Tag: Benfica.

Mehdi Taremi claims top scorer title while Porto loses the league title to Benfica.

Team Melli and FC Porto forward, Mehdi Taremi claimed his first top-scorer title in one of the top Europe leagues to become the third Iranian after Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Sardar Azmoun winning such accolades in the Eredivisie and Russuan premiere leagues respectively. Taremi ended the season 2022/23 with 22 goals, 3 more than second-place Goncalco Ramos of Benfica.

Meanwhile, FC Porto have failed in their defense of the Primeira Liga title after Benfica’s home win versus Santa Clara secured the championship, this Saturday, despite the Dragons’ 3-0 triumph at home to Vitória.

Sérgio Conceição’s men were in need of a huge favor from bottom-of-the-table Santa Clara in order to leapfrog Benfica at the top of the table, as Vitória came to town.

Porto held up their end of the bargain with a 3-0 victory, complete with goals from Mehdi Taremi, Otávio, and Evanilson, but an equally-proficient night in front of goal for the Eagles meant the Blue & Whites were kept at bay, trailing top-spot by two points on the final day of the season.

Conceição pulled up no surprises with his XI at the Estádio do Dragão, filled to the brim with hopefuls roaring their team on to a potential back-to-back conquest of the Primeira Liga title. Things began to look very favorable for the Northern giants after their regional heavyweights Vitória found themselves reduced to ten men just two minutes in, following Tomás Händel’s red card for a poor challenge on Matheus Uribe.

Just five minutes later, an incredible run on the counter from Pepê enabled the Brazilian to set Taremi up for the opener, with the Iranian requiring little more than a side-foot toward the goal to break the deadlock.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, the Eagles had also taken the lead via Gonçalo Ramos before doubling their advantage through Rafa Silva, just as Otávio’s strike across goal landed a second blow to Vitória in the 32nd minute.

In the 39th minute, Evanilson made it 3-0 with a classy finish on the half-volley, adding comfort to the scoreline before the half-time interval.

For the second half, the protagonists were the same but the intensity wasn’t quite at the levels demonstrated in the first period, with Vitória holding back Porto’s waning forcefulness and appetite.

The Primeira Liga’s top scorer Taremi neared a brace in the 67th minute with a chipped attempt on Bruno Varela, stopped by the ex-Benfica man before Ibrahima Bamba’s risqué clearance off the line, using his shoulder.

Porto left it a 3-0 – a score matched by Benfica at the Estádio da Luz – as the Dragons bowed out to a second-placed finish behind their bitter rivals, lifting the title for the first time in four years.

 

MEHDI TAREMI SCORING RECORD IN PORTUGAL

 

Season Team Comp Minutes played Appearances Lineups Substitute in Substitute out Substitutes on bench Goal Yellow card Yellow 2nd/RC Red card
2022/2023 Porto PRL 2636 33 31 2 22 2 22 7 0 0
2021/2022 Porto PRL 2434 32 27 5 13 5 20 4 1 0
2020/2021 Porto PRL 2226 34 26 8 20 8 16 1 0 1
2019/2020 Rio Ave PRL 2352 30 26 4 11 4 18 2 0 1

Medi Taremi registers another milestone.

Porto FC and Team Melli forward scored four goals, a (poker), in the match held late Saturday evening against middle-of-the-table team Famalicao in Liga Portugal.

This is the first time an Iranian player has achieved such a milestone in a single match in any European League. Three of the goals came from the spot kick. The match ended 2-4 for Porto who has now reduced the deficit with the league leaders Benfica to one point only. Benfica, the favorites to win the title this season has a game in hand.

Taremi was substituted a minute before the regulation time to receive a standing ovation from the visiting Porto fans as they sang his name.

Taremi has enjoyed unprecedented success with Porto in his third season with the club which he joined in season 2020/21. He has also increased his goal tally to 21 goals to leapfrog Benfica’s striker Goncalo Ramos who is on 18 goals, Taremi first played for Rio Ave which he joined in 2019 for one season. He scored 18 goals and provided 2 assists for the small club a fact that caught the interest of the 3 top clubs in Portugal. He was on the brink of agreeing terms with Benfica before Porto stepped in with a lucrative offer.

In his first season with Porto, Mehdi Taremi scored 16 goals, next season he was on 20 goals. So far this current season he has already surpassed those records with 21 goals and one match left.

Tayyebi’s super goal for Benfica.

Futsal Team Melli player, Hossein Tayyebi scored a goal a stir in the sport’s media this week.

Benfica’s Futsal team defeated Hungarian side Haladás 8-3 in the Futsal Champions League on Wednesday. The real talk of the town is the incredible goal scored by Benfica’s Hossein Tayyebi. The Iranian pulled out some exquisite trickery to score Benfica’s third goal. Check out this Tayyebi goal.

Read some of the reactions to Tayyebi’s magic goal.

“I don’t know if this trick has been done in the history of the sport. From this moment forward I will call it the Iranian Top-Tier Cranium. Tayyebi can change the name if he so chooses.”

“The 33-year-old has a litany of futsal awards in his career, including a third-place finish with Iran at the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup. This fancy trick of his with Benfica might just be his finest.”

“If there’s a cheesy “Tricks and Skills” video of a player with some awful non-copyright music playing in the background, then that player has made it. The good news for Tayyebi is that he qualifies for this”

An incredible definition was scored by Benfica in the futsal Champions League.

One of the most spectacular goals could be seen in the futsal Champions League and it was courtesy of Benfica’s player, Hossein Tayebi, who got a point thanks to a display of incredible skill in a definition that was difficult to see again and added to the little angle he had.

The Iranian received the ball close to the baseline and had his back to the goal, so he decided to solve in a spectacular way by turning around controlling his right leg and having a small space, he fired with his left to send it to the back of the net.

On the court, everyone was amazed at the incredible resource that the Asian brought up with his resolution. The rivals were obviously impressed and incredulous as his teammates ran to congratulate him on the impressive technical gesture that served to mark the temporary 3-1.

Taremi’s transfer to FC Porto is imminent

Despite the reports that Porto FC will announce the transfer of Mehdi Taremi on Monday, no such announcement came from the leading Portuguese club and the transfer still Hangs in Balance.

Alireza Samimi, goalkeeper of the Iranian futsal team and close friend of Mehdi  Taremi, assured, this Wednesday, that the future of the (still) Rio Ave player really passes through FC Porto.

“The transfer of Mehdi to Porto is final and I am satisfied with that because I also wished he would choose Porto”, confessed  Alireza Samimi, who also confirmed Benfica’s interest in his friend Taremi.

” Mehdi had two serious proposals, Benfica and FC Porto. I think FC Porto is bigger than Benfica. FC Porto also plays in the Champions League and have had better results,” he added.

The goalkeeper recalled that Taremi  “helped Rio Ave to achieve the best results in history”, but leaves a serious warning to his friend: “My personal opinion is that there are more stars in FC Porto, and Mehdi will have to work hard more to get a fixed place in the line up”.

Meanwhile, it is reported in Portugal that the Iranian player is scheduled to travel to Portugal on Sunday, to finalize his move to the Estádio do Dragão.

Monitored during the season by all the big three Portuguese clubs, the Rio Ave striker has chosen the blues and whites for believing that he can succeed in the Dragon.

In order to compete in the Champions League and also to assert himself in his selection, the striker is the promise of goals for the next season of the city club Invicta.

According to the newspaper O Jogo, Taremi should land in Porto in exchange for less than five million euros, and then sign a valid contract for the next seasons.

A big surprise from the last edition of the Portuguese championship, the Iranian scored 37 games and 21 goals for Rio Ave last season, showing a sharp talent when shooting at the opposite goal. Taremi is also the lead scorer for Team Melli.

Benfica is after Taremi.

Benfica FC, Portugal’s most celebrated and greatest club is on the lookout for Team Melli and Rio Aves striker, Mehdi Taremi. The news has been reported by Record.pt website.

According to the popular site, the Iranian striker appeals to the Benfica officials who see Taremi as an advantageous solution who can bring glories to the club.

Taremi has done exceptionally well for Rio Ave before the endemic outbreak and suspension of the league. Rio Ave has been approached by several Portugues clubs including Sporting regarding the possible transfer of Taremi, but the reluctance of the club to release the player short of their expected valuation and also their aspiration to make the Europa League has put a stop to these negotiations. However, post COVID19 the situation might be different, and Rio might concede to a club such as Benfica which is has been rumored to offer 10 million Euros for Taremi.

Mehdi Taremi has scored 8 goals in the league for Rio Ave. He was transferred from Qatar Star League club Al Gharaffa to Rio for an undisclosed sum. Taremi was Persepolis’ top scorer in 2017/18.

 

Transfer Rumours: Mehdi Taremi to FC Porto!

According to José Fernandes a journalist at the newspaper OGogo, Mehdi Taremi and FC Porto have already signed a pre-agreement for Rio Ave forward to join FC Porto.

Mehdi Taremi is Al-Gharafa player loaned to Rio Ave. The transfer is imminent according to the journalist but highly dependent on whether Tiquinho Soares’s deal with AS Roma is finalized.

Taremi has been in an excellent form season with the middle of the table Rio Ave in the Portuguese League. The 27 Years old former Persepolis and IranJavan Busheher player has scored 8 goals this season, 5 goals in the league and 3 in the cup competition.  This is despite an injury he suffered earlier in the season which placed him on the injury list for a few weeks. Taremi has been a regular starter for Rio Ave and registered several assists on top of his goals.

Porto’s interest in Mehdi Taremi is significant as they are one of the top teams in Portugal. They have been dominating the Portuguese football along with Benfica. Porto has won the league 28 times with season 2017/18 being the last. PC Porto won the UEFA Champions League twice in 1986/87 and 2003/04 seasons. They also won the UEFA Cup twice and the UEFA Super Cup once in 1987. The club has a strong European pedigree. The other Portuguese icon, Benfica is currently leading the table with 45 points while FC Porto is second on 41 with 16 games played.  FC Porto head coach is Sérgio Conceição

The transfer of Taremi to FC Porto required the agreement of the Qatari club Al-Gharafa.

Mahdavikia urges Sardar Azmoun to continue his European success.

Sardar Azmoun has been one of the few Iranian players that continue shinning in European football.

The Team Melli striker who has never played a league game in Iran’s domestic league has broken the record of goals scored in UEFA Champions League competition by Iranian players held jointly by Ali Daei and Mehdi Mahdavikia who both scored 3 goals in total in that competition.

On Wednesday 2nd October 2019, in the Zenit St. Petersburg match against Benfica, Sardar scored his second goal in as many matches in this competition this season to increase his tally to 4 goals overall. Sardar has already scored for FC Rostov before joining Zenit.

Mehdi MahdaviKia in response to Sardar Azmoun’s achievement said: “I am very happy to see Sardar scoring in the Champions League. After a few years, we see a bright Iranian player at this level who is making us all proud.” He continued: “We have not had an Iranian player at this level for many years and I am very happy Azmoun has been able to achieve this. I hope his goals scoring continues.

Mahdavi Kia, in response to Sardar’s passing his record, said: “It was not a record that was impossible to achieve as three goals were there to be broken. However, I hope Sardar can score more goals and continue his success in the UEFA Champions League to achieve a much better record”

On the other side of Europe, and to be precise, in Glasgow, there still seems to be some regret with the fact that Sardar did not transfer to the Scottish Champion and instead elected to Join Zenit.

Glasgow Celtic reportedly wanted to bring Sadar Azmoun to the Scottish Premiership before he started scoring Champions League goals for Zenit St Petersburg.

Most Celtic fans would give an arm, or perhaps a finger or two, to reach the latter stages of the Europa League this season according to Scottish sports journalist, Danny Owen

“It’s been far too long since The Hoops really competed on the continent and Neil Lennon has a huge challenge even plotting a way out of a Europa League group containing Lazio, Rennes and a Cluj side who triumphed 4-3 at Parkhead just two months ago.” He wrote in his blog.

“Fortunately, Celtic have one of the sharpest young strikers anywhere on the continent now. In his third season in green and white, Odsonne Edouard is showing the sort of form that will have defenders everywhere quaking in their boots.”

“But, for all his qualities, and that clinical header against Cluj on Thursday, Edouard still cannot hold a candle to Sardar Azmoun when it comes to scoring goals in European competition.”

According to The Mirror (22 April, page 48), Celtic wanted to sign the so-called ‘Iranian Messi’ back in the summer of 2018, shortly before he left Rubin Kazan for Zenit St Petersburg in a deal worth £10.5 million (L’Equipe).

Since Azmoun was linked with a move to the Scottish giants, he has taken his game to a whole new level, scoring five goals in just six games in both the Champions League and the Europa League. His most recent, a brilliantly taken solo effort against Benfica, sealed three points for Zenit on Wednesday night in the Champions League group stage.

In total, Azmoun averages a goal every 1.2 European games, compared to Edouard’s 2.7.

Team Melli wins against Benfica

Lisbon: Team Melli , currently on a training camp in Portugal , defeated Benfica reserve team 1-0 in the Portuguese capital Lisbon.

The match , played in mid morning , was the second and the last match in the camp . Sardar Azmoun scored Iran’s only goal from a header after a cross from Andranik Teymourian.

The match was conducted in an unusual format. The Games went on for 60 minutes in the first half followed by a break then another 30 minutes . Both sides rotated their complete squad in the match.

First half line up was : Alireza Haghighi (30′ Mohsen Frouzan) , Vourya Ghafouri, PejmanMontazeri, Mehrdad Pooladi , Amir Hossein Sadeghi,Omid Ebrahimi, Sourosh Rafei , Andranik Teymourian ,AliReza Jahanbakhsh , , Masoud Shojaei, SardarAzmoun

In the second half , the team was completely changed as the line-up were the following. Alireza Biranvand , Jalal Hosseini, Khosro Heydari, Hashim Beigzadeh, Ehsan Haj Safi, Vahid Amiri, Ahmad Abdullah Zadeh, , Morteza Pouraliganji ,   Ashkan Dejagah, Karim Ansarifard , Reza Ghoochannejhad

Captain , Javad Nekounam was the only player who did not play due to flu.

 

The team will return back to Tehran from tonight in two groups.

Team Melli will play Benfica Reserves !

Iran’s Team Melli will be playing a friendly match against the reserve team of Benfica in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup! The match will be played at 10:30 in the morning next Tuesday 14th October 2014.

Team Melli squad is currently in Carlos Queiroz homeland and so far has managed to arrange two matches only, one of which would have been a real test for Team Melli which has lost valuable preparation time for the upcoming premiere Asian Competition. Due to procrastinating of Queiroz and Kaffashian on signing a contract extension, Team Melli had no coach or a program until a few weeks ago.

The match against full strength Benfica, would have been a strong duel to test Queiroz’s much favored defensive system. However, since the famous Portuguese club and three times European Cup holder is involved in the Champions League and the National Team of Portugal is busy with the European Cup qualifiers, Benfica coach Jorge Jesus has preferred to field the reserve team giving his main players enough rest for the tough schedule ahead.
Benfica will be meeting Sporting Covilhã in the Portuguese cup on 18th October.

On the other hand, Iran opponents in the group have been having a busy schedule from the summer as UAE has played strong oppositions like Paraguay , Lithuania, Norway, Georgia & Armenia while Qatar played the likes of Uzbekistan, Peru, Morocco, Indonesia and Macedonia.

It is rumored that a friendly match against Palestine is on the cards next for Team Melli, but it has yet to be finalized.

 

24 players short-listed for Team Melli

The shortlist of 24 players making it to Portugal has been announced by FFIRI after the last round of the Persian Gulf League matches have been completed. The team will be flying to Lisbon tonight (Saturday 4th Oct) where two tests matches are arranged against Portuguese clubs Estoril and Benfica. Team Melli will be utilizing the FIFA days for this camp. 

The selection of the players, as always, raised a few questions on who selected the team? Mehdi Rahmati inclusion in the list did not last long as expected, while there is no place for one of the stars of the league, Mohammadreza Khalatbary. While khalatbaruy was showing his worth in the match against Persepolis on Friday with a splendid assist to Mehdi Sharifi to score a last minute winner, neither of the two made the 24 players list of Queiroz.

Vahid Ameeri - Naft Tehran
Vahid Ameeri – Naft Tehran

However, by some divine rights, Mehrdad Pooladi who has not kicked a ball in official competitions since the last match in the FIFA World Cup and currently has no club after he failed to sign with a Qatari team, is included in this squad!

Ahmad Abdullahzadeh Foolad Khuzestan
Ahmad Abdullahzadeh Foolad Khuzestan

There is also a question mark on the selection of Karim Ansarifard , a player who has not featured in many of Osasuna matches this season and sometimes he is not even included in the bench , yet he is selected for Team Melli ahead of many capable active playing forwards.

On a positive note, the list includes several rookies mostly from Naft Tehran and Foolad Khuzestan clubs. Ahmadzadeh , Rafei . Ameeri, Pouraliganji and Ghafoori are players that have been instrumental in their teams this season and have been duly selected for the squad. The old guards who have failed to impress with Team Melli in the FIFA World Cup are still there with the exception of Baithashour and Davari who are not able to join due to club or other commitments.

The biggest surprise must be the absence of any players from one of the two most popular teams in Iran, Persepolis. The club has been suffering a dreadful form and sacked coach Daei lately. That is the first time such non-inclusion of a Persepolis players has occurred. On the other hand no players from the league leaders Tractorsazi have been included. This raises many questions about the selections and if they are based on current form and performance or is it player’s reputation or other factors..

 

Goalkeepers

Alireza  HAGHIGHI (Penafiel), Alireza  BIRANVAND (Naft Tehran), Mohsen FROUZAN (Esteghlal)

 

Defender

Mehrdad POOLADI (No Club), Hashim BEIGZADEH (Esteghlal), ,Jalal HOSSEINI (Al Ahli QAT) , Pejman MONTAZERI (Umm Salal SC  QAT), Morteza POURALIGANJI (Naft Tehran),  AmirHossein SADEGHI (Esteghlal) , Vourya GHAFFORI (Sepahan)

MIDFIELD

Andranik TEYMOURIAN (Esteghlal), Javad NEKOUNAM (Osasuna ESP), Ahmad ABDULLAZADEH (Foolad Khuzestan), Omid EBRAHIMI (Esteghlal),, Ehsan HAJSAFY(Sepahan), Ashkan DEJAGAH (Al Arabi QAT),  Soroush RAFEI (Foolad Khuzestan), Masoud SHOJAEI (Al Shahaniya QAT),  Khosrow HEYDARI (Esteghlal).

 

FORWARDS

Reza GHOOCHANNEJAD (Al Kuwat SC KWI), Sardar AZMOUN (Rubin Kazan RUS), Karim ANSARIFARD  (Osasuna ESP), Vahid AMEERI (Naft Tehran) , AliReza JAHANBAKHSH (NEC Nijmegen NED)