Tag: Soroush RAFEI

Team Melli unable to use players under Military Service.

The Armed Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran has written to the concerned departments declaring that all those players who have found to be guilty of fraud by the courts for holding fake military release certificates , will not be allowed to join Team Melli or Omid teams. The ban is valid until the completion of their service.

Team Melli will be playing against Guam at home then India away. Carlos Queiroz will be unable to select those players although in real terms , none are fixed players in the team. The players are Arash Afshin , Bakhtiyar Rahmani , Shoja’a Khalilzadeh , Hossein Mahini and Soroush Rafei. In addition , Mehrdad Pooladi who is currently out of the country , is also put on the black list and cannot play for Team Melli.

The communique from the armed forces did not specifically mention those other  players who have not cheated and are currently serving their mandatory military service as required by the law. Such players are normally banned from leaving the country while serving but dispensation has been issued before on request from the FFIRI and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

 Team Melli will start a short training camp next Thursday in Azadi Sports Complex in preparation for the match on 3rd September against Guam in Azadi and on the 8th in Mumbai against India.

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Team Melli is further depleted !

A depleted Team Melli will be flying to Tashkent on Tuesday 11:00 am missing 7 players. The latest additions,  is one of the most experienced players, Seyed Jalal Hosseini and Foolad young starlet , Soroush Rafei. The pair is facing administration issues preventing them from leaving Iran.

As reported earlier in teammelli.com , Hosseini is facing tax evasion charges due to the non-payment of taxes while he was playing with Persepolis. Hosseini learned of his dilemma when he returned to Iran after the end of the QSL season where he was playing with Al Ahli in Qatar.  Hosseini is adamant that according to his contract , Persepolis was supposed to pay for his income taxes , something they never did.

Soroush Rafei is faced with the military service which in Iran means the person is not allowed to leave the country until the completion of his duty. However, there are exemptions based on admissible evidences. Queiroz personally took Rafei’s issue to task but it appears that his efforts were fruitless.

Although the decision on both are not final with another 30 odd hours remaining to the flight , it is hardly unlikely that the matter will be resolved. Hosseini’s absence will be a real blow to Team Melli already missing Amir Hossein Sadeghi in the central defense and Mehrdad Pooladi. Montazeri will most probably be paired with young Pouraliganji in the central defense while Ghafoori , Heydari or Beikzadeh will be occupying the defensive flanks.

The list of the absentees on the trip to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is as follows:

  1. Ashkan Dejagah (Injury)
  2. Alireza Jahanbakhsh (injury)
  3. Ghassim Haddadifar (Fatigue)
  4. Jalal Hosseini (Taxation)
  5. Karim Ansarifard (Form)
  6. Mehrdad Pooladi (Military Service)
  7. Soroush Rafei (Military Service)

Pooladi & Rafei cleared to join Team Melli squad.

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Mehrdad Pooladi

Mehrdad Pooladi , Team Melli’s left back currently playing for Al Shahniya club in Qatar and Soroush Rafei the young Foolad Khuzestan player have been granted permission by the armed forces to join Team Melli squad.

After a series of disappointing turns of events and depressing news around Team Melli in its preparation for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup 2015, this has to be the brightest news of them all. With the absence of Pejman Montazeri who misses the tournament due to injury, Pooladi’s inclusion in Queiroz squad is quite vital. Mehrdad Pooladi was the best player in Team Melli 3 matches in the World Cup according to FIFA technical analysis. His National Service problem prevented him from being selected for duty for Team Melli.

Most of the credit for the inclusion of Pooladi and Rafei must go to the Head coach Carlos Querioz whose personal efforts and demands, including a straightforward and serious discussion with the Minister of Youth & Sport has yielded result. The latter writing to the Armed Forces and requesting the release of the two players for national duty as football players.

The two persons who should have done the most to release Team Melli players, Kaffashian and Mohammad Nabi were quite passive about the issue and maintained a stance where they kept declaring that they are abiding by the law, without making any efforts to challenge or request any alternative options from the authorities to seek the two players release.

Soroush Rafei

Although Soroush Rafei is a rookie and is not expected to play a major role in the Asian Cup in Australia,  his inclusion is vital for the long term planning of Carlos Queiroz future Team Melli build up.

Team Melli is supposed to fly to Australia via Dubai this evening for the last part of the ir training camp which includes a friendly match against Iraq in Sydney.

New faces in the latest Team Melli squad heading to South Africa.

The football federation announced the list of 23 players selected for Team Melli Training camp in South Africa.

There are 9 uncapped players in the list which has none except one of the legionnaires named. Most players are not  able to join until the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Mid January . Sardar Azmoun will be the only player who will attend the camp as the Russian league will be in its winter break. Sajjad Shahabzadeh , the prolific Esteghlal forward who has an excellent scoring record this season, has been included and so is Iman Mobali , the Naft Tehran midfielder who is a key player for the league leader Naft Tehran.

Once again , there is no place for Mohammadreza Khalatbary , arguably , the best forward of the league this current season  while Mohsen Mosalman who has just joined Esteghlal on loan from Zob Ahan has failed to make the list.

 

GOALKEEPERS

Rahman AHMADI (Sepahan), Alireza BIRANVAND (Naft Tehran), Mohsen FROUZAN (Esteghlal)

DEFENDERS
Hashim BEIGZADEH (Esteghlal), Morteza POURALIGANJI (Naft Tehran), AmirHossein SADEGHI (Esteghlal) , Vourya GHAFFORI (Sepahan). MohammadReza KHANZADEH (Persepolis) , Habib GORDANI (Tractorsazi) Ramin REZAEIAN (Rah Ahan), Mohammad NEJADMEHDI (Padideh Mashad)

MIDFIELD
Andranik TEYMOURIAN (Esteghlal), Omid EBRAHIMI (Esteghlal), Ehsan HAJSAFY(Sepahan), Khosrow HEYDARI (Esteghlal), Vahid AMIRI (Naft Tehran), Mohammad NOURI (Persepolis), Soroush RAFEI (Foolad Khuzestan), Iman MOBALI (Naft Tehran)

FORWARDS
Sajjad SHAHABZADEH (Esteghlal) , Sardar AZMOUN (Rubin Kazan RUS), Mehdi SHARIFI (Sepahan) , Masoud HASSANZADEH (Zob Ahan)

 

 

Esteghlal 7
Sepahan 4
Naft Tehran 4
Persepolis 2
Foolad Khuzestan 1
Padideh Mashad 1
Rah Ahan 1
Rubin Kazan 1
Tractorsazi 1
Zob Ahan 1

Sajjad Shahbazadeh
Sajjad Shahbazadeh

9 uncapped players

Masoud Hassanzadeh
Masoud Hassanzadeh