Tag: Masoud Shojaei
Team Melli Captain chastised by fundementalists.
Ehsan HajSafy and Masoud Shojaei , the two Panionios players who faced Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. have been chastised by extremist elements of the Basij for playing against what it called the enemy of the people! The two Iranian players who play professional football for the Greek Team, have been both involved in the match UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round, Game 2 played in Stadio Néas Smírnis on Thursday, August 3. The Israeli team won 1-0 away and advanced to the next stage of the UEFA Europa League while Panionios was eliminated from that European competition.
In a communique full of religious and zealous rhetoric from a group calling itself “Sazman Basij Varzeshkaran” virtually translated into “Organization of Mobilized Athletes” it accused Team Melli Captain Masoud Shojaei and ex-Sepahan left back Ehsan Haj Safy of betraying the Islamic cause by playing against the Israeli team. It is believed that this shadowy group belongs to the large and omnipresent paramilitary organization with multifaceted roles, which acts as the eyes and ears of the Islamic regime. It is present in schools, universities, state and private institutions, factories, and even among tribes. It is an extremist ideological organization which has very little popular support amongst the Iranians; however, it has considerable power because of its close working relations with the clergy and the ruling religious hierarchy.
The Basij , with its many arms , is the main oppressors of the Iranian youth both male but especially females. Their extremist views on religion and forcing hijabs and Islamic dress code on females have made them the people’s enemy number 1. Their anti-western values, is also not going down well in the younger Iranians communities and circles.
The Greek first division club Panionios, respected the Iranians wish not to travel to Israel for the away leg due to the political issues and allowed them both to stay at home. However, in Athens, it was a different story. There was no reason for the Iranians not to play in Greece and refusal to play would have been interpreted as demonstrating political opposition which is against the rules of UEFA and FIFA.
The two players are the only known athletes in post-revolution Iran who have indeed played against Israeli teams or competed against individual Israeli athletes.
It is not clear if the two players will face sanction by the FFIRI or any other government authority. Team Melli , already qualified for the FIFA World Cup, will be playing South Korea late this month. Both Shojaei and Haj Safy are important and fixed players of the squad. Sources close to the Football Federation in Tehran believe that the two players have consulted FFIRI before the match and quietly received the green light to play against Maccabi. This could not be confirmed officially.
Iran 1-0 China : Another firm step towards the World Cup 2018
Team Melli defeated China 1-0 in the seventh round of the FIFA World Cup 2018 Asian zone qualifiers to cement its lead on group A. Iran now leads the group with 17 points , four ahead of closest rival Korea Republic with 3 rounds to go.
The match was played in front of capacity crowd estimated to be over 110,000 fans played early in the afternoon, The doors of the stadium had to be closed early as the fans were still flocking in with the stadium already full.
China which defeated Korea in the last round , was hoping to repeat the same against Iran to have any chance of reaching the World Cup for only its second time in history. A large number of Chinese fans all wearing red , were in Azadi;s special guests section cheering their team. Marcello Lippi has successfully led the Chinese in the last two matches.
The first half :
Queiroz made 3 changes in the line up from the Qatar match including Ghoochannejad replacing Azmoun in forward line, while Shojae replaced Hajsafy. TM did not waste much time going forward as Ghoochannejad shot powerfully in the 6th minute for the Chinese keeper Zeng Cheng to parry over the bar for corner.
Following a series of slick passing moves in the 20th minute, Jahanbakhsh fired a shot that just shaved the bar
Next serious threat on Chinese goal was on minute 35 where Taremi’s shot was saved by the outstretched legs of Zeng Cheng.
Team Melli continued its assault on China’s goal and should have scored a minute later after another set of passes following quick interchange of positions. Masoud Shojaei, the captain of the team, sent a measured ball to the fast advancing Milad Mohammadi on the left flank. The Grozny player controlled the ball nicely, passed his marker and was one on one with Zeng Cheng. However, with the angle closing and becoming acute , Mohammadi shot was met by the excellent Chinese custodian, and sent to the corner.
5 minutes later , another marvelous passing game, this time from the right resulted in Ghafoori sending an inch perfect pass to Shojaei. The Captain shot cleanly but once again Zeng Cheng saved China’s blushes. The ensuing corner saw Taremi’s scissor kick marginally missing target.
The first half ended goal-less.
It only took 30 seconds in the second half for Iran to take the lead. After a series of shamble clearances by the Chinese defense, Taremi found the ball at his feet inside the six yards box. His halfhearted lefty shot beat the wrong footed Zeng Cheng and finally passed the goal line.
It was much deserved and long waited goal for Team Melli.
China on the other hand, showed very little initiative and ambition. Only late in the second half that the Chinese really pressed hard to score an equalizer , which incidentally would not have made a big difference in their chances.
Iran now awaits the crucial encounter at Azadi with Uzbekistan. A win, will guarantee Iran early qualification.
Team Melli continues preparation for Guam
Carlos Queiroz gathered Team Melli squad around the hotel to conduct a early training and warm up session this Friday morning.
The new look team is short of few Legionnaires mainly the 3 Russian contingent Sardar Azmoun and Saeed Ezatollahei from Rostov and Alireza Haghighi of Rubin Kazan, while those playing in Qatar league are all present.
Guam is arriving to Tehran full of confidence after two wins out of two as they have guaranteed themselves to stay above Iran even in case of a loss. The tiny Pacific island state would have traveled an epic journey to make it to Iran. The squad is expected to arrive in Tehran a full few days before the match.
The selection of several young players has changed the complexion of Team Melli to the extent that many faces will be unfamiliar to the majority of the fans. From the old guard , Ando Teymourian , Montazaei , Dejagah , Hosseini and Khosrow Hedari are still available to add much needed experience to the squad.
The last time Queiroz used the youth team in a friendly against Uzbekistan , the new players performed admirably well and won the match. However , as soon as Queiroz reverted back to the old squad , for the official qualifiers , the team faltered against Turkmenistan and came out with a disappointing draw.
The one admirable move by Queiroz this time round is his dropping of Masoud Shojaei and Karim Ansarifard. Shojaei , for the last few years an Achilles heel of team Melli has faced massive criticism from the media and the fans in the stands for his lackluster displays. But by the sheer fact that he was playing in Europe, albeit either at end of the table teams or lower divisions, he found favors with the Portuguese coach. Finally Queiroz has faced the reality that this particular player has passed his best years.
Ansarifard has suffered similar drop of form but that is mostly attributed to his lack of consistency, changing clubs every season and not settling well with his teams. Ansarifard is still a quality player who is expected to return to form and back in favor with Team Melli after he settles down and maintain a team for a few seasons.
The match in Azadi will be Team Melli’s first home game in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers.
Team Melli players transfer market 2015/16.
The transfer window has opened in most of the leagues round the world and our focus , as usual has been the Team Melli players past and present.
It is safe to say that the movement of the Team Melli players was not exactly an earth shattering activity. Domestically, there has been very few transfers to talk about with most of the Team Melli players renewing their contracts with their current clubs.
In essence, Team Melli players fall in three categories, The Young promising including rising stars, the established players, the twilight zone players.
Young prospects: Most clubs hunt for bargains while pursuing young players. Iran is a big country and find the right talent in the right place is not something that can be considered a routine or easy task. Competition amongst the clubs can be become rough and messy at times each side pulling all the tricks up their sleeves. Players also take full advantage when faced with situation where there are multiple suitors. It is not uncommon to hear that a player has signed for two clubs or more in Iran!
The favorite destination of most of the young players is Esteghlal or Persepolis. The popularity of these two teams and the bi-partisan nature of football in Iran, puts these two teams at an unfair advantage. The two most popular clubs in Iran contribute very little if any in developing or producing young players themselves. However, they are at a vantage point when players, particularly young ones, come to them and consider it an honor to don the jerseys of the big two clubs.
However , now that Persepolis and Esteghlal have been facing dire cash shortage and are technically bankrupt , the attraction of these two teams is dwindling. Young aspiring players are more careful and vigilant although the appeal of these two names is still there.
Unfortunately, this season the number of players in this category is not too pleasing. Most would be staying put in their club like Mehdi Sharifi and Ali Karimi of Sepahan and Mehdi Torabi of Saipa. Ramin Rezaeian is the only one who has joined Persepolis from Rah Ahan , otherwise the lack of promising players is becoming of some concern amongst the coaches and experts.
Established players: most of the Team Melli players in this category have opted to stay with their clubs despite some of the clubs not honoring timely wage payments. The odd ones who made the change include the Captain Ando Teymourian (Tractosazi to Umm Salal (QAT)) , Pejman Montazeri (Umm Salal (QAT) to Al Ahli (QAT)) , Daniel Davari (Grasshoppers to Arminia Bielefeld) , Mohammad Nouri (Persepolis to Al Mesaimer (QAT).
This category is also lacks exciting transfers or prospects of major changes.
The Twilight zone : Unfortunately , a number of current Team Melli squad fall in this category including Teymourian (32 years) whom we gave the benefit of the doubt as he is the Captain of the team. Jalal Hosseini (33 years), the Solid and always present central defender , did not renew his contract with Al Ahali of Qatar but surprisingly he was rejected by his first choice and favorite destination , Persepolis. Eventually he was recruited by Naft Tehran, but there were not many suitors chasing him either.
Masoud Shojaei (31 years), the perennial ever-present midfielder who has been struggling for many seasons with clubs of lower divisions, once again flopped but this time in Qatar not Spain. His team Al Shahaniya was relegated last season and as expected the Qatari’s found him to be a surplus to their requirement this coming season. Shojaei is currently negotiating with Persepolis. It is rumored that he will accept a huge pay cut in order to join the reds with no sign on fees demanded by the player.
So, it looks like 2015/2016 season will start with relative calm in the Team Melli squad, which could be a hidden advantage for Carlos Queiroz if not for the fans or the transfer market.
There are tough roads ahead. Guam , Oman and India will be ready to challenge Iran in the qualifying rounds of the FIFA World Cup 2018. As Team Melli players found out against Turkmenistan , it is not a forgone conclusion to win against such oppositions. Guam , in particular has made a tremendous progress and will be testing Iran, while Oman will always remain a tough nut to crack for Team Melli.
Minimum disturbance of the players may be just what the doctored ordered for Team Melli squad.
Match analysis: What went wrong in Dasgouz?
Being held by minnows such Turkmenistan is not exactly complimentary for a team that has high ambition such as Iran, although it is not a disaster either.
The new look Team Melli that Carlos Queiroz has gathered for the two match series in mid-June 2015 looked quite promising against Uzbekistan. In fact, the team style of play, the pace and the tactics used to beat Uzbekistan was breath of fresh air for the usually dull and defensive style of Queiroz.
But the same team came down to earth in Daşoguz , and it seems like “back to the drawing border” time.
The Portuguese coach was so prophetic when he said a day before the match that we should not look at friendly matches and official matches in the same level. He was so right as if he was expecting his troops to falter in a competitive match where results are quite important unlike friendly matches.
If we have to dissect this forgettable match in Daşoguz, the share of the blame is divided. This weak result by Team Melli is the outcome of several factors. If we start at the top, we have to look at the coach and his team line up first.
The Coach culpabilities
Queiroz started the match with a line up close to the one that exceled in Tashkent 5 days ago. No one can fault him for that and within 4 minutes it looked quite bright as Azmoun looked like he has just opened the floodgate. But poor finishing and some hints of profligacy was evident in the players as they failed to find the net time after time. The performance of one player, in particular, was so disconcerting it was like Iran was playing with 10 men. Shojaei kept losing the ball, losing one to one battles and sending wrong passes one wonders if he was being forced to play against his will. Of course, he was substituted in the second half, but Queiroz is guilty of having this player in the squad in the first place. We would never know if his replacement would have been a better choice, but since Queiroz is gallantly embarking in transforming the team with younger players, why insist on Shojaei?
Since the 1st half saw many scoring chances missed, Queiroz rightly changed tactics and players in the second, however further chances were missed. The team then changed tactics and focused on attacking from the flanks, though only the right flank one was truly functional and the Turkmen coach quickly realized that and altered his defenses accordingly.
The hosts piled up the defenses as they parked the bus while Queiroz and his men had no way to open them up. Finally another tactic was deployed, long range shots. It was a spectacular Ando special but also far too late to change the result. Teymourian rattled the goalkeeper in the 88th minute.
So tactical failure was one reason that Iran failed to beat the much inferior hosts. While it seems that in the absence of some key players, the coach seems to have difficulty to adapt.
One also needs to question Carlos Queiroz mental stability. The coach was involved in a longish pre-match press conference the morning of the match in which he was clearly and visibly upset about many shortcomings and the way the squad was treated. Regardless to whether he had a case or not, Queiroz always had issues with emotions and self-control. He is an angry man by nature. Quick to shoot off his mouth and quick to condemn anything and anyone that he does not fancy. His hyper emotional status, anger and stress in the morning of the match perhaps affected his mental stability. Perhaps such state of mind was contributory in his failure to fully concentrate on the match and arrange the team in a much calmer situation. A man working in anger is certainly much more liable to commit errors than a cool, calm and collected one.
The Players.
It is amazing what 5 days can do in football. The players in Tashkent performed so well even beyond expectations, they were the shadow of themselves in Daşoguz ! We would not know whatever happened in those 5 days to turn a group of exciting, energetic players into lethargic, impassive and unresponsive ones. Only Azmoun really deserves a special mention, not because he scored the goal, but because of his running, perseverance and skill during the whole of the match. Teymourian as a leader was disappointing, Hajsafy in the midfield role was peripheral, Amiri who is one of the most exciting players of the season was calm and mild, Shojaei, a calamity, the back four, quite shaky and alarmingly passive. In goal, Haghighi is far from confident. His positioning while the goal was conceded shows a lack of awareness.
In general, the players had a bad day despite their efforts. It is remain to be seen if there were circumstances behind this off the field or was it one of those dark things about football that no one can answer for certain. How come excellent players perform so badly the next time they play?
Looking at the bigger picture, the most vivid of Team Melli’s players composition is the lack of creative midfield players and strong leaders. A player that can control the midfield and spread the football in a skillful manner. The last one known of such caliber was one Mojtaba Jabbari but he left the team. Such caliber of players are quite unique. Many teams suffer from them too.
The Ground and the atmosphere.
Turkmenistan is an odd country with its ruling clan. Even thousands of miles away and on TV, one feels the pressure and the tension surrounding the stadium. Nowhere in the world have I experienced the whole stadium being orchestrated and controlled like robots such as the fans in Daşoguz. The fans were dressed more like a floral arrangement rather than any ordinary ones wearing their team’s jerseys or whatever they like to wear. They seemed to be controlled remotely by some government agents and told to sit without too much movement. I also have never known of any stadiums in the world that Team Melli played in which had no Iranian fans in it , except for this one. If there were any Iranian fans, and we were told that Azmoun Family was there, the TV would not show it. Perhaps Azmoun Family being Turkmen were given a special treat and entry visa.
Such environment creates pressure on the opposition players and such tactics used by the Turkmen perhaps was effective enough in creating some sense of fear and tension amongst the opposition.
The pitch itself was one of the worst I have seen for ages. It was certainly not the type that a team can play smooth passes and fast football. This type of pitch is good enough for teams that have the route one tactics but a nightmare for the teams that playing a passing game.
Administration and Management.
Carlos Queiroz was very bitter about the way his team was treated while departing Tehran. Being stuck in the coach(the bus) that took the players to the aircraft for 50 minutes, not being allowed to embark the plane , then returned back to the terminal to a hall that had no seat waiting for over three hours forcing the players to sit on the floor, is not exactly the treatment you provide to players who are representing your country. Distinct lack of respect , as Queiroz rightly said.
No matter how much exaggeration was built into that shameful treatment, such things take its toll on players and any human being for that matter. This all stems from the unprofessional, poor management of the football federation which has time and again failed to acts dutifully and professionally.
But the shameless attitude goes well beyond the federation failing to properly organize a charter flight. When a team wins a match, the least that the federation and those in charge could do is to verbally express their appreciation by saying well done to the squad. Even that is not being extended to the players and the coaching staff. Truly pathetic attitude that only serves to dishearten the players and make them think if it is worth the effort.
Conclusion
Whatever the reasons behind this poor performance, the team will bounce back and perhaps even excel. There are always lessons learned in the se circumstances. However , only smart people learn from their mistakes, the others keep failing.
Team Melli downs Chile 2-0
Team Melli Captain Javad Nekounam scored in the first half while the excellent Vahid Amiri added another goal in the second half for Team Melli to register an important morale boosting win against the team that was ranked 4 in the FIFA World Cup 2015 and the host of Copa America 2015.
The friendly match was played in NV Arena in the small town of St. Poulten , Austra in front of a small but voicferious crowd.
The match was split equally in terms of control as Iran was the better team in the first apart from the last 10 minytes of the first half , while Chile was the team which had more ball posession in the second after the introdcution of Alxis Sanchez.
Iran first goal came from on the 21st minute with a perfect corner by Ando Teymourian who found his Captain in a telepathic style , Nekounam perfectly positioned with ample space just had to slot the ball past Oscar Bravo , the Barcelona keeper.
Team Melli was the better team in the first half playing a compact game mixed with pace and energy during offensive moves. Defensive orgnization was perfect with very few balls seriously bothering Haghighi.
Ashkan Dejagah was by far the best player on the pitch giving the Chilean defenders extra headache while providing several glorious balls to his teammates. Shojaei was guilty of wasting 3 certain scoring chances. Dejagah was finding his teammates in space and dribbling past the Chileans with ease even while double-teaming him.
Alireza Haghighi had to make one save in anger during the first half but it was an important one. in the last minute of the half Haghighi denied the Chilean forward Fernandez from scoring when he parried his powerful header from close range for an excellent save.
The First half ended IRAN 1-0 CHILE
In the second , Chile was out to wipe out Iran’s lead and score a few goals ahead of their encounter with Brazil on Sunday. The Introduction of Alexis Sanchez , the Arsenal star player , made a significant difference in the pace and organization of the Chileans.
Despite the initial substantial ball possession , it was Iran that scored from a text book counter attack move when Masoud Shojaei passed the ball to his right , where Ghoochannejad raced past the half back and then sent a diagonal perfectly weighted ball to the on rushing Vahid Amiri for the Naft player to score his first goal for Team Melli and Iran’s second of the game.
After the goal , a period of sustain pressure where Chile players gave it every thing to recover , but failed to score as the highly disciplined back four were more than a match for the powerful and skilful Latin Americans. Sanchez in particular was initiating most of the attacks by Chile and skillfully feeding his teammates but to no avail.
Iran , despite the lack of ball possession in the 2nd half , were still dangerous in the counter attack. Masoud Shojae was unfortunately the weak link and he could only drag his foot around till Queiroz realized he needed to be subbed for a fresh player.
Vahid Amiri and Ashkan Dejagah continued their excellent forms through the 2nd half which saw the introduction of Karim Ansarifard in place of Ghoochannejad.
The Osasuna forward had a nightmare of a match failing to complete any pass while nearly costing his team a goal while back defending a corner.
Chile had their own chances but their finishing was not up to scratch while the Iranian defense was at its best.
Line Up
IRAN: 1 A. Haghighi ; 4 J. Hosseini , 15 P. Montazeri , 19 H. Beikzadeh , 11 V. Ghafouri , 6 J. Nekounam , 7 M. Shojaei (O. Ebrahimi 70′) , 21 A. Dejagah , 14 A. Teymourian , 13 V. Amiri (R. Rezaeian 90′) , 16 R. Ghoochannejhad (K. Ansarifard 74′)
CHILE: 1 C. Bravo ; 18 G. Jara , 5 E. Roco (G. Medel 63′) , 13 J. Cornejo , 27 E. Pulgar (C. Aránguiz 46′) , 11 M. González (C.A. Gutiérrez 46′) , 14 M. Fernández , 19 F. Orellana (A. Sanchez 46′) , 24 J. Fuenzalida ( M. Isla 62′) , 15 R. Millar (D. Pizarro 63′) , 9 E. Vargas
Perfect start for Team Melli in AFC Asian Cup
Team Melli defeated Bahrain 2-0 lead in the first match for the two teams in group C of the Asian cup. The goals scored in the dying seconds of the first half by Eshasan Hajsafi , while Masoud Shojaei made it 2-0 in the 71st minute in the second half..
Carlos Queiroz started with the nucleus of the world Cup team with two exceptions. Morteza Pouralganji and Vouriya Ghafoori were replacing Khosro Heydari and Amir Hossein Sadeghi in the defense line
The Iranian fans in the Melbourne created a wonderful atmosphere turning the Rectangle stadium into what the Australian TV commentator called a “Mini Azadi”. The vociferous fans loud chant was only challenged by a very whistle happy Australian referee whose continuous whistling threatened to spoil what was an intriguing encounter. Both teams started lively sharing possessions without creating any serious scoring chances.
Ashkan Dejagah was by far the most active of Iran’s players on the right flank. He managed to give the Bahrain defense some real work out, however the ex- Fulham player delivery and finishing were quite poor in comparison to his skills and work rate . He missed a glorious chance to give Iran the lead when Hajsafy put him through with a brilliant pass in the box ,
Ashkan only managed to find Bahrain Keeper Seyed Jaffar’s legs instead while he had better options including squaring to unmarked Ghoochannejad,
The game went on with Iran having a strong grip on the match but the end product was lacking despite being the more controlling side.
And then came a brilliant piece of work by Ehsan Haj Safi from a corner kick in the finals seconds of the half. Teymourian’s floating corner kick, was too close to Bahrain Keeper Seyed Jaffar who ball punched it away only to find Hajsafy. The Sepahan midfielder controlled the ball with a perfect touch before he chips a wonderful ball with side footing over a crowd of players in front of the goal into the net. A truly wonderful strike by one of the two best Iran players of the half.
The first half ended 1-0
The second half continued with the rhythm of the first with both teams playing openly. The first real threat came from Bahrain on the stroke of the hour when Alireza Haghighi mad his first save of the match from a powerful strike by Bahrain’s Jessi John , whose ferocious shot was deflected by Iran’s keeper. However , 10 minutes later Haghighi left the crowd ins suspense and anxiety for a few seconds when he collected a ball and then ran into Bahrain’s Fouzi Aaish who dropped on the ground. The referee whistled for a foul, thankfully it was against Bahrain player who protested and was clearly upset at the decision. The replay clearly showed that it was in fact Haghighi who charged into Aayesh. Hs indiscretion and foolish act could have been quite costly except for the mercy of the Aussie referee.
Not long after that incident , Iranian fans were relieved to see Team Melli scoring again. in the 71st minute Masoud Shojaei , whose contribution to the team up to that moment was absolutely minimal , scored from another corner kick. The floating ball was sent to the left corner of the stretched arms of Bahrain keeper to end up in the net. 2-0 for Iran
With the 2 goal margin , Team Melli opted to control the match leaving the Bahraini team to venture forward. Queiroz introduced his new players , with Azmoun , Jahanbakhsh and finally Soroush Rafei coming into the game. Although their contribution were minimal , it gave the team a new look and certainly raised the confidence of the young players.
Despite Bahrain’s gallant attempts , except for one case where Haghighi had to deflect a shot into a corner, Iran defense remained solid and intact. The rookie Pouraliganji was superb in partnering the veteran Hosseini in the middle of the defense, Ghafoori on the right flank was also a revelation while Pooladi was the same solid defender of the World Cup games.
The lack of creativity on the midfield was quite evident. Nekounam and Teymourin doing their routine defensive duties and hardly venturing towards opposition territories. Masoud Shojaei , as poor as always and looked like a lost figure in the midfield simply walking the match off , while leaving the bulk of the offensive load on Hajsafy and Dejagah to feed Team Melli’s lone forward Reza Ghoochannejad who was trapped between 5 Bahrain defenders.
Despite all the preparations problems and many side issues that the team and coach Queiroz had to endure with , this was perfect start for Team Melli . There was the obvious shortcomings but at the end of the day , Iran had the higher quality and experience to finish the match on winning all the 3 points and deservedly so.
Masoud Shojaei scores a rare hat trick.
Doha
Masoud Shojaei , playing for Al Shahaniya in Qatar Star League QSL scored a rare career hat trick to help his team defeat the 10 man Al Sadd and current league leader 3 – 1.
Team Melli winger Shojaei who was unable to find a Spanish club after his last club Las Palmas did not renew his contract following a poor season, eventually ended up in Qatar with the newly promoted team from the second division. Up to Sunday’s match against Al Sadd, Shojaei has managed to score one goal only in 12 matches. He has now 4 goals in total.
Masoud Shojaei has been one of the weaker performers in Team Melli matches. However; despite his lackluster displays , Shojaei has always been favored by Queiroz who has a much higher regards and respect for players who play outside Iran, especially Europe. Shojaei has been booed regularly at Azadi when playing for Team Melli due to his marginal form. His lack of goals in Al Shahaniya has prompted the lowly team to look for an alternative striker from North Africa and Brazil to join the team in the January window. It is not known if this hat trick has changed the AL Shahaniya managements’ mind.
Masoud Shojaei seemed to have a found new lease of life just about the right time for himself and Team Melli with about a month to go for the AFC Asian Cup 2015. Shojaei’s compatriot Mehrdad Pooladi , currently not able to play for Iran , is also playing for the QSL team. Al Shahaniya is still near the bottom of the league and in danger of a quick return to the second division of Qatar league after one season only in top flight. Al Shahaniya has 12 points from 14 matches in the 13th position of the 14 team league.
Mehrdad Pooladi is declared a free agent.
Team Melli left back and ex-Persepolis player, Mehrdad Pooladi has been declared as a free agent.
Pooladi was involved in a long dispute after the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup 2014 with Persepolis. While the players has repeatedly said that he is a “Free Agent” as his contract with the club has expired by the end of last season, Persepolis insisted that Pooladi is contract bound and must report back to duty and training else they will take disciplinary measures against him. In the meantime, Pooladi was seeking a new club.
Although there has been some interest from Europe, Mehrdad Pooladi , who was the best performing Iranian player in the World Cup , failed to conclude any deal in Europe. The next destination was closer to home. Al Shahaniya club of the Qatar Star League promptly showed interest and began verbal negotiation on the knowledge that Pooladi is available. The two sides were close to agreeing terms except that Al Shahaniya demanded a release in form of ITC from Persepolis as a condition for recruiting the Iranian defender.
Persepolis refused to release the player or cooperate with the Qatari club. With time running out to the closing of the transfer windows, Al Shahniya withdrew their offer to Pooladi due to lack of progress and documentations issues and instead the newly promoted team to the QSL , signed Pooladi’s compatriot and Team Melli teammate , Masoud Shojaei.
Pooladi took his case to the Board of Arbitration of the FFIRI. Today the board issued a statement declaring him as Free Agent. The Board also declared that Pooladi’s financial settlement with Persepolis club is still unresolved and not settled. According to the contract, Pooladi is still to receive a substantial payment from the club outstanding from last season.
On a side note, The newly appointed Persepolis coach , Hamid Derakhshan was asked yesterday by a reporter about the whereabouts of Mehrdad Pooladi and the reason for his absence from the team’s training session. Instead of speaking facts and truth, Derakhshan attributed Pooladi’s absence to the problems he has with the Military Service Release Form (…) !