Tag: Omid Team

Final list of Omid Team Players.

Official list of 23 player of Iran’s U23 team for the AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers

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Omid Team prepare for Kuwait match.

Iran’s Omid team continue the training camp ahead of Thursday’s match against Kuwait Olympic Team ( U23) in Kuwait.

 in an interview with Mehr News sport correspondence Mohammad Khakpour , the head coach of Iran’s Omid team (U23)  declared that his team is in a desperate need of full support in order to achieve the aspiration of the football federation and Iranian fans.

“Qualifying for the Olympics needs the cooperation of everyone involved in Iran’s football. Without the full support and with reservations and objections on our requests, I do not think we can achieve such aspiration.” Khakpour said while preparing the team in Kuwait ahead of a friendly match against its Kuwaiti counterpart.

On the status of the camp, Khakpour said “This is our last stage of preparation before the qualifying matches begins. The camp is going fine although we do suffer from the absence of several good players like Moradmand and Cheshmi due to Visa issue reasons (!!).  We have also invited Azmoun and Jahanbakhash but nether of their clubs released them as they are not obliged to under FIFA rules.”

When quizzed by the reporter what is the reason for players’ Visa problem, which should be a routine procedure for any team travelling abroad, Khapour said he was not aware of the procedures and the measures taken by the responsible personnel in the FFIRI to obtain visas. “Both Cheshmi and Mordmand were in the list , but negligence of the staff resulted in their name not being sent to the Kuwait embassy. Abdollahzadeh’s name has always been in the list, and I am thankful that he eventually got the entry Visa at the last minute at the airport.”

Khakpour categorically denied that he had any meeting with Queiroz after Team Melli head coach returned back to Tehran a few days ago.  “The last time I saw Queiroz was about a month and a half ago when Kashani and myself inadvertently bumped into him in the FFIRI offices. At that time he said to us that he cannot release Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh for Omid Team and also mentioned that he himself was not sure of continuing with Team Melli !” Khakpour added. “ We had no meetings with Queiroz since neither was there one arranged since then.”

Asked if his insistence of having these two players and the public commotion that he and Kashani have created would not negatively affect the other team players morale, the head coach of Omid Team defended his stand and said. “At this age level, I do not believe there is a great difference in players’ standards; the only difference is international exposure. I have not made a big deal of the issue of Azmooun and Jahanbakhsh but as the head coach, it was my duty to do whatever I can to secure their services.”

 

Omid team’s Abdollahzadeh is deported due to management blunder!

A blunder created by Habib Kashani and Mohammad Khakpour , forced Omid Team player Ahmad Abdollahzadeh to be deported from Kuwait after the player arrived in Kuwait without a visa!

Omid Team Coach Khakpour listed Abdollahzadeh in the squad list that was sent to the Kuwaiti authorities for issue in the visa, however , he requested the name of Abdollahzadeh to be dropped due to injury. Subsequently Ahmad Abdollahzadeh was not issued a visa. Somewhere along the line and a few days before the departure of the squad , Khakpour changed his mind and included Abdollahzadeh in the squad.

Without being prudent nor considering the consequences of a person travelling to a foreign country without a visa, Abdollahzadeh boarded the plane along with other members of the squad with the approval of Habib Kashani. Omid Team manager concurred with Khakpour’s decision and vowed to sort out Abdollahzadeh’s nonexistence of a visa on arrival at Kuwait airport!

As expected, Abdollahzadeh was denied entering into Kuwait without a visa and all the hype by Kashani , who thought that by haggling and dealing , he can manage to slip someone in a foreign country without a visa, has miserably failed. The team was left waiting for hours awaiting conclusion of the problem created by Kashani and Khakpour. Eventually , the team was allowed to leave to the hotel while Abdollahzadeh was stuck at Kuwait airport for hours awaiting a flight back to Iran as he was eventually deported.

This is yet another blunder that seems to typify the management of football in Iran. Kashani’s farce promise that he can confidently sort out a player who does not carry a valid visa is archetypical of managers who have unrealistic expectations and at times clueless about the laws and regulations.

ahmad-abdollahzadeh

For years, Omid team in particular has been the object of so many managerial errors but nothing worse than the last edition when a suspended player was used against Iraq in the qualifying rounds of the London Olympics in the Omid team win in Iraq. The result was over-turned into a loss and subsequently Omid team lost the home game as well and was eliminated. .

The names might have changed but the problems of Omid Team incompetent managers remains the same.

Omid Team is setting up a training camp in Kuwait where two games was originally scheduled to be played. However, one game was cancelled as the Omid team will be playing against its Kuwaiti counterpart on Thursday 12th March 2015.

 

Barazay “Kranjcar is the perfect coach for Omid Team”

The Captain of Team Melli U-23 , known as the Omid Team , has spoken to ISNA about the aspirations and the prospects of the team.

Behnam Barazay , the current Rah Ahan player and the Captain of the U23 team , believes in strong preparation games ” unless we play against quality teams for our friendly games to get the big experience , I am afraid we will not be able to qualify for the Olympic Games.”

The young striker , is also confident that the Croat coach Zlatko Kranjcar is the best candidate for the Omid team ” He has coached at different levels, his record is quite good , he coached in Iran and his approach is professional. I believe he is the perfect coach for Omid Team.”

“Although many players prefer to work with Iranian coaches, and I am one of those players , as communication is easier , however a coach in the class of Kranjcar can make a big difference.” Barazay added.

Regarding the recent failures specifically in the Asian Games in Incheon, Barazay said ” The players were under tremendous stress after the Asian Games. In the Qatar camp , quite a lot of work was done on the psychological aspect but fear of losing still causes a lot of stress.”

About his own future career and whether he will follow his teammates Alireza Jahanbaksh and Sardar Azamoun in to Europe,  Barazay Did not want to think about that for the time being although he received an offer from an Arab team. ” All my concentration right now is on the form of my team Rah Ahan. I have  not succeeded in gaining the full confidence of Hamid Estili yet. My goal is to do that. I need to get it right here in Iran before thinking about abroad and becoming a legionnaires”

The situation with the appointment of Kranjcar took another weird twist when it was decided that a committee within the football federation will have to examine the Croat coach resume and give its seal of approval before the coach can be appointed. This development cam up aright after Ali Kaffashian and Habib Kashani confirmed the appointment of the ex-Sepahan Esfahan coach as the head coach of the Omid Team. Many observers are suspecting some interference by the Ministry of Sport who always claims that they have no role in appointing coaches for National Team , but in reality they exert pressure on the FFIRI and Kaffashian to pass their own candidates.

 

Behnam Barazay

Behnam Barazay

Zlatko Kranjcar on the brink of signing for Omid Team

Jafar Kashani , the Manager of Iran’s Omid team (Olympics) has announced that his federation and Zlatko Kranjcar are on the brink of signing a contract for the appointment of the Croat , formerly Persepolis and Sepahan coach , as the head coach of Iran’s Olympic team.

“I am very confident that it is a matter of days for the final contract to be signed. From my side, I am fully satisfied with the outcome of the negotiation and quite pleased by the way that Kranjcar has negotiated the contract with us. He is a professional man, with high degree of integrity and values. He is not the opportunist type who negotiates even the minutest of detail regarding money or payments. Kranjcar has declared that if he fails to take Iran to the Olympics, he will resign his job with expecting any compensation or severance pay.”

Kranjcar watch Omid Team in Qatar alongside Kashani

Kashani and Kranjcar met in Doha where the Omid team is setting camp. Kashani concluded that “as far as I am concerned it is a done deal; however, I am not the only person in the federation. The process needs to go through the right channels before it is finalized, sealed and delivered.”

Kashani refused to disclose the financial deal but said it is not very far from what Vingada was getting. The proposed contract will be for 21 months until the Rio Olympics.

 

“Omid Team “, translated into English  means “Hope Team”. It refers to the Olympic or the U23 team.