Tag: Johannesburg

Team Melli routs Platinum Stars 6-0

Team Melli defeated Platinum Stars 6-0 in its final preparation match of its training camp in Johannesburg , South Africa.

Mohammad Nouri scored a hat trick, while Habib Gordani, Masoud Hassanzadeh, and Sajjad Shahbazadeh scored a goal each to complete the rout against the bottom of the table South African First Division team . Platinum Stars played a league match on Saturday against Free State Stars and lost 3-1. For the match against Team Melli , mostly reserve players were utilized by the struggling South african team.

South-Africa-friendly-ornado-pirates-2

This match concludes the weak and low-key preparations by Team Melli in South Africa.  While almost all the legionnaires who are expected to form the bulk of the team line up are absent , except for Azmoun, the federation failed to arrange any quality opposition to test these players against strong teams which Iran will be facing in Australia. The 3 breadcrumb friendlies were mostly due to personal contacts of Carlos Queiroz , however none of the South African clubs were prepared to field their strongest side due to league programs commitments and the upcoming festive seasons holidays.

Team Melli is scheduled to return to Tehran on December 24th. The next friendly before the AFC Asian Cup 2015 will be against Palestine.

South-Africa-friendly-ornado-pirates-1

Second win for Team Melli against Pirates reserves

 Team Melli defeated Orlando Pirates’ reserves 3-1 in a friendly in Johannesburg, South Africa on Friday.

The Sepahan contingent managed to score all the goals of Team Melli in the match. Ehsan Hajsafi was on target twice in the 47th and 70th minutes helping himself to a brace while Mehdi Sharifi scored in the 61st minute.

Orlando Pirates pulled a goal back in the 75th minute. A group of about 30 Iranians mostly families residing in Johannesburg attended the match to cheer for Iran.

Team Melli was held 3-3 against the South African football club in April as part of the preparations for the 2014 World Cup.

Iran had defeated Kaizer Chiefs reserves 2-0 on Wednesday.

The Asian Cup will kick off in Australia on January 9, with Iran playing Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE in Group C.

Team Melli is scheduled to play against Palestine on December 28 in Tehran before departing to Australia. Team Melli will meet Iraq in another friendly in Australia six days before their opening match against Bahrain.

Zimbabwe friendly match turned down.

As part of the preparation for the AFC Asian Cup 2015 , the FFIRI seemed to have arranged a rare friendly match with Zimbabwe in Tehran. However , for reasons that are only known to the federation , this friendly like many others in the last few years has been cancelled. It is presumed , it must have something to do with money or lack of it by the federation.

On hearing that Iran is setting a training camp next door in South Africa, and to compensate for the cancelled match in Azadi , the Zimbabwe Football Federation wrote to its Iranian counterpart offering an alternative by  suggesting a friendly match in Johannesburg on 22nd December, as reported by ISNA. The Zimbabweans stated in the letter that it will forgo the standard match fees but needs the Iranians to pay for the logistics of the squad only (Air fare and Hotel accommodations) , FFIRI calculated the amount to be approximately US$ 40,000 which it considers to be excessive and above its capability , hence it declined the offer from the African country.

FFIRI is actively looking at South African sides for friendly matches at the camp provided it costs nothing or a small fee at best.

Friendly game against Kenya is off

Team Melli is preparing for the second training camp in its program for the AFC Asian Cup 2015. The camp is scheduled to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

As part of the program, a friendly international match was supposed to be played with an African team. The FFIRI negotiated with several teams and eventually picked Kenya as an opposition for the friendly which was supposed to be played in South Africa. The East African team demanded US$ 50,000 to cover the cost of logistics and accommodation, which FFIRI turned down as too expensive! The match is therefore canceled while FFIRI is actively looking for a cheaper team to play against!

Team Melli is scheduled to play against South Korea on the 18th November in Azadi Stadium. It seems that this is the only confirmed match that Team Melli will play until the start of the AFC Asian Cup 2015

Player’s impression on South African camp.  

Tehran

Team Melli returned to Iran on Friday after a 3 weeks training camp is South Africa cut short by 5 days. ISNA sought the impression of several Team Melli players on the condition of the camp and whether some of the talks about the unsuitability of the site was justified.

Jalal Hosseini , Team Melli and Persepolis defender expressed his views by starting with the climate in South Africa “It was ideal weather and the camp condition was quite comfortable. There was no environmental pollution as claimed by some reports in Tehran.”

hosseini_w

“When all the players arrived, we had a good camp and friendly atmosphere prevailed. With the work we have done, I think we are physically ready. We will have 5 or 6 days rest in Tehran then fly to Vienna to start the Austrian camp. I guess we will continue working on the physical side there.”

“The kit situation was not so good. We used a single track suite which was provided for us for 15 days, we had to wash them and wear it for the next session.”

Hossein Mahini , the right back of Persepolis and one of the main contenders of the final 23 players list , expressed his dissatisfaction with the Training Kit supplied by UHLSport and claimed that the kit shrunk after one week of use in South Africa!

sqd-Mahini2013

As for the training itself, Mahini said that this was a very compressed physical training like of which he has never experienced in Iran. “The tough training was carried out in two periods. in the morning and evening sessions every day. I think we have achieved what Queiroz is looking for.”

Asked if he is confident of making the final list to Brazil, Mahini said “not only it is his place that has many candidates , but all the rest of the places in Team Melli. Queiroz has many options. I just have to work hard to make it. That is all I can hope for”

Karim Ansdarifard , hopes that the effect of this training camp will be evident in Brazil.

“We had a good camp, but most of the work was basically physical training and conditioning, I hope that the work we have carried out here in South Africa, bears result in the World Cup”

“The weather was ideal but the training kit was not comfortable as the rest of the players already said”

ansarifard_karim

Asked if he can make the final 23 players list, Tractorsazi’s forward said “ It is very difficult. Every player is trying to show his worth. At the end whatever God wants, will happen”

Mohammad Reza Khalatbari , Persepolis winger more or less repeated what Ansarifard and Mahini said about the camp and the kit. He hoped that the result of their training in South Africa reflects well in Brazil.

Khalatbari said that he is still a Persepolis player but he was quite concerned by the unresolved issue of  the transfer fee with Ajman club , threatening his career and  fears a suspension by FIFA. “Persepolis has not fully paid Ajman yet for my transfer, despite the promises. This is worrying me”

khalatbary-profile

A close loss for Team Melli against Mamelodi Sundowns.

Johannesburg

Team Melli lost its third match in the South African camp 1-0 against Mamelodi Sundowns. The goal was scored on the half hour. Karim Ansarifard wasted a penalty kick in the match to Keep the South African league leader on top of the game.

Despite Queiroz men effort in the 2nd match , the players fired blanks and could not turn the match result around.

The match played on Tuesday and will be followed by a final practice match against another South African club , Mpumalanga Black Aces FC , which currently lies in 4th place in the table.

Queiroz has cancelled an international match against Mozambique which would have given the players some serious challenge in preparation for Nigeria. Queiroz has not offered any reason for this match cancellation despite his continual moaning about lack of teams available to play Team Melli. But when a Team is available and willing , Querioz cancels the match without offering any explanation.

Team Melli has played 3 match winning one, drawing the other and losing the third.

“This Camp is a complete failure” Queiroz

Carlos Queiroz said the South Africa Training Camp was a total failure because of lack of players.

The statement comes only a day after Ali Kaffashian announced to the press that the Training camp is going well and achieving its objective !

The head coach of Team Melli , in a TV interview , continued his line of denunciation against those who have not supported Team Melli directly accusing Sepahan Esfahan and Esteghlal clubs of  ignoring the Minster of Youth & Sport wishes, destructing Team Melli program and creating complications for the squad.

Queiroz added “with such arrangement and program failures, don’t expect much from Team Melli in Brazil. We will not make it to the next round because of the failure of the South Africa Camp!”

Queiroz went on about how he arranged the preparation program for Team Melli  including this camp from 12 months ago, “ it was not only me who planned it , but I had a inputs from others in the program.”

Asked if the decision to set up the camp was his decision or other personnel influenced it, Queiroz said “it was a decision made by the Minster of Youth & Sport and the head of the football federation to go ahead with the camp. I am only a coach here (..), so all those who disregarded the instructions and refused to release the players ( meaning the two clubs Sepahan and Esteghlal) have actually disrespected the minister ! Even up to our departure time, we did not know if those players will be joining us or not.”

For the record, both Sepahan and Esteghlal have confirmed several times publicly and to the federation in writing, that they will not be releasing their players to Team Melli as long as they are involved in official competitions.

“This training camp was vital for the team’s prospect. We came here to prepare the players to play against African Teams. I did not come here for leisure I have never promised anything, the only promise I give is that I will work hard.”

Despite having 23 players at his disposal in Johannesburg, Queiroz said “We are missing key players and that affects our preparation.” The only non-European player missing is Javad Nekounam while Queiroz elected to ignore Sepahan players except for the goalkeeper Rahman Ahmadi .

Queiroz then went on complaining about UHLSport the official kits provider for providing only one set of track suites for players for three weeks. “We paid US$ 30,000 for our excess baggage, we could have bought more kits for our player’s training instead.”

Asked if there will be additional domestic players added to Team Melli current list, Queiroz firmly rejected that, hence closing the door in the face of Rahmati and Aghili the two outcasts, for good. However, he indicated that some new faces from Europe might be added!

Queiroz concluded that he is a “Positive person”

“I am sorry if I sound negative and despondent, but if I do not say these things, then we will not get any support for Team Melli.”

Team Melli camp Johannesburg: update News.

Carlos Queiroz has deployed some interesting tactics for the first friendly match of Team Melli in South Africa.

In the match that was played in the base camp of team Melli in Johannesburg, and in a pitch which did not resemble a football pitch, Queiroz decided that the opponents coach would referee the match while his assistance including Majid Saleh will be assistant referees!

Furthermore , Queiroz decided to play with 10 men only from minute 80 of the match, presumably  to test how his players will perform under pressure of one players short.  The South African team failed to score against Team Melli in the last 10 minutes , however it is not clear if the Africans have fielded a full strength team for this practice match.

In a post match statement , Queiroz said that his objective from this training camp practice matches is to improve the physical conditioning of the players “The result of the matches do not bother me one bit. I am more concerned on the physical side of my players and how to improve it in this short time that is available to me. We need to be tough both physically and mentally, improve our running and endurance.”  said the Portuguese coach.

“I am determined to take the team to Brazil and perform to our best ability provided we have unequivocal and full support form everyone (…)”

Meanwhile , Esteghlal player who joined the camp late , have been given a stern physical training to bring them back in shape. Some of the players were running with performance measuring devices for recording their vital sign.

Team Melli real test of this camp will be on the 2nd of May when they face the full national team of Mozambique.

KArim Ansarifard

Ansarifard & Lak join Team Melli squad in South Africa

Karim Ansarifard and Hamed Lak , the two Tractorsazi players have flown directly to Johannesburg to join their teammates at the South Africa training camp.

Their departure was initiated right after Tractorsazi were eliminated from the AFC Champions league after the defeat against Al Ittihad. This is good news for Team Melli especially since the squad departed with only 11 outfield players without a goal keeper. It is expected that Esteghlal players , who were also eliminated from the same competition , will also join the squad in South Africa. Karim Ansarifard has recently won the top goal scorer award in the league.

The fate of the remaining two teams players , Foolad Khuzestan & Sepahan , is still unclear in regard to joining the camp. Foolad has already qualified for the Knock Out stages of the AFC Champions League , while Sepahan  are still alive and stand a good chance of qualifying with one last match remaining.  Foolad Khuzestan has 3 players in the squad while Sepahan has 6.

sqd-Lak2013