Tag: Osasuna

Nekounam back in Osasuna after 2 years absence.

 Two years ago, Javad Nekounam left Osasuna to Esteghlal Tehran after he refused to accept a substantial pay cut mandated by the Chief Executive of the club. Osasuna , which was playing in the La Liga was struggling financially and Nekounam was one of their highest paid players. Getting rid of him seemed to be a logical financial move for the club , but far from a sound decision tactically.

Today , Javad Nekounam has returned back to his old favorite place , but the Pamplona club is no more a La liga club. Last season and after a very tough run , the club was relegated , and now it is in the second division.

The Bosses of Osasuna introduced Nekounam to about 500 cheering Osasuna fans in Pamplona. Javad immediately got to work and started his first training session preparing for the imminent start of the Segunda Liga of Spain.

Before his departure from Iran, after returning from World Cup duty, Javad Nekounam created a major controversy when he embarked on a verbal war and spoke highly critically about Amir Ghalenoei , his coach in Esteghlal with his alleged faults. Nekounam did not chew his words either accusing the coach , who was also the coach of Team Melli when Nekounam was a member of the team in Asian Cup 2007 , of being ignorant about football coaching.

For the record, Amir Ghalenoei is the highest decorated Iranian coach in league history winning 4 titles with Esteghlal and Sepahan. His record with Team Melli is also one of the best officially losing one friendly match only. Not a bad achievement for a coach who ignorant about football coaching according to Nekounam.

The accusations against Ghalenoei made public by Nekounam , promoted Esteghlal club and Ghalenoei himself to seek justice and file a slander case against the Captain of Team Melli in the courts.

Meanwhile, it seems that the talks between a Greek club and Masoud Shojaei has broken down. Shojaei is a free player since he was released by Las Palmas at the end of last season and still seeking a club in Europe. It very much looks like the East for Shojaei, either back home to Iran or one of the Persian Gulf countries’ leagues.

Ezzatollahei on track to join La Liga Champions Atlético Madrid

In a surprise , but not totally unexpected move, Saeed Ezzaatollahei , the young Malavan player who has dazzled the crowds in his short career , has announced that he accepting the La Liga champions  Atlético Madrid’s offer and signing for them.

The player’s father Nader Ezzaatollahei said his son , after studying the 3 offers on hand, opted for the Spanish Champions, the other two coming from Russian club Rubin Kazan and the Portuguese Sporting Lisbon. “Saeed will be joining Atlético Madrid’s U-21 team and he will be flying to Madrid soon” the Senior Ezzaatollahei said.”We would like to express our gratitude to all the people who made this move possible and a special thanks goes to Malavan Bandar Anzali’s CEO, Sirous Mahjoob.”

The 17 years old Saeed Ezzaatollahei, will play for the La Liga champions U-21 team in the league.  Spain has a strong U21 league that has produced many world-class players who became household names at senior levels. The details of the contract was not disclosed.

Not surprisingly , after the disappointing results of the World Cup 2014, where none of the Team Melli players managed to attract the interest of the European teams, the burden is on the  17 years old youngster to represent Iran’s in Europe albeit in the lower leagues at a time when the Iranian stars failed to impress. Only two other Iranians have played in the La Liga , Nekounam with Osasuna and Shojaei with Osasuna and Las Palmas. Nekounam is strongly linked with a return to Osasuna again , playing in the second division next season after their eventual relegation last season.

 

 

 

 

Nekounam , one step from Osasuna.

Pamplona – Javad Nekounam. Is on the brink of another return to Osasuna, the relegated club from Pamplona , according to the Spanish website Noticias de Navarra

Nekounam has expressed his desire to play for the Spanish club once again. However, it was following the resignation of Miguel Archanco when he made the final decision and pulled the plugs on the talks. And to remember that it was the president who foiled the first attempt for the return of Iran’s Captain in the winter of two seasons ago.

The midfielder started his first spell at Osasuna in 2006 from Sharjah club of UAE. He wore the elastic Red shirt for six seasons playing 157 games and scoring 26 goals. Six years sufficed him to become one of the idols of the crowds  stands of the Sadar with many memorable performances in League, Cup and, above all, in the continental journey of the Reds with Aguirre and Ziganda.

Still fresh in the memory of the osasunismo  (Osasuna fans) that headed goal he scored against Bordeaux in the agonizing extra time that resulted in the qualification of Osasuna for the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup in 2007.

Due to difficult circumstances, Nekounam left Osasuna in the summer of 2012, when the new policy of austerity measures began in the club , with the priority to relieve the club of top paid players. Nekounam ended up in Esteghlal team, one of the Iranian football elite teams , but was loaned to Al Kuwait for the last season.
At 34 ( Born 07/09/1980) the player continues to be Consolidated defensive midfielder in his club and Iran national team, where while serving as leader with another ex Osasuna player, Masoud Shojaei. Masoud will not be continuing in Las Palmas and despite some rumors linking him back with Osasuna, he will play away from Spain.

Singnificantly , it was Nekounam’s good performance at the last World Cup,  that has caused the rekindled interest. That performance is one of the reasons that encouraged the Management Board to accept the return of the Iranian. Talks have been taking place in recent weeks with the Professional Football League (LFP), which has to inform Osasuna if they are allowed to sign new players . The approval is required , due to poor balance sheet of the Pamplona club and their financial struggles for the last few years. It is more than probable that Nekounam signing will be announced tomorrow before traveling to England to start a training camp and playing friendly matches.

Despite his departure, Javad Nekounam has never lost its link with Osasuna. The midfielder maintains continuous contact with several members of the club, both players and employees, and has closely followed the course of events that have happened in the whole of late.

But these events have not lowered the slightest desire to return to Neko wear red. Quite the contrary. The Iranian international has offers on the table from top clubs in his native country, but his desire and his immediate wish is to be with his family back to Pamplona and he is willing to take a significant pay cut to achieve that.

 

translated from Spanish

Nekounam has abundance of responsibility for Iran

(Reuters) – Playmaker, captain, penalty taker and free-kick specialist, Iran midfielder Javad Nekounam has an abundance of responsibility as Team Melli prepare for their fourth World Cup appearance.

The 33-year-old, though, has a wealth of experience to draw on having made more than 130 appearances for the three-times Asian champions since making his debut 14 years ago.

His abilities have not faltered with age as his six goals in the Asian qualifiers proved, with Iran topping their groups in both the third and fourth rounds to reach Brazil.

Composed on the ball with a strong passing game, Nekounam is the fulcrum of the Iranian team in his number six shirt and anchors the midfield from where he instigates swift counter-attacks.

He played in Iran’s opening two World Cup matches in Germany 2006 and although the team left without a win – following group defeats by Mexico and Portugal and a draw with Angola – he impressed enough to earn a contract with La Liga side Osasuna.

His transfer made him the first Iranian to play in Spain’s top flight where he spent six years scoring over 20 goals in close to 150 appearances.

His spell in Spain ended in 2012 and he returned home to Iran with Esteghlal, helping them to the Pro League title and the semi-finals of the Asian (AFC) Champions League.

His performances resulted in him being shortlisted for the AFC Player of the Year award but he missed out to China’s Zheng Zhi for the title.

He moved away from Esteghlal at the start of the year to join Kuwait SC where he has continued to add to his goal tally, albeit it at a weaker level.

With Iran drawn against Argentina, one of the tournament favorites in Group F, Nekounam will need to be at his best anchoring the defensive effort alongside Andranik Teymourian against a likely barrage of attacks.

He should get more of a chance to show his attacking threat in the opening match of their Brazilian campaign against Nigeria in Curitiba on June 16.

They then face Argentina, before facing Bosnia in their Group F finale with any hope of the team adding to their sole victory in the finals against old political foes the United States in 1998 resting on a strong showing from their skipper.

 

Nekounam on his way out of Esteghlal

The Captain of Team Melli has finally decided to leave his Club Esteghlal.

In a statement to ISNA news agency ,  Nekounam said that negotiations between Ghalenoei and Fatthollazadeh regarding his demands and future in the club was fruitless and he was lead to believe that Esteghlal does not want him at the club as he may leave anytime he wishes.

“When Pejman Montazeri has made it known of his intention to leave Esteghal, the club including Ghalenoei did all they can to persuade him to stay ” Nekounam added” However , it was not the way they acted in my case as they simply said that I can leave if I wish!”

the 33 years old Javad Nokounam who joined the popular Esteghlal club in 2012 , was bitter about this treatment by the club and the coach and hence he declared his intention that he will be leaving. Nekounam who played for Osasuna in the La Liga for 5 successful seasons, said that he has offers from Qatari and Chinese clubs on the table.

The apathy and disinterest shown by the club towards Nekounam is due to the public demand by Nekounam for the club to respect the terms of contracts with the players especially when it comes to payments of wages. That did not endear him to the club. Esteghlal , notorious for late payment of wages ,

had problems with virtually all of their players , however , it was the minority and the stronger character players who dared to

challenge the club management openly. The more vociferous of them like Nekounam went public in hope of forcing the club to pay up.

On the playing field, Nekounam was far from his best with the club as his form has dipped and was hardly instrumental or effective in the league as expected by Ghaleneoi. This form , or perhaps the lack of real interest shown by Nekounam while playing for Esteghlal, has dampened the enthusiasm of the very demanding Amir Ghalenoei , who has little sympathy with players who show contempt or lack of form on or off the field. Ghalenoei never shied away from confronting even the most famous or popular players when ever he

What is clear now, is that Nekounam is finally on his way out of Estghalal after a turbulent and difficult time in Tehran.

 

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