Sometimes one's desperate urge to get the maximum attention, be the hero of the day and hog the limelight may fall flat on its face and backfire.
Just ask Cristiano Ronaldo about that, who had insisted on taking the final penalty even prior to the start of the tournament. Referring to the matter of taking the final penalty in a tie break which decides the winner of the tie, and a ticket to the final of the second-most important international tournament in football.

Of course, taking such poses usually doesnt help with garnering sympathy either.

Thankfully, the more deserving team, Spain, came out of it as winners and  still have a chance to make an unprecedented treble (Euro-WorldCup- Euro). Olle!

Iran putters along at home against Qatar

Iran draws with Qatar at the expense of our nerves and hair(?)

What was our chance to put some distance between ourselves and the rest of the group (except South Korea, of course) turned out to be one torturous experience and one that taxed our patience. Everything was in place for a good home victory in front of a jam-packed Azadi stadium – something that hasn’t happened  in recent years. We had an internationally renowned coach, a decent squad of players (although injuries to a few like Ghazi, and Dejagah were of concern), an exhausted Qatar fresh from their drubbing by Korea mere three days prior while our team had a rest day. We also recognized the need to get the three points off this game as it would help our campaign tremendously. 

Well, now you can imagine our utter surprise when we first saw the starting line up chosen by Quieroz. Rahmati in goal with Mahini and Pouladi sandwiching Aghili and Hosseini in the back was expected and quite sensible. But it was beyond this line that raised our suspicions and ultimately ire as Quieroz chose to go with not one, but two defensive midfielders, Nekounam and Teymourian! So this was a departure from his earlier chosen formations, months ago, which was a more adventurous 4-3-3. In front of these two were the 33 year old  Karimi in the middle with Hajsafi and Heidari on the flanks. Given the latter two’s characteristics and abilities, it was natural to wonder where the goals would come from as these two aren’t exactly known for their goal scoring ability. And seeing Ansarifard’s name didn’t provide any respite or comfort in this regard either! Ansarifard’s poor performances against the very same Qatar, especially his misses in Qatar were still fresh in our minds. What was going on? What happened to all the claims of victory and leaving the rivals behind?

Our past experience with a single forward formation hasn’t been exactly flattering. Therefore leaving Ansarifard alone up there was quite worrying. Why such defensive posture and caution?  This was a home game with a 100,000 screaming fans against  the tired legs of a freshly beaten team. We were wondering about Quieroz’s game-plans when the game started and we started aggressively, putting pressure on the opponents. However, after the first 10-15 minutes of good pressure, we slowly settled into a pattern of Qatar staying back and defending in mass with only one or sometimes, two players hovering around the midline and with us basing most of our attacks from the flanks with decent pairing of Heidari-Mahini on the right and Hajsafi-Pouladi on the left. Crosses coming with rapidity, which was fine by me, but coming from all sorts of angles and positions, mostly landing in the middle of the box, which proved to be easy for the big Qatari keeper, Qasem Burhan, to collect.

The more we played, the more it became apparent that Quieroz has relied heavily on crosses from flanks. But to whom? The aging Karimi was always a few yards behind and Ansarifard showed he is still not ready to hustle and battle for balls with well-built defenders … be it on the ground or in the air! No wonder majority of the balls were collected quite comfortably by the keeper. But aside from crosses, the only other route exploited by us was long free throws from both side. In fact it was off one such long throw which created our best opportunity to score when Nekounam volleyed slightly off-balanced and hit the bar. Apart from this, there wasn’t much to write home about. Both Karimi and Ansarifard were more or less invisible and Quieroz almost resorted to substitutions (once again, similar to our last game) acknowledging his poor starting line up.  

In this half Rahmati also saw action as the sole Qatari corner saw a dangerous header almost creeping in had it not been for a fantastic reflex save by him. However, just as his save drew much cheer, his inability to exit even for balls that landed in his 6 yard line was exposed. A weakness that has been accentuated in recent months.

The second half, sadly, was no different from the first and the series of aimless (and quite hopeless) crosses was resumed. Didn’t Quieroz speak to the boys about such crosses? Some crosses came as soon as the player had gone past the half-line as if to say “I cross, therefore I am”. Crossing just for the sake of saying “I crossed”! Bringing in the likes of Khalatbari for Hajsafi and later on, Dejagah (fresh from injury) hardly made any palpable impact as we still didn’t have enough bodies in the box meeting all these crosses.

To make matters worse, Qatari players started their usual time wasting tactics, especially their keeper who really stretched the time with his goal kicks and suddenly falling to the ground out of the blue, reeling in pain as if injured by a mortar shell! But while it is easy to point at all the unsportsman-like behavior and time wasting tactics of the Persian Gulf opponents, we have to bear the most blame for the draw as ultimately it was our defensive strategies, bad line up and formation and late substitutions that did us in. Case in point, our third substitution was done on the 90 minute mark by bringing in yet another defensive midfielder, Zareh for the invisible Ansarifard! So we have no-one to blame but ourselves and our inability to correct our mistakes during the game or at the break. Even if the referee didn’t allot a fair amount of extra time for all the time wasting and grass-rolling done.

So we finish the group’s third match-day  with 4 points in second place with Qatar right behind us equaling our points but having played an extra game. No need to press the panic button yet and we still have 6 more games ahead of us. But we could have been in a far better position had we won the game, thus putting a safe distance between us and both Qatar and Uzbekistan. In my opinion, all those issues are secondary to a more pressing item: Quieroz’s strategy in the group as well as each individual game. So far we puttered in our two opening  games. I hate to see yet another World Cup campaign get smoked just because we took it too light and easy early on in the campaign, leaving for the final stress-ridden 3 rapid-fire game scenario come June 2013. We tasted that bitterness the last time and I’m sure we don’t like to experience it again.

Player ratings

RAHMATI – 7.5
He did have a couple of fantastic saves. But he also conceded a goal (that should have been given) and he showed he hasn’t remedied his weakness on crosses. Are his faltering days behind him?

MAHINI – 5.5
He was left stranded on the right side, no thanks to our prima-donna Jabbari refusing to do ANY DAMN THING. But he also did have a horrible back pass that almost led to a goal. and a few other mistakes that reduce his score. I expected more from him.

MONTAZERI - 6
He proved trusting him to pair up with Hosseini may not be a bad idea. I’d say lets maintain this duo in the central defense. A few mistakes here and there. But nothing out of ordinary given Iranian football and its low productivity in defense

HOSSEINI – 6.5
Same as Montazeri. I like this duo. Seems more intelligent than the Aghili-Hosseini one. He also had a direct influence on the Uzbek goal not being counted.

NOURI – 5.5
Seemed to be everywhere. A total work horse. But with Quieroz putting 2 lefties on the left side, they all covered each other well (unlike the right side where only Mahini was to handle all the attacks!) had a few hic-ups though

NEKOUNAM – 5
Almost all his score is for his shot (which if we had a forward in the line up, he’d have pounced on the spilled rebound ball and scored. But it seems Quieroz didn’t like teams with forwards until minute 75!!!). had a few good passes and acts. But was very invisible for long periods too

TEYMOURIAN – 7.5
He basically made up our midfield belt and compensated for Jabbari’s non-presence and Nekounam’s low visibility. His few bad passes, therefor, can be forgiven.

HAJSAFI – 6
He ran a lot and helped cement our left side. Not much in going forward though. I wonder why Pouladi didn’t play.

KARIMI – 5
Again, like Nekounam had a few instances of productivity, but was marked out of the game by tough marksmen. I'm afraid his age is slowly catching up to the maestro.

JABBARI – 1
This score of 1 is for the ONLY thing he did the entire game that proved useful for the team: walk out of the pitch to make way for Khalatbari. What a waste of spot!

EBRAHIMI – 3.5
Was totally out of place and was invisible. His exit was totally justified. He isn’t a natural striker and obviously didn’t have any impact on the team’s scant few attacks. I wasn’t impressed with him. But it doesn’t mean he should be dropped from the overall Team Melli roster.

HEIDARI – 6
His entry did bring a bit of stability to the right side as he, unlike prima-donna Jabbari, did help with the defense and ran more to cover more areas. That’s why we saw less mistakes by Mahini too. But nothing really special in the day almost the entire team played badly

KHALATBARI – 7.5
For his short stint he certainly did have a major impact on the team and the result. I really wonder why Quieroz didn’t bring him in the first half for Ebrahimi or Jabbari

ANSARIFARD – 7.5
Mainly for his fantastic and precise pass to Khalatbari. A short stint, but he took full advantage of it.


THE TEAM – 6
Mostly because we won and got the 3 points. But the quality of their performance was very very low.

Carlos Quieroz – 6
Until minute 75, and seeing his starting line up (without a single forward) and persistence with Jabbari and even Karimi, I’d have given him a score of ‘3’. The other 3 is for his last two subs who took care of the job. Our first game wasn’t very convincing and left a LOT to be desired. Be it with line up, strategy, team-work, … etc. I expect (and we ALL should expect) more from a coach with his resume.

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.

Sepahan in dire straits in Asian Champions League

When will our football officials, be they in the IFF or the clubs realize the desperate need for keeping up with the times and especially the need for a capable set of individuals who are competent in a foreign language and know their way around the internet and official sites like AFC or FIFA. I’m referring to the shameful and tragic elimination of our Omid team qualifiers where they simply forgot or didn’t bother to check the suspension/eligibility list of players prior to their game and foolishly turned a precious away 1-0 win in Iraq to a disgraceful 3-0 loss which resulted in the disheartened and defeated display in Tehran in the return game. We thought with that disgrace our officials would have woken up and made sure such nonsense would never happen again. Enter Sepahan’s quarterfinal game in the Asian Champions League against Qatar’s Al-Sadd and they include Rahman Ahmadi as their keeper (transferred in from Persepolis at the end of last season). They notch up a satisfactory 1-0 home win that gives them a slight upper hand in the tie. But as soon as the game was over, the Qatari officials lodge a complaint to the AFC regarding Ahmadi’s ineligibility due to the two yellow cards he received while he was playing for Persepolis, last season in the very same competition!


Sepahan may yet get away with it as the AFC officials in their list of suspended and ineligible players of the game did not include Ahmadi’s name (Not the first time we see AFC drops the ball and prove to us it is a far cry away from its European and American counterparts). But it still doesn’t take away from the fact that despite the Omid team fiasco, we have not learned our lessons and we continue to swim in the sea of ignorance and unprofessionalism. No matter how high the salaries and contracts are in our football! We only “pretend” to have a professional set up and league with such absurd amounts of money changing hands. Underneath that fast-fading superficial luster, we are as amateurish as they come!

Ps. – Speaking of ACL, we cant not make a note of Zob-Ahan’s precious away point from South Korea. With Zob-Ahan keeping a toehold on the tie with a precious away goal, and if Sepahan gets lucky and puts the blame on the AFC for its negligence in the matter of suspension list, our chances of having an all Iranian semifinal, and thereby, a Finalist (second time for both Esfahani clubs) is still very much alive.

Iran's group in 2nd stage World Cup qualifiers

Iran has been grouped with the following teams in its campaign to reach Brazil's 2014 World Cup, where the top 2 teams advance directly for the final stage:
- Qatar
- Bahrain
- Indonesia

Given the rules of advancement from this group the final stage of the Asian qualifiers, I dont see it a very difficult task. However, we must be aware of a couple of issues.

1- The away games to both Persian Gulf nations would not be without its usual characteristics and antics, even if we put aside the weather factors such as humidity and heat.

And even the away game to Indonesia is nothing to ignore as the Indonesians have proven to be quite formidable at home. Case in point their 4-3 qualification victory against Turkmenistan where more than 80,000 of its fans packed their stadium.

2- The second issue is the scheduling of the games, particularly the two games scheduled for November 2011, where we have to travel to Bahrain and play our away game on 11th of November an then traverse the whole continent to Indonesia to play them on 15th of November. Meaning 2 away games in a span of 4 days with a cross-continental journey involved.

Going by the IFF's dismal record in travel arrangements, I'd venture even if they prepare a chartered plane for the team to travel, the team would still be under tremendous strain and tough conditions for the 15th game. Factors such as humidity and travel fatigue will be compounded by shortage of recovery period between the two games.

So I would caution any fan over thinking this as an easy group where we walk over the opponents.

The complete schedule of our group games is as follows:
2 September 2011
Iran v Indonesia
Bahrain v Qatar

6 September 2011
Qatar v Iran
Indonesia v Bahrain

11 October 2011
Iran v Bahrain
Indonesia v Qatar

11 November 2011
Qatar v Indonesia
Bahrain v Iran

15 November 2011
Qatar v Bahrain
Indonesia v Iran

29 February 2012
Iran v Qatar
Bahrain v Indonesia


The overall Asian groupings:

(click to see larger view)

Quieroz starts with a stutter in his first showing

There's nothing much to write about, except that this wasnt exactly the kind of start a new coach would wish for. Facing a team ranked at 138th place in Fifa ranking, with many of its main players missing (mostly in the French leagues), at home with all your players available to you and still winning on a throw-in and a defender's header doesnt exactly inspire confidence in the football fans.

It is no wonder despite the game being announced as free, a mere 8 thousand fans gathered to witness Quieroz's debut. Having said all that, I have to add this game should not be the basis for any theories or judgments. As Iranian players have been notorious in taking some games far too lightly when facing a smaller team. I shall keep my assessment of Quieroz's ability to cope with Iranian football for a later date when we actually meet with a decent opponent.

The real story behind our Omid elimination

After the miserable showing by the whole Iranian team and staff, I was ready to rant about how pathetic our “stars” like Ansarifard, Afshin, Hajsafi, … performed and how they displayed a (lack of) quality seen only in back allies of provinces in Iran rather than a national team. I was down and wrote on and on about how Mansourian’s inexperience got exposed when none of his substitutions made any impact on the last 30 minutes of the game. I screamed about the lack of playmaker and any sort of creativity in the middle. I wrote and wrote about how idiotic and immature our players were with their insistence on back heels and unorthodox passing when the more straight forward passes would have sufficed. I remarked on the easy chances and goals we conceded.

And I wrote in anger and dismay … until I came across this little gem of a news:
Omid’s midfielder Jalal Kamyabinia, was ineligible and barred from play in our away game in Iraq by AFC.
But here’s the twist: Due to IFF’s incompetence and their failure in conveying this news to the staff, Kamyabynia did play in that game and AFC announced they ruled that game in favor of Iraq by a scoreline of 3-0.

This catastrophic news was brought to the staff and later on, to the team’s attention who understandably lost all their hopes and drive and apparently some of the lads actually wept in the dressing room. Nobody can bear such a twist of fate, from a 1-0 ahead in an away game to a 3-0 loss in a matter of seconds.

Click here for Mansourian's press conference and remarks

This put everything in context and made sense of all the poor passing, rushed, emotional hurried game, and generally the whole miserable performance. Now I am left with my anger, but directed at the ever incompetent and frankly, brainless federation of ours rather than the poor lads whose legs must have felt like lead, trying to claw their way back from a 3-0 deficit.

And this completes the infamy of Kafashian’s federation who has failed in each and every major tournament Iran participated in. Incompetence bordering on criminal! Enough is enough, Mr. Kafashian. High time you took away your misery-ridden shadow of incompetence away from our football, once and for all.

You know what is the worst part of it all? It's that the IFF had the AFC notice of Kamyabikia's suspension FOUR MONTHS in advance of the Iraq game!!! Such is the extent of IFF's pathetic incompetence.

Foolad's Nowroozi Asia's best club goal scorer

Foolad’s prolific striker, Reza Nowroozi has been named Asia’s top goal scorer (clubs) with 24 goals scored in a league season. Nowroozi’s name is on the 7th rank in the World’s best goal scorers’ list (compiled from the world’s top 60 leagues), which sees Real Madrid’s Ronaldo heading the bunch with a whopping 40 goals, followed by Barca’s Messi with 31 goals. At the same time, another Brazilian who plies his trade in Iran’s pro league at Mes Kerman, Edinho with 22 goals is ranked 9th.

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!

Omid Team begins its Olympic qualifying campaign

The roster for the upcoming Olympics qualifier against Iraq has been announced by the Omid team coaches and it looks quite a comprehensive list with perhaps one or two worthy players missing. But nonetheless, this is a very capable team that with enough support from the Iranian authorities, especially the interior ministry and military in allowing the exit and travel of the under 23 years players (God only knows how many times our Olympic teams have suffered from players not given permission to leave the country due to military service rules), they stand a decent chance of advancing to the next stage of the Asian region qualifiers.

The list is;
Hamed Lak, Mohamad Mazaheri, Mohamad KhalilAzad
Milad Fakhredini, Reza Talabeh, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Rasoul Kor, Abolhassan Jafari, Mehrdad Jamaati, Ehsan Hajsafi, Siamak Korushi, Ali Zeinali, Saman Aghazamani, Ali Marzban, Kamal Kamyabinia, Yaqoub Karimi, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Mohamadreza ZeinalKheiri, Hamid AliAsgar, Mohsen Mosalman, Karim Ansarifad, Iman Musavi, Arash Afshin, Mehdi Daghaghele, and Masoud Ebrahimzadeh.

The only name I find missing in the team is Bakhtiar Rahmani, Foolad’s creative playmaker who had a very good season in the league. However, I see enough talent in the team to manage the two leg tie and come out on top.

They come off a 2-1 friendly win against the Syrian Olympics team which should muster up enough confidence to meet the Iraqi side which by all accounts should be very similar to the Syrians; a tough, physical team with enough skills to push any team. The away game is scheduled on Sunday 19th of June in Iraq with the home game in Tehran on Thursday 23rd.

Zob Ahan in total disarray

First it was the news of departure of Khalatbari to a Qatari club, Al-Gharafa, which was bad enough for both Zob Ahan’s ambitions to do one better than last year’s runner-up rank, but to Khalatbari’s own footballing career as hardly any player improves – or even manages to maintain form – once they make the move to the Persian Gulf leagues, and now, there is even more devastating rumors of Ghasem Hadadifard’s move to Qatar’s league!!

The midfield maestro displayed such levels of skills, vision and performance that forced the newly appointed national team coach Queiroz to immediately call him up. But it doesn’t stop with Hadadifard as now, there is talk of Sepahan’s lynch-pin in defense, Hadi Aghili joining yet another Qatari club! Is Qatar trying to emulate what UAE’s league did to our stars?

But a move to the Persian Gulf leagues is nearly a kiss of death as it has been for many other Iranian stars who have been lured away with the promise of money, but in the bargain, wasted years of productivity. Is this a similar fate facing these great players? It would be an utter shame to see a repeat of what happened to the likes of Iman Mobaali, Javad Kazemian and … etc. It has taken great effort on the part of Oladi, Mobaali and Kazemian to claw back to an acceptable level of performance after joining the Iranian clubs. I despair to think the same thing happen to Khalatbari, Hadadifard and Aghili.

But the most depressing aspect of these transfers is what happens to Zob Ahan and their Asian aspirations. It seems the whole club is in such devastating turmoil that it is finding hard to retain any of its key players. Aside from the above mentioned players, another defensive strong-man, Farshid Talebi may be moving to Saipa and with Gordan’s rumors I fear by the time Zob Ahan steps onto the quarterfinals pitch, we shall be seeing a very different team lacking one of its main keys to its recent years’ success; consistency and stability in its roster. Indeed it would be a very sad day to see Zob Ahan’s promising campaign come to a halt due to some ridiculously horrendous management.

At the same time one cannot stay quiet on AFC’s bizarre scheduling of the Asian champions league since it heavily favors those of the East Asian leagues and clashes with the West Asian leagues’ time-tables. Little wonder in recent editions, east Asian teams have been more successful as they come into the tournament fresh and with a stable roster till the end of the games, while the West Asian leagues are going through the second halves of their seasons and with the end of the season team transfers and roster changes, have to continue the tournament often with new teams.
But don’t get me started on the AFC and its peculiar management of football in Asia!

Persepolis has one hand on the cup

The first leg of the cup final between two traditional powerhouses, Persepolis and Malavan was a cracker of a game and saw plenty of goals and action that lived up to its cup-final billing. Malavan, the guest team came out of the locker room already running and raring to go and took the game to Persepolis. In fact they were clearly the better team in the first half while the stadium was packed with over 65,000 red fans. Oladi, Nozhati and Nouri were in spectacular form and were ably supported by the silky skills of the young Mosalman. They were paid in gold for their gutsy attacking football in scoring the first goal. But having a man sent off late in the half must have thrown the wrench in Poorgholami, Malavan’s coach’s strategy. However, they were given a respite as a former Malavan star, Mazyar Zareh scoffed the penalty and the home team, under tremendous pressure, went into the rest period a goal behind.

The start of the second half provided a vindication Persepolis efforts and they equalized with only 2 minutes into the half. Then Mohamad Nouri’s deft control and shot saw the now 70,000+ fans in the stadium erupt and literally brought the house down with the best goal of the match in my opinion. But that wasn’t the end of the action as Malavan stepped up their game and eventually equalized through a well placed header by the ever impressive Nozhati … not exactly the tallest player on the pitch, by the way.

A man up, and needing at least a couple of extra goals to take to the very difficult away game to Anzali and I was surprised at how Ali Daei stuck to his 4-2-3-1 formation, no matter what. Although Nowroozi and later, Mohamad Nouri’s penalty saved Daei’s blushes, at the time when Malavan saw a second man get the dreaded red card (and deservedly so too). So the first leg ends with a 4-2 score-line and a 9-man Malavan team and promise of more action in Anzali. I was highly impressed with Pejman Nouri and especially Oladi who were a constant thorn in the side of the reds and never allowed their defense line to breath easy. Even when Malavan was a man short.

But at this juncture, I really wonder just what it takes to force Daei to change his system and formation from the lone forward line up. He has shown to be quite adamant about this formation no matter if his team is up or behind, no matter in a home game or an away one, no matter if he is a man down or two men up! This reminds me of one of the most frustrating Team Melli games in recent years when we played the Saudis at Azadi stadium and he stuck to the lone forward formula even after we conceded the equalizer after Shoajei’s goal. And true to form, we still played with a single forward even when we went a goal behind!

Aside from my vehement opposition to the 4-2-3-1 system that I believe does not suit our football and football players, I must question Mr. Daei about the need for variation and flexibility in tactics and formation that is warranted when facing a variety of occasions, circumstances and needs for a game of football. I mean ‘one solution for all problems’ is hardly supportable. Perhaps Daei needs to work on his flexibility as he matures as a great coach.

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.

Zob Ahan, a class above Asia

Zob Ahan’s game had everything a Hollywood blockbuster needs; Drama, fast paced action, flair & trickery, tears and even one deadly missile. But what stands out the most in this game for me is how truly elegant and classy they performed as a team. Today Zob Ahan could have been a team playing in a top European league vying for honors.

I don’t know if I should start with their fluid passing, positional plays, constant movement that confounded the Saudi team, their intelligence or the sheer amount of flair and skills displayed by many of its players, with Khalatbari at the top of the heap.

Khalatbari was an unstoppable dynamo who ran riot throughout the match and Al-Nassr simply did not have a response to his runs, dribbles, passes. Some friends in PFDC compared him with a certain Lionel Messi. Today, I think this comparison was not beyond imagination. Yes, he was THAT GOOD. Oh, and by the way, he had 2 magnificent assists that resulted in a 2-0 scoreline with hardly 5 minutes into the game.

The first goal saw him weave through a crowd of Saudi defenders as if they were sticks rooted in the ground, supplying Ghazi with a deft pass. And Ghazi picked up where Khalatbari dropped off and he, in turn, scrambled the defenders even more and slotted the goal by the hapless goal keeper.

Khalatbari, then, supplied the corner through which Igor Castro scored an easy header and the first of his brace. From this moment on, Zob Ahan was in control of match and except a few minutes in the middle of the second half, they never relinquished this control till the final whistle.

But the drama was just starting in a match that saw the Al Nassr coach forced to make substitutions in 32nd minute and then by 45th minute, desperately trying to wrestle some control of the ball and make a headway. However it was not so as the Iranian midfield maestro, Hadadifard, produced one of his signature through passes that fed Castro who shot past the keeper to score his second and put Zob Ahan 3-0.

This had a feeling of a rout from the beginning of the game and things were moving according to the script. So much that even the opponent’s lone goal didn’t really faze the Isfahani team and they stuck to their coach, Ebrahimzadeh’s plans which saw the best goal of the Asian Champions League as their fourth. A long range cruise missile by Shahin Kheiri, zeroing in on the crumbling Saudi goal keeper which finally broke the opponents’ resistance … not to mention make the keeper weep!
In a game that saw Zob Ahan score 4 goals and fail to score at least another 4-5 goals, we also must give credit to a defender, Ahmadi, who saved at least 3 one-on-ones with impeccably timed tackles.



All in all, this was a magnificent display of prowess by a team that has made intelligent and team oriented football its trade mark and sits on top of the Asian clubs’ ranking in the world (fifa). While Sepahan’s game yesterday provided great satisfaction for the Iranian fans, Zob’s game was an absolute joy to watch. Thank you Mr.’s Ebrahimzadeh & Saleh for preparing a team that oozes class and intelligence. Thank you very much.

Sepahan sweeps Bunyadkor aside on its way to quarterfinals

Asian Champions League, Pre-quarter final stage. This year Isfahan has established itself as the football capital of Iran with two great teams, Sepahan and Zob-Ahan representing Iran in Asia. What makes this year's edition more exciting for us football fans is this year we have two strong candidates who can vie for the trophy and go toe to toe with the best of Asia.

However, Sepahan and Zob-Ahan's similarities end here. While Sepahan is a team jam-packed with super-stars and highly skilled individuals each of whom is a household name, Zob Ahan represents a collective and tight unit of players who have created a team in its truest sense. More on Zob Ahan tomorrow as they face the Saudi team Al-Nasr. But today, Sepahan literally steamrolled over the Uzbeks team Bunyadkor who are no slouches themselves. A team that made a lot of noise and a name for itself a few years ago in Asia by hiring one of the world's top coaches Scolari and a roster that included a few South American stars, one Rivaldo at the top of the list.

But history and record books were of no help to the Uzbek team as Sepahan played a fast attacking game in the first half that is seldom seen in Iranian clubs in Asia. Sepahan players did whatever they wanted to do and surged in wave after wave, threatening the opponents' goal at whim.

However, Ibrahim Toure's immature and careless attitude finally caused some concern among the Isfahani team by receiving a red card at minute 56, therefore forcing Sepahan to play the next 35+ minutes one man short. And true to form, there were a couple of humps and wobbles on the way with the Uzbeki team taking advantage of their extra man and for minutes applied tremendous pressure on Sepahan's back line. However sepahan's third goal sealed the game and after Aghili's penalty it was just a matter of controlling the game and running down the clock.

I am extremely happy to see Sepahan perform at such high levels against some tough Asian opponents and this year may finally be the year we see an Iranian club lifting the coveted trophy after a gap of nearly 20 years. Sepahan has shown they have the right tools to make this dream come true and I dare say they are among the favorites and it would take a major obstacle to keep them away from the trophy. Will they remain professional until the last minute of the final game or lose their nerves like Zob Ahan in last year's edition?

A new day

With a new day and a new chapter for Iranian national team, known as "Team Melli" all Iranian fans' eyes will be glued to the new roster and how Iran's new coach, one Carlos Queiroz starts his campaign in Iran. Queiroz, who has had stints in Manchester United, Real Madrid and Portugal's youth and seniors' national team, is reputed to have a keen eye in spotting and scouting young talent, introducing now-established stars like a certain Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruis Costa and Luis Figo.



At the outset the Portuguese coach has called up a larger pool of players out of which he will be selecting his final 23 man squad for the upcoming official games. He has decided to reveal his picks of Persepolis, Sepahan and Zob-Ahan, due to participating in Asian Champions League and Iran’s Hazfi cup, at a later date.

Esteghlal Tehran - Sadeghi, Montazeri, Jabbari, Borhani, Mobali
Traktor Sazi Tabriz - Teymourian, Ebrahimi, Nosrati, Mohammadi
Mes Kerman - Dehnavi, Seifi, Pouladi
Steel Azin - Gholami, Zeneiedpour
Shahrdari Tabriz - Daghighi, Baou
Rahahan - Roudbarian, Abdi
Foolad Khuzestan - R. Noroozi, Hamoudi
Malavan Anzali - Noori, Oladi
Saipa Karaj - Abbas Rezaei
Sanat Naft Abadan - Arab
Shahin Bushehr - Karami
Peykan Ghazvin - Mirzapour
And we see the return of one of the most popular players in recent history; Ali Karimi.

With the expected call ups from the 3 aforementioned teams, we can consider CQ has a very hard task of choosing his final roster from this pool of players.