Tag: Vahid Shamsaei

Controversy follows Iran’s Futsal team as it arrives in Kuwait for the AFC Asian Futsal Cup.

Iran’s national futsal team left for Kuwait, the venue of the 16th AFC Futsal Asian Cup Kuwait 2022™. The sending-off occurred after the end of the training camp on Friday but the event was not without contention in Tehran.

Mohammad Reza Sangsafidi’s and Mostafa Nazari, the goalkeepers’ coach were forced to drop out of the squad indicateing the existence of internal disparities before departure to Kuwait. The uncertainty of Sangsafidi’s exclusion from the squad is still not completely clear. There are conflicting views between the player and the coach. Mehr reporter’s follow-ups show that this player has been left out by Vahid Shamsaei based on medical reports and due to a long-term injury. Of course, the player claimed in an interview that he is not injured. The FFIRI has not provided an explanation for the exclusion of a key team player from the squad.

There was more controversy to follow after the omission of Mostafa Nazari, the former Team Melli Goalkeeper and current coach from the team. The Football Federation announced in a one liner that Nazari’s absence in Kuwait was a decision by Vahid Shamsai, but provided no further details on the circumstances and how is it that the defending champion will be playing without a Goalkeepers coach in the competition. Privately it is said that the reason for these decisions was the conflict between the two parties with Nazari accusing and Shamsaei of leaving him out of technical decisions and ignoring his views.

After being excluded from the national team, Nazari, who already has been issued a Kuwaiti visa, reacted to his exclusion by publishing a message on his Instagram and writing a sarcastic message aimed at Shamsaei.

Once again, the FFIRI finds itself in a turmoil and war of attritions. It is not expected that Taj will add quality or anything of value to this administration. After the drama of Team Melli, now it is the turn of the Futsal’s Team Melli. It not because there is a curse, nor it is bad lack or the enemies of the regieme at work, these are also self-inflicted and the end result of one fundementl issue in Iran. Poor management and inefficient leadership leading to the induction of shaky and dodgy characters in the Iranian football system.

Final list for AFC Futsal Cup Kuwait 2022

Iran’s national futsal team, on returning from the 6-side Intercontinental tournament in Thailand, published the list of players who will take part in the Asian Cup in Kuwait.

This camp will resume training after the team’s two-day rest. The technical staff of the national futsal team invited 16 players to the tournament in Thailand. This list has been reduced to 14 people for the AFC Asian Cup Kuwait 2022. Vahid Shamsaei will be coaching for the first time in the Asian Futsal Cup hoping to lift the title for the first time as a head coach. He has already won eight AFC Futsal Championships with Iran.

Iran has one the title 12 times since the inception of the championship. Iran is also the Champion of the last edition.

# Player Post DOB and Age Club
1 Alireza Javan FW 2 February 1995 (27) Crop
2 Alireza Rafieipour DF 9 October 1993 (28) Crop
3 Hamzah Kodkhodaei MF 2 February 1997 (25) Mes Sungun
4 Hossein Tayyebi (captain) FW 29 September 1988 (33) Palma
5 Mehdi Asadshir Sunich Saveh
6 Mehdi Karimi MF 28 January 1997 (25) Giti Pasand
7 Mohammad Hossein Baziar MF 29 November 2003 (18) Sanaye Poshtiban
8 Mohammad Hossein Derakhshani MF 1 April 1993 (29) Giti Pasand
9 Mohammad Reza SengSefidi MF 2 November 1989 (32) Mes Sungun
10 Moslem Oladghobad MF 29 November 1995 (26) Palma
11 Saeid Ahmadabbasi FW 31 July 1992 (30) Valdepeñas
12 Saeed Momeni GK 23 November 1992 (29) Crop
13 Salar Aghapour FW 7 March 2000 (22) Mes Sungun
14 Sina Perkas GK 17 August 1992 (30) Sunich Saveh

 

MATCH SCHEDULE

GROUP C

DATE Match No. Home Away Time Venue
28 September 2022
Wednesday
Match Day 2		 5 Lebanon Chinese Taipei 20:00 Saad Al Abdullah Hall
7 Iran Indonesia 17:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
30 September 2022
Friday
Match Day 4		 13 Indonesia Lebanon 17:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
15 Chinese Taipei Iran 20:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
October 2022
Sunday
Match Day 6		 21 Iran Lebanon 20:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall
22 Chinese Taipei Indonesia 17:00  Saad Al Abdullah Hall

 

Iran futsal to the finlas after defeating host Thailand.

Iran’s national futsal team defeated the host Thailand 3-2 today in the semi-final match of the intercontinental futsal tournament 2022.

Mohammad Hossein Derakhshani (8), Saeed Ahmad Abbasi (10), and Salar Aghapour (39) scored for Iran in this match. Vahid Shamsaei’s players made their way to the finals with this difficult victory and tomorrow they will face the winner of the Morocco-Finland game for the title of the 6 nations tournament.

The first half; was an intense and physical match. Iran scored the first goal in this half through Derakhshani from an assist by Salar Aghapour. Two minutes later, this time it was Saeed Ahmad Abbasi’s turn to open up Thailand’s goal with two consecutive shots. The clashing and physical game between the two teams even caused Iran to commit 5 fouls. as a result. Thailand was awarded a second-point penalty. However, Iran’s goalkeeper Saeed Momeni, who replaced Sina Perkas in the goal saved the penalty,

The second half:   Thailand came back in the second half with the support of its fans. The host scored its first goal in the 25th minute. In the 29th minute, the Thai players stuck the ball in the net of Iran’s team due to the combined poor work and negligence of the Iranian players, giving the host lots of hope to turn the result around and even win the game. Iran’s attempts were closed but not good enough to scare the Thais.  Thailand also put pressure in the hope of scoring a goal on counterattacks. However, one minute before the end of the game, it was Salar Aghapour who scored the winning goal for Iran so that our country’s team became the finalists with a 3-2 win. Thailand’s captain was sent to the hospital.

In the last minute of the first half, Hossein Tayyebi’s hand, the captain of Iran’s national team, hit the face of Thai captain “Kristada”, causing him severe injuries and breaking Kristada’s nose. The severity of this injury was such that the Thai captain was taken to the ambulance by the emergency forces in the hall to be sent to the hospital to complete his treatment.

Meanwhile, Morocco and Finland met later today Thursday in the other semi-final stage of the 6-side futsal tournament in Thailand. The game ended 4:1 in favor of Morocco. Morocco advanced to the final and will face Iran in the final match that will be held tomorrow Friday.

Iran defeats Vietnam in Thailand Futsal Tournament

Iran’s national futsal team continued its winning streak by defeating Vietnam  3-1 in their second match of the 6-a-side Continental tournament in Thailand and qualified for the semi-final stage of this competition.

Alireza Javan (twice) and Mehdi Karimi scored Iran goals.

Vahid Shamsaei is using this competition as a preparatory tournament for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2022 which will be hosted by Kuwait in October.

Iran beats Finland in futsal tournament

Iran National Futsal Team beat Finalnd 2-1 in its first match in Continental Futsal Championship Thailand 2022.

In this match, which started at 14:30 Iran time in Bangkok city, Iran scored the first goal by Salar Aghapour (2), but in the second half, they conceded the equalizer. Later, it was Moslem Olad-e-Ghabad (34) who gave Iran the lead once again to ensure Vahid Shamsaei’s boys leave the firld as winners.

On Tuesday, Iran will play Vietnam in the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium to consolidate the lead in the group of 2 teams.

In the other group, Host Thailand will start the tournament later today against Morocco, while Mozambique is the third team in the group.

The tournament is the ideal preparation for Iran’s Futsal team ahead of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup in Kuwait.

Less than 24 hours from his resignation, Shamsaei returns!

Nothing in Iran’s football seems to work like the rest of the world. Nothing seems to be certain and the fans are becoming used to expecting the unexpected.

In the series of comical acts, Vahid Shamsaei resigned from his post as the head coach of the national futsal team on Tuesday after Mehdi Taj was elected as the new president of the Football Federation. Shamsai openly and honestly announced that his vote in the election was Mirshad Majdi’s rival Mehdi Taj, but he also said that he has no problem with Taj, Nabi, and Ghanbarzadeh and has great respect for them!
His justification for resigning, Shamsaei said: “Because I saw the past events of futsal with my own eyes and I want that honor to be preserved, I am leaving. ” The World leading futsal goalscorer had several disagreements with Taj during his presidency.

After this decision, some board members of FFIRI made some calls to Shamsai and asked him to reconsider his resignation. Among those who called Mehdi Taj, the newly elected president and the reason behind the resignation.

Somehow, Shamsaei withdrew his resignation in less than a day !!

Shamsaei will be on Iran’s bench in the AFC Futsal Cup 2022, which will be hosted by Kuwait in October. He will also travel to Thailand next week with the national team to participate in the country’s preparatory tournament.

Despite being a legendary figure in Iran’s futsal, Shamsaei is also known for his fits of anger, sulky attitude, and bemoaning character. His personality and weakness in dealing with hardship could be the Achilles heel of this coach.

A shock in Iran football. Mehdi Taj selected as head of FFIRI!

In the election of Iran’s Football Federation which was held this morning, rank outsider Mehdi Taj managed to win the presidency of this federation with more than double the votes of the incumbent acting head  Mirshad Majedi.

The man that left the federation under a cloud of accusations, claims of corruption, and nepotism and was legally pursued by several entities managed to dodge all the legal obstacles to his nomination. Reservation on his candidacy by clubs, a horde of managers, coaches, and players were all to no avail as Taj registered his name as a candidate for the presidency and comfortably won the hot seat about three years after he left it in tatters.  Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem who replaced Taj was fired from the post after less than a year in FFIRI.

The elections of the Football Federation started on Tuesday morning. Mehdi Taj, Azizullah Mohammadi, and Mirshad Majdi were the candidates for the presidency of the Football Federation. On vote counting, Mehdi Taj won 50 votes. The current acting head of FFIRI  Mirshad Majedi received 25 votes while Azizullah Mohammadi got 4 votes only.

On May 7, 2016, the last occasion where Mehdi Taj contested the elections, he won with 50 votes out of a total of 73 votes received at the Football Federation Assembly. He resigned from his post on December 29th, 2019 claiming health issues and a mild heart attack.

The first reaction to Taj’s return was the immediate resignation of the Head Coach of Team Melli’s futsal team.

Vahid Shamsaei that is in the midst of preparing the Futsal team to defend its Asian title in Kuwait, submitted his resignation in protest. Close associates informed the press that Shamsaei refuses to work with Taj and be associated with anything that Taj is involved in.

Iran Futsal team to play Argentina in friendlies

The Iranian national futsal team will play two friendly matches against the Argentine national futsal team on July 6th and 8th in Argentina.

The Iranian national futsal team, in preparation for the Asian Cup 2022 and defense of its title, has decided upon these two friendly matches, thus, Vahid Shamsaei’s players will encounter the best preparation possible by playing against a top team in the shape of Argentina.

 

Previously, the national futsal team was scheduled to play against Argentina and Paraguay in a tripartite tournament in July, but with the discretion of the coaching staff of the national futsal team, the match against Paraguay was canceled and instead, it was decided that the two futsal teams of Iran and Argentina would play two friendly matches.  Also, the coaching staff of the national futsal team, headed by Vahid Shamsaei, is looking to hold a friendly match with the national team of Spain or Portugal, both matches are under negotiation.

After the last Futsal World Cup in Lituinaia, The Iranian national futsal team is going through a major transformation in which it saw the change of the Coaching staff with the legendary  Vahid Shamsaei appointed as head coach on 18th May 2022. A horde of new players were picked by the newly formed team while the seniors have either quit or sidelined.

Iran confirms its place in the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Kuwait 2022™

Bishkek: Defending Champion Iran and Uzbekistan have confirmed their places in the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Kuwait 2022™ after securing a top-two finish in their respective groups of the Central and South Zone Qualifiers on Monday.
Iran beat Turkmenistan 3-0 to stay top of the leaderboard in Group A with six points. The Kyrgyz Republic, meanwhile, revived its qualification hopes after beating the Maldives.

Uzbekistan were the first team from the region to qualify for the Finals after their 5-1 win over Afghanistan. The White Wolves are assured of a top two finish regardless of the result in the final match on Tuesday. One point is all Tajikistan needs to secure a second-place finish in Group B.
Group A
Turkmenistan 0-3 Iran
Turkmenistan were Iran’s toughest challenge yet, but that didn’t stop the defending champions from showing their prowess with Hossein Tayebi breaking the deadlock in the 12th minute before Saeid Ahmadabbasi doubled their advantage moments before the halftime break.
Turkmenistan were still very much in the game as they challenged the champions, but Shiri Bayradurdyyev’s own goal in the 38th minute ended their hopes of a comeback.

Vahid Shamsaei used his second-string players in most of the periods while inducting one or more first-choice players as support.
Iran will take on the Kyrgyz Republic on Tuesday, while Turkmenistan faces a must-win match against the Maldives.

Futsal teams departs to Bogota with great expectations.

Asian Futsal Champion, Iran departed to Bogota to participate in the FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016 with great expectation.

Iran goes into the FIFA Futsal World Cup with significant momentum, claiming the 2016 AFC Futsal Championship where they racked up an incredible 48 goals.  This is the sixth appearance for Futsal Team Melli in the World Cup which is now ranked in the top 5 teams in the FIFA Ranking.

Seyed Mohammad Nazemalsharieh will be hoping to lead his team to the final rounds of the competition after some sterling performances in the previous World Cup. Only two teams in the world had more participation in the FIFA Futsal World Cup than Iran’s 6 times. Both Brazil and Spain took part in 7 edition of the  FIFA  Futsal World Cup.

Reunion time 
Iran will be up against some familiar faces in the group stage of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016, where they will take on not just Spain but also Morocco, whom Tayebi and Co edged past four years ago. Their third opponents, meanwhile, will be somewhat more of an unknown quantity in Azerbaijan.

The Asian champions will once again be kicking off against Spain, on this occasion in Medellin on 12 September. Tayebi stressed that he and his team-mates will be gunning for victory in this heavyweight bout: “I can assure you that every time the Iranian national futsal team enter the pitch, we do so to win, because we’re among the world’s powerhouses in this sport. We respect the Spaniards but we want to win our first match in Colombia. Encounters between Spain and Iran are always spectacular and tight affairs, but we’re determined to get the win.”

“We know that Azerbaijan have a strong team, even though we’ve never faced them,” he continued. “The coaching staff have watched two of their games, though, and told us that they play some good stuff. As I said before, we play to win and that match will be no exception.”

Despite his confidence in his own side’s abilities, Tayebi is nevertheless mindful that several other countries have kicked on in recent years and so it will prove a tough task for Iran to achieve their goal of advancing to at least the last four.

“I think most teams’ level has improved, which means the competition will be stiff and there will be no easy games. There are no favourites on paper and every side will be made to work hard for wins.”

“We’re going to do our best to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup and play with heart. We respect all the other teams a great deal, but we’re determined to succeed.”

Shamsaei thanks God

Inspired by Shamsaee 
Tayebi is hopeful that the strike he bagged in Thailand four years ago will not be his last on the world stage, although collective glory remains his number-one target. “I was delighted to find the net against Spain. It was the most important goal of my career. Scoring at a World Cup is something unforgettable for any player,” he said, before quickly clarifying that, “As far as I’m concerned, the team’s success comes before my scoring statistics.”

“It’s exciting to see your name on the scoresheet in a World Cup match but, like I said, the team’s targets are more important. The fact that I’ve scored at a World Cup before shows that I can play my part within the group.”

In his eagerness to do his bit and perform his role with aplomb, Tayebi is inspired by the example of former Iran stars such as ex-national team captain Vahid Shamsaee, whom he described as “one of the best players in futsal history”.

“Vahid is a real legend and I have tremendous respect for him. He’s a great man who had a lot of success in his career. I’m proud to be his compatriot. I love the way he played and I’m going to try to follow in his footsteps by living long in all the Iranian fans’ memories.”

Colombia 2016 could provide the perfect platform for Tayebi to fulfil this dream by not just adding to his World Cup goal tally, but accomplishing something that not even the great Shamsaee was able to – helping his country through to the semi-finals of the global showpiece.

This year’s competition will be a total of 6 groups in the competition with each group having four teams. After the group stages, the top 2 teams from each group will proceed to the knockout stage along with the 4 highest ranked third place finishers.

Solid preparations 

 

11 times Asian Champion Iran team has been actively preparing for the FIFA Futsal World Cup for over 4 months and played several tough matches. In Mashad, Team Melli played two matches against fellow qualifiers Uzbekistan with convincing wins 3-0 and 6-3 for Iran. Earlier, Iran participated in a 4 nation Futsal tournament in Thailand, where they drew with Kazakhstan 3-3, lost to Thailand 7-5 and beat Japan 4-2.

 

Team Roster

 

1 Sepehr MOHAMMADI Goalkeeper 27 years old

2 Alireza SAMIMI Goalkeeper 29 years old

3 Ahmad ESMAEILPOUR Pivot 27 years old

4 Mohammad KESHAVARZ Defender 34 years old

5 Hamid AHMADI Defender 27 years old

6 Mohammadreza SANGSEFIDI Wing 26 years old

7 Ali HASSAN ZADEH Wing 28 years old

8 Ghodrat BAHADORI Wing 26 years old

9 Afshin KAZEMI Defender 29 years old

10 Mohammad TAHERI Wing 31 years old

11 Mehran ALIGHADR Wing 27 years old

12 Hossein TAYEBI Pivot 27 years old

13 Farhad TAVAKOLI Defender 27 years old

14 Mahdi JAVID Pivot 29 years old

 

Head Coach: Seyed  Mohammad NAZEMALSHARIEH (IRN) 46 years old

Assistant Coach: Mohammad  HASHEMZADEH (IRN) 39 years old