Tag: Vahid Shamsaei

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

 

 

FARHAD TAVAKOLI NAMED MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

 The-afc.com

Jul 23 2016 /

Bangkok: Farhad Tavakoli of NAFIT Al-Wasat claimed the AFC Futsal Club Championship’s Most Valuable Player award despite the Iraqi side suffering a penalty shootout defeat to Japan’s Nagoya Oceans in the final at Bangkok Arena on Saturday.

Iranian Tavakoli scored a first-half equaliser before also netting from the spot after the finalists had played out an action packed 4-4 draw in the title showdown.

The number 13 scored three goals in five matches in the continental competition and, along with Iranian compatriot Ghodrat Bahadori, was instrumental in NAFIT’s march to a first ever final.

“I’m happy to win this award, but the trophy is for all the players, not just me,” said Tavakoli, who was part of the Iran side that won the AFC Futsal Championship in Uzbekistan earlier in the year.

“After Tasisat went out, I felt myself and Ghodrat Bahadori were representing Iran and we tried our best.”

Tavakoli scored his first of the tournament in the 5-1 Group C win over China’s Dalian Yuan Dynasty that saw the 2015 semi-finalists progress to the knockout stage as table-toppers.

The Iranian then starred without scoring in the 2-1 quarter-final victory over Qatar’s Al-Sadd, before netting from inside his own half during a Chonburi Bluewave power-play in extra time in the semi-final as NAFIT eliminated the hosts 4-1.

His strike in the final levelled the tie up at 2-2 and was one of the goals of the tournament after he finished from close in following a wonderful give-and-go with Waleed Khalid.

“This is the first time we have been in the final and we had less experience than them,” added Tavakoli. “I think their experience helped them but that we were the better team.”

Shamsaei thanks God

Tasisat Daryaei Iran’s representative and defending Asian club champions, were knocked out by Nagoya Oceans in the quarter finals. Vahid Shamsaei has just announced his resignation from Tasisat following the disappointing result in Bangkok. Shamsaei was the player-Manager of Tasisat during the championship held in Thailand.

New head coach for Futsal team

The football federation has announced the appointment of Mohammad Nazim-Al Sharia’a as the head coach of Futsal Team Melli replacing the Spanish Jesus Candelas.

Despite his typical Arabic sounding name, Nazim-Al Sharia’a is very much an Iranian who assisted the former Team Melli Futsal coach.

After the Spanish refused to work with the federation due to late payment of wages and other problems, the federation created a real mess out of it. Knee jerk appointments, very much a trade mark of this federation , resulted in the announcement of Vahid Shamsaei as head coach of Team Melli but no one seemed to have informed him! Following much drama and turn of events , Shamsaei eventually turned down the job as FFIRI did not entertain Shamsaei’s  many demands.

A head hunting exercise began to recruit a quality foreign coach , but with the reputation of FFIRI already in the mud as bad employer and late payers, there were no foreign takers and hence the federation had to appoint someone within.2

Nazim-Al Sharia’a has worked closely with all the Team Melli futsal players and hence he has the upper hand in the job. Beside that , there isn’t much achievement by this coach to report.

Shamsaei refuses to accept Futsal team head coach appointment unless…!

 In less than 24 hours from his appointment as the head coach of the Iranian National Futsal team, Shamsaei has announced that he will not attend to his duty as the head coach unless certain conditions are met.

In an interview with Mehrnews , Shamasei expressed his anger and dismay at being designated as the caretaker Head coach of Team Melli, as stated by the head of the Futsal committee Seyed Reza Efitkhari. “I am not interested in this temporary job. I will only accept the job if it is permanent basis and the term is up the next FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2016.”

“|I am not going to run around and beg for the job, I am still committed to my team Tasisat Daryaei. There are certain condition that must be met for me to accept the job and for the a team to have a good chance of success . If these conditions are not met I am not going to turn it down.”

shamsaee vahid

Despite the fact that Reza Eftikhari claimed that appointment of Shamsaei has the blessing of President of the FFIRI, that seems to be far from the truth. Ali Kaffashian has denied that he gave his blessing to Shamsaei “Yes, we have discussed the appointment of the head coach for Futsal team but no specific names were put forward and I did not endorsed anyone” Ali Kaffashian said in a statement to the press.

On this subject, Vahid Shamsaei commented by saying “It is the full right of Kaffashian to say that my appointment is not finalized. In fact he is right, we have not reached a final agreement.”

Shamsaei admitted to Mehrnews sport reporter that his selection ahead of many more experienced coaches was unreasonable but claimed that he has taken the permission of some veteran coaches and personalities before accepting the job that he is now refusing to take !

In a related matter, Abbas Torabian added more fuel to fire in this embarrassing affair by denying that the Futsal Committee was involved in the selection of Vahid Shamsaei. “We have a system running here everything is by the book. All procedures are defined and responsibilities assigned. The selection of the head coach should have been carried out by this committee. I declare here to everyone, that the futsal committee was not involved in appointing Shamsaei as the head coach.”

The head of the Futsal Technical Committee, refused to confirm that Shamsaei has gone through the selection process and the FFIRI has done the due diligence in this selection. “I was not involved and I wouldn’t know if he went through the process.”

Torabian has expressed his concern on the way that Shamsaei has been picked. “This is a decision that has been taken in haste and sounds like being emotional. Taking temporary decisions is nothing new here. Many decisions have been taken temporarily around us. Everything is temporary, and now the decision on new interim head coach of futsal team. I do not wish to talk about it any further.”

torabian 93

As such, the FFIRI and its administrators, once again put themselves in a very awkward and embarrassing situation. It sounds that Eftikhari has taken an individual decision without referring to the rulebook and by claiming the support of Kaffashian which was denied by the President of FFIRI . Despite this blunder , and there has been so much of it of late , these failures , incompetence and ineptitudes by this administration , are becoming a habit while those committing it in FFIRI are becoming immune from being embarrassed. The person like Reza Eftikhari in this case do not ponder on the humiliation of making blunders and perhaps has a package of excuses and justification ready for launch.

Vahid Shamsaei appointed as coach of Iran’s Futsal Team.

In an unforeseen move, the FFIRI has appointed Vahid Shamsaei as the acting head coach of Iran’s futsal team.

Shamsaei, a legendary futsal player in his own right is currently the head coach of league champion side, Tasisat Daryaei FSC.  In a statement carried by the official FFIRI website, the head of the futsal committee Seyed Reza Efitkhari announced “We have thoroughly discussed the current situation in the aftermath of Jesus Candelas resignation from his post. To minimize the impact and for the sake of continuity, we have decided that the best option is to appoint Vahid Shamsaei as caretaker head coach until such time when a final appointment can be reached.”

The move seems to be a hasty one brought by the circumstances and shortage of time as Iran futsal team has a busy schedule ahead and involved in several competitions which require prompt action to resolve the coaching responsibilities and appointments.

Shamsaei thanks God

What seems to be quite odd, however, is the decision by the FFIRI Futsal committee to nominate Shamsaei’s team as the representative of Iran!  This move was most probably demanded by Shamsaei himself as a pre-condition for accepting the job on temporary basis. Shamsaei is free to choose other players from other teams to supplement his own. Tasisat team which will be labeled as Iran’s Team Melli futsal team. Shamsei’s first assignment is to take the team to Portugal on a tour where two games are arranged against the Portuguese national side.

Vahid Shamsaei (39 years) is officially the world’s top futsal goal scorer with 82 goals. He started his coaching career while still playing with Dabir Tabriz. In 2014 he transferred to Tasisat Daryaei and won them the title on his first attempt. The 8 times Asian Cup winner had a difficult relation with FFIRI in past few years. Futsal in general is still going through some rough times, with variety of problems. Managerial disputes, league disruption, crowds’ disturbances, claims of corruption and administration problems have marred the progress of futsal in Iran.

Iran is hosting the AFC Futsal Club Championship in summer 2015 (30July-07th August)

Iran has won the Asian title a record 10 times but lost the last AFC Asian Championship to Japan on Penalty kicks last year).  The other nations that won the tire is Japan on 3 occasions.

Iran cruises past Vietnam.

Futsal Team Melli defeated the host nation Vietnam 15-4 to book its place in the semifinals of the AFC Futsal Championship 2014. The first half of the Quarter Final in Phu Tho Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City ended 5-1 for Iran. In the Semifinal on Thursday , Iran will meet Uzbekistan for a place in the final while on the other semifinals  , Japan will meet Kuwait.

As expected , the arena was full to its capacity with local Vietnamese fan enthusiastically supporting their team in their quest for a unique win against the Asian Powerhouse, Iran

Hossein Tayyebi , however broke the Vietnamese concentration when he scored the first goal early with one of his trademark half turns and shooting into the goal. After that goal Vietnam played very tight defensive game that prevented Team Melli from increase the goal margin.

With their good defensive game plan , lots of enthusiasm and vociferous backing of the fans , the host was looking to threaten Iran with their fast paced counter attack game. However , Vietnam came short in tactics and individual skills. They were no match for the much more experienced and skilful Iranian players, despite the fact that Iran has gone through major upheaval in the roster by introducing many young talents. The fast pace game that Vietnam played was also the Achilles heel of the team as they sacrificed accuracy with their players missing simple passes.

Vietnam then switched over playing a physically demanding plan by pressing the Iranian ball carrier but coming short while exhausting themselves in the process.

There were some outstanding performance by young Iranian Mohammad Shajari who scored a hat trick to prove that Iran has talent in Futsal and claim his ace for a starting role.

However, the star of the show was Hossen Tayyebi, once again.

Tayyebi’s performance so far in this championship rates him as the best Asian futsal player and a leading candidate for Asian Futsal MVP. His vision, quick turns, scoring from any angle, dribbling and energy is second to none. He is a worthy replacement for the exceptional Iranian futsal player and the legend Vahid Shamsaei. Tayyebi has quite a few years ahead of him but he is already a player who is very much a world class standard and soon, with such exceptional performance and dedication to the game, he will become a household name.

Hossein Tayyebi and Asghar Hassanzadeh helped themselves to hat trick as well.

Farhad Fakhim and Alireza Vafaei scored a brace each while Behrouz Jafary and Vahid Shafei scored one each.