Tag: Mehdi Rahmati

The bitter reality of Iranian football

The poor showing of Iranian clubs in the AFC Champions League has resulted in many criticisms and demands for change.

Masoud Eghbali, a football expert and FIFA instructor, talked to Mehr about the performance of the four Iranian clubs representatives in the AFC Champions League currently being played in Doha, Qatar. He was particularly critical with the appointment of the coaches of these clubs and considered some most of the appointments as irresponsible, amateurish, and indicative of a lack of insight and knowledge.

The format of the competition has been changed due to the COVID19 pandemic, The remaining group matches and next round plus the next round of the AFC west division has been arranged like a mini tournament in Doha,

Iran is represented by Perspolis, Esteghlal, Sepahan, and Shahr Khodro. The latter two teams have been eliminated from the competition however, Persepolis and Esteghlal still stand a slim chance in the final group games.

Eghbali commented: “The appointment of Mehdi Rahmati (Shar Khodro) and Moharram Navidkia (Sepahan) who have no qualification whatsoever as coaches and neither have attended any coaching courses as head coaches of teams that are playing in Asian competition, makes a mockery of football and its principles. It is only natural that these inexperienced coaches will fail and it is clear for even the average football fan to predict their failures against the top clubs in Asia who invest in the best coaches in the world.”

“Our football is facing deep-rooted and fundamental issues. While in the few last decades, Asian football has experienced rapid movement forward, our football has snoozed in the memories of past successes and proudly stood still and even retreated in many cases. We have to accept this reality, even though it is bitter. The bitter truth about our football is that we are years behind the top tier of Asian football. Just look at the facilities of Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan and many other Asian countries and compare it with our football facilities. You will instantly recognize the vast gap in infrastructure and our shortfalls. Korea and Japan have hosted the World Cup in the past, and Qatar is set to host the next World Cup. Look at the stadiums in Iran, we do not even have one such high standard facility in comparison. In terms of investment, it is not possible to catch up with these developed countries. In football management, we are light years behind the Asian competition and that is where it really hurts. Technically, the results of our clubs and national teams is evident as it show that we are not at the top tier of Asian football anymore. We are at best second tier, drifting down to third if drastic measures are not taken to address the shortfalls”

If football in the developed Asian countries stagnates at the standards where it is today and makes no progress, and there is a revolution in our football that progresses and develops rapidly in the fields of structure, technology, facilities, investment, and management, we may require 15 years later to catch up with the top tier Asian countries like to reach Japan, Korea, and Qatar.”

“We still look at football as a ‘game’ while the world sees this sport as a ‘sport, industry, business, economy and politics’. We must change our mentality and mindset with regard to football. As long as our clubs are the playground and backyard of political leaders and they look at it as “a heavy burden in every way”, as long as we do not invest enough in it, as long as we do not become proactive, honest, and dedicated to the sport rather than using it as a tool for political propaganda or personal gains, the status quo will remain and this football will not improve, perhaps even drop further. This current situation means a large distance between us and the top level of Asia and it will be more and more evident day by day.

Honestly, with this situation of our football, there will be hardly any progress and it remains only at the level of a (childish) game and entertainment.”

End of the road for Jalal Hosseini

The Persepolis central defender, a veteran of 108 games for Team Melli and 8 goals will be appearing for the last time against Syria.

Seyyed Jalal Hosseini , who has been a fixed player for his club Persepolis winning the league title last season, has not featured in Carlos Queiroz’s team this year although he was included in the squads for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

At 35 , Jalal Hosseini is obviously not as versatile and quick as he used to be years back. He has formed a strong partnership with Pejman Montazeri in Team Melli for the last few years , but his loss of pace , his temperemnt and certain lack of self-control has reduced his chances of appearing for Team Melli and relegated in the pecking order for defenders by Queiroz.

In essence, Carlos Queiroz is a great believer in youth energy and for the six years he has been at the helm of Team Melli , the Portuguese coach has introduced many new players while he easily dispensed with the service of the most senior member of Team Melli without affecting the overall performances or result of the team. In Hosseini’s case, the performance of his club teammate Mohammad Ansari was quite assuring and hence he seems to be the perfect replacement for the aging Hosseini.

Like Mehdi Rahmati, Hadi Aghili, Andranik Teymourian, Khosrow Heydari, Mohammadreza Khalatbari, Mehrdad Pooladi , AmirHossein Sadeghi, Mojtaba Jabbari , Gholamreza Rezaei , Mohammad Nouri, and Mohammad Nosrati before him, the Persepolis defender is bidding farewell after a fine 10 years career with Team Melli which included participation in the FIFA World Cup 2014 and three AFC Asian Cups 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Solutions for the goalkeeping calamity in Iran.

It is no shame to admit that the recently concluded league season, was one of the worst for the goalkeepers in Iranian teams. Some, like Dariush Esfandiari, even call it a tragedy.

Every single team in the Persian Gulf League suffered goalkeeping headaches, some worse than others. Persepolis lowly rank in the table which is one of its worst in the history is attributed to several factors but it was on the field that the team performed poorly especially at the defense and goalkeepers’ end. Sousha Makani has proven that he is inconsistent, unreliable and a keeper who cannot be trusted when called upon to deliver. On top of those erratic performances Makani is also quite poor in discipline, a player who has created numbers of incidents at the club. He was sacked from the team only to return back after a few kisses. His last match in the league, the Tehran Derby ,  resulted in 3 match suspension for his role in skirmishes at the end of the game.

Rahman Ahmadi

Whether it is fair or otherwise, many experts in Iran attribute Tractorsazi’s failure to win the league and poor performance in the AFC Asian Champions league to their goalkeeper Hamed Lak. Frankly, the keeper was dreadful in many crucial games and definitely cost his team some precious points. Putting all the blame on him is open to debate.

Alireza Biranvand
Alireza Biranvand

Alireza Biranvand, young, so promising and so confident when he came through the ranks, was as another huge disappointment for his side, Naft Tehran. Rahman Ahmadi was the no.1  Keeper for Team Melli after the dismissal of Seyed Mehdi Rahmati , but he soon flopped and lost his place in Team Melli while his repeated mistakes with his club Sepahan relegated him to reserve and the bench. Mohsen Frouzan had a torrid time in Esteghlal goal. Many hailed his arrival with the blues but he has shown little to raise the fans’ trust and confidence.

 Dariush Esfandiari , the goalkeeping coach  of Gostarish concurs to the fact that it was a “disastrous “ season for Iranian goalkeepers. His own team suffered quite badly like the rest. Esfandiari has some interesting thoughts on the reasons behind such failures by Iranian keepers.

“Much of the problem with goalkeepers stems from their demeanor, their personality and what is their mindset.   Goalkeeper need to act professionally and be trained by dedicated experts because they are the last wall of defense. If Keepers concede easy goals, the chances of the team winning would be minimized. No team can challenge for honors without a competent keeper.” Dariush Esfandiari commented.

 “There is obvious weakness at foundations level. Professional trainers need to be available for these keepers. Goalkeeper coaches must not be marginalized and not considered as peripherals in the team. I urge the federation to establish a program for the clubs to increase the level of competency and standards of Goalkeepers coaches in Iran. It is as important to do that at foundations levels, all the way to the seniors. I dare to say that it is even more important at foundations. This program has to be run with the aid of qualified professionals”

“We must utilize this opportunity to correct the situation else Iran will be facing a real disaster in this important post in the near future. This season was the alarm bell, it was loud and clear. The federation and clubs have to act to establish a competence program for goalkeepers. We can send Iranian coaches for specialized Goalkeepers coaching workshops. Turkey is a good place to start as they have some advance set ups there.”

Beitashour,Haghighi R.,Hoisseini,Davari,Nekounam-Sadeghi AH,Mahini,Ghoochannejad, Dejagah, Jahanbakhsh,Shojaei

Queiroz “Possible cancellation of Chile match is a big blow for Team Melli”

The Portuguese coach of Team Melli Carlos Queiroz has returned back to Iran to select and prepare the team for the two high profile friendly matches against Chile and Sweden in two weeks time.

Rumors have been rife in Tehran about the possible cancellation of the Chile match in Austria because of the customary shortage of funds to cover the cost. Queiroz was confronted by the reports on his arrival about his feelings on such possibility. “It will be a big and major blow for Team Melli if this match is canceled and regrettable if there is shortage of funds. We have all been looking forward for this unique opportunity to play two of the finest teams in the world and if the Chile match is canceled it will be a big psychological blow” Queiroz commented.

Queiroz was also asked about the status of several players and he had these to offer.

“Azmoun and Jahanbakhash are members of Team Melli and are definitely required for the two matches in Europe. This is a big opportunity for them. There is no chance that I will not select them for this trip. It is regrettable that this tour coincides with the Omid team qualifying matches , but once again , both will be required and will be with us in the trip to Europe”

“Mohammad Nouri and Mehdi Rahmati are not Team Melli players and will not be part of the squad to Europe. I have no further comments to offer on the subject. Full stop.”

“The list of Team Melli players will be announced soon and will be starting our preparation from Iran before flying to Europe”

 

 

Hadi Aghili bemaons lack of support and sympathy

Sepahan Esfahan defender Hadi Aghili is bitter about the lack of support and absence of any moves to return him back to Team Melli similar to other players.

In an interview with ISNA , Aghili said “there has been a strong lobby to return Rahmati to Team Melli for the World Cup. Similarly , when a player like Payam Sadeghian is not selected , lots of people are upset, demanding his inclusion while questioning the coach’s decision. On the other hand, I have no such lobby and no one has publicly or privately called for  the return of Hadi Aghili to Team Melli.”

“I have played my role for my country and I am always proud to serve my nation. Perhaps I made a mistake , or maybe I did not , but regardless of all that , It is prudent to recognize my long services for Team Melli. Certain players from certain clubs have immense lobbying power, we don’t have that power in Sepahan. If I was a player in a club with 20 million supporter , things might have been different.”

Hadi Aghili left the camp of Team Melli without permission in what looked like a protest against being benched for a match. The move which has greatly upset Queiroz , resulted from him being permanently excluded from selection to the team , as long as Queiroz is the coach.

Hadi Aghili never came up to properly apologize to the federation or the coach for his misdemeanor and lack of respect for the team spirit and coach.