Tag: Mehrdad Mohammadi

Players rating vs Jordan.

The match against Jordan, despite a 3-1 win, was far from convincing and has resulted in criticism from the media and ex-players. Ghaenoei’s players played ugly yet won against a weak and tactically naive team in Jordan.

Here are the players’ ratings:

1 –Alireza Beiranvand: confident and assured, although he has hardly put to the test thanks to the misfiring Jordanian players. He could not do much about the goal conceded as his defenders made a blunder out of a simple clearance. [7.6]


3-Ehsan Hajisafi: Worked hard and covered well when needed. However, he has lost some of his pace and agility. He was caught off-guard several times. [6.5]
23 Ramin Rezaeian: His fine work on the right flank resulted in Iran’s first goal, however, he was also a savior when he blocked a certain goalbound ball by a Jordanian forward preventing a goal. The shortfall was how easily the Jordainain dribbled past him [7.6]
4 Shojaa Khalilzadeh: Another defender who is short of pace and agility. It is undeniable that this defender gives it 100% on the pitch, but younger more agile, and stronger forwards can easily pass him. One did, in this match, but Shojaa used trickery to hold on to him and for this, he got a yellow card. [6.3]
13 Hossein Kananizadegan: He was guilty of the goal conceded along with Ezaatolahi who could not deal with a simple clearance. He got another yellow card after being dribbled by the Jordanian midfielder and resorting to shirt-pulling to prevent an attack. Not as steady and confident as seen before. Overall an acceptable but below-par performance. [6.1]


21 Ahmad Noorollahi: Hardly showed up in this match and hardly supported the front line. Whatever is holding up Noorollahi must be addressed by the coaching staff [5]
6 Saeid Ezzatolahi: by far the poorest of all the players on the pitch. He has hardly contributed to any of the goals and was lost in the midfield. He stumbled on the ball and clashed with Kananizadegan in the box to give away the goal. This is not the first time that Ezzatolahi has played such poorly The enigma is how is this player maintaining his place in the starting lineup with such poor performances. [3.5]
19 Mohammad Mohebi: Disappointing performance from a promising player. He had no contribution in any of the three goals scored and generally lacked enthusiasm and drive [5.5]

9 Mehdi Taremi: Scored and provided an assist. One cannot ask for more than that from a player of his caliber, however, he could have contributed more and scored at least one more goal. [7.9]
20 Sardar Azmoun: Scored a beautiful opener with a side foot-half volley. His one-on-one in the second half, where a player of his standard should have easily scored, was a black mark. Much better finishing and control were expected from him in that missed opportunity. [7.8]
7 Alireza Jahanbakhsh: Another player who was disappointing and a point of concern for the team. There are considerable expectations from Jahanabakhsh in the AFC Asian Cup, but so far this year, he has been a shadow of himself. Lack of confidence, hesitancy, inability to create chances for the forwards, and many more shortfalls marred his game against Jordan. Another player that needs to be analyzed and coached. [4.5]

Substitutes

Rouzbeh Cheshmi: Replaced Noorollahi in the second half and managed to slightly improve the center, but Jordan was having the best of time leaving Cheshmi to be confined. Provided a beautiful assist to Mehrdad Mohammadi for Iran’s third goal. [7.3]


Saman Ghoddos: Replaced Azmoun on minute 67′. A classy player and possibly the only one in the midfield with vision and finesse. However, His contribution was overshadowed by the Jordanian forcefully pressing Iran to look for goals. He was confined to defensive duties. [6.5]

Mehrdad Mohammadi: came in to replace the dysfunctional Jahanbakhsh. He scored with a beautiful chip in the dying minutes of the match despite lacking support from the midfield [7.8]

Morteza Pouraliganji: Not rated


Coach: Amir Ghalenoei: If the former Esteghlal and Sepahan coach looks to repeat his success at the club level, he needs to be much more aggressive in many areas. He also needs to be more adventurous. Must ensure the team plays as a group and must work on improving the defense and Midfield as they could be the source of Team Melli’s failure. His substitutions were fine and yielded results. Faced with an aging squad, Ghalenoei needs a major tactical adjustment.

Positive vibes of Marc Wilmots.

Marc Wilmots has crossed out the names of a few players in the new Team Melli list for the matches against Cambodia and Bahrain.

The significance of the omitted names goes beyond of numbers but it strengthens the belief in the Team Melli squad and the old mentality that a player has a place in the squad for life. Carlos Queiroz had a list that lasted for as long as he can. He trusted this group and had no regards to their current form in their leagues of the fact that other options are available. Queiroz zone of comfort was with his list of favourite players that he trusted.

Marc Wilmots is quickly showing that this mentality will not prevail in the new atmosphere of team Melli and its selection process. Every player needs to prove his worth. There is no place for just names. Players losing a form or being sidelined by their clubs will go down the pecking order. This is, in fact, the real methods of players selection that are practised across the globe with a few exceptions.

Wilmots called up two new figures in Mohammad Mohebbi and Morteza Mansouri to emphasize the message that players in excellent form in the domestic league and those whose performances merit selection for Team Melli will indeed be noticed and called upon.

 

On the other hand, a household name like Alireza Jahanbakhsh who assisted a goal against Hong Kong has no place in the squad, despite being a permanent fixture of Team Melli for over 7 years now. The current form of the player, rather than his fame will determine selection an in Jahanbakhsh’s case he has been a poor performer at club level.

 

 

Here’s a look at some of the players invited.

New Callouts:

Payam Niazmand

Rashid Mazaheri

Rashid Mazaheri (Tractorsazi) and Payam Niazmand (Sepahan): Both the goalkeepers in the list have been in the previous squads with Nazmand still to make a debut for Team Melli. Both have kept clean sheets since the start of the league competition and the position in the table of Sepahan and Tractorszai is an indication of the team success which both keepers respectively have played a major part in. hence they deservedly replaced  Seyed Hossein Hosseini and Amir Abedzadeh. Although Beiranvand is still the number guardian of Team Melli goal, his recent mixed form with Persepolis and his suspect temperament can easily outset him from the secure No. 1 choice in the pecking order. In any case, Wilmots have good and competent replacements if needed be.

It is hardly likely that Beiravand will be tested in the next two matches, with Bahrain being a more serious test.

Morteza Mansouri

Morteza Mansouri: The most prominent player invited to the camp is the 29-year-old Sepahan defender, who is in Team Melli squad for the first time and has been favoured over Esteghlal Club Captain Vouria Ghafoori. After an excellent season last year with Shar Khodr culminating in qualifying the club for the AFC Asian Champions League for the first time in their history, Mansouri moved on to Sepahan.

The tenacious defender came to the forefront of the defensive backs of Sepahan and immediately became a fixed player for AMir Ghalenoei. Sepahan’s clean sheet and continued excellent performance have made him a natural choice for selection to Team Melli.  However, he is still behind Ramin Rezaian, who plays for a lowly club in Qatar almost every week and has managed to score a few goals too.

 

Mohammad Mohebbi

Mohammed Mohebbi: Mohebbi has played for several Team Melli age level and is no stranger to the tri-colour jersey. His goal against Persepolis, however, instantly boosted his value and worth as a quality Midfield player amongst the fans. Mohebbi joined Sepahan this season with the persistence of Amir Ghalenoei who needed a competent player to fill the role of the departed Mehrdad Mohammadi. Mohebi not only was able to fulfil the role well but he exceeded expectations by helping Sepahan reach the top of the league. Mohebbi is vying for the role of Jahanbakhsh after the Brighton player was dropped due to poor form.

Mehrdad Mohammadi

Mehrdad Mohammadi: An Iranian legionnaire who recently moved from Sepahan to Portuguese football club Aves. Mehrdad has managed to score some impressive goals for his team in the last few months becoming a major player in Portugal league. Mehrdad joins his twin brother Milad in the squad for the first time. Mohammadi continued where he left off as his form with Sepahan put him high in the ranking as one of the best forwards in the Persian Gulf League. Although Mehrdad has been named in the squad several times, he has not made his official debut yet. However, in the training camp that Wilmots and the coaching staff arranged for domestic players, Mohammadi scored the only goal for Team, Melli that was facing Omid team under Majidi.

 

Mehdi Tarami:  Taremi’s absence from the previous match vs. Hong Kong was purely based on his fitness. He was injured and needed some time away to recover. After a brilliant performance in Portugal and fully recovering, Taremi is a sure bet to not only be in the starting line-up but also high odds of scoring against Cambodia and Bahrain.

Dropped  players :

Sayed Hossein Hosseini and Amir Abedzadeh: Two goalkeepers who were part of the last squad that played against Hong Kong, but were on the bench. Hosseini has not managed to keep a clean sheet all season and his team is lying in the bottom half of the table.

 Abedzadeh, who was the number goalkeeper for his team last season, has been relegated to the bench this season. It is clear that those two have lost form and subsequently, the selectors had other option thy picked instead of these two.

Varia Ghafouri: The captain of Esteghlal, who has been a member of almost every national squad except the World Cup, has lost his place in Team Melli. Ghafoori is a victim of his team’s poor performance in the league this season. Estghlal is a shadow of last year’s team and has been suffering defensively, hence both Ghafoori and goalkeeper Hosseinin lost their places. , Ramin Rezaian his usual rival in the lineup has been having a good season so far.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh: Perhaps the biggest omission but not entirely unexpected either. The English club Brighton midfielder has been less than satisfactory since his move from the Dutch League. He has not settled in and despite some factors that have curtailed Jahanbakhshs true potential, at this professional level clubs have little time to waste on recovery. Jahanbakhsh is a bench player now and in danger of being relegated to lower team. Wilmots had no choice except to leave him out with so many other good options available to him.

 Mehdi Torabi: This one is perhaps the more surprising of the lot. The Persepolis midfielder who plays behind Vahid Amiri this season has failed to impress Wilmots. Unlike Jahanbakhsh, Torabi is having an average to a good season but he is not at his best and that is the result of the turmoil in Persepolis. The reds are not doing too well in the league and changes in personnel and coaches have increased the pressure on the players. In Torabi’s place, Wilmots has several options like the recently called out Mohammed Mohebbi and Mehrdad Mohammadi.

Allahyar Sayyidmanesh: The youngest Team Melli scorer after being part of the two friendly games of Wilmot’s reign has been replaced by the much experienced  Mehdi Taremi in the camp. After his move to Istanbulspor on loan, Sayyadmanesh continues to be a bench player. If that situation continues, the young striker would need some long years before he can be picked again for Team Melli

Overall, none of the absent players is considered critical for Team Melli. Wilmots is spoilt for riches and will confidently use players with an eye of introducing the newer joiners for future.

 

Mehdi Taremi scores a hat trick in Portugal.

Team Melli top scorer, Mehdi Taremi has just scored a hat trick for his club Rio Ave in a 5 – 1 thrashing of Desportivo Aves.  The Iranian forward who has transferred from Qatari club Al Gharaffa at the beginning of the current season made a dream debut in the Portuguese league for his club  Rio Ave scoring in the  9′, 21′, and 51′ to be the first-ever Iranian to score a Hat Trick in a European league.

Taremi played for 75 minutes for his club against the team that has Mehrdad Mohammadi in its line up.

Team Melli and Omid football team met today in Azadi Stadium at 18:30 in a friendly match. The match ended in a one-on-one draw.

Mehrdad Mohammadi scored in the 13th minute for the Team Melli while Abolfazl Razzaghpour scored for the Omid team in the 65th minute.

Team Melli played in Red under Marc Wilmots and Farhad Majidi’s Omid Team played in white outfits.

 First half

In the 11th minute and on the first serious attack, Mehrdad Mohammadi scored the opening goal of the match after a smart move from the right side followed by a neat strike.

After the goal, the match was balanced without much serious threats on either goals.

19th minute, Alireza Arta, who had penetrated into Team Melli half attempted a shot but it ended just over the bar of Rashid Mazaheri goal.

22nd minute, the game was paused by a rough tackle by Aref Gholami on Shahriar Moghanlou. For a few minutes, the doctors treated him and the player eventually continued to play without difficulty. Following the brief pause, the technical game and technical movements of the Team Melli players for the next period was countered by some rough tackling from Omid Team players !.

29th minute, Mehrdad Mohammadi could have scored the second but his powerful long-range shot was a whisker away.

40th minute, Mohammad Moslemipour missed a good chance to score the equalizer

The first half of the game ended 1-0 in favour of Wilemots players.

second half

in the second half, a complete new Team Melli showed up. Farhad Majidi also substituted several players, including Reza Jabeirah for Ghaedi, Mohammad Amin Asadi, for Azadi and Mohammad KhodabandehLo, for Babaei.

In the second half, most of the Team Melli’s attacks came from the right-hand side, and a Peyman Ranjbari was initiating most of the attacks.

50th minute, another goal-scoring chance was missed for Team Melli.

63rd minute, a mistake in Omid defence by Taha Shariati and quick move of Saeed Vasei’s, who robbed the ball and sent it to Peyman Ranjbari, but the striker could not reach it and missed a golden chance.

66th minute, misunderstanding in Team Melli defence between Mohammad Mohebi and Ahmad Gowhari, resulted in a goal. Quick thinking Abolfazl Razzaghpour took the Opportunity to score Omid Team’s equalizer from an acute angle.

67th minute, Mohammad Naderi shoots from the corner to the right of Team Melli’s penalty area, but his ball missed the target.

73rd minute, Ali Karimi’s nice cross was met by Peyman Ranjbari who headed powerfully, Nima Mirzazad saved well for a corner.

80th minute: the injury to Peyman Ranjbari, Shahriar Moghanlou returned back to the pitch.

87th minute, another chance missed by Team Melli, Omid defence sending the ball to a corner at last gasp.

The match did not have any yellow or red cards, but there were the occasional rough tackles that derived to punished by a card.

TEAM MELLI

First half: Rashid Mazaheri, Mohammad Hossein Moradmand, Siavash Yazdani, Daniel Esmaeilifar, Saeed Aghaei, Reza Asadi, Amir Hossein Karimi, Mehrdad Mohammadi, Mohammad Karimi, Arash Rezavand and Shahriar Moghanlou.

Second half: Ahmad Gowhari (Mehdi Amini, 67), Peyman Ranjbari, Mohammad Mohebbi, Ali Karimi, Imani Salimi, Saeed Vasei, Mohammad Ansari, Mehdi Shiri, Majid Alyari, Mohammad Naderi, Ahmad Abdollahzadeh.

Omid Team:

Me’araj Esmaeli (Nima Mirzadeh 45), Alireza Arta (Mohammad Aghajanpour 34), Aref Gholami, Taha Shariati, Muslimpour (Abolfazl Razzaghpour 45), Ismail Babaei (Mohammad Khodabandelo 45), Mehdi Mehdikhani (Reza Karimi 34) (Reza Shekari 45), Seyyed Mohammad Khorram Hosseini, Mehdi Ghaedi (Reza Jabeireh 45), Amir Roustaei (Amir Hossein Hosseinzadeh 34) and Mohammad Reza Azadi (Mohammad Amin Asadi 45).

Mehrdad Mohammadi signs for Portuguese club CD Aves

Mehrdad Mohammadi, the 25 years old Sepahan midfielder has reached an agreement with the Portuguese side Clube Desportivo Aves to play for 3 seasons starting from 2019/20 season.

Mohammadi, whose twin brother Milad plays for Russian side Akhmat Grozny, has been enjoying an exceptional season with Sepahan , playing 29 matches and scoring 6 goals. The team under Amir Ghalenoei challenged Persepolis for the title until all the way to the end of the Persian Gulf League, eventually ending as Runner up.

CD Aves , is a small club in Portugal established in 1930. They won promotion to the top division of the Portuguese league in 2017/18 season when they finished runners up in the Iranian forward Segunda Liga. They achieved the same in season 2005/06. The pinnacle of CD Aves achievements is winning the Cup (Taça de Portugal) last season 2017/18.  The coach of CD Aves is the veteran Portuguese coach Augusto Inácio who has coached Foolad Khuzestan in 2007/08 and before joining CD Aves he was in Egypt as head coach of Zamalek.

CD Aves is currently uncomfortably laying in the 14th position in the Primeira liga with 36 points and 2 matches to go. The club is still not safe from relegation as the team in 16th place, Chaves has one match in hand with 32 points.

Vila das Aves is an industrial town and civil parish (freguesia) in northern Portugal with a population of less than 10,000 people. It is about 350 km north of capital Lisbon and 70 km from the Spanish boarder.

Iran opens Rio Olympics 2016 qualifiers with victory.

Iran Omid team started the AFC Asian U-23 Championship 2016 on the right track by defeating Syria 2-0 in Doha, Qatar.

In the match that was played on Tuesday at Al Sadd stadium, which finished goalless in the first half, Amir Arsalan Motahari opened the scoring in the 63rd minute with a fine individual goal , while Mehrdad Mohammadi (71 minutes)  made it 2-0 with an excellent finish beating the Syrian keeper with a shot on the far end of his right.

Omid’s team performance, however, was from convincing. With 5 Team Melli players and along preparation including several camps and tournaments, the expectation from this team was much higher against a team that lacked preparation coming from a country which is war ravaged.

Knowing their limitation, It was clear that Syria was in the match for damage limitation. Their piling of the defense , sometimes as much as 8 players on two layers in front of their keepers, was meant to not to concede any goals and then hit Iran on the break. Iran’s Omid team midfield was far superior than the opposition and controlled the match at will, however, tension, lack of confidence and some poor passing spoiled any chance of Omid team translating this supremacy into goals that they deserved.

Failure to set up a string of 3 or more passes marred Iran Omid’s team game despite the poor standard of the opposition.

The second half goal scored by Motahari , beautifully slicing through the Syrian defense before hitting the keeper with a close range shot, augmented the team confidence. The passes started to flow much efficiently between the players. Mehdi Torabi was magnificent on the left flank majestically controlling , dribbling and with his burst of speed, passing the Syrians with ease.

It was only a matter of time before the second goal and more would be coming. Mehrdad Mohammadi was at the end of a beautiful diagonal pass from Karimi The Rah Ahan midfielder switched legs , control ed the ball and sent a powerful unstoppable shot to the far right end of Syrian keeper.

Iran could have easily scored another two in the last 15 minutes, but combination of complacency and poor concentration prevented a rout of the uninspiring Syrian team.

Despite the win, and the boost in the confidence, the teamwork needs much improvement against the much stronger next opposition; host Qatar on Friday. For the team to have a genuine chance of qualifying from this group, much work is needed. There was some fine individual performances by Omid Team  players, especially Mehdi Torabi, Mehrdad Mohammadi and Amir Arsalan Motahari, however , Khakpour has much work left to convert these talented players into a force to be reckoned with.

Omid team to meet Syria in the finals of WAFF U23 championship.

Iran U23 team (Omid) defeated Yemen 2-1 in the semi-finals of the first WAFF U23 Championship in Doha today. Iran goals were scored by Mehrdad Mohammadi in the 10th minute and Mohammad Daneshgar in th 48th.

Yemen pulled a goal back in the 52nd minute and missed a penalty kick on the 88th minute.

The match in the hot and humid conditions of Doha was a lively affair as both teams looked for an early lead to put pressure on the opponent. Iran was more organized in the middle of the field and played at a reasonable controlled pace to save energy. Yemen on the other hand , were more active and determined to use their pace to beat the less agile Iranian defenders. The Yemeni offensive continued through the half winning 5 corner but all to no avail. Iran goal came after the Yemeni keeper fumbled a ball for Mohammadi to slot in an easy goal. The first half finished 1-0

The second half was a repeat of the first with Iran controlling the preceding and managing to score early through Mohammad Daneshgar’s powerful header, however that goal was quickly answered by Yemen left back who found himself in acres of space following a free kick slotting the ball easily  past Akhbari in Iran’s goal.

With Yemen desperate to score the equalizer, the Iranian found  lots of space round the pitch. Some fine work and exchanges between the Iranian players soon turned into a supremacy by Omid team. The match was virtually played in one half of the field in the second half, with Iranian players displaying their skills and fine individual control. But as the case with most of the Omid team matches, their finishing was poor,  inacurate  and the shoots at goal all ending easily in the hands of Yemen Keeper who was hardly troubled by the Iranian shooters.

The profligacy of Omid players nearly cost the team dearly, as the players witnessed to their horror,  how the referee called a penalty that never was. Not only the ball never hit Danshgar anywhere near his hand, it was clear from all angles of replay that the Iranian defender cleverly intercepted the ball by his leg just around the knee area well off his arm and hand. nevertheless , the referee called it a penalty despite the vehement protest of the Iranian players.

Justice was done when the spot kick ended up hitting the underside of the bar then bouncing out of Akhbari’s goal line.

Iran will meet Syria in the final.