Miserable day at ACL for Iranian clubs

Only in Iran do we see a team win both home and away games and still get eliminated. 

Yes, it is true. Sepahan, despite winning the return leg 2-1 has been eliminated. It was just in form with the rest of the day (unless one is a Volleyball fan who would have been delighted with the semifinal victory over South Korea) as we saw Zob-Ahan throw away an excellent chance of advancing from the tie with some lackluster and overly cautious performance in the second half and the extra time.

 

Zob-Ahan’s coach, Mr. Ebrahimzadeh failed to heed all the danger signs of the away leg as the Korean club Samsung Bluewings continued to use the flanks and create chance after chance until they scored their equalizing goal (after Ghazi had put Zob ahead, earlier) which seemed to pump most of Zob’s fight out of them. 

But the biggest blow came not from the opponent’s team, but from the referee who, during a Korean set piece, in the melee in our box somehow saw something that even the TV replays from various angles failed to show. Zob’s Ahmadi was red carded and the team left with 10 men. The resultant penalty was slotted and it was literally mission for the 10-man Zob-Ahan who now had to score 2 goals in the remaining 18 or so minutes!

 

I believe Hadadifar’s absence in the middle of the park, controlling and directing the play for Zob Ahan was really a big blow for them and they looked weak in creating opportunities for their forwards.

 

Sepahan was not to be left behind, although they did make a great match out of it. They started very brightly as they scored a goal within the first minute of the game through Emad Reza’s well placed shot from range and doubled their tally by 12^th minute by Ashjari’s long ranger from the middle leaving the Qatari team and their fans jittery and busy biting their nail for most of the match. Halfway through the game, Talebi scored a goal which was correctly called offside, Seyed_Salehi had a great header cleared on the line by the acrobatic Al-Sadd keeper,  and Emad Reza was fouled just outside the box which was wrongfully ignored by the Japanese referee.  

Thus was the story until that infernal and eternal law of football came to play; "if you dont score and make use of your opportunities, be sure that you will concede". Despite dominating the game and possession, creating several dangerous chances, Sepahan conceded a goal near the end of the game which deflated their players and much like their compatriots, Zob-Ahan, stared down the line with little hope of scoring 2 goals in a very short period. But Al-Sadd's coach, the Argentine Fossati's reaction after scoring their only goal of the two leg tie was quite pitiable. Pumping his hands in the air and running around pointing to their club supporters, one would have thought they have beaten Barcelona by 4 goals in the World Club tournament ... and not merely for the single goal in the game that they still lost and made the totaly tally of "scored goals" 3-1 ... had it not been for the foolish mismanagement of Sepahan's officials. It was quite the peculiar reaction of a losing coach indeed.

Thus was the miserable day of Sepahan and Zob-Ahan in their bid to make an all-Iranian semifinal ... which turned out to be a non-Iranian one eventually.

Quieroz begins our World Cup campaign

Carlos Quieroz began his and our Team Melli’s World Cup campaign with a sound victory over the minnows of the group, Indonesia. The scoreline of 3-0 was attractive enough for the general fan, as it was also important to start the games with a confidence boosting victory. However, the way the team played left much to be desired. Despite the overall team performance showed signs of improvement in some periods of the game, but the overall quality of the team was nothing to write home about.

Next was the away game to Qatar. Had anyone proposed an away scoreline of 1-1 prior to the game, I’m sure many fans would have taken it. However the sheer number of chances created up front for our strikers and especially the three golden chances for Karim Ansarifard, all of which he scoffed with rather meek and lackluster shots that resembled mere passes to the opposition keeper, left me wondering what if we had a more competent selection and staring line up. We could have easily taken the game and perhaps finished handsomely by 2-3 goals margin. But Qatar got away with a draw and we hopefully will not reach a position to rue all those wasted opportunities. The hosts’ goal was a very soft one where they exploited the confusion created in the middle of our defense and slotted a goal to salvage a point for them. One cant and shouldn’t blame the loss of two points on the young Ansarifard and despite the knee jerk reactions of some fans, I still believe he has enough talent to remain in our overall squad. However, he can certainly work on his final shots and not try to insist too much on a silky touch or tap-in. Sometimes a little power is what the doctor prescribes.

Speaking of player selection and starting line up, I have a bone to pick with our new coach. Either it is is untimely vacation at the beginning of the league season that deprived him of keeping an eye on the in-form players or perhaps his reliance on his Iranian assistants to pick the right players that ended up with a roster that included a few our of form players, one or two of whom actually found their way into the starting line up as well!! Gholamreza Rezaei is a talented player with good amount of pace to create trouble for almost any Asian team’s defense. But in recent months he hasn’t been in form and that productive. Yes he still makes fast runs up and down and zig-zags to the middle with the same pace. But all these moves show no real purpose or design and at times they  even hinder the team’s attack. And yet, we see him not only picked for these games, he was also put in the starting line up. I can strongly say he was one of the weakest players in the first match with long periods of absence in the game until he was subbed (too late in my opinion) near the end of the game. And despite this weak performance, he was yet again in the next game’s starting line up and stayed on while more productive players like Khalatbari and Karimi were subbed out!

At the same time, the absence or neglect of the league’s top goal scorer, Reza Nowroozi of Foulad in any of Quieroz’s rosters (no matter how many he calls up) is something of an enigma. Surely in a 30+ man squad with  a handful of out of form players there is room for the league’s top scorer. That’s what any sensible, logical person would think. And yet … .

With the Bahrain game looming one can only hope with more serious outlook towards the league players and hopefully with more coordination among the players with some sound strategies, we should be able to get the 3 points and put some distance between ourselves and the rest of the group.

Guardiola surpasses Cruyff

Barcelona reign supreme in Europe's Super Cup by defeating gutsy Porto 2-0

A whopping 13 titles in only 3 seasons screams of Guardiola's mastery and Barca's undisputed reign of world football. And with the upcoming World Club Championships besides the rest of the yearly/seasonal tournaments and championships (domestic and international), you can bet your house that Barcelona and Guardiola are going to need a much bigger trophy cabinet.

(Barcelona joins forces with Bill Gates to fight and eradicate polio)

Barcelona f.c. defeats Madrid Zoo f.c.

Spanish Super-copa, 2011. Football, the beautiful game, triumphs over ugly animalistic circus called Real Madrid. That game was more like a match between 11 skillful football players committed to the beautiful game versus 11 ugly, rabid dogs, led by one of the most disgraceful coaches in the world, hell bent on reminding the world why they dont have the respect of the true football aficionados.

If there was any doubt remaining in the mind of some people who were either in denial or suffering from extreme bias, Mourinho’s disgraceful behavior, twisting the ears of Barca’s assistant coach, Vilanova, in hope of provoking even more reaction and controversy should have been proof enough as to who the instigator behind Real Madrid’s shameful displays ever since this pitiful man took over as coach. It is no wonder his team continues to fail in terms of sportsmanship and discipline, if their coach is anything to go by. The Spanish F.A. ought to consider if such things go unchecked, there could come a time when Pepe or Marcelo or a host of other Madrid players may take things too far with a rash tackle and end up depriving the world of football of the likes of Messi or Xavi or Iniesta.

He single-handedly gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘sore loser’. And if the Spanish League authorities have an inkling of fondness for the game of football, they ought to take a very serious look at Mourinho’s antics and especially violent players with track record like Marcello, Pepe and a few others in the Madrid side. Otherwise, Mourinho and his Madrid team will cause untold damage to the game of football as well as the Spanish football as a whole.

It is a shame to see this happen since the Madrid side, jam-packed with highly skillful players IS capable of playing attractive football without such horrible antics.

However let us not get distracted by the ugly display and miss the positive side of the game too. Real Madrid came into the match full of energy and hope that their strategy of high pressing and full intensity frontal attack on Barca’s back-line would bear fruit as it did in the first leg. This is testament to the ability of its players who can put the best club in the world under such intense pressure (which begs the question why should they resort to unsportsmanship and violent behavior). But Barcelona once again proved why they are hailed as arguably the best football side in the history of football, by shrugging off the initial pressure and settling into their game and scoring some magnificent goals that will be etched in the memory of all those who watched the game. From Messi's exquisite through pass to Iniesta that carved the Madrid backline with a hot knife through butter for the first goal, to the central defender, Pique’s cheeky backheel to Messi who scored the team’s second, to the marvelous combination play involving the new signing Fabregas, for the match winner. Barcelona lived up to its reputation as the most fantastic footballing side with pomp and heralding the shape of things to come in the upcoming season.

By the by, did I mention this win marks Guardiola’s amazing 11th title (equaling Johan Cruyff's) out of the possible 14 since he took over as the coach of Barcelona and Xavi's record breaking 16th title at the club?

Related articles:
New York Times: This is why some people dont like Real Madrid

Classy Barca

What made this year's UEFA champions league final a magnificent occasion in world football?

Was it the grand occasion of two of the biggest clubs in the world meeting in one of the biggest football venues?
Was it the pleasing display of total football by Barcelona?
Was it the mesmerizing mastery of the ball by Messi?
Was it the pomp and weight of the quality shown in the midfield by Xavi and Iniesta?
Was it the comfortable ease with which Barcelona brushed United aside?
Was it Xavi's exquisite passing and feeding of his team mates?
Was it watching Messi nutmeg nearly each and every United player and his cousin at least once?
Was it Sir Alex's nervous clenching and unclenching of his fists as he helplessly watched his players chase shadows due to Barca's fluid passing and constant movement?
Was it defeating the pride of England, in England, in front of thousands of rabid English fans (not to mention rubbing it in on the biased and often cocky British media and football experts)?

Although each one of the above would provide ample reason for a football fan to stand in ovation and salute the celebration of football, the football that we all deserve to see, but what provided the classiest moment on that Saturday evening was the pure class of first Xavi who offered the captain’s arm band to Puyol, who in turn wrapped the band around the arms of Eric Abidal, the player who was diagnosed with liver cancer a mere 4 months back. The player who fought back the dreaded “C” and defeated it and found enough reserves within his mortal shell to get back to training and eventually be able to strut his skills on the football pitch of the most watched club football game in history. The absolute class of captain Puyol for showing us why he is the heart of the club and why Barcelona is far more than just a football club. It was only fitting for Abidal to be the player who lifts the champions league trophy to immortalize the club's never say die spirit and the quest for perfection. The player who faced the greatest test of human spirit head on and defeated it in style.