Tag: South Africa

Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz fumes as infighting leaves his squad woefully underprepared

Former Real Madrid manager, whose side face Argentina, Bosnia and Nigeria in Group F, admits: “We will not make it to the next round.”

World Cup 2014: Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz fumes as infighting leaves his squad woefully underprepared

Caught in the middle: Carlos Queiroz looks on as Iranian players are put through their paces, belatedly Photo: AFP
James Montague

By James Montague, World Cup Nation, Iran

The Telegraph

12:00PM BST 14 May 2014

There were no fans, no penalty areas painted on to the grass and no referee but on Apr 22 the Iran national team’s 5-0 success over South African club Moroka Swallows in Johannesburg was still a victory. And they have come at a premium this year.

Carlos Queiroz’s Iran team are currently on a warm-weather training camp in South Africa to prepare Team Melli for arguably the toughest pool of the tournament: Group F which includes Lionel Messi’s Argentina, African champions Nigeria and dark horses Bosnia. But little has gone right so far.

Only 11 home-based players arrived in South Africa after a club-versus-country row erupted between Iran’s top clubs and the federation. The camp coincided with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League, the region’s premier club competition. Esteghlal and Sepahan Isfahan both refused to release their players called up to squad, forcing Queiroz to release the players from Foolad and Tractor Sazi who were also in the Champions League but had let their players go.

The first test for the patched-up team was Moroka Swallows who are currently 12th in the South African Premier League. “Our main goal was not to get a good result in this friendly match,” Queiroz said after the game. “We wanted to identify the weak and strong links of our team. We will continue fitness training to get players in good shape.”

The lack of support from Iran’s top clubs has added to a sense that Iran won’t be going in to the finals with anywhere near the quality of preparation to equip Team Melli to play against three of the stronger teams at the tournament. Friendlies have been hard to come by. Iran lost to Guinea back in early March and their next match was planned against Mozambique – the modern-day country of Queiroz’s birth – which had been brought forward five days to May 2 after the Iranian Federation decided to leave South Africa early.

Iranian fans – certainly those who have replied to my previous posts – point to the federation’s lack of money (and ineptitude) for the paucity of top-level opponents, rather than the country’s pariah status. Yet there is a danger that Iran will be heading to Brazil the least prepared of all the finalists.

“With such arrangement and program failures, don’t expect much from Team Melli in Brazil. We will not make it to the next round because of the failure of the South Africa Camp,” Queiroz said in a TV interview, according to Teammelli.com (an outstanding resource for Iranian football news in English) after a 3-3 draw with the Orlando Pirates.

Queiroz was not happy with the chaos surrounding the team and the lack of support from Iran’s top domestic teams. He continued: “It was a decision made by the Minister of Youth and Sport and the head of the football federation to go ahead with the camp. I am only a coach here. So all those who disregarded the instructions and refused to release the players have actually disrespected the minister.

“Even up to our departure time, we did not know if those players will be joining us or not. This training camp was vital for the team’s prospect. We came here to prepare the players to play against African teams. I did not come here for leisure.”

Such are the travails of international football far away from mega sponsorship deals and star-filled Nike adverts that even getting the right kit and paying the excess baggage has been an issue for Iran.Teammelli.com also reported that Queiroz went on to complain about Iran’s official kit provider UHLSport for issuing only one set of tracksuits for players for three weeks. “We paid $30,000 for our excess baggage, we could have bought more kits for our players’ training instead,” Queiroz said.

The full team won’t be assembled until after Europe’s seasons have ended. Queiroz’s reign has been characterised by the number of foreign-born or foreign-raised players being drafted in, the likes of Ashkan Dejagah and Reza Ghoochannejhad in particular being notable success stories. But Iran’s disastrous training camp has highlighted not just the problems Iran has getting a game but also the worsening relationship between Queiroz and the Iranian federation.

Without explanation, the Mozambique friendly was abruptly cancelled too. The head of the Iranian federation later explained that Queiroz had himself taken the decision. The cancellation means that Iran will have played one friendly this year before the end of the season. “I am sorry if I sound negative and despondent,” Queiroz said. “But if I do not say these things, then we will not get any support.” Nigeria and Bosnia, the two teams likely to battle it out for second place in the group, must be rubbing their hands with glee.

“This Camp is a complete failure” Queiroz

Carlos Queiroz said the South Africa Training Camp was a total failure because of lack of players.

The statement comes only a day after Ali Kaffashian announced to the press that the Training camp is going well and achieving its objective !

The head coach of Team Melli , in a TV interview , continued his line of denunciation against those who have not supported Team Melli directly accusing Sepahan Esfahan and Esteghlal clubs of  ignoring the Minster of Youth & Sport wishes, destructing Team Melli program and creating complications for the squad.

Queiroz added “with such arrangement and program failures, don’t expect much from Team Melli in Brazil. We will not make it to the next round because of the failure of the South Africa Camp!”

Queiroz went on about how he arranged the preparation program for Team Melli  including this camp from 12 months ago, “ it was not only me who planned it , but I had a inputs from others in the program.”

Asked if the decision to set up the camp was his decision or other personnel influenced it, Queiroz said “it was a decision made by the Minster of Youth & Sport and the head of the football federation to go ahead with the camp. I am only a coach here (..), so all those who disregarded the instructions and refused to release the players ( meaning the two clubs Sepahan and Esteghlal) have actually disrespected the minister ! Even up to our departure time, we did not know if those players will be joining us or not.”

For the record, both Sepahan and Esteghlal have confirmed several times publicly and to the federation in writing, that they will not be releasing their players to Team Melli as long as they are involved in official competitions.

“This training camp was vital for the team’s prospect. We came here to prepare the players to play against African Teams. I did not come here for leisure I have never promised anything, the only promise I give is that I will work hard.”

Despite having 23 players at his disposal in Johannesburg, Queiroz said “We are missing key players and that affects our preparation.” The only non-European player missing is Javad Nekounam while Queiroz elected to ignore Sepahan players except for the goalkeeper Rahman Ahmadi .

Queiroz then went on complaining about UHLSport the official kits provider for providing only one set of track suites for players for three weeks. “We paid US$ 30,000 for our excess baggage, we could have bought more kits for our player’s training instead.”

Asked if there will be additional domestic players added to Team Melli current list, Queiroz firmly rejected that, hence closing the door in the face of Rahmati and Aghili the two outcasts, for good. However, he indicated that some new faces from Europe might be added!

Queiroz concluded that he is a “Positive person”

“I am sorry if I sound negative and despondent, but if I do not say these things, then we will not get any support for Team Melli.”

News: Team Melli in South Africa

The current Team Melli camp has been joined by additional two previously unannounced coaches from Brazil. Mohammad Nabi , the manager of Team Melli said these two coaches are recruited form Corinthians club of Brazil and will be replacing the departed Tony Simoez who reigned his post a couple of months back. The two unnamed coaches are added to the coaching staff team compromising of the recently recruited Majid Saleh , Oceano , Aghajanian, and Gasper.

On the other hand , the mystery of the team that was supposed to be facing Team Melli in a friendly match was finally unveiled hours before the kickoff. South Africa’s Moroka Swallows club will be the first opponent of Team Melli on Tuesday morning.

Team Melli officials refused to name the opponent teams until the last moments preferring secrecy to keep Team Melli rivals in Group F of the FIFA World cup in suspense and reducing the possibility of them observing Team Melli in action (…)

Today’s match will be the first test of the conditioning of the Iranian players. Much of the work carried out in South Africa was focused on the physical side to prepare Team Melli against the teams with better physical conditions and endurance. Mohammad Nabi re-emphasized the previous statements by Queiroz that this camp was set up for the domestic league players of Team Melli addressing their shortcomings in running , physical aspects and building body strength. Players in European leagues, do not need such training according to Queiroz.

The names of the other two or possibly three opponents of Team Melli in friendly matches remains a mystery.

Other major development of the cam p came from Queiroz who has decided to cut short the camp duration by 5 days. Team Melli coach was not very pleased by the start where he had to travel to Johannesburg with only 11 players out of 28 he selected for the camp.

The reason for cutting short the camp duration was offered by Mohammad Nabi . He said” Iranian players are very emotional lot and the long time away from their families is disturbing them ! In order to take some deserved rest and be with their families, we have decided to cut short the camp by a few days”

Mohammad Nabi also emphasized that the players who did not join Team Melli on the flight to Johannesburg are mot to be blamed and held accountable for their absence. They were under instruction from their clubs and hence are not culpable. He stressed that there is a big difference between an act such as Hadi Aghili when he left the camp or Mojtaba Jabbari who decided he will retire, both unilateral and personal decisions and the players of Team Melli held back by their clubs.

KArim Ansarifard

Ansarifard & Lak join Team Melli squad in South Africa

Karim Ansarifard and Hamed Lak , the two Tractorsazi players have flown directly to Johannesburg to join their teammates at the South Africa training camp.

Their departure was initiated right after Tractorsazi were eliminated from the AFC Champions league after the defeat against Al Ittihad. This is good news for Team Melli especially since the squad departed with only 11 outfield players without a goal keeper. It is expected that Esteghlal players , who were also eliminated from the same competition , will also join the squad in South Africa. Karim Ansarifard has recently won the top goal scorer award in the league.

The fate of the remaining two teams players , Foolad Khuzestan & Sepahan , is still unclear in regard to joining the camp. Foolad has already qualified for the Knock Out stages of the AFC Champions League , while Sepahan  are still alive and stand a good chance of qualifying with one last match remaining.  Foolad Khuzestan has 3 players in the squad while Sepahan has 6.

sqd-Lak2013

Team Melli departs to South Africa with 11 players

Tehran.

Carlos Queiroz took a total of 11 players with him to South Africa for the scheduled training camp leaving behind all the players of the 4 Iranian clubs competing in the AFC Champion League.

The squad left on the early morning flight after much deliberation whether the camp should go ahead with such limited numbers.  Although no official statement has been issued on the status of the camp , it is believed that the rest of the players will eventually link up with the team.

Team Melli is supposed to play 4 friendly matches with undisclosed teams.

Majid Saleh the recently appointed assistant coach did not join the squad on the flight to South Africa as he is applying for Austrian visa for the next Team Melli camp.

“Querioz will stay until World Cup 2018” claims Kaffashian

The head of Football Federation FFIRI , Ali Kaffashian reveled today that Carlos Queiroz has agreed to extend his contract for another 4 years (Until World Cup 2018 in Russia) pending the resolution of some financial issues.

In a statement to ISNA news agency , Kaffashian said that despite earlier news about Queiroz not staying beyond his contract , the Portuguese coach has verbally agreed the extension. Asked by the reporter what made Querioz change his mind despite some  lucrative offers from Europe and South Africa, Kaffashian said  “Yes, Carlos Queiroz has many concrete offers from Europe and some of them were financially better than ours, but he prefers to work with Iran as he spent enough time here and he is quite familiar with the surrounding (…)”  

Pressed by the reporter on when will Queiroz give a definite answer , Kaffashian said “I personally think that within 20 days , he will give us a definite answer. What is important for us is that Queiroz is interested to continue coaching Team Melli. For us this is quite a good news and I think he will agree to continue with us.”  Kaffashian did not mention if his administration has given Queiroz any deadline for an answer nor did he elaborate if the federation is considering any other candidates if the Portuguese coach decides not to continue.

Queiroz was not available for comment and has been non-committal about his future with Team Melli, although the South Africans have taken it for granted that he will coach them after the World Cup.

Asked about the steps taken by the FFIRI to coordinate with the clubs on Team Melli program and why the supposed liaison and coordination meetings between Team Melli coaches on one side and club coaches on the other , did not materialize?  Kaffashian gave the customary wishful thinking that everyone should work towards the interest of Team Melli while he refrained from giving any reasons for lack of communication between his staff including Queiroz and the clubs! However , he pointed out that Queiroz has already met with Ghalenoei , Esteghlal’s coach.

“What about if the clubs do not agree with the set program of Team Melli because they we not consulted. Are you going to use political pressure by asking the government to pressurize the clubs?”  asked the reporter. The Head of FFIRI responded “I hope the situation does not develop to that extend that we have to exert political pressure on the clubs. I think we can iron out all the issues without any difficulties.” In response , the reporter said that the media have already been reporting that the meeting between Queiroz and Ghalenoei was fruitless and there was two different views with no accord in sight”, Kaffashian refuted that claim and said “In fact , it was a good meeting and both sides agreed on the road plan for Team Melli. The fact that they were introduced to each other and talked was in itself quite significant for us!”

Kaffashian said that Qatar FA has not responded yet on the request for the release of Montazeri and Jabbari for Team Melli camp. Both players will be playing in the Amir Cup during the time Team Melli’s is setting camp. There is no obligation for the clubs to release their players according to FIFA’s rules. Kaffashian said that he is willing to travel to Qatar to negotiate their release or send some one to deputize for him. Kaffashian did not say what tools he will use to convince the Qatari teams to release their Iranian players while actively engaged in an important competition.

Kaffashian said that he has no idea about the progress of attracting Aria Jasuru Hasegawa, the 25 years old Japanese Iranian player, to Team Melli. He was quite hopeful that the South Africa Training camp will be on again so Team Melli can play the host country “Nothing is definite yet ” Kaffashian said in his usual proverbial manner” We are still negotiating with other teams to play friendly matches. We will announce the plans when we get the approval of our opponents”.

And we live in hope.

 

South Africa friendly match is still on the cards.

The South African newspaper “The Daily Sun” Reported that Team Melli and South Africa will be meeting in Azadi in May.

BAFANA Bafana’s confirmed friendly international against Iran is seen as a veiled confirmation that Carlos Queiroz has began his work for Safa underground.
 
Queiroz is the current Iran head coach and highly-placed SAFA insiders have revealed that Queiroz was instrumental in the friendly match becoming a reality.
The rumour in the Safa corridors is that he will be announced as the new Bafana coach after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil in July.
The match against Iran will take place in May.
Bafana will play against Brazil in March. They will then have two friendlies against Iran in Tehran and Australia in Sydney in May.