Tag: Sardar Azmoun

Mehdi Taremi claims top scorer title while Porto loses the league title to Benfica.

Team Melli and FC Porto forward, Mehdi Taremi claimed his first top-scorer title in one of the top Europe leagues to become the third Iranian after Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Sardar Azmoun winning such accolades in the Eredivisie and Russuan premiere leagues respectively. Taremi ended the season 2022/23 with 22 goals, 3 more than second-place Goncalco Ramos of Benfica.

Meanwhile, FC Porto have failed in their defense of the Primeira Liga title after Benfica’s home win versus Santa Clara secured the championship, this Saturday, despite the Dragons’ 3-0 triumph at home to Vitória.

Sérgio Conceição’s men were in need of a huge favor from bottom-of-the-table Santa Clara in order to leapfrog Benfica at the top of the table, as Vitória came to town.

Porto held up their end of the bargain with a 3-0 victory, complete with goals from Mehdi Taremi, Otávio, and Evanilson, but an equally-proficient night in front of goal for the Eagles meant the Blue & Whites were kept at bay, trailing top-spot by two points on the final day of the season.

Conceição pulled up no surprises with his XI at the Estádio do Dragão, filled to the brim with hopefuls roaring their team on to a potential back-to-back conquest of the Primeira Liga title. Things began to look very favorable for the Northern giants after their regional heavyweights Vitória found themselves reduced to ten men just two minutes in, following Tomás Händel’s red card for a poor challenge on Matheus Uribe.

Just five minutes later, an incredible run on the counter from Pepê enabled the Brazilian to set Taremi up for the opener, with the Iranian requiring little more than a side-foot toward the goal to break the deadlock.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, the Eagles had also taken the lead via Gonçalo Ramos before doubling their advantage through Rafa Silva, just as Otávio’s strike across goal landed a second blow to Vitória in the 32nd minute.

In the 39th minute, Evanilson made it 3-0 with a classy finish on the half-volley, adding comfort to the scoreline before the half-time interval.

For the second half, the protagonists were the same but the intensity wasn’t quite at the levels demonstrated in the first period, with Vitória holding back Porto’s waning forcefulness and appetite.

The Primeira Liga’s top scorer Taremi neared a brace in the 67th minute with a chipped attempt on Bruno Varela, stopped by the ex-Benfica man before Ibrahima Bamba’s risqué clearance off the line, using his shoulder.

Porto left it a 3-0 – a score matched by Benfica at the Estádio da Luz – as the Dragons bowed out to a second-placed finish behind their bitter rivals, lifting the title for the first time in four years.

 

MEHDI TAREMI SCORING RECORD IN PORTUGAL

 

Season Team Comp Minutes played Appearances Lineups Substitute in Substitute out Substitutes on bench Goal Yellow card Yellow 2nd/RC Red card
2022/2023 Porto PRL 2636 33 31 2 22 2 22 7 0 0
2021/2022 Porto PRL 2434 32 27 5 13 5 20 4 1 0
2020/2021 Porto PRL 2226 34 26 8 20 8 16 1 0 1
2019/2020 Rio Ave PRL 2352 30 26 4 11 4 18 2 0 1

The plight of Team Melli players in Europe

The spiral dive of Iranian footballers’ fortunes have continued since the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup 2022.

It is safe to say that apart from Mehdi Taremi, in one match against England, none of the Team Melli players displayed any meaningful football or quality in the World Cup to attract interest from European clubs, or even regional Persian Gulf leagues. As if this was bad with no buyers turning up for the Iranian stars, most of the Team Melli players (on the edge or above 30 years old) even household names are struggling in their clubs too,

Perhaps the most noticeable fall from grace and drop in form has to be that of Sardar Azmoun. The days when the central forward of Team Melli was in Russia playing for Zenit, were perhaps the greatest achievement of any Iranian player in history. Not only Azmoun won several titles with the St. Petersburg club, he also achieved the title of top scorer in the Russian league to become only the second Iranian footballer to do so after Alireza Jahanbakhsh in the Netherlands Eredivisie.

Then came that dreadful transfer to the Bundesliga.

No doubt, the injury to Sardar was a great setback at the time when he needed to prove himself at Bayer Leverkusen, however, even after full recovery, Azmoun was far from convincing and lacked the quality to earn himself a place in the starting line up for a middle of the table Bundesliga club. Now, Leverkusen is thinking of cutting their losses by loaning him to other clubs.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh is another player whose winning the top scorer title was a bad omen. His time with Brighton in the Premiere league was best to be forgotten. On his return to the Eredivisie with Feyenoord this time, it was hoped that Jahanbaksh will rediscover himself and find the quality that abandoned him in England. It was not to be as Jahanbakhs steady decline and poor showing made him a semi-permanent bench warmer. Jahanbakhsh never utilized the occasional playing time he was afforded to prove himself. It is safe to say that he will be on the unwanted list of Feyenoord by the end of the season, barring a miracle, that is.

in Charleroi, Ali Gholizadeh was a lively and important player. The winger had enough quality to force the Belgian club to renew his contract for another three years, however, the jinx of drop in form hit Gholizadeh too, this time in Belgium. Recently, it seems that the winger of Team Melli has been facing domestic problems complicating the matter even further.

Royal Charleroi will face the Union team in the framework of the 23rd week of the Belgian league. Charleroi’s 20-man squad was announced for this match, while the name of Iranian winger Ali Gholizadeh was once again missing from the list. In last week’s game against Club Brugge, Gholizadeh was left out by head coach Felice Mazo’s, and this happened for the second week in a row. The Belgium website ‘le Soir claimed that Ali Gholizadeh’s mind is somewhere else and this Iranian player is getting closer and closer to the exit door of the club.

Saman Ghoddos continues to be a fringe player in the Premier League with Brentford, with cameo appearances every now and then. Saeed Ezatollahi plays in the second division of the Danish league, which even the local media hardly covers. Ehsan Hajsafi and Milad Mohammadi play in AEK Athens, The latter has seen action in 10 of the 19 league e matches his club played only six as a starter while Hajsafi fared much better with 12 matches starting and 1 substitute out of 19.

Majid Hosseni’s club Kayserispor is currently ranked 8th in the Turkish Süper Lig. With the domestic league at halfway stage, Hossini has featured in 15 out of 19 matches, displaying acceptable form in most of the matches. He is one of the few successful Iranian players in Europe.

The onus on Mehdi Taremi  to continue being the flag bearer of Iranian footballers. Although far from perfect, Taremi continues displaying quality and scoring valuable goals for his club. He is the only Team Melli player who is making headlines in Europe.

Iran vs Wales: Player Ratings

The players rating against Wales in which Team Melli achieved a convincing win 2-0 scored by the two unlikeliest players.

  • Rouzbeh Cheshmi : Substituted in with 12 minutes remaining of the match. His major contribution was the goal he scored from about 30 meters in added time. Not only it gave Iran a deserved lead but boosted the morale so effectively that the second came soon after his goal. 8.0
  • Mehdi Taremi: He was overshadowed by Sardar Azmoun, yet his moves disturbed the Welsh defense. Slow in transition and missed a few good opportunities to create possession for his teammates. Provided the assist for the second goal to Rezaeian 7.60
  • Sardar Azmoun : His presense was immensly felt in the team. Always willing to run and tackle while doing defensive. duties Provided the pass to Gholozadeh to score the disallowed goal after VAR review. Hit the post too. His contribution was helpful to the team but the injury was worrying. 8.10
  • Ali Karimi: Came in as a late sub without contributing much in the few minutes.6.20
  • Mehdi Torabi : As a sub, he had limited time on the field but a good attempt to open the scoring deserves a good rating. 7.3
  •  Karim Ansarifard: A sub for Azmoun with limited time and contribution to the game 6.6

  • Ali Gholizadeh : Was one o the better player on the field. He was slightly offside when he received Azmoun’s ball to score. His dribbling and ball control was a breath of fresh air. 7.95
  • Ramin Rezaeian: Started the match badly with some wayward crossing that irritated the forwards. Slowly he came on well and started gelling with the rest. Defensive work. His delightful dink to score the second was all class. Got himself booked unnecessarily for useless protesting 7.85
  • Alireza Jahanbakhsh: A bench player for this match who came in with 12 minutes to play. Not only he had no effective contribution, but he also got another yellow card and is hence suspended for the next match against the USA. 6.00
  • Ehsan Hajisafi: Solid defensively and hardly put a foot wrong. It seems that he is not a 90 minutes player and more but for the time he was on the field, he was reliable and did a good job 7.80
  • Saeid Ezatolahi: A much better performance than the last match yet still missing some vital skills in his play. Defensive work from the midfield was fine when combining well with other players 7.45
  • Majid Hosseini: More confident and less error-prone. He combined with Pouralganji to create a solid wall in front of Hosseini preventing the Welsh penetration from the heat of the defense. 7.70
  • Ahamad Noorollahi: Lacks the speed and agility for fast transitions however, he played his role well and prevented the Welsh from taking hold of the midfield areas. 7.70
  • Hossein Hosseini: Was not really threatened by the Welsh player thanks to a solid defense. His Aerial work was fine and had no problem catching most of the crosses aimed toward his goal. Kept a clean sheet. 7.78
  • Milad Mohammadi: Had a calm day and did not need to exert lots of pressure on defensive duties. His incursion into the Welsh half on the wing was limited. 7.78
  • Morteza Pouraliganji : Did a fine job in combination with Majid Hosseini despite the lack of playing together for many years. 7.75
  • Carlos Queiroz: Must be credited for the changes he made in the starting lineup including playing with two center forwards, Taremi and Azmoun. On the other hand, there was no sign of a definitive game plan for ball distribution from the midfielders as he opted for route one football, balls directly sent from the back directly to the two forwards. Although some of the midfield players were capable of distributing the ball more efficiently. Had no solution for the slow transition from defense to attack and for the lack of pace. A player such as Torabi would have been ideal for that purpose. 7.8

A humulation for Team Melli

Team Melli suffered it heaviest defeat in World Cup history after a 6-2 drubbing by title contenders England.

Jude Bellingham started the rout in the 35th minute, Arsenal star Bokayo Saka made it 2-0 on the 43rd, and Raheem Sterling scored the third in the 45th First half ended 3-0

In the second, Bokayo Saka was on the scoresheet again on the 62nd  to make it 4-0 before Mehdi Tarremi scored from a tremendous shot on the 65th. Substitute Marcus Rashford scored 49 seconds after he was on the field on 71st,  Jack Grealish (90) ended the scoring for England 6-1. Sardar Azmoun who was substituted managed to run past his English marker to face Jordan Pickford on one to one situation. The Everton and England keeper managed to save Azmoun’s shoot. and finally, the VAR review awarded a penalty for Iran where Taremi slotted nicely for his second goal of the evening. The match ended 6-2 for England.

The 45,000 fans in the 60,000-seat Khalifa Stadium in Doha, witnessed a superior display by Southgate players while Iran under Queiroz not only suffered its heaviest defeat but displayed poor control, lack of stamina, bad passing, and total collapse of the defensive strategy that Queiroz prides himself in.

Earlier in the half, a collision between Alireza Beiranvand and Majid Hosseini result in a bad injury to the Iranian goalkeeper. This resulted in a 14 minutes pause while Beiranvand was being treated . Finally, when Beiranvand treatment was over, and while still clearly dazed, he opted to continue playing without any objection from the medical team or the coaching staff, who must have feared losing their number one goalkeeper in detriment to his health. Alireza vividly in a concussion status could not stay focused for longer than a few minutes after the match restarted before he collapsed to the ground. A stretcher took him out while Hossein Hosseini replaced him.

This embarrassing, yet unexpected result was a culmination of many failures and shortfalls in the team. It started with the selection of a coach whose archaic strategy and game plans have proven to be a failure not just in Iran but Colombia and Egypt before it. In fairness, Queiroz was not given proper time for preparation for the greatest of championships like the World Cup, yet for whatever reason, he accepted the job offer despite its risk thinking he knows enough about the team he left three years ago. And the result was a disaster against a quality team in England. The old age team was clearly suffering in physical attributes against the much younger English team, Little preparation compared to other World Cup teams was also in evidence in the misplaced passes. Lack of confidence, concentration, and political turmoil back home were also factors in this heavy defeat.

Iran Line UP

Alireza Biranvand (19′ Seyed Hossein Hosseini), Sadegh Mohrrami, Majid Hosseini, Rozbe Cheshmi (46′ Mohammad Hossein Kanaani Zadegan), Morteza Pouraliganji, Majid Hosseini, Ehsan Haji Safi, Milad Mohammadi (63′ Mehdi Tarabi) ), Ahmad Nooralhi (77′ Sardar Azmoun), Ali Karimi (46′ Saeed Ezzatollahi), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (46′ Ali Gholizadeh) and Mehdi Taremi.

old agers

ENGLAND v IRAN : Match review

England v Iran
FIFA World Cup, Qatar 2022
Group B Qualifier

16:30 Iran Time
13:00 GMT, Monday 21 November 2022
Khalifa International Stadium – Dolha

Team Melli begins the 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign against the Three Lions in what will be the first-ever meeting between the nations at the senior level.
Iran, was drawn out against Gareth Southgate’s England, USA and Wales at the draw in Doha on 1 April.

  • ● This will be the first-ever encounter between England and Iran. Team Melli has never beaten European opposition at the FIFA World Cup (D2 L6).
  • This is the third time in a row that Carlos Queiroz has coached Iran in the World Cup.
  • Iran has qualified for the third World Cup in a row since WC2014. A first in the Team’s history
  • ● England have qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the 16th time. It’s their seventh appearance in a row, their longest streak in the competition.
  • ● England set the best goal difference in the group stage of European qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, scoring 39 goals and conceding only three (+36).
  • ● England are the only European team to have reached the semi-finals in each of the last two major tournaments (FIFA World Cup + EURO).
  • ● 12 of England’s last 18 goals at the FIFA World Cup have been scored from set-pieces. In fact, 75% of their goals in 2018 came from dead ball situations (9 out of 12).
  • ● Iran have never progressed past the first round of the FIFA World Cup, winning only two of their 15 matches (v USA in 1998 and Morocco in 2018). This is their sixth participation in the tournament, including their third in a row.
  • ● Iran have scored nine goals in 15 FIFA World Cup matches; at 0.6, it’s the lowest goals-per-game ratio of any nation to play more than 10 games in the competition. They’ve only netted more than once in one of their 15 games, a 2-1 win over the USA in 1998.
  • ● Gareth Southgate has guided England to the last four in each of his two tournaments as national team head-coach. Only Sir Alf Ramsey can boast a similar record as England boss (WC winners in 1966, Euro semi-finalists in 1968).
  • ● England striker Harry Kane was the top scorer in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with five of his six goals coming in the group stages. No player has ever been top/joint-top scorer at two different World Cup tournaments.
  • ● Despite only playing six times, no Iran player was involved in more goals during the third round of Asian World Cup qualifying than Mehdi Taremi (4 goals, 2 assists).

Coach: Carlos Quieroz
Qualified from: First in AFC qualifying group
Qualifying top scorer: Mehdi Taremi (Porto)
FIFA World Cup best performance: group stage (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018)

Form guide

After consecutive defeats to group rivals Bahrain and Iraq respectively in late 2019, Iran looked like they wouldn’t even make it through to the last round of Asian qualifying, let alone reach a third straight World Cup finals. Then COVID-19 hit, and Iran were able to push the reset button. Coach Marc Wilmots was replaced, Iran won their four remaining second-round games – all played in neutral Bahrain because of the pandemic – and never looked back. They won eight out of ten games in round three to qualify alongside fellow AFC big hitters South Korea.

Set-up

Off the back of seven years coaching in Iran’s domestic leagues, Dragan Skocic was seen as a safe pair of hands when he took over from Wilmots in February 2020. Although Iran’s demanding fans would prefer their team to play on the front foot, defence was the bedrock of their success under the Croat, with just five goals conceded in 14 qualifiers. Skocic – who had experimented with a variety of attacking shapes in front of his favoured back four – was dismissed as head coach in July, only to be immediately reinstated. But his stay of execution didn’t last long and, in early September, the new president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, replaced Skocic with Carlos Queiroz, the former Manchester United assistant and Real Madrid coach who led Iran at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.

World Cup pedigree

Despite qualifying for the finals six times, including four of the last six, Iran have never progressed beyond the group stage, although they did come close in 2018, beating Morocco and drawing with Portugal in a tough group also containing Spain.

Stars on show

In front of a compact defense and industrious midfield, Iran relies heavily on the mercurial attacking talents of Mehdi Taremi and Sardar Azmoun – who have been prolific goalscorers for Porto and Bayer Leverkusen respectively, and the creativity of Feyenoord’s Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who Premier League fans might remember from his three seasons with Brighton & Hove Albion. During the qualifiers, the central back duo Shojaá Khalilzadeh and Hossein Kananizadegan created a formidable defense in front of the goal.

TEAM NEWS

Iran: Top star Sardar Azmoun is doubtful for the England game. It is not clear if he has trained since arriving in Doha to join the Team Melli squad. There are no more injuries reported amongst the players since the match against Tunisia was played behind closed doors, and little if any information is available.

England: Kyle Walker is traveling with the English team while not fully fit. It is almost certain that he will miss the first match against Iran. James Maddison is also a doubt as he missed training today in favor of some light work in the gym.

 

 

Hope for Azmoun’s return in the near future

Good news for Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Askickerreports, Sardar Azmoun could return to the squad next week. The striker recently worked on his comeback under the guidance of a private physio in Qatar.

The Iranian suffered a torn muscle fiber in the calf during training about four weeks ago, which is now apparently cured.

The remaining program of Bayer 04 Leverkusen

  • Matchday 13 – Home game against Union Berlin (Sunday, 15:30)
  • Matchday 14 – away game at 1 FC Cologne (9 November, 6:30 pm)
  • Matchday 15 – Home game against VfB Stuttgart (12 November, 15:30)

Grand performance by Mehdi Taremi in UCL.

Team Melli’s central striker Mehdi Taremi accomplished a grand Man-Of-the-Match performance for his team, FC Porto, against the group leaders Club Brugge by leading them to a 4-0 win away.

In the 33rd minute, Taremi opened the scoring with an immaculate snooker-type shot into the former Liverpool keeper Mignolet. The 30-year-old forward also closed the match with his second and Porto’s fourth in the 70th minute.

Meanwhile, Taremi also provided a slick pass to assist Eustaquio for the third goal in minute 60.

Taremi could have easily scored a hat trick, but his effort earlier in the first half was shot high off the mark while he was on-to-one against Mignolet.

Sergio Conceicao’s FC Porto is second in the table and would qualify early if Atletico Madrid fails to beat Bayer Leverkusen, missing Azmoun, in the later match.

With a rating of 9.1 and a man-of-the-match performance, Taremi has primed at the right time for the World Cup in less than a month.

Iran players in political turmoil.

Iran are the minnows of England’s World Cup group – but are ranked 20th in the world and boast Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi in their ranks… so can Carlos Queiroz’s side cause an unlikely upset amid political turmoil back home?

  • Iran will face England on November 21 in the 2022 World Cup’s second game
  • ‘Team Melli’ are only three spots under Wales, who are ranked 19th in the world (correction: one spot under Wales)
  • Iranian players have recently voiced their support for protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while she was held in custody by ‘morality police’
  • Many fans wonder if players will speak out on an international stage such as the World Cup, at the potential risk of never going back to their home country
  • Star forwards like Bayer Leverkusen’s Sardar Azmoun, and Mehdi Taremi, of FC Porto, have led their support for more recognition of women’s rights in Tehran
  • Carlos Queiroz will guide Iran to their third consecutive World Cup since 2014

By ALASTAIR TALBOT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

However, for the Iranian men’s soccer team, it’s impossible not to mesh both together amid chaos on the streets of Tehran just weeks prior to the start of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, where the 22nd-ranked team in FIFA’s World Rankings will face England, Wales and the USA in Group B.

Over the last month, extreme suppression established by Iran’s moral police, known as the ‘Islamic Religious Police,’ led to the death of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini, while she was held in custody.

She had been arrested for allegedly covering her head with a compulsory headscarf too loosely. Iran is currently one of the three governments using the title Islamic republic in its official naming.

In response, several star players, including Bayer Leverkusen’s Sardar Azmoun, and Mehdi Taremi, of FC Porto, made their silence known on Instagram by blacking out their profile pictures prior to the team’s final friendly against Senegal in September in Austria.

The Football Federation Islamic Republic (FFIR) of Iran had also attempted to quieten down political turmoil back home by banning fans from watching the team, as ‘Team Melli’ drew 1-1 in an empty stadium in Vienna.

Rumors had also linked the FFIR with attempting to arrange a warmup game against Russia in November. Both countries are already closely tied diplomatically due to the Ukraine war, which has made Iran and Russia allies in economic isolation.

And in late September, FIFA was urged to ban Iran from the World Cup over its sporadic recognition of women’s rights. It wasn’t long ago that Iranian women were finally allowed to watch their national team play for the first time since 1979 after pressure from international governing bodies football around the world.

‘The Islamic Republic’s authorities and its football federation must not be given the honor of participating in football’s finest tournament while it is killing its citizens on our streets,’ the Open Stadiums group – a movement of Iranian Women seeking to end discrimination and let women attend stadiums – said in a statement.

The non-profit called on FIFA to stand by its mission to promote and give light to those in need of ‘all internationally recognized human rights.’

FIFA has not yet responded to Open Stadium’s request but the world’s leading football governing body expelled Russia from the upcoming World Cup for similar reasons due to ‘irreparable and chaotic’ harm that could threaten the tournament in Qatar, as diplomatic tensions between NATO countries and Russia continue.

Iran, though, should not fret for its place in Doha, which is located right across the Persian Gulf water, as the World Cup starts on November 20.

The FFIRI should rather worry about its players’ stance in Qatar as the world’s most watched sporting competition will provide them a platform to potentially speak about the political disorder in the country.

Star striker Azmoun, who has 41 goals in 65 games for his country, has already defied the federation’s orders by sharing a now-deleted post to his 4.9million followers on Instagram in which he says ‘that I am no longer able to tolerate silence.’

He added that being excluded from the squad traveling to Doha would be ‘a small price to pay for even a single strand of Iranian women’s hair.’

The 27-year-old’s national teammates seemed to agree with his reaction, as they all wore black jackets that covered up their national team badge while the Iranian national anthem was playing in their last match against Senegal.

Furthermore, prolific striker Mehdi Taremi shared on Instagram after the September friendly that he felt ‘ashamed’ to see violent footage filmed in Iran showing women’s persecution in public.

Protests in Iran seem to be growing by the week as many activists don’t want to only push for more rights for women but also a government overthrow that has seen the country under clerical establishment the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Cries for help could be heard in Qatar, when Iran will take on England in what will only be the second game of the World Cup on November 21.

The Three Lions and the Star and Stripes will have to be wary against ‘Team Melli’ with the AFC side labeled as ‘minnows’ going into the tournament but in reality are only 0ne spot below Wales, who are currently ranked 19th in the world by FIFA.

After months of speculation, Carlos Queiroz came back to the fold to coach a side that he has found much success with after guiding them to their third consecutive World Cup – an first-time achievement for the country after Brazil in 2014 and Russia 2018.

Sardar Azmoun will lead Iran’s attack as he aims to surpass Iran’s legend Ali Daei’s 109 goals. Azmoun, 27, has 41 goals in 65 games and sits third in the all-time goal-scoring charts for Iran

Under the former Manchester United No 2, Iran had their best World Cup display in Russia, beating Morocco and tying with Portugal before losing against Spain to collect four points and narrowly crashing out as the team was unable to qualify for the 2018 knockout stages.

However, the former Portugal and Real Madrid coach replaced Dragan Skocic in September, giving himself a little more than two months to decide on his 26-man squad traveling to Doha ahead of the November 13th deadline.’This is our first step towards preparing for the World Cup,’ the 69-year-old said in Austria during the team’s preparation matches against Uruguay (1-0 win) and Senegal. ‘We will do our best both on and off the field to get ready for the competition. It’s our responsibility to improve the conditions and make progress and always move forward,’ Queiroz further told Iranian state-controlled press outlets.

Carlos Queiroz has a respected record with the Iranian national team, managing 100 matches, with 60 wins, 27 draws, and 13 defeats. Other than seven new faces in the latest squad in Austria, 16 out of 23 players went to Russia nearly four years ago, including 35-year-old Omid Ebrahimi.
The defensive midfielder, who has played his club football for Qatari-side Al Wakrah since 2021, was a force in Queiroz’s 2018 lineup but has barely featured for his country in the last three years, as his last appearance for Iran was in November 2019.

Another pillar in the Iranian side other than Azmoun and Taremi is goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, who currently plays for Persepolis in Iran after stints in Europe for Boavista in Portugal and Royal Antwerp in Belgium. Promising 21-year-old youngster Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, who plays for Hull City, will surely be behind the prolific Taremi in the striker’s pecking order, as Queiroz prefers a 4-2-31 or 4-3-3 formation with a lone attacker up top surrounded by wingers.The forward was recently named as one of the 60 best young talents in world soccer by The Guardian. Sayyadmanesh plays for Hull

‘As a professional coach, I know that all teams in the world have progressed,’ Queiroz recently said. ‘We will also do our best to face our opponents in Qatar and will be fully prepared for the campaign.’ Azmoun and Taremi will look to add goals to their personal records as both are currently third and seventh respectively among Iran’s all-time top goal scorers, as now retired striker Ali Daei, who played for Armeni Bielefeld, Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin, tops the list with 109 goals in 149 games between 1993 and 2006.

Ehsan Hajsafi, the team’s captain, will be featuring at his third World Cup since first being selected to represent Iran in 2008. The AEK Athens left-back has 121 caps for his country and is only 30 shy of record-holder Javad Nekounam – 151 caps – who is now retired. Brentford’s Saman Ghoddos is the only current Iranian featuring in the English Premier League after winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh moved to Dutch side Feyenoord last year from Brighton. Both are expected to start for their country in their first game against England.

And although expectations are low for the Islamic Republic, Iran are the highest-ranked Asian team in Qatar and previously appeared five times in the edition of the World Cup in its history (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018). The team holds a distinct rivalry with South Korea as both fight for the most AFC Asian Cups along with Japan. The competition is the second oldest continental football championship in the world after Copa América and Iran hold three titles.

Iran’s journey to qualify for the 2022 World Cup went relatively smoothly by topping Group A after being drawn with Iraq, Hong Kong, Cambodia, and Bahrain.

Skocic spearheaded the Iranians to the World Cup finals and won 15 of his 18 games at the helm of the Middle Eastern side after taking over as the full-time replacement for Marc Wilmots, who put the team at real risk from losing out on qualifications after draws and losses against Bahrain and Iraq. Iran became the thirteenth team to qualify for Qatar after a 1–0 win against Iraq at home in its roughly 79,000-seater Azadi Stadium in January.

‘The Persian Stars’ will face England on November 21, before playing against Wales four days later before taking on the US for the first time since 1998 in what was once dubbed as a ‘politically charged game in World Cup history.

Iran’s most recent squad

Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand (Persepolis), Payam Niazmand (Sepahan), Amir Abedzadeh (Ponferradina), Hossein Hosseini (Esteghal).

Defenders: Sadegh Moharrami (Dinamo Zagreb), Ehsan Hajsafi (captain, AEK Athens), Aref Gholami (Esteghlal), Shojae Khalilzadeh (Al-Ahli), Milad Mohammadi (AEK Athens), Morteza Pouraliganji (Persepolis), Hossein Kanaanizadegan (Al-Ahli), Saleh Hardani (Esteghal), Majid Hosseini (Kayserispor), Abolfazl Jalali (Esteghal), Omid Noorafkan (Sepahan), Ramin Rezaeian (Sepahan).

Midfielders: Saeid Ezatolahi (Vejle), Saman Ghoddos (Brentford), Milad Sarlak (Persepolis), Ahmad Nourollahi (Shabab Al-Ahli), Omid Ebrahimi (Al-Wakrah).

Forwards: Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Feyenoord), Mehdi Taremi (FC Porto), Karim Ansarifard (Omania), Vahid Amiri (Persepolis), Mehdi Torabi (Persepolis), Ali Gholizadeh (Charleroi), Sardar Azmoun (Bayern 04 Leverkusen).

Azmoun’s injury is a worry as World Cup is fast approaching

News of Sardar Azmoun’s injury has been widly circulating in the German social media. According to a fan report and quoted by Fars news agency, Sardar Azmoun, the Team Melli and Bayer Leverkusen’s striker suffered a complication while warming up against Porto in the UEFA Champions League match just before being substituted in.
Azmoun suffered from a strained biceps muscle, had an MRI Thursday morning, and the result of the tests by the German club’s doctors show that the player requires 4 to 5 weeks of rest. With this situation, the Team Melli striker does not have any particular problem to participate in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 after completing his treatment and recuperation period.

With the fact that there are only 45 days left until Iran’s first match against England on Monday 21st November, according to the diagnosis of the Medical Staff of Azmoun’s injury, declaring that the player’s injury will be resolved by then., however, Azmoun will be critically short of match practice and/or recovery training for the first match at least.

Bayer Leverkusen’s medical team will update the club on regular basis. Team Melli has yet to comment on the situation.

Xabi Alonso appointed as head coach of Bayer Leverkusen.

Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso has been officially appointed as head coach of Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, and as such, he will be the coach of Team Melli forward Sardar Azmoun.

After speculation throughout today, Liverpool legend Xabi Alonso has now been confirmed as the new head coach of Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.

The German side has had a disastrous start to the 2022/23 campaign, with the team currently sitting 17th in the league table.

Just one place above rock bottom, Bayer 04 has only taken five points from the first eight league games. Coinciding with their league form, performances in Europe also haven’t set the world alight, with yesterday evening’s 2-0 defeat at Porto being the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Under the former Swiss coach, Sardar Azmoun had little playing time.