Tag: Belgium

Kaveh Rezaei is a free agent.

The Belgian club OH Leuven has announced that it will not renew Kaveh Rezaei’s contract and that the Iranian striker will soon join a team outside the Belgian league.

According to sport website, Sportal, Kaveh Rezaei is now a free agent. The leaders of the OH Leuven decided against contract extension due to several reasons. Rezaei never proved himself in Leuven and failed to score even a single goal in 13 games, after which a broken leg ended the season prematurely for Team Melli forward.

  • Rezaei last made an appearance in a First Division A-game on February 9, playing only 10 minutes for OH Leuven versus Genk in a 2-1 win. This season he has registered one league assist. He has been shown one yellow card.
  • OH Leuven are 11th in the league standings with 41 points and next face a home match against Antwerp in First Division A action on April 2.

Rezaei played for OH Leuven since last summer when he was transferred from Club Brugge. He performed very well in 2018, especially in Charleroi. Thus, Kaveh Rezaei is unlikely to stay in the Belgian league.

 

Kaveh Rezaei Stats

Season Team Minutes Started Started Sub in Sub out Bench Goals YC
2021/2022 OH Leuven 497 13 5 8 3 11 0 1
2020/2021 Sporting Charleroi 1570 25 18 7 11 8 7 1
2019/2020 Sporting Charleroi 1641 22 18 4 9 5 12 2
2019/2020 Club Brugge 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
2018/2019 Club Brugge 409 11 4 7 4 12 1 0
2018/2019 Sporting Charleroi 287 4 3 1 2 1 3 0
2017/2018 Sporting Charleroi 3118 39 34 5 11 6 16 6
7522 114 82 32 40 44 39 10

Team Melli complexion is changing rapidly.

After the transfer of Sepahan’s and Team Melli Captain Ehsan Hajsafi to AEK Athens, Iran has just five players playing in the domestic Persian Gulf league. That puts Iran among the group of countries whose majority of the national team players play abroad. These countries, including World Cup holder France and FIFA Top ranking team Belgium, have only a few footballers that are based at home.

With the conclusion of the 2020/21 season of the Persian Gulf League in which Persepolis won the title for the fifth time in a row, 3 significant transfers were confirmed. Hossein Kanani from Al Ahli of Qatar from Persepolis, Payam Niazmand to Portimonense of Portugal, and Ehsan Hajsafi to AEK Greece from Sepahan, the last 23-man squad of Team Melli home-based players reduced to five only,

Vahid Amiri,  Milad Sarlak, Ahmad Nourollahi, Mehdi Torabi (all Persepolis), and Mehdi Ghaedi (Esteghlal) are the only players present in the World Cup qualifiers who are based in Iran. As for the latter player, Mehdi Ghaedi, his suitors have increased since his brilliant performance in AFC Champions League. Farhad Majidi announced a while ago, that he will not stop Ghaedi from seeking his fortunes in other pastures to improve his standard, which means the possible transfer of the best current talent in Iranian football to a foreign club.

The full list of Team Melli with 19 players

Team Melli legionnaires also include the following players who were not part of the squad for the return legs of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, who could be possibly invited to the next stage of qualifiers. These 6 players are as follow

In total 25 (83%) players are legionnaires out of 30

It is quite possible that under these circumstances, Iran will probably not have any players from domestic league playing for the country in the national team for several years to come, and there will be no trace of the old superiority and total control of Team Melli squad by the to poles of Iran football, Esteghlal, and Persepolis.

Several years ago, at the time of the decline of the domestic leagues of France and Belgium, all the players of these two powerful national teams were players working outside the domestic leagues. It seems that no player from the Belgian league was in the Red Devils’ starting line-up at Euro 2020 this year, and that was the case in France before the re-emergence of Paris Saint-Germain in France as one of the top teams in Europe.

The standard of Iran’s domestic league has fallen quite badly in the last few years due to several factors. Total government hegemony on clubs, chronic incompetent management, nepotism, poor coaching, politics, lack of resources, favoritism, corruption, and exceptional indiscipline have all resulted in a league that is relegated in the AFC Asian ranking to mid tables.

Iranian clubs have never won the AFC Champions League and the last time a club from Iran won a trophy was back in 1990/91 when Esteghlal won the Asian Club Championship, the predecessor of Champions League.

FFIRI board and Minster of Sports summoned to the Majlis.

Finally, Mehdi Taj and his entourage board members of the Football Federation are to be challenged about the circumstances of the suspicious and highly controversial deal by the parliament.

Mehdi Taj, along with several members of FFIRI board of directors and several current and former directors, attended a questioning session in the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

According to ISNA, the purpose of FFIRI board of directors’ appearance in Majlis is to determine if there was wrongdoing, negligence or corruption behind the signing of the deal with Wilmots, especially since the federation has been claiming for many years under both Ali Kaffashian and Mehdi Taj that it is critically short of funds even to pay its basic obligation, like the employee’s salaries, National teams training camps and inability to arrange meaningful friendly games for Team Melli to prepare for the World Cup citing fund shortage. Yet, the same federation that has been constantly seeking handouts from the government in effect using blackmail tactics, signs a multi-million dollar contract with a coach who has lasted only six months with Ivory Coast before he was sacked!

The FFIRI had steadfastly refused to disclose the terms of the deal and the justifications until public pressure and the threat of law suite finally exposed this horrendous commitment by the bankrupt federation.

 

Mehdi Taj and Ebrahim Shakoori, along with the current board of directors are under investigation for signing the worst sporting contract in the history of Iran at all levels. A contract with Marc Wilmots which resulted in Iran’s Team Melli not only risking eliminations from the qualifiers with two consecutive defeats under the Belgian but also resulted in the coach of Team Melli leaving the country accusing his employer of several breaches of the contract, which was supported by FIFA’s committee with Iranian side ordered to pay some € 6.2 million in fines to the person who has put Team Melli on the brink of elimination from the World Cup !.

The Minister of Sports and Youth Masoud Soltanifar and his deputies are also summoned for the hearing. It is strongly believed that the influence of the Minister was telling in the conclusion of the contract. With FFIRI board constantly seeking handouts, it is believed that none dared to challenge the Ministry’s choice while Soltanmifar denies any wrongdoing and only introducing the coach by recommendation of Iran-Belgium Chambers of commerce.

The executives are expected to answer questions from members of the Parliament about the background and the termination of the contract with Wilmots. FFIRI has borrowed over € 2.2 million from the social security organization to pay Wilmot’s salary.

Many observers are skeptical about any progress of the proceeding as it is feared that the issue will be kept under wrap and no one will be prosecuted especially since the Ministry of Sports and Youth is involved in the case as defendants.

Alireza Beiranvand to Antwerp

In the winter transfer window this season, Alireza Beiranvand signed a three-year contract with the Belgian side Antwerp, The Team Melli and Persepolis club goalkeeper was supposed to start his term in Belgium by today 1st July 2022, however, the COVID19 endemic and travel restrictions have postponed Beiranvands joining the team.

Beiranvand face difficulties attending Antwerp’s medical tests earlier due to the restrictions imposed.

The Team Melli goalkeeper, who had twice booked a ticket to travel to Belgium, stayed in Tehran due to flight restrictions. Persepolis Club also wanted to continue negotiations with their Belgian counterpart to keep Beiranvand until the end of the current season of the Persian Gulf league, but Antwerp in an official response to Persepolis Club’s letter called for Beiranvand’s presence in Belgium and did not allow him to continue his activities with Persepolis. Therefore, Beiranvand will not be able to participate in Persepolis training from today to wait for the flight to Belgium.

The latest announcement by the EU countries included a list of countries that are allowed to travel. Iran is not on the list hence Beiranvand needs to wait that much longer.

Alireza Beiranvand to undergo tests in Antwerp.

Team Melli’s goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand will have to travel to Belgium to participate in the Royal Antwerp club’s testing & training session, Tasnim news agency.

After successfully completing the tests, Beiranvand will join Antwerp. Details and fees are undisclosed and remain under wrap. Persepolis, the current club of Beiranvand, has been against such transfer but there is little they can do to stop it as Beiranvand will be under no obligation as he is reported to be a free agent.

According to the report, it could be a big blow for Iran’s Persepolis team ahead of the Iran Professional League (IPL) resumption.

Persepolis, who relies on Beiranvand’s good performances in the league matches, is in a race to win IPL title, which is scheduled to resume on June 18. Persepolis is leading the table with 10 points gap ahead of Sepahan Esfahan and Tractorsazi Tabriz. with 9 matches left to the end of the delayed season.

Skocic monitors Team Melli players in Belgium

Dragan Skocic headed to Europe for a close look at the Iranian legionaries players. The recently appointed head coach of Team Melli will be attending several matches involving the Iranian players.

This trip to Belgium by Skocic follows his attending of matches of Esteghlal and Persepolis matches in Kuwait and the Emirates in the AFC Champions League last week. Belgium is one of the countries with the most Iranian players in its league. Omid Ebrahimi and Saeed Ezzatollahi play for Eupen, Ali Gholizadeh, Younes Delphi and Kaveh Rezaei for Royal Charleroi and Milad Mohammadi for Gent.

On his trip to Belgium, Skocic first met with Saeed Ezzatollahi and Omid Ebrahimi and spoke with Eupen’s technical staff about the two Iranian players’ performances. Ezzatollah has not played for Eupen for a long time while Ebrahim is a fixed starter for the squad.

The Iranian teams competing in the AFC Champions League had a torrid start with only Sepahan managing a win in a total of 8 matches played by all the 4 Iranian teams. Skocic must have been concerned with such a performance especially since some of the Team Melli players have been less than ideal in those matches.

What is the story behind Di Biasi ?

The saga of Iranian football managements ( or mismanagement, to be more accurate) continues unabated with the latest revelation that an Italian coach is being considered for Team Melli after the debacle of Marc Wilmots!

Notwithstanding the truth behind this story and lack of an official confirmation, it is prudent to analyze such possibility and dissect the pros and cons of appointing a foreign coach who does not have the slightest clue about Iranian football culture to head Team Melli at this critical juncture.

Who is Di Biasi?

Giovanni “Gianni” De Biasi is an Italian coach who started his career in 1990 and managed several clubs in Serie C, B, and A, the most famous of them was Torino. Di Biasi never seemed to stay with one club for more than two seasons. During his playing days, he played with Treviso, Inter Milan ( 10 matches only) Brescia, Palermo but never managed to make it at top grade.  The same can be said about his coaching career until the big break came when he was recruited by the Albanians to coach their national team.

It was with Albania that Di Biasi enjoyed his best days in coaching. In his 6 years with Albania, he succeeded in qualifying to the Euro Finals in 2016. He left in 2017 to coach Alaves in La Liga.

Clearly, Gianni Di Biasi is not in the elite category of world coaches however, his success with the Albanian national team was remarkable considering the status and standard of the tiny European nation.

DI Biasi and Iran.

While Marc Wilmots had a similar resume as Di Biasi, perhaps a little bit better for coaching a powerful team like Belgium, he struggled to succeed with Iran. In fact, his poor familiarity with his players’, poor reading of the game and sub-standard knowledge of the opposition, resulted in two major defeats for Team Melli against teams that should have been beaten.

That Marc Wilmots was not familiar with the Team Melli players was a direct result of the guy living and working remotely with minimal contact and communication with the team members. It is only natural that a coach cannot employ the capabilities of the players to the full if he does not understand those skills and abilities. There are other factors too, but nothing like the poor technical and tactical leadership of the game which resulted in these diabolical defeats and possible elimination at an early stage.

Di Biasi is in the same boat as Wilmots was before taking the job. A person who has no knowledge of football in Iran, perhaps unable to name more than two or three players and is totally alien to the Persian culture and football politics. To settle in Iran in the first place, is a challenge for this Italian, assuming he is not going to be a suitcase flying coach. It will take him time and we are talking months if not years to be comfortable enough to deliver the goods.

The establishment, environment and the politics of Iranian football is a steep learning curve for any outsider. Expecting a foreign coach to deliver in a short time is unreasonable and unfair on both sides.

Team Melli has just about two months for the next match in the World Cup qualifiers vs. Hong Kong in Azadi. Granted, it is not an intricate mission but it still needs preparation, the familiarity between the coach and the players and building the best team line-up. The real test is against Bahrain and Iraq at home, two matches that must be won for Team Melli to be in contention for a place in the next round.

The contract!

It is not clear what has changed since Wilmot’s dispute with FFIRI which turned sour mainly due to non-payment or delay of wages by FFIRI.  This will repeat with any other coach if it is not sorted out.  Will Di Biasi suffer the same as Wilmots, Branko Ivankovic, Calderon and Andrea Stramaccioni who all had disputes with their paymasters on payments of dues? It is highly unlikely that the FFIRI has suddenly created a magic wand to manage to circumnavigate the American sanctions to enable paying the wages of its foreign coaches, so what has changed in FFIRI policy to assure the respect of contractual obligations?

It is particularly this subject that can turn a good relationship into a fractured one. It is a big challenge and a bigger risk for the federation as they have already been burnt, although no one takes responsibility or accountability.

This administration of the FFIRI is far from a competent operative. Although the fans of Team Melli should not be normally bothered or concerned with the administrations or contract details, with FFIRI and as we have experienced previously, it is a major concern. A lot is dependent on how he FFIRI respects its contractual obligations. By track records, it is not too promising. If there is anything that this administration excels in is, making excuses, fabrication & twisting of fact and diverting blame.

Chances of success

Assuming all is well with the contract, It is not an absolute requirement for a top-level coach to handle Team Melli. It needs a strong person, knowledgable, dedicated and tactically astute. Di Biasi can tick a few boxes here. His lack of familiarity can be addressed as he can develop that depending on how happy the man is at his job.  Iran can be both a pleasant place to live and frustration at the same time. He can do the job as well as any although from the onset it looks a lot more complicated for a newbie foreign coach than having a domestic one at the helm.

The Ghalenoei’s, Daei’s or Golmohammdi’s have their advantages as Team Melli coaches but also we must not forget a certain stigma attached to them, after all, in Iran, a local coach has an automatic label of being biased! A foreign coach is revered even if he struggles. The fans seem to be more tolerant of foreign coaches but unforgiving to a local. It is the Iranian culture.

Iranian legionnaires mixed fortune.

2019 has been a difficult year for Team Melli.

There was high hope for the Team to lift the Asian Cup for the first time since 1976. Iran was the favorite for the AFC Asian Cup and reached the semi-final without much difficulty too. Then a moment of madness and breakdown of discipline allowed the Japanese to open the scoring and the rest was a steep uphill struggle for the Team Melli. The match ended in one of the worst defeats of the decade after Japan scored 3 goals. That was also the end of an era as Carlos Queiroz Finally packed his bags for good.

Then came a relatively unknown quality in the form of a Belgian coach who did not last the distance on his last job with the Ivory Coast. Marc Wilmots started brilliantly with a big win in a friendly against Syria and a draw away to South Korea. The real test, however, was the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. It started well against the two weakest teams of the group, but when they faced the first real test, Team Melli failed tactically and lost to Bahrain. There was hope that the second match away to Iraq will yield a better result but like the match against Japan the semi-final of the Asian Cup, the poor tactical discipline of the players and lack of concentration in the last seconds meant another defeat and now the qualification is at perils.

Wilmots left the Job, which he frankly hardly got involved in, and Team Melli is now coachless.

Despite the disappointing Team Melli results, some of the players have been having a good year abroad.

The most delightful of the successes must be that of Al-Shahaniyah Iranian defender, Ramin Rezaeian. Despite his post of a defender, he is one of Qatar’s top five goalscorers by the end of the year.

Rezaian who is on his second season with Al-Shahaniyah is becoming a hot commodity in Qatar Star League (QSL). Rezaian, despite being a defender, has also been among the best players in Qatar. His name in Top Scorers list is among the elite of the league such as  Baghdad Bonajah (19 goals), Akram Afif (17 goals) who are the two top scorers. Rezaeian, Mohammed Montari and Thiago Parisa of Al-Khour are next all on 9 goals.

Interestingly enough, Team Melli center forward, Karim Ansaifard has scored 5 goals only in the same, he plays for  Al -Sailiya.

The Other refreshing performance must go to Kaveh Rezaei who is making real waves in the Belgian league. His disappointment at Brugge last season is all but forgotten as the 27 years old Sporting Charleroi forward has scored an average of a goal in every two matches bagging 8 goals so far this season. His compatriot and teammate Ali Golizadeh also scored 3 goals.

Sardar Azmoun is also having his best season ever and is being sought after by many clubs hoping to lure him out of the Russian League.  Sardar has scored 7 goals in the league so far which is on winter break. He scored 9 all season last term. Zenit is leading the table in Russia.

Another of the legionnaires who exploded on the scene abroad is Mehdi Taremi.  The Team Melli Center forward and Azmoun partner upfront joined the Portuguese club Rio Ave and not only he managed to make a sensational start in the cup competition by scoring 4 goals, his tally so far is 5  goals in 10 games ( a goal every two matches) in the league. Taremi suffered several nagging injuries meantime while in Portugal, but the winter break should keep him fit and ready for another adventure.

Also in Portugal, another Team Melli player has been doing quite well with Desportivo Aves. Mehrdad Mohammadi has been brilliant and scored 5 goals in a team that is struggling near the end of the table.

Alireza Jahanbaksh who is the most expensive Iranian player in history had been having a torrid time since joining Brighton from AZ Alkmaar, but in one week the star player scored two wonderful gaols for his club to take the headlines.

Two very disappointing stories of Team Melli players are those of Saeid Ezatollahi and Samman Ghoddos. The former had a long injury that threatened his career. After a full recovery, he struggled to regain even a fraction of his previous level. He is now warming the bench in AS Eupen, a team in the Belgian league at the bottom of the standing. The 23-year-old Ezatollahi has made one appearance for Eupen this season, while his Team Melli teammate in the same club, Omid Ebrahimi has featured 12 times in the league for AS Eupen.

 

Saman Goddos is a sad story as he is suspended by FIFA for breach of contract. On 29 August 2019, FIFA suspended the  French Ligue 1 side Amiens SC Saman Ghoddos from all football activities for four months plus a €4 million fine for his failure to report to Huesca in the La Liga in accordance with a signed contract.

Taj and Wilmots to meet for termination of the contract.

After a lot of speculations and what looked like a covert operation, the FFIRI seems to have reached the decision to terminate the contract of the current head coach of Team Melli, Marc Wilmots.

The president of the Iranian Football Association FFIRI Mehdi Taj who attended the AFC awards ceremony, has left Hong Kong to arrange a meeting with Marc Wilmots or his lawyers in Istanbul with the objective of terminating the Belgian coach contract on mutual consent. It is believed that the groundworks for such termination has been completed and the meeting will be a formality to end what was a bitter and dark period of Team Melli history under the ineffectual Wilmots.

This would be Wilomts third successive sacking from his post after he was dismissed by his country’s federation in June 2016, and then came his short tenure with Ivory Coast, where he left his job  in November 2017 “by mutual agreement” where he had only been in the role six months, but paid the price for his failure to guide the Elephants to a fourth successive World Cup 2018.

With Iran , Team Melli is in serious risk of elimination from the World Cup with two successive defeats in the group qualifications rounds. It seems that the World Cup is Marc Wilmots’, Achilles Heel.

Branko Ivankovic is the leading candidate as successor , however there is still a major financial settlement that needs to be sorted out by Persepolis club before the Croat will agree to return back to Iran.  The president of that club has admitted that their former coach (Branko Ivankovic) is negotiating with the Iranian Football Association to become the national team coach after Ivankovic emphatically turned down Persepolis club offer to return to his old job.

Ivankovic is still very bitter with Persepolis club specifically his last few months with the club, not just because the club failed to respect the contract and held his wages for several months, but because of all the troubles and the turmoil that was created in the team led by a few players to undermine his authority and hinder his job.

Although Branko, as he is popularly known in Iran amongst the fans, has not signed up yet, it is believed that if FFIRI can guarantee regular payment of his wages, Ivankovic will sign to lead Team Melli for his third time.

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Mixed fortunes of Kaveh Rezaei and Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Kaveh Rezaei has returned back to scoring in the Belgian First Division League

The Iranian striker’s return to the scoring process was long due. on Saturday night in Sporting Charleroi’s 14th league match of the season at Mechelen’a AFAS Stadion, Rezaei scored the opener in the 11th minute for Charleroi. The match ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the second match in a row that Kaveh Rezai finds the net.
Last week, the former Team Melli player scored the winner for his team away at KV Oostende with a late goal.


The Belgian media reports mentioned Kaveh Rezaei’s scoring and brilliance had a clear message that the Iranian player was able to return to the scoring process again with confidence. Rezaei did not have a good time at Club Brugge due to loss of form after a prolonged injury. Although he was picked up for several matches and showed good touches, he was unable to meet expectations at the champions. However, when he returned to Sporting Charleroi’s, he was able to regain some of the confidence he lost and improve his form to show the coach that he is a goal scorer with a lot of confidence.
Karim Belhocine, the French coach of Charleroi is now counting on Rezaei to reach his peak days, marking the end of the torrid days for Kaveh.
Charleroi is currently ranked sixth in the standings with 22 points from 13 matches.

 

One Iranian player who has not experienced the same joy and success is Alireza Jahanbakhsh. Brighton’s most expensive player who topped the scoring chart only two years ago in the Dutch league has failed to score any goal last season and is still out of sight in Brighton’s matches. Once again, Jahanbakhsh did not even make the bench in last Saturday’s Brighton 2-0 win at home against Norwich.

With the new coach Graham Potter, Jahanbakhsh role has been relegated to the bench or under 23 team. This season 2019/2020 The Team Melli winger has managed to be on the bench for 3 matches out of 11 Brighton has played in the Premier Leauge.
Jahanbakhsh who desperately needs a confidence booster has been left out of Team Melli’s last squad and will probably be out again against Iraq.  Marc Wilmots, desperate himself for a good result against Iraq on the 14th of November, will be looking at players who are at their best as he has no room for trials and sentiments.