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.

Zob Ahan dodges the bullet?

Looks like after much tumult and speculations, Mansour Ebrahimzadeh has decided to stay put in Zob Ahan and finish his assault on the Asian Champions League. Along with this news, it is reported that most of the roster of the club have decided to extend their contracts with the club, which should keep the structure of the team more or less intact. This is a welcome news which comes at a time that Zob Ahan sees two of its key players, Khalatbari and Talebi leave the club.

I believe with a few key purchases in the transfer season, the club can fill the vacant slots well and continue their impressive campaign in Asia, maintaining the high quality we have come to expect from them in recent years.


Meanwhile, the one man they will find hard to replace is Ebrahimzadeh's talented young assistant, Majid Saleh, who will be seen head coaching another IPL club, Saipa. I believe Mr. Saleh belongs to the few promising young up and coming coaches, the likes of which, unfortunately, we dont have many!

No rest for the weary of Iran

Amidst internal turmoil and personnel shuffles in both Esfahani teams, Iran's two representatives have been paired against two tough opponents for their upcoming Asian champions league quarter-final clash, a daunting task under normal circumstances.

Sepahan is slated to face the Qatari team Alsadd. And they step into this crucial game not knowing who will be their coach and most probably having lost some of their key players such as Ebrahim Toure, Jalal Hosseini and Iran (and probably Asia’s) best goalkeeper, Mehdi Rahmati. Coach Amir Ghalenoei has expressed his disappointment in leaving the club due to failure in negotiations over his salary and contract fee. Although this has not been confirmed by the club management, but all signs point to a change at the helm for the club which couldnt have come at a more crucial period what with the club making a very strong case to win the coveted Asian champions league trophy.

While the yellow camp in Esfahan mulls over its next possible coach, the green camp of Zob-Ahan faces nothing short of disaster as there have been rumors of departure of Mansour Ebrahimzadeh, their capable coach as well as some of the more prominent players like goal tender Shahab Gordan and the little big man, Mohamad-Reza Khalatbari! Considering their quarterfinal clash is against a very competent South Korean Samsung Blue-wings, fans of the club are experiencing some very nervous and stressful times that should last till the end of Iran’s transfer window.

Ironically, after talk of Ghalenoei’s departure from Sepahan, some pundits have disclosed Sepahan’s management may be going after Ebrahimzadeh as a viable replacement. Although other names have been thrown into the bowl as well, such as Luka Bonacic (former Sepahan coach who went as far as Asian champions league final 2 years back) and Perspolis’ Ali Daei.

Those in the know blame the government and its role in reducing the allotted budget for industrial teams that has forced these clubs to have a long look at their yearly budget and affordability of such high profile and imminently successful coaches and players. But this couldn’t have come at a worse time as this year, given the performances of these two teams, really held much promise for the Iranian fans to actually dare imagine seeing an Iranian club lifting the coveted Asian trophy after a more than 20 years gap.

IPL's top coaches and stars of the season

As we finish the football season in Iran, with Persepolis taking on Malavan for the Hazfi cup and the rights to represent Iran in Asian Club Championship, a look back at some of the success stories of the season may seem fitting.

The top coaches of the year for me are Ebrahimzadeh of Zob-Ahan, Majid Jalali of Foolad and Ghalenoei of Sepahan. Mansour Ebrahimzadeh has shown to be quite a capable manager whose quiet and unassuming style is a breath of fresh air in a football that thrives on controversy. His insistence on team-work and team oriented tactics is another major accolade. Leading a team that in comparison with some of the more flashy clubs in Iran, is frankly lacking in “famous stars”, he managed to bring out the more tactical facets of football to the fore which has made his team into a tremendous force to reckon with inside Iran as well as in Asia. However, it is worrying to see rumors of his departure or transfer of a couple of key players (like Khalatbari, one of Iran’s best currently) due to financial constraints in the club! Let us hope this ends well and the financial woes are swiftly dealt with as Zob-Ahan enters the Asian Champions league’s quarter finals.

Zob's captain, Ghasem Hadadifard, in my opinion, has been a total revelation this year, as he flaunted great skills in passing as well as shooting from range. But most of all it was his vision and ability to spot runs and spaces in the opponents' defense that makes him one of the top playmakers and leaders on the pitch in Iran at the moment.






Majid Jalali has made a name for himself as a thinking and methodical coach, backed by a reliable system and the belief in player development and introduction of fresh talent. This year was no exception as his team, Foolad Khuzestan, displayed some of the pleasing performances in the league and eventually capturing the title of the most attacking team with most goals scored (56 goals) as well as introduction of Reza Nowroozi as the league’s top scorer with 24 goals, breaking the old record of 21 goals set by Reza Enayati. With great emphasis on youth and energy, Foolad became a force in the later stages of the season, climbing to the 6th place behind star-studded teams that also enjoyed massive popular regional support like the two Tehrani teams of Persepolis and Esteghlal, Esfahan’s Sepahan and Zob-Ahan and Tabriz’s Tracktorsazi. So capturing the 6th rank with a very young team is no easy task. But they also reached the semifinals of the Hazfi cup and perhaps may feel undone by refereeing mistakes that denied them a well-deserved penalty against Persepolis. But that does not lessen any of their valiant efforts during the season.

The season saw Foolad introduce yet another batch of young talent to Iranian football in the form of the young, exciting Arash Afshin who attracted many admirers with his explosive style in our Olympics team and then Team Melli. Bakhtiar Rahmani, a capable midfielder who has taken his rightful place in our Olympic team. And lets not forget the revitalized Reza Nowroozi who was discarded from Steel-Azin but was transformed into the lethal striker who, aside from his pace, could threaten the opponent from outside the box as well as in close spaces.





What can be said with Sepahan capturing its second IPL trophy in a row under management of Ghalenoei with the help of a crop of best talent available in Iran? Sepahan could easily rival our national team. Hell, with a couple of changes, it IS our national team. So given the sheer amount of star power at his disposal, it would have been a tragic failure had they not won the league. However, one must give credit when due. The Steel-Azin experiment showed us merely packing your team with famous stars does not guarantee success and Ghalenoei deserves the credit for managing the egos of his stars and molding them into a very tight unit that really shone in the Asian Champions league by advancing to the quarter finals with hardly breaking into sweat.

Mehdi Rahmati needs no introduction as he has been showing magnificent performances for the national team as well as his club in domestic and international matches. So it is beyond any doubt that he was one of the most influential players in Sepahan. However there are rumors of his leaving the club which must certainly be a cause for worry for Sepahan who face even tougher challenges in Asia in their quest for the Asian trophy. What's even more distressing is that with Rahmati's departure, it is expected that another defense stalwart, Jalal Hosseini may follow him to the new club! This is enough to cause sleepless nights for any coach.





Ali Daei can still salvage some glory from this season if his Persepolis manages to defeat a gutsy and resilient Malavan team and win the Hazfi cup. This would be a much needed vindication of him after a season of much turmoil and internal strife that would cripple just about any club. The win would be a fitting reply to all his accusers and critics who fairly and unfairly attacked him throughout the season. But only he knows what is in store for him the next season. Would he stay in Persepolis or will he switch to another club. Tracktorsazi of Tabriz, among a couple of other clubs like Saipa, was rumored to be pursuing his services.

This season, Perspolis, in Alireza Aliasgar had a tremendously talented player who could play almost in every position in the field. But it was when moving forward and attacking the opponents' defense and goal that really made him flourish and a household name in our football. With great pace and ball handling skills he holds much promise for the future.







All in all, a very interesting season for Iranian football and with two representatives in Asian Champions League quarterfinals, we may yet have a great year ahead.