tehran)

Rectangular Stadium , Melbourne.

Referee: Benjamin Williams (Australia)

Past records Head to Head

H / A / N	Matches	W	D	L	Goals	+ / –
Home	6	5	1	0	19 – 0	+19
Away	5	0	2	3	4 – 9	-5
Neutral	5	2	2	1	7 – 3	+4
Total	16	7	5	4	30 – 12	+18

Date	Comp.	H / A / N	Final score	Stadium	Attendance
12.12.2012	WAFF	N	0 – 0	Kazma SC Stadium, Kuwait City	1200
11.11.2011	World Cup Qualifier / Round 3 – Group E	A	1 – 1	National Stadium – Riffa	18000
11.10.2011	World Cup Qualifier / Round 3 – Group E	H	6 – 0	Azadi Stadium , Tehran	83000
24.09.2010	WAFF / Group A	N	3 – 0	King Abdullah Stadium – Amman	12000
31.08.2009	Friendly	A	2 – 4	NATIONAL STADIUM , Manama	1500
21.03.2008	Friendly	A	0 – 1	National Stadium	3000
08.06.2005	World Cup Qualifier / Second Round	H	1 – 0	Azadi – Tehran	90000
09.02.2005	World Cup Qualifier	A	0 – 0	Manama	30000
06.08.2004	Asian Cup / 3rd Place	N	4 – 2	Workers Stadium , Beijing	10000
19.10.2001	World Cup Qualifier / WCQ	A	1 – 3	NATIONAL STADIUM , Manama	8000
14.09.2001	World Cup Qualifier / WCQ	H	0 – 0	Azadi – Tehran	50000
07.04.2000	Asian Cup Qualifier / Group 2	H	3 – 0	Azadi – Tehran	40000
04.04.2000	Asian Cup Qualifier / Group 2	N	0 – 1	Al Hamdaniya Stadium , Aleppo	30000
03.10.1994	Asian Games / Group A	N	0 – 0	Hiroshima	5000
20.08.1975	Olympics Qualifier	H	3 – 0	Amjadiah – Tehran	25000
07.09.1974	Asian Games	H	6 – 0	Amjadiah , Tehran	10000

30/12/201430/12/2014

Bahrain hammers Saudi Arabia 4-1 in a friendly

Bahrain National football team hammered its Saudi Arabian counterpart 4-1 in a friendly match played on the Australian soil.

Bahrain is in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 along with Iran , Qatar and the UAE. The result was a severe setback for the Romanian Cosmin Olăroiu who has recently stated that his team is in Australia to challenge for the title. Saudi Arabia failed to win the Gulf Trophy at home losing the final to Qatar. Bahrain , on the other hand , suffered a heavy defeat only a month ago in the Gulf Cup against the same Saudi Team 3-0 , a result that lead to the sacking of the coach.

Meanwhile , the Saudi striker Nassir Al Shamrani, who is the AFC Player of the Year 2014, created yet another controversy when he physically assaulted a Saudi fan before the match with Bahrain. Al Shamrani , who plays for Al Hilal club in Riyadh , was offended by the the fan carrying a rival team flag. The player did not take kindly to the fan and decided to teach him a lesson. Nassir Al Shamrani, a volatile and undisciplined player is already suspended by AFC disciplinary committee for 8 matches for attacking an Australian player in the final of this years AFC Champions League.

Kudos to AFC for ignoring sportsmanship and fair play by selecting this violent player as the best player in Asia !!

Bahrain is currently being coach by a replacement coach Marjan Eid who took over in Riyadh after the sacking of the Iraqi coach Adnan Hamad.

Bahrain plays Iran January 11th in the first appearance for both teams in the AFC Asian Cup 2015 at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

29/12/2014

Squads of UAE , Qatar and Bahrain.

Team Melli will be facing a tough task against 3 well prepared team in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia.

With all the 3 opponents starting their preparation at least six months ahead of the competition and playing numerous friendly games, Team Mell has only managed one game against South Korea in Tehran while a scheduled match against Palestine was canceled in Azadi by the guests. Team Melli should have one last friendly against Iraq in Sydney.

On paper , Qatar is considered the favorite to qualify or top the group. Iran & UAE have equal chances to join the Qatari team while Bahrain is not been given much hope by the experts after their poor showing in the Gulf Cup and going through their 3rd coaching changes in a short time.

UAE

Exciting Al Ain playmaker Omar Abdulrahman has been included in the 24-man United Arab Emirates squad for next month’s AFC Asian Cup in Australia.

23-year-old Abdulrahman played a key role in Al Ain’s progress to the AFC Champions League semifinals this year. He has been selected in the squad by coach Madhi Ali, despite not having played competitive football since sustaining an injury during last month’s Gulf Cup. UAE were defeated 3-2 by eventual runners-up Saudi Arabia in the semifinals.

“Omar Abdulrahman is fine, his doctor reports he has started jogging. He needs five to seven days to get back to full fitness,” coach Ali told the official AFC Asian Cup website.

UAE are in the all-West Asian Group C of the elite continental competition along with fancied Iran — who impressed at June’s World Cup in Brazil — and neighbours Bahrain plus Gulf Cup winners Qatar.

Ali has named six players who were not part of the Gulf Cup squad for the elite continental competition beginning in January. Al Ahli goalkeeper Majed Nasser and Al Wahda centre-back Hamdan Al Kamali have been recalled to the side.

UAE will play friendlies against Jordan and Kuwait after reaching Australia on Wednesday. After the friendlies, Ali will trim his squad down to 23 players.

UAE — who reached the final of the competition in 1996 when they were hosts — take on Qatar on Jan. 11 in their first group game in Canberra.

Squad:

Goalkeepers Majed Nasser, Ali Khaseif, Khalid Essa,

Defenders: Mohammed Fawzi, Abdulaziz Haikal, Abdulaziz Sanqour, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohamed Ahmed, Ismail Ahmed, Mohanad Salem,

Midfielders: Ismail Al Hammadi, Hassan Ibrahim, Majed Hassan, Khamis Esmail, Habib Fardan, Amer Abdulrahman, Haboosh Saleh, Mohamed Abdulrahman, Omar Abdulrahman,

Forwards: Ali Mabkhout, Ahmed Khalil, Salem Saleh, Saeed Al Kathiri

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QATAR

Doha: Experienced striker Sebastian Soria was left out of Qatar’s 23-man squad for next month’s Asian Cup with the Gulf Cup winners instead opting for uncapped African-born forwards Tresor Kangambu and Mohammad Montari.

Soria won his 100th cap for Qatar in October and marked the milestone by scoring in a 3-0 success over fellow Asian Cup finalists Uzbekistan but it was not enough to make the squad for the Gulf Cup tournament the following month.

The 31-year-old has continued to score goals for Qatar Stars League champions Lekhwiya but national team head coach Djamel Belmadi opted against a recall when he named his travelling party for the Jan 9-31 tournament in Australia.

The Algerian instead went for the Congolese-born Kangambu, a wide forward who plays alongside Soria at the league leaders, and El Jaish’s striker Montari, who was born in Ghana.

The 27-year-old Kangambu moved to Qatar four years ago, while 21-year-old Montari has been in a rich vein of form for his club side in recent weeks. The duo joined Asian Player of the Year nominee Khalfan Ibrahim in the squad after the Al Sadd playmaker was recalled after he missed the Gulf Cup because of injury. Qatar have been drawn in an all West Asian Group C in Australia alongside Bahrain, Iran and United Arab Emirates.

The Maroons faceD final warm-up matches against Estonia , which saw them easily win 3-0 and Oman next week before they kick-off their campaign in Canberra on Jan. 11 against the UAE.

The 2022 World Cup hosts staged the Asian Cup four years ago, matching their tournament best showing of a quarter-final berth in 2000.

Squad :

Goalkeepers: Saad Al Sheeb (Al Sadd), Ahmed Sufyan (El Jaish), Qasem Burhan (Al Gharafa)

Defenders: Ahmadi Ali Mukhtar (Al Sadd), Abdelkarim Hassan (Al Sadd), Ibrahim Majid (Al Sadd), Mohammed Musa (Lekhwiya), Khalid Muftah (Lekhwiya), Abdulrahman Issa (El Jaish), Bilal Mohammed (Al Gharafa)

Midfielders: Khalfan Ibrahim (Al Sadd), Ali Assadalla (Al Sadd), Karim Boudiaf (Lekhwiya), Mohammed Muntari (El Jaish), Majed Mohammed (El Jaish), Khaled Al Zereiqi (El Jaish), Boualem Khoukhi (Al Arabi), Abdulaziz Hatem (Al Arabi), Ahmed Abdul Maqsood (Umm Salal)

Forwards:

Hassan Al Haidos (Al Sadd), Ismaeel Mohammad (Lekhwiya), Mohammed Tresor Abdullah (Lekhwiya), Meshal Abdullah (Al Ahli)

BAHRAIN

The Bahrain national soccer team arrived yesterday in Balart City, Australia, for their second training camp ahead of the 2015 Asia Cup to be held in Australia from January 9 to 31.

Bahrain are in Group ‘C’ with Iran, Qatar and the UAE.

Bahrain completed their first training camp in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday and the second camp will run till January 7.

The team will play its first friendly match tomorrow against Saudi Arabia.

They held their first practice session yesterday evening under the supervision of national coach Marjan Eid and his assistant Isa Al Sadoon. The team warmed up and worked out some tactical moves while the goalkeepers trained separately under goalkeepering caoch Abdulla Belal.

Faisal Bu Dahoom and Abdulla Abdo also trained separately under physical fitness trainer Deen Taylor as they are yet to fully recover from recent injuries.

The team will have an early evening training session before the friendly game tomorrow.

Coach Eid has included all three professional players – Fawzi Ayesh, Abdulla Omar and Jessi John – in the squad which was cut from 27 to 23 before leaving for Kuala Lumpur.

The trio were not selected by the previous coach Adnan Hamad of Iraq for the 22nd Gulf Cup held in Riyadh in October. Bahrain failed to qualify for the knock-out stage and coach Hamad was sacked.

The best position of Bahrain was in the 2004 edition in China where they were ranked 4th. Bahrain has a player nicknamed “Karimi” after the famous Iranian player Ali Karimi.

Goalkeepers :Sayed Mohamed Jaafar (Muharraq) Ashraf Waheed (Manama), and Hamad Al-Dosari (Al Riffa)

Defenders : Mohammed Hussain (Al Nasr KSA), Hussain Baba (Al Kuwait FC KWI), Rashid Al-Houti (Al Busaiteen) , Abdullah Al-Hazza (Al Hidd) , Faisal Ali Budahoom (Al Riffa) , Mohammed Daij (Al Riffa), Walid Al Hayyam (Muharraq)

Midfielders: Abdullah Yusuf (East Riffa), Abdulla Abdo (Al Riffa), Abdullah Shallal (Al Riffa), Sami Al-Husseini (Al Busaiteen) , Abdullah Omar(Al Riffa), Fawzi Ayesh (Al Saliyya QAT), Abdul Wahab Almalood (Al Hidd)

Forwards : Ismail Abdullatif (Al Nahdha KSA), Abdulwahab Ali, Syed Zia Saeed Muharraq) , Seyed Ahmed Jaffar “Karimi” (Al Busaiteen), Jaycee John Okwunwanne (Al Khraityat QAT), Mohammed Tayeb (Al Najma)

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Group C

UAE, Iran, Bahrain, Qatar

11 Jan 2015

06:00pm

UAE vs. Qatar

Canberra Stadium

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11 Jan 2015

08:00pm

Iran vs. Bahrain

Melbourne Rectangular Stadium

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15 Jan 2015

06:00pm

Bahrain vs. UAE

Canberra Stadium

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15 Jan 2015

08:00pm

Qatar vs. Iran

Stadium Australia

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19 Jan 2015

08:00pm

Iran vs UAE

Brisbane Stadium

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19 Jan 2015

08:00pm

Qatar vs. Bahrain

Stadium Australia

29/12/2014

Qatar seals a 3-0 win against Estonia

Doha: Qatar downed Estonia 3-0 in a warm-up game for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup to extend their unbeaten streak to 10 games. The Persian Gulf Cup title holder scored through Mohammad Muntari, Abdul Karim and Mohammad Ismail to put the match beyond Estonia’s reach in the first half.

Although the result was a good sign of this team’s progress, the game plan and the fluid like football that the Qatari team displayed against the European opposition , was highly impressive. Qatar continuing to play in such a style and immaculate performance , will undoubtedly make it one of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 title contenders and certainly the favorite team to qualify from group C that also includes Team Melli, UAE and Bahrain

The 2014 Persian Gulf Cup champions will begin their Asian Cup campaign against the UAE on January 11 before taking on Iran and Bahrain.

Qatar will play their final friendly on New Year’s eve in Canberra against Oman.