Tag: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers

Skocic satisfied with his team but the focus is now on Cambodia game.

Dragan Skucic, the head coach of Iran, in the pre-match press conference before tomorrow’s (Friday) match against Cambodia said “I would like to express my satisfaction with the performance and the result of our match against Bahrain. While there was a lot of stress on the players in that game, we were able to get a satisfactory result.”

He added: “I ask my players to forget about the game against Bahrain. In football, you need to forget memories and past results. We do not want to underestimate Cambodia and we have a lot of respect for them. I watched their games and realized that their performance is much improved and they are better than their results imply, and I would like to ask my team to keep their focus on this game and show their quality. We are going for a win against Cambodia while we have a lot of respect for them. We came to Bahrain to get the maximum points and we have nothing to do with calculations and ifs and buts,” Skocic said.

Asked about the last result against Cambodia in Azadi stadium, and the impact of that game while facing them again on Friday ” All the players and the technical staff are focused this game against Cambodia, and I  have emphasized on them to forget about the game against Iraq and the ifs and buts for that game. We put everything we have to play against Cambodia and we are looking for maximum points.”

Dragan Skocic was accompanied by Saman Ghoddos in this press conference.

Team Melli is presently lying second after Iraq in Group C of the qualifying round of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar 2022.

Brute force win Iran 3 – 0 Bahrain.

Team Melli revitalized its chances of qualifying for the next round of FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar after a convincing and comprehensive win against Bahrain by three goals to nil.

Sardar Azmoun scored two goals (54′),(61) and Mehdi Taremi (79′) scored the third. The first half of the match played in Bahrain’s National Stadium ended goal-less.

The match started with both teams feeling the stress of the game. Both teams had several stray passes while Team Melli was starting its offense with aimless direct football from Kanani and Khalilzadeh from the central defense area. All their balls lacked the accuracy for Azomun and Taremi to work with. Bahrain Team tried to take the match to the Iranians but their offensive moves were far too shy and when they reached Beiravand, none of the balls created anything serious for Team Melli.

What the Bahrain team excelled in, though, was the quick transformation to multi-layer defense whenever the Iranians were building their offensive moves. Building a solid impenetrable central defensive wall with numbers. That made the job of the Team Melli forwards that much difficult. The first real chance of scoring came in the 19th minute when Azmoun and Taremi beat the Bahrain defense offside trap, but Taremi wasted the opportunity heading high.

In the second half, Dragan Skocic did a masterclass by pulling Milad Mohammad out and sending Saman Ghoddos in. The result was swift and deadly. Skocic depleted the classic mass defense breaker by instructing his player to penetrate Bahrain’s solid defender from the middle playing one-two balls. Azmoun, from a clever pass that opened Bahrain defense wild, scored past the hapless Seyed Mohammed Jaffar in Bahrain goal. Six minutes later, Azmoun was on the end of a classic Saman Ghoddos defense-splitting pass, running with the ball powerfully and confidently to score again. 2-0 for Team Melli and Bahrain Team has a mountain to climb.

Seyed Mohammed Jaffar in Bahrain goals was the star of the Bahrain Team as the score margin would have been much higher if it was not for his heroics.

Mehdi Tarem scored Iran’s third from Ahamad Nourallahi’s assist after Torabi cleverly robbed the ball from Bahrain right back near the corner. Taremi on receiving the ball from Nourallahi, cooly wrong-footed Syed Jafar and scored the final goal.

It is a confidence-boosting win associated with a polished performance. Much credit has to go to the under-rated Dragan Skocic for his intelligent game-changing tactics and substitutions. Alireza Jahanbakhsh who disappointing against Hong Kong was given a rest with Ehsan Hajsafy taking his place. Azmoun and Taremi really clicked in this match, most probably after a long briefing by the coaching staff. Defenders were solid while the midfield played as well as they could under the circumstances.

The next Match against Cambodia might see a different lineup but with the same game plan. Iran is now second in the table behind Iraq.

Team Melli battles for qualification.

On Monday, Bahrain will be hosting Team Melli in one of the most peculiar of injustices of football. The match which is supposed to be the home game fr Iran is instead played in Bahrain! Never in the history of the FIFA World Cup, a team played both its home and away matches in one side’s venue like it is happening now with Iran.

Iran not only needs to battle the politics but pass a difficult hurdle in Bahrain Team, which to its credit, has been playing very good football through the preliminaries and now occupying the top of the table with 12 points. The battle between Iran and Bahrain promises to be a spectacular encounter, as a win for either side could make a huge difference in the final outcome of Group C.

Team Melli returned to form with their 3-1 win over Hong Kong last Thursday, reviving their top spot aspirations and with a match in hand, head coach Dragan Skocic will expect his side to take the game to hosts Bahrain. The weather on Monday at kick-off time is expected to be 35 degrees Celsius with a humidity of 39% with a wind speed of 26 Km/h. Generally speaking, it is a mildly warm day for Bahrain, which could have been much worst.l

Bahrain fancies their chances as they will head into the tie boosted by their win over Cambodia and, more importantly, in the knowledge that they have already defeated Iran in the Asian Qualifiers – with Mohamed Al Hardan scoring the only goal in their October 2019 meeting. Al Hardan will be missing due to an operation on his foot.

Iran’s strikeforce may be the most famous of the four lines with world-famous names like Taremi and Azmoun, however, the pair failed to score any of the three goals against Hong Kong in the last match. On the other hand, Komail Al Aswad, Ali Madan, and veteran striker Ismaeel Abdulatif all scored twice each against Cambodia and head coach Helio Sousa will be happy with the fact that his team has multiple sources for goals against a team seeking to qualify for their third consecutive FIFA World Cup Finals.

While Sousa was all praise for Team Melli during the press conference, it is no secret that he has been focusing on this match and considering it as a decider. A shrewd tactician who managed his squad rotation and substitution quite well during the Gulf Cup tournament of 2019 leading Bahrain to left the cup for the first time in their history.

Dragan Skocic has kept the starting line up close to his heart. In the Hong Kong match, when it was clear that the forwards were having difficulties, with few substitutes he revived the team. It is unknown if he will stick with Azamoun and Taremi, but most probably he will awaiting the deliveries of these two before any substitutions are carried out.

Off-field, the authorities have been hyping the fans who would be able to watch the match on TV only. Bahrain TV has broadcast that infamous match of World Cup 2002 qualifiers when Bahrain defeated Iran on the same ground to let Saudi Arabia go through.

Meanwhile, a source in the Iraqi Team delegation, confirmed, on Saturday, that Iraq Player, Ali Fayez, was infected with the Coronavirus. The source said in an interview with “Mawazine News” that “the Bahraini health authorities informed the team’s delegation of the positive corona result of  Ali Fayez.

According to the regulations, the player will be isolated from the rest and will not be appearing for his team in any further matches.

The source pointed out that “the Iraqi defender will miss the Asian qualifiers due to being quarantined in Bahrain.” The team’s delegation made several contacts with the Bahraini side to return the swab to the player Ali Fayez and to confirm that he was infected with the Coronavirus, so that the player was subjected to a second swab yesterday evening, Friday, the results of which appeared today, Saturday, and it was confirmed that the player was infected and who will be subject to quarantine for a period of ten days, which means his official absence from all the Iraq matches in the double Asian qualifiers against Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Iran.

Iran v Bahrain
Venue: Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa
Kick-off: 19:30 hours (UTC+3) – 21:00 Iran Time

Rank M W D L GF GA GD PTS
1 BAHRAIN 6 3 3 0 11 1 +10 12
2 IRAQ 5 3 2 0 9 2 +7 11
3 IRAN 5 3 0 2 20 4 +16 9
4 HONG KONG 6 1 2 3 4 8 -4 5
5 CAMBODIA 6 0 1 5 1 30 -29 1

Skocic “Everything was fine except for the goal we conceded”

In the Post Match press conference, the head coach of  Team Melli said that he was satisfied with the result against Hong Kong: “The only thing I was not satisfied with in this match was the goal we concede from this team.”

Dragan Skocic said after the game  “I am completely satisfied with the result of the game for this competition because we had difficult weather conditions. Of course, we overcame these difficult conditions.”

Skocic added “We played with a team that was in its defensive third and it was difficult for us to play because the opponent was playing anti-football to some extent. We also rested some players so that the pressure of the matches would not be on them.”

Skocic continued: “The only thing I was not satisfied with was the goal we conceded. We should not concede such goals in future matches.”

Everything was fine except the flower we ate / we know how to overcome obstacles

“Since the Hong Kong team had not played for a long time, we had little information about their playing style,” he said. “However, we maintained our lead in this match, and everyone who watched the game knew which team had the upper hand.”

The head coach of Team Melli commented on the next match against Bahrain  “I think that our work on this field is hard and of course there is not enough opportunity to rebuild this field. There is nothing we can do about it, so we must focus on our own work.”

Skocic continued: “We go game by game and we have to focus on our work and be smart so that we can finish the tournament successfully. We do not want to confuse games. Each game has its own story. We are thinking about the game against Bahrain now and we do not want to think about other matches.”

“We have a good team. We believe in our own strength and know-how to overcome obstacles and solve problems one by one.”

Iran starts with a comfortable win against Hong Kong

Iran defeated Hong Kong 3-1 in the preliminary rounds of FIFA World Cup 2021 in the match held this afternoon in Muharraq Stadium, Bahrain. Iran’s goals were scored by Ali Gholizadeh (23’), Vahid Amiri (61’), and Karim Ansarifard (84’). Hong Kong’s lone goal was scored by Cheng Siu Kwang (85’).

From the onset and a one-sided match, Team Melli took full control of the field, however, they found it difficult to penetrate the solid-packed Hong Kong defense. The solitary goal scored by Gholizadeh was the result of individual skill rather than a team plan.

While the result was quite satisfactory and puts Iran second in the table two points behind Iraq, it was far from polished. In a worst-case scenario, that performance was concerning. The team was clearly short of group practice and coherence. There was a definite deficiency of understanding between players with many passes going astray. The worst of these misunderstandings was upfront between Azmoun and Taremi. None of the very few passes between them, including some unnecessary back heels, were effective. The most concerning issue however was the two forwards body language. There was a hint of frustration and perhaps lack of serious application evident in their game. They were both rightly substituted midway in the second half.

Tactically speaking, Skocic boys could not find a way through the center of defense. In a system where the other team parks the bus, several other solutions, and plans have to be applied, such as dribbling and short fast passes. The inter-passing of the forwards was too slow and too predictable.

A plethora of corners for Iran failed to produce a single goal against the compact Hong Kong Defense.

After the late substitutions, including the introduction of Torabi, Ghoddos, and Ansarifard, Iran played better and managed to score two more goals in the second half.

There are a lot of areas that Skocic needs to be concerned with in this team. Lack of group practice and hence poor understanding between the players is the biggest concern for the next match, however, the commitment and the mental status of key players remains a peril. Matches are not won on history and reputations. Without 100% commitment, it will be difficult to play against mentally tough teams despite being inferior technically to Team Melli.

Iran will meet Bahrain Next. It will probably be the toughest test and a must-win. Psychological preparation is as important as physical for that encounter.

Possible Line Up against Hong Kong.

Skocic knows very well that he has no choice but to win four of his four matches in order to have a chance of qualifying for the next stage of the World Cup 2022 qualifiers and more importantly for him, to keep his job as the head coach of this team. Hence, his slightest mistake in picking the lineup could be irreparable.

Team Melli, which has the most stars compared to previous years, has gone to Bahrain without a preparation game in recent months so the match against Hong Kong will not only a must-win 3 pointer, but also a preparation for the tougher oppositions ahead in form of Bahrain and Iraq.

Dragan Skocic intends to deploy a 2-4-4 formation in this match, in which Alireza Beiranvand will keep his post in the goal. Skocic will continue using the pair.  Shojaa Khalilzadeh and Mohammad Hossein Kananizadegan in the heart of the defense. He will use  Sadegh Moharremi, who was called up to the national team again after months of injury, as a right-back. In the left-back post, although the coach has many options such as Ehsan Haj Safi and Milad Mohammadi for selection, his intentions seem to be on using Vahid Amiri as a left-back. The Persepolis midfielder, who has also played as a defender for his club team in the last two months, has impressed Skocic in this makeshift role.

In the midfield, Skocic intends to use Ahmad Nourollahi and Saeed Ezzatolahi along with Ali Gholizadeh. The selection of the fourth player among options such as Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Mehdi Torabi is none other than Saman Ghoddos. The Brentford midfielder, who has been delayed from joining the national team due to his club play-off and subsequent promotion to the English Premier League, is set to start the match against Hong Kong.. The possible presence of Ghoddos in today’s squad will be seen as a surprise from Skocic by many observers, however, it makes sense as Ghoddos has completed a successful season while Jahanbakhsh was the opposite.

Skocic’s easiest job was picking the two forwards. The head coach of Team Melli has a potent strike force that automatically picks itself upfront.  Mehdi Taremi and Sardar Azmoun, are the most powerful strikers of the national team in the last couple of decades and will be starting the match. Kaveh Rezaei, Mehdi Ghaedi, and Karim Ansarifard will be on the bench with the possibility of one of them being introduced late in the match.

It remains to be seen how Skocic’s technical thinking will play out on the pitch in the first leg of the return leg. Last minutes events could also affect his final selection.

 

Possible Line Up

 

Team Melli arrives at Bahrain

After a grueling 4 days training camp in Kish Island in the Persian Gulf, Team Melli flew the short trip to Bahrain onboard a chartered flight and landed in the evening.

The coaching staff worked on the fitness and endurance of the players under hot, sultry, and humid conditions of the Persian Gulf. Heavy breathing and hydrated bodies were evident during these sessions.

The Iranian national team has to play four crucial matches in a compromised situation orchestrated to undermine Team Melli’s chances to qualify for the next round of the World Cup. Iran is not only a victim of politics and interests, a common occurrence in the world of football across the world, it has also to fight climatical conditions that historically have been not very favorable for the Iranians.

As if these two negative aspects are not bad enough, the pandemic in Bahrain has reached a record level and the country is in lockdown until 10th June. Bahrain is now in the top 5 countries in the world in terms of number of positive cases and deaths due to Coronavirus. The figures are measured in terms cases of per capita. The increased number of covid19 cases in Bahrain has not deemed a serious threat for selecting Bahrain as a host.  Ezatollahi during Training in Kish Island

This unfavorable situation prompted the technical staff to hold a camp before entering Bahrain. Team Melli training sessions were accompanied by excessive sweating and heavy breathing,

However, despite the brave effort of the coaching team in picking Kish island for the short training camp, it is hardly effective in assisting the players playing under extreme conditions. The time spent in Kish, which has a similar climate to Bahrain, is certainly too short for the players to adapt to environmental conditions. The Iranians will be fighting dehydration and loss of energy, while it favors the host team that has already acclimatized to such conditions.

Another issue that has been a major concern for the players for many years and highlighted by Carlos Queiroz repeatedly, is the poor quality of the kits used by Team Melli. The not-so-advanced training kit, which weighs on the player’s body due to the lack of modern technologies for heat dissipation, has been a burden on the players.

After arriving in Bahrain and taking the corona test, the Iranian squad will train on June 11th and 12th, while on June 13th, they will face Hong Kong in their first match. Team Melli’s next match would be with host Bahrain a match that might decide the qualification from this group.

Hng Kong has ‘fighting’ unit ready for battle

Head Coach Mixu Paatelainen says Hong Kong are heading for Bahrain with a team of “fighters” on Saturday as they get ready for a seemingly impossible task in the Middle East for the remaining 2022 Fifa World Cup Asian zone qualifiers.

Despite missing several key players who play in China as their clubs have refused to release them due to quarantine requirements, the Finn was still happy with his squad before they face regional heavyweights Iraq, Iran and hosts Bahrain in the next two weeks.

“I am very happy with the squad, a squad of players who are fighters, a squad of players who have a fantastic attitude and they are the players I want,” said Paatelainen, whose contract with the Hong Kong Football Association is due to expire next month and will leave Hong Kong for Bahrain on Saturday night.

“We will face three high level opponents in the event, but I am delighted with the players’ attitude. Every one is fully committed. In fact, it has been a long time since we last got together and therefore it’s great to see the boys again, talk to them and prepare them for the event.”

“Fighter” Ngan Lok-fung during a practice session with the Hong Kong team at Tseung Kwan O Football Centre. Photo: Chan Kin-wa
“Fighter” Ngan Lok-fung during a practice session with the Hong Kong team at Tseung Kwan O Football Centre. Photo: Chan Kin-wa

One of the “fighters”, midfielder Ngan Lok-fung whose impressive performance with Lee Man this season has earned him a call-up to the Hong Kong team after an eight-year absence.

“I like him [Ngan] as a player, as a character because he is a fighter, he is a ball winner with a never give up attitude. He is exactly the character that we need for these matches,” said the manager.

“I am not a gifted player but I just want to prove that if I keep working hard, the chance will come one day,” said the midfielder, whose work rate and ball control skills steered his club to third place in the Premier League with three wins in the play-off stage against Eastern, Pegasus and champions Kitchee.

Hong Kong are in fourth place in group C after a 2-0 win against visitors Cambodia 18 months ago. The team had been scheduled to meet Iran in Tehran in March 2020 but the pandemic threw the world sporting calendar upside down until the Asian Football Confederation rearranged the schedule by calling off the home-and-away format and replacing it with a zonal competition in Bahrain.

Leung Kwun-chung, who can play different positions in defence, also returns to the Hong Kong team after a long absence. Photo: Chan Kin-wa
Leung Kwun-chung, who can play different positions in defence, also returns to the Hong Kong team after a long absence. Photo: Chan Kin-wa

Iraq and Bahrain are the two unbeaten teams in the group, with Iraq leading the standings on 11 points from five games, followed by Bahrain who are two points behind. Iran are third on six points but have a game in hand. Hong Kong have five points, while Cambodia sit firmly at the bottom with one point.

Hong Kong will be massive underdogs against the three Middle East powers in Bahrain, but Paatelainen is not about to concede without a fight.

“I never go to a football match to lose, never,” said the manager. “I want to see a fighting team, I want to see the players out there who will do everything for the team. They are not just running around like headless chickens, I want them to know tactically their positions, how to move and how to make it difficult for our opponents.”

Mixu Paatelainen during Hong Kong’s 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying match against Iran. Hong Kong lost 2-0 at home. Photo: Felix Wong
Mixu Paatelainen during Hong Kong’s 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying match against Iran. Hong Kong lost 2-0 at home. Photo: Felix Wong

Paatelainen has selected a squad of 25 players, including defensive midfielder Diego Moreira of Eastern, the latest naturalised player, but two of them, Sandro and Fernando, another newly naturalised player, withdrew before the first training session.

Hong Kong will meet Iran on June 3 before getting a one-week break ahead of their second match against Iraq on June 11. Hong Kong will play the hosts in their last match on June 15.

Karim Bagheri appointed as Team Melli Minder.

The inclusion of Karim Bagheri, assistant coach of Champions Persepolis in the technical or administration cadre of Team Melli former, has raised many questions and debates.

Former head coach of Esteghlal and former Team Melli player, Parviz Mazloomi opined about Karim Bagheri joining the technical staff. He said “ I have known Karim Bagheri for many years. He was a disciplined and good-natured player whose standards were high in terms of technique and personality during his playing days, but I do not know how he is technically and whether he is technically effective in the technical staff of Persepolis or not. However, I hope Bagheri can help the national team with his experiences.”

Many people perhaps have a similar opinion to Mazloomi. Bagheri is still an unknown quality in the field of coaching. His only experience is with Persepolis, where it is difficult to judge on how his presence has influenced the team as a whole.

However, a few experts suspect that Bagheri’s presence as an observer is for order and discipline, ensuring that the players remain orderly and behave responsibly.  Despite Mazloomi’s denial of any knowledge of that aspect of Bagheri’s appointment, he, however, added that “Karim has been a great player and even in the most difficult times when Persepolis was in crisis, he has been able to manage the players well as a Team Captain and I still wish he could be productive in the national team.”

One of the biggest shortfalls of Iran’s football has been the attitude and the indiscipline of the players. In the last couple of years, there has been plenty of embarrassing situations where Team Melli was let down by the bad attitude and petulant behavior of supposedly professional players on or off the field. The semi-Final match against Japan in Al Ain in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 was the biggest example of Iranian players meltdown and subsequent heavy defeat. That match should be taught at every club in Iran so these mistakes are not repeated.

Dragan Skocic is new to National Team coaching, He will be dealing with players in Team Melli that a few weeks, were at each other’s throats in the league matches involving Persepolis, Esteghlal, and Sepahan. Poor discipline, constant protest at referees, petulant attitude on the field, childish goal celebration and at times total failure to commit the most basics of skills required has marred Iran. A strong character like Bagheri might be too little and too late, but given the circumstances. it is not a bad idea at all for him to be present in the camp to keep a watchful eye.

No matter how skillful a coach is and highly successful if his tactical plans are not implemented on the field due to the attitude of the players or their poor tactical discipline, such a team will not be going far.

Both Iran’s defeats against Bahrain and Iraq were results of poor tactical coverage. A needless penalty gave Bahrain the edge, while the might of Azmoun and Taremi failed to find the net, and then the last-minute poor defensive coverage in Amman against Iraq, lead to Iraq’s winning goal.

There is not much to hope for from the administration of the FFIRI as has been historically witnessed for decades. Their failures are institutional, The failure to arrange any friendly games before these crucial matches,  is yet another proof that no matter who is running the football federation in Iran, the culture of incompetence, disorganization, and ineptitude prevails in that federation responsible for Team Melli affairs. Therefore, small measures such as giving Bagheri a seat on the bench might miraculously assist Team Melli to pass through these dire straits to the next round of the World Cup qualifiers.

Direct and Strong message from Dragan Skocic

The head coach of the Iranian national football team, referring to the importance of the team’s four matches in the qualifying round of the World Cup, said: “Due to the sensitive conditions of the matches, my players have no right to make any mistakes.”

Dragan Skocic, the head coach of Team Melli has sent a clear and strong message on the eve of submitting his final list of players for the upcoming qualifiers of FIFA World Cup 2022.  “What I want from my players is discipline, not motivation. I do not need to mention motivation, because when someone represents his country, he must be motivated.”

He continued: “When we play for the Iranian national team, we have 80 million reasons to be motivated.”

“I strictly forbid everyone in the national team from thinking or talking about our group matches in the future,” said the Croat team coach, referring to the focus of team members on the first match of the return leg.

Skocic continued: “Our only mental concern at the moment is playing against Hong Kong, as other issues will only distract us. When everything is in order, everything will certainly be easy, but we must maintain the right mentality in a situation where everything is against us.”

“We have no right to make any mistakes, I want my players to show their personality, they have the full capacity to succeed,” Skocic said, referring to his message to Team Melli players.