Tag: Sadegh Moharrami

Marginal win for Team Melli vs Bolivia

Iran’s Team Melli defeated Bolivia 2-1 at Azadi this evening. The game was the second in a series of matches that Queiroz have arranged in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup 2019

The first half ended 1-0 to Iran from a goal scored by Alireza Jahanbakhsh in the 17th minute.  Bolivia tied the match from a fantastic volley by Rudy Cardoso on the 51st minute.  Mehdi Torabi then scored the winner on the 63rd minute. His second in as many games for Team Melli.

The starting line up of Team Melli was a pleasant surprise as Queiroz sent an offensive team with one recognized defensive midfielder in Omid Ebrahimi. At front, the full force of Team Melli in the shape of Azmoun, Taremi and Jahanbakhsh  while the midfield was orchestrated by Saman Ghoddos who rarely starts for Team Melli despite enjoying g a highly successful season in the French League.

Queiroz attempt at offensive game plan came in front of a relatively weak team from Latin America. Despite much better possession  percentage and more shots on goal , Team Melli players were going through the same old problems that has marred their game for many years, poor finish and poor last ball. Jahanbakhsh , Azmoun and Taremi wasted many chances due to weak control or inaccurate shots.

The two prominent players in this half were Saman Ghoddos and Sadegh Moharrami.

The defense line up was lacking the presence of injured Morteza Pouraliganji and was quite short of experience.  It is obvious that Queiroz needs a lot of work to mend this fragile defense line. Biranvand, once again showed his weak side and unreliable goaltending when his suspect positioning resulted in the Bolivia goal.

Despite the fatigue by Bolivian Team, they managed to contain the Iranian offensives easily. Team Melli players did not help themselves with their own poor finishing, inaccurate passes, and wasted final balls.

Overall, this match against a team that has no relation to the style and type of football that is going to be played in the Asian Cup, did not give confidence to the fans that Iran is really able to mount a serious challenge for the title. Queiroz, who is by now becoming so unpredictable in whatever he does, realizes more than  anyone what an uphill battle is ahead especially when the likes of Japan , Australia and Korea are preparing against stronger teams and achieving good results.

The two lines that have disappointed the most were the forwards and the defense. Taremi does not have the quality to perform at the highest level and there is very little that Queiroz can do about that. However, the better tactical and skilful duo , Jahanbakhsh and Azmoun were both lethargic like despite the former scoring the lucky goal.

With two remain matches before the Asian Cup, Queiroz will have more opportunity to experiment before opting to filed an offensive minded team in UAE or revert back to his comfort zone of defense.

 

AFC U-19 Championship MD3: Myanmar 0-2 Iran

Yangon: Host nation Myanmar edged into the AFC U-19 Championship quarter-finals as Group A runners-up despite losing 2-0 to already eliminated Iran at Thuwunna Youth Training Centre Stadium on Monday, qualifying courtesy of a better goal difference than Yemen who lost 3-2 to Thailand in the other Group A clash played in Nay Pyi Taw.

Iran rang the changes, making five alterations to the line-up that were eliminated in the 1-0 loss to Yemen on Saturday, and it was the introduction of two of these new faces, Yousef Seyyedi and Sadegh Moharrami, that were key as they netted the goals for the West Asians on the 55th and 82nd minutes.

And although the home side looking nervously northwards towards Nay Pyi Taw, they were able to scrape into the knockout stage by the narrowest of margins with a one goal superior goal difference over Yemen.

“We are happy for our qualification but an easier opponent than Iran will not come,” said Myanmar’s coach Gerd Zeise.

“Our goalkeeper was our man of the match, he was very safe, very good, without him we would have been in trouble.
“On the right hand side we had some problems but who should I substitute? There is no one this is our disease, we have 11 good front line players then it is difficult, very difficult.”

Myanmar attacked from the start and in a manner that was full of energy but occasionally lacked control as displayed when Than Paing took the ball from the sideline and beat two Iran defenders for pace but let the ball get away from him, making it easy for goalkeeper Payam Niazmand to collect.

Iran finished the half strong, though, with a number of opportunities to open the scoring, and on the 36th minute Hossein Mehraban was left alone, unmarked, just outside the penalty area but could only hit the ball high over the crossbar under pressure from Myanmar defenders.

Early in the second half Ali Gholizadeh forced a fine 53rd minute save at the near post from Myanmar’s Myo Min Latt and from the resulting corner the custodian once again intervened to give Nanda Kyaw a chance to clear the ball off the line.

But the danger was only momentarily abated as the ball was played back into the box and Seyyedi finished clinically to put Iran into the lead five minutes before the hour-mark.

The game picked up its tempo from then on, though, and a header from Than Paing from a corner forced Niazmand into sound stop but the next attempted set-piece resulted in an Iran counter that saw Mehraban force yet another accomplished save from Myo Min Latt.

But Myanmar’s hopes of a comeback were quashed eight mintues from time, when the ball bounced free from a melee in the box and towards Moharrami who hit the ball low and hard across Myo Min Latt. The keeper got a glove to the ball but was only able to force it on to the inside of the post to give Iran their second.

Myanmar were then forced to endure a nervy final ten minutes with the news of Thailand’s spectacular comeback against Yemen filtering in, with the significance of the scoreline in Nay Pyi Taw meaning that conceding a third would have resulted in the hosts facing the possibility of elimination from the tournament.

To the relief of the players and their massed ranks of fans, though, they were able to hold out and will now face the winners from Group B on Friday; that opponent to be determined in Tuesday’s matchups.

“I was sure we could qualify with nine points, but it wasn’t to be,” said Iran coach Ali Doustimehr.

“I believe Myanmar have the coach, the players and the tactics to reach the semi-finals.”