Tag: Omid Team

Analysis of Reza Enayati’s Tenure in Iranian Football

Failure stories.

Last year, Iran’s Omid football team faced a significant setback when they were eliminated from the Asian Olympic football competition qualifiers after a surprising defeat against Hong Kong. This loss dashed their hopes of advancing to the next stage of the Olympic qualifiers. The team’s head coach, Reza Enayati, was a controversial choice due to his lack of coaching experience. His appointment came with the backing of several officials, including Team Melli’s head coach, Amir Ghalenoei. Unfortunately, Enayati’s inexperience was glaringly evident both in his squad selection and his management during the qualifiers. Despite having a roster filled with promising young talents, some of whom were already part of Iran’s senior team, Enayati’s tactical shortcomings led to the team’s early exit against a modest Hong Kong side.

The aftermath of this failure was met with widespread disappointment from both the media and fans, who demanded accountability from the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI). However, no significant actions were taken, and the pervasive impunity in Iranian football continued unabated. Surprisingly, despite this major setback, Enayati was soon appointed as the head coach of Peykan Football Club, one of Tehran’s oldest and most prestigious teams. This decision was perplexing, especially given Peykan’s history of developing young players for Iran’s national teams at various levels.

Enayati’s tenure at Peykan proved to be another disastrous chapter in his coaching career. Under his leadership, the team suffered relegation from the Premier League following a 0-2 defeat against Esteghlal in the final week of the season. This relegation marked a significant blow, as Peykan had been a mainstay in the top flight for many years. Tehran’s football scene also took a hit, losing one of its Premier League representatives.

Given these consecutive failures, it raises questions about whether any CEO would be willing to entrust Enayati with a team for the next season. However, it appears that those who supported Enayati’s appointment despite his failure with the Omid team may once again find a new opportunity for him.

Enayati’s situation is emblematic of broader issues within Iranian football, including incompetency, corruption, and nepotism. The rapid progression of former players to coaching roles without adequate training, certification, or experience is a troubling trend. Coaches like Nekounam, Shojaei, and Navidkia are examples of individuals who have been given significant coaching responsibilities without meeting international standards. In contrast, European leagues often require formal coaching certifications and a thorough vetting process before appointments, a practice largely ignored in Iran.

This lack of process and disregard for international coaching standards not only hampers the development of Iranian football but also undermines its credibility on the global stage. For Iranian football to progress, there needs to be a significant overhaul in how coaches are trained, certified, and appointed, ensuring that competence and meritocracy replace the current culture of favoritism and expediency.

Iran 0-1 Hong Kong: Omid eliminated from the Asian Games!

In perhaps one of the most shocking results of Iran’s football in the modern era, Iran’s Omid Teanm (U23) was defeated by lowly Hong Kong by a solitary goal in the quarter-finals of the Asian Games 2022 Guanzhou.

Although the previous performances against its opposition in the earlier rounds of the competition were nothing to rave about, it was clear from the last match against Thailand, that Omid has a mountain to climb to reach the finals or even be on the podium of medals. Very few, however, thought that Omid would crumble against Hong Kong! This defeat against Hong Kong Was shocking.

In a match that saw Iranian domination, the Omid failed to score any goals mostly due to individualism, insistence on dribbling, profligation, lack of team play, and most obviously poor to non-existent guidance from the bench.

Hong Kong is a third or fourth-tier Asian team. In the FIFA World Ranking, it is  #145, and in the AFC Ranking: #25. Compared to Iran, which in the FIFA World Ranking, is #21 and in the AFC Ranking: #2. That tells you a whole lot of things before even the two teams start kicking the ball.

Hong Kong, however, under a professional Head coach:  Jorn Andersen . The Norwegian coached in the Bundesliga. The underdog managed to outsmart the Omid Team in a clever and organized manner. Anderson knew the limitations of his team and his players, but most importantly, he read the hands of the Iranian team and the various weaknesses of the players who are no more than 11 individuals each playing for his own glory. Teamwork in Omid was lacking and never reached the class and professionalism of modern football that is required to achieve success.

All the Hong Kong players needed to do was stay compact, even to defend with 11 players, be destroyers to the weak and disjointed Iran’s side midfield, and play on the counter-attack. The Far Easterns did their job to perfection and won the game against all the odds with a solitary but well-taken goal worthy of winning any match.

The few Iranian balls that reached Hong Kong’s goal, were competently dealt with by the goalkeeper Pong Cheuk Heib. It was also the misfiring Arsalan Mottahari who spoiled it for Iran, who could have scored two goals by headers but did the impossible by heading the ball right up over the bar while it was much easier to head it the net from a few feet.

Overall, the Omid team performance was once again marred by poor individualism by players raised in a football culture that religiously believes in dribbling as a must before thinking of any other move. The mental agility was weak, when to pass or when to take the football on a run, was seriously flawed in this match. The pace of the players was wanting.

Despite all that, it is proven once again that an amateur coach like Enayati is not the solution for Omid Team which has always been handicapped in Iran’s football. Which other country in the world would you know that pulls three of its best player from the national team in an important tournament, to play for their club?

Nevertheless, the defeat, shocking as it is, has a saving grace, To meet the might, discipline, organization, and sheer power of the South Korea U23 team, could have been several folds more embarrassing in the semi-finals.

Iran U23 4-0 Afghanistan U23

Iran’s Omid team clinched a second victory in the AFC Asian Cup U23 qualifiers with a 4-0 defeat of Afghanistan in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Iran is temporarily at the top of the group, but the host Uzbekistan. playing Hong Kong at the time of writing this report, will most probably clinch the top spot with a win as their goal difference is superior to Iran’s.

It took a long time before Omid Team opened the scoring against the stubborn Afghan team which was defeated 8-1 in their last match. In the 29th minute, Mohammad Ghorbani scored Iran’s first goal with a header. In the 38th minute, Hosseinnejad’s cross and Hossein Goudarzi’s header registered the second goal of the match with a powerful header. The first half ended 1-1.

In the 59th minute, Iran’s third goal was scored with a header again, by Allahyar Sayadmanesh. In the 74th minute, Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad’s shot from behind the penalty area and beautifully placed the ball in the far corner of Afghanistan’s goal to make it 4-0. It was the goal of the match.

Despite the easy win, Omid team looked far from comfortable as there were lots of chaotic moves, miscoordination, erroneous passes, and some selfish play, notably from the Captain of the team. Allahyar Sayyadmanesh.

Facing Uzbekistan in its third match will be far from easy. A defeat might very well knock the Omid team out of the competition and with it the hope of qualifying for the Olympics for the first time in 44 years. Only a win can ensure the U23 qualify for the finals in Qatar next year and a chance for the Olympics. A draw might also be good enough depending on the results of the other groups.

Enayati, needs to motivate his players and do much-needed hard-talking encouraging them to refrain from the showmanship and much better teamwork.

Omid team starts the long march against Hong Kong.

Iran’s Omid Team (U23) and also the Olympic team is embarking on a long journey for qualification to the Olympics Games Paris 2024 with a game against Hong Kong.

This match is in the qualification rounds for AFC U23 Championship in which the top 4 teams qualifies for the Olympics. Host Uzbekistan will be the most serious opponent of this group that includes Afghanistan as well.

Under a relatively inexperienced coach, Reza Enayat’s Omid Team is hoping once again to break the long tradition of failures to qualify for the Olympics since 1980. These failures occur even with the availability of quality players under this age bracket. Many Omid teams had Team Melli players, but still failed to qualify with the team falling at different hurdles.

Reza Enyati, the former Team Melli striker, will hardly set the football world alight with his resume and experience in coaching. His short career started in 2019 with Qashqaei and then in the same season, Havadar before moving on to Naft Masjed Soleiman, all teams at the lower end of the tables or in lower tier of football in Iran.

Yet, Enayati, a demanding character, has managed some respectable results with the team so far. He will undoubtedly have a hard and testing times against better. more prepared and organized teams not to mention much experience coaches. It is remains to be seen if Enyati can stand up to the challenge by boosting his players and cover technical and tactical deficiencies by utilizing individual skills and solid defense the team is well capable of.

In toddy’s match , Reza Enayati, the starting lineup against Hong Kong as follows: Mohammad Reza Khaledabadi, Saman Touranian, Hossein Goudarzi, Amin Hizbavi, Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad, Yasin Salmani, Aria Yousefi, Amir Jafari, Mohammad Ghorbani, Mehdi Hashminejad, Mohammad Reza Bardbar.

The match starts at 15:30 ,(Iran Time) at Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent. This meeting will be held in the first stage of the Olympic qualifiers.

Pourdara will be realaesed for Omid Team

The Omid Team forward, Ali Pourdara who is playing for Al Kuwait club and has scored a goal and provided an assist in his last league match, is said to be joining the Omid Team in Tashkent.

Al Kuwait club, which values the Iranian player highly, agreed for their forward to join the Omid team but later than usual. In essence, Pourdara will be missing the training camp and will head straight to the Uzbek capital without joining his teammates in Tehran.

Another legionnaire that has been released is Al Sadd club, central defender Amin Hizbavi who also scored a very neat header and his team’s first goal against Al Arabi in a 4-2 thriller this week in the Qatar Star Legue match.

The third legionnaire, Sayyadmanish is yet to confirm his arrival.

Iran is in group E of the qualifier and will play its first match on 6 September 2023.

GROUP E
1 Uzbekistan (H)
2 Iran
3 Hong Kong
4 Afghanistan

Omid team announced

The list of Omid football team preparing for participation in the Olympic qualifiers was announced. Head coach Reza Enayati and his coaching staff selected these players for the training camp starting Thursday.

The list includes:

Sina Saidifar, Sina Ghasemi, Ali Asghar Sadeghi, Saman Turanian, Mohammad Reza Khaledabadi, Amin Hizbavi, Ali Pourdara, Allahyar Sayadmanesh, Mohammad Ghorbani, Aria Yousefi, Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad, Payam Parsa, Saman Fallah, Amir Jafari, Mohammad Reza Bardbar, Aria Barzgar, Taha Tabatabai, Mohammad Hossein Eslami, Hossein Guderzi, Alireza Bavieh, Mehdi Ahmadi, Yassin Salmani and Daniyal Iri

Team Omid’s camp will start at noon Thursday at Evin Parsian Hotel in Tehran, Amongst the invitees, there will be two absentees Amin Hizbavi playing in Al Sadd in Qatar, and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh who plays in the English Championship.

It is not clear if their respective clubs will release the players for this competition. Iran failed to qualify for the Olympics since 1980 (43 years back).

WAFF U23 2023

Omid team to meet host Iraq in the final of WAFF U23 Cup.

Omid Team (Iran U23) defeated Jordan in a penalty shootout to book a place in the final match against host Iraq.

The match was a dour affair with neither of the teams impressing in a match that only saw two serious attempts at scoring. The extra time was not played as usual as after the goalless draw the match went directly to penalty Shootouts which ended 4-3 in favor of Iran.

Reza Enayati, the head coach of the Omid team said: “As of now, our celebration and joy period happiness is over and we are only thinking about the final.” said in the press conference after the win against Jordan and advancing to the finals of the West Asian Under-23 Championship ” Jordan is a good team and we had a tough game. I have to thank the players of the team who showed zeal and were able to achieve this result.”

He continued:” Now the joy of winning in the semi-final is over and we should only think about the final. It doesn’t matter to us whether the opponent is Iraq or Oman. We strive for success. In response to a question about the physical pressure on the team’s players at the end of the second half, Enayati said: This was predictable because we play every other day. Of course, our players managed the game well in the second half. He added: ” We went through difficult training conditions. We had to practice in Karbala from 5 to 6 o’clock, which caused a lot of physical pressure. In the matter of recovery, there was also a problem of compression of matches.”

Iran Omid Team led by the brilliant Yasin Salmani, is looking to take back the trophy last won by an Iranian team 14 years ago in Amman.

Host Iraq narrowly defeated Oman 1-0 to set up the final on Tuesday in Karbala at 21:30 local time.

Omid team defeats Syria in WAFF U23 championship.

Iran’s Omid football team defeated Syria 3-1 in its first match in the under-23 West Asia tournament played in Karbala Stadium (Karbala), Iraq.

Yasin Salmani (9 and 45) and Ahmad Shariatzadeh (15) scored Iran’s goals. Also, Mohammad Al-Asoud (45) scored the only goal for the Syrians

The Syrians embark on a tough physical and at times violent game in the final minutes of the match. This issue caused tension between the players of the two teams as well as the bench with Omid coach Reza Enayati clashing with his Syrian counterpart. This was Enayati’s first experience at the international level which he has no experience before as a coach. It was a sweet victory for the rookie coach and a firm step in the tournament. Iran Omids Team is counting on a good performance in preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The 4th WAFF U23 tournament is held in Iraq and has 3 groups. It was first held in Qatar in 2015, Iran was absent.

Group A features UAE, Jordan, and Iraq

Group B features: Syria, Palestine, and Iran

Group C features: Yemen, Oman, and Lebanon

Iran’s Omid team will play Palestine on Friday at 19:45 local.

Draw for AFC U23 Championship held.

Kuala Lumpur: The draw for the AFC U23 Asian Cup™ Qatar 2024 Qualifiers was finalized at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday.
The hopefuls were divided into 11 groups – 10 groups of four teams each, with the last group containing three. Qatar, meanwhile, will play in the Qualifiers for exposure with their matches classified as friendlies.
To be played from September 4 to 12 this year, Group A of the Qualifiers will have hosts Jordan, Syria, Oman, and Brunei Darussalam vying for the sole automatic ticket to the Finals.
Group B will see 2020 champions Korea Republic (H), Myanmar, Kyrgyz Republic, and Qatar contesting with Vietnam (H), Singapore, Yemen, and Guam in the Group C cast.
Japan, the 2016 champions, are the top seeds in Group D with Bahrain (H), Palestine, and Pakistan as their challengers while 2018 champions Uzbekistan (H), Iran, Hong Kong, China and Afghanistan were drawn in Group E.
Group F will see 2013 winners Iraq, Kuwait (H), Timor-Leste and Macau doing battle with United Arab Emirates, India, Maldives, and hosts China PR the Group G teams.

#AFCU23 | Moments

Hosts Thailand lead Group H with Malaysia, Bangladesh, and the Philippines also aiming for a place in the Finals while Group I will see Australia, Tajikistan (H), Laos, and DPR Korea locking horns.
Defending champions Saudi Arabia (H), Cambodia, Lebanon, and Mongolia were drawn in Group J while the three-team Group K will be a tussle between Turkmenistan, Indonesia (H), and Chinese Taipei.
The AFC U23 Asian Cup™ Qatar 2024 Finals are scheduled for April 15 to May 3, 2024.

Iran’s request for hosting Olympics qualifiers turned down.

The Asian Football Confederation AFC announced on Friday that the final stage of the AFC U23 Championship which is also the 2024 Paris Olympic football qualifiers, will be hosted by Qatar. \

The decision was taken by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Competition Committee in its fifth meeting held today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In this way, Qatar, which will host the FIFA World Cup 2022 in November, will then host the Asian U23 Competition. In addition to Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan also applied to host the tournament, but these requests were rejected in favor of Qatar. Iran’s Omid football team is currently non-existent. After the departure of Mehdi Mahdavikia, the situation of the head coach of this team is uncertain. With Mehdi Taj taking office in the football federation, Mahdavikia left and as yet there is no news about the team’s status or its coach.

While all the other teams are in training, Iran’s Omid team ( Hope team) is hopeless and technically speaking, is disbanded. The Iranian Olympic Committee has once again that this team will qualify for the Paris Olympic Games, a claim that has been regularly heard for the last 44 years.