Tag: Bolivia

Question of indiscretion!

One thing that not even the strongest critic of Carlos Queiroz can deny, is the fact the Portuguese head coach of Team Melli has introduced and implemented a strict discipline code and a no nonsense policy towards his Iranian players, that has helped Team Melli to develop. Queiroz demands discipline, hard work , commitment from his players. Any indiscipline or insubordination would result in the culprit being thrown out of the squad for good. There is no appeal committee with Queiroz. Many players have experienced that too.

Queiroz always claims that he does his work in a systematic manner using advance tools in player’s analysis and not based on affiliations or issues that are not performance or character related.

Yet, the Portuguese master has a habit of paradoxical behaviors that defeats his preaching and practices.  Ramin Rezaeian is one such case.

Rezaeian was not invited by Queiroz to the Team Melli squad for the last match against Bolivia. Rightly so, since he is out of competitive match practice as he did not join any team after the World Cup after his contract with the Belgian club K.V. Oostende has ran out.

However, after a few months without training, the player turned up in the Team Melli training camp that he was not invited to, and joined the training sessions, presumably with the approval of Carlos Queiroz. Although that is odd, there have been cases of former players training with their previous clubs to get in shape and gain some valuable practice for the next/future team.

Perhaps, that was the good intention of Carlos Queiroz with Rezaeian.

But the strangest decision and a kind of shock for the observers was when Rezaeian, the uninvited player, was seen on the Azadi bench on Tuesday during Bolivia game!! No matter how one likes the player, when he is not part of the team sheet, it means exactly that in professional football, he simply cannot occupy a seat on the team bench as that is reserved for the substitutes and coaching staff.

The Portuguese is very quick to criticize and denounce anything out of order or thing he does not like. He is very vocal too. Yet, he does not seem to explain what was Rezaeian doing on the bench?. Of course, no matter what justification, the laws and practices of football are very clear about the occupation of the bench which Queiroz in his own wisdom, decided to ignore!

In professional football, the one that Queiroz always rants about being part of it for decades, players who are not listed on the match sheet, normally are granted special seats in the stands but certainly NOT on the bench which was so over-crowded on Tuesday it resembled a crowded Tehran Bus.

Naturally, the question that begs itself to be asked is if that coach was Daei or Ghalenoei or any Iranian national, what would have been the reaction of the media and Critics towards such a decision? Would he not be accused of being unprofessional and bias?

Food for thought

Marginal win for Team Melli vs Bolivia

Iran’s Team Melli defeated Bolivia 2-1 at Azadi this evening. The game was the second in a series of matches that Queiroz have arranged in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup 2019

The first half ended 1-0 to Iran from a goal scored by Alireza Jahanbakhsh in the 17th minute.  Bolivia tied the match from a fantastic volley by Rudy Cardoso on the 51st minute.  Mehdi Torabi then scored the winner on the 63rd minute. His second in as many games for Team Melli.

The starting line up of Team Melli was a pleasant surprise as Queiroz sent an offensive team with one recognized defensive midfielder in Omid Ebrahimi. At front, the full force of Team Melli in the shape of Azmoun, Taremi and Jahanbakhsh  while the midfield was orchestrated by Saman Ghoddos who rarely starts for Team Melli despite enjoying g a highly successful season in the French League.

Queiroz attempt at offensive game plan came in front of a relatively weak team from Latin America. Despite much better possession  percentage and more shots on goal , Team Melli players were going through the same old problems that has marred their game for many years, poor finish and poor last ball. Jahanbakhsh , Azmoun and Taremi wasted many chances due to weak control or inaccurate shots.

The two prominent players in this half were Saman Ghoddos and Sadegh Moharrami.

The defense line up was lacking the presence of injured Morteza Pouraliganji and was quite short of experience.  It is obvious that Queiroz needs a lot of work to mend this fragile defense line. Biranvand, once again showed his weak side and unreliable goaltending when his suspect positioning resulted in the Bolivia goal.

Despite the fatigue by Bolivian Team, they managed to contain the Iranian offensives easily. Team Melli players did not help themselves with their own poor finishing, inaccurate passes, and wasted final balls.

Overall, this match against a team that has no relation to the style and type of football that is going to be played in the Asian Cup, did not give confidence to the fans that Iran is really able to mount a serious challenge for the title. Queiroz, who is by now becoming so unpredictable in whatever he does, realizes more than  anyone what an uphill battle is ahead especially when the likes of Japan , Australia and Korea are preparing against stronger teams and achieving good results.

The two lines that have disappointed the most were the forwards and the defense. Taremi does not have the quality to perform at the highest level and there is very little that Queiroz can do about that. However, the better tactical and skilful duo , Jahanbakhsh and Azmoun were both lethargic like despite the former scoring the lucky goal.

With two remain matches before the Asian Cup, Queiroz will have more opportunity to experiment before opting to filed an offensive minded team in UAE or revert back to his comfort zone of defense.