Fans, this is one of the funniest football videos that I have seen in the last couple of weeks. These guys have made this video by replicating some of the ridicules dives by players from around the world. 

I have also included below their note from youtube in which they have links to the original dives. 

Enjoy.

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WoopaTV — September 01, 2009 — OK, we took the whole thing a step further. We expect people to disagree on lots of them. The list of dives:

The Gilardino: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W00d3…
The Ronaldo I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9zYbJ… (vs Lampard, after 0:20)
The Drogba: First one in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAATMG…
The Ronaldo II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kX25W…
The Gerrard: The Champions League final-dive
The Ronaldo III: A general dive
The Pedersen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I8p_C…
The Fostervold: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0w4vl…
The Ronaldo IV: A hugely exaggurated parody, diving while taking an already awarded free kick
The Jo: Diving himself a penalty in his first match for Everton last season. Literally a dive!
The Rivaldo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVksdN…

The Drogba roll-in: Against Liverpool in the Champions League last season. Being "injured" outside the pitch, then rolls onto the pitch to stop the play for his serious "injury".

"I'm a disgrace" based on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1rwPC…

For a great list on dives in professional football, please visit this great site: http://www.vanmersbergen.com/schwalbe…

Afshin Afshar (lastkick.com) – Iran National Futsal team accomplished a feat that is unlikely to be replicated anytime soon. They won their tenth title in eleven tries and did it in grand style; however, as it usually is the case with Iranian sports, this victory did not come without internal controversy. 

Before the tournament started, a very ugly and public dispute erupted between Coach Hossein Shams and star player Vahid Shamsaee and ended with Shams leaving out Shamsaee out of his final list. After the list was submitted and the deadline for list submissions had passed, Iran officials decided to take matters into their hands and squeeze Shamsaee in on the list, but AFC, as it should have, refused to make an exception. So Iran went to Thailand without the best futsaler the country has ever produced. 

In their Group B opener Iran blasted Tajikistan 19:2 and erased any doubts about their goal scoring ability in Shamsaee’s absence. 

Next came the Aussies, and they too were easily disposed of 9:3. 

Kuwait were Iran’s last Group stage opponents and they did not offer much of a challenge as they were trashed 7:0. 

Group A runner ups Lebanon were defeated 7:1 in the quarter finals, and that brought on a semi-final showdown with the only other team that has ever won the tournament, Japan. 

The Japanese have been Iran’s toughest opponents in Asia and the two have met six times in the finals, and three times in the semi-finals, but only once Japan has managed to defeat Iran. That was in the semi-final match of the 2006 tournament when Japan went on to defeat Uzbekistan and lift the trophy. But that was not to happen again.

Iran defeated Japan 7:0, and went on to defeat hosts Uzbekistan 8:3 in the final match for their tenth title, and along the way Mohammad Taheri became the tournament’s top scorer with 13 goals; becoming only the third player to win that honor. Vahid Shamsaee had won the Golden Shoe 9 times and Kenichiro Kogure of Japan did it in 2006. 

This is an amazing accomplishment for Iranian futsal, and there are no signs that suggest their dominance should wane.

Afshin Afshar (lastkick.com) – Iran Futsal team is one match away from capturing its 10th Asian title in 11 tries.

Today Iran defeated Japan, the only other team that has ever claimed the Asian title, 7-0 in their semi final match and earned the right to play Uzbekistan in the final. This victory comes in the heel of an impressive offensive show put on by Iran throughout this tournament.

Iran started the tournament by crushing Tajikistan 19-2 in their Group B opener. That was followed by 9-3 defeat of Australia, and 7-0 defeat of Kuwait. In the quarter finals Iran met Lebanon and breezed past them 7-1.

The 7-0 defeat of Japan gives Iran an astounding 49-6 goals for and against in that order.

The final match is scheduled for Sunday, May 30. 

Click here for matches and results.

Afshin Afshar (lastkick.com) – During the 60s and the 70s when I was a kid living in Iran, I adored Perspolis FC. I would religiously follow the news about the team through the two biggest sports publications of the time, and catch every match that I could on TV. I did help that my favorite uncle was also a big fan. He would go to the matches in the stadium and later tell me the stories. I loved that red and white jersey and the thought of lending my allegiance to another team never crossed my mind. Fast forward thirty and some years and I am doing exactly that! Years of corruption, squad after squad of prima donnas, and lousy football have finally done it for me.

Tomorrow Perspolis will play in the final of the Hazfi Cup against Gostaresh Foolad, a small team from Tabriz. They won the first leg with a single goal in Tabriz, and are likely to repeat that in Tehran’s Azadi stadium in front of the Perspolis faithful, but I won’t be rooting for the underdogs in the hope that the humiliation will finally shake the authorities into addressing the problems that have been slowly killing the club over the last three decades, but I won’t be holding my breath either. Perspolis will win, the club officials will use the result as the proof of their good work and competency, and the cycle will continue to go on.

In the same crowd however, there are few minorities who oppose unity, celebration, festivities of any kind, and for them sport spirit is not a typical holy ritual to follow. And in upcoming days that English and French, South Koreans and North Koreans, Argentinians and Brazilians, Spaniards and Italians, Americans and Mexicans, all once again put aside their political and social stand-offs and glue to football match kick-off, watching, screaming, and time to time cursing at referee together for more than 90 minutes each time for the love of the game, there are few scattered people who cannot bear watching such joyous moments of unity, rivalry and celebration.

No matter how small this minority group is though, in matter of a week they have surely managed to create enough threat scare, fear and anxiety among media in Western atmosphere, the host nation Africa and even FIFA officials. After all, a message from the Terrorist group, Al Qaeda earlier on was clear and strong enough with a bitter sense of pride in the announcement:  "It would be incredible to hear an explosion and see, through a live transmission, how the stadium turns upside down with hundreds of dead bodies during a match between the US and England, in a stadium packed with fans, if Allah wants to".

A message gutsy enough to make football officials scramble for safety for a while and whether to deny,  oppose, or confirm the planned attack by the terrorist group. Not surprisingly, the football officials’ nervous reaction is watched with amusement by such groups for managing to distract and scare football fans, and officials, and in particular the host nation, enough to overshadow the upcoming the country-wide celebrations in South Africa.

But if there is a lesson to be learned from past experience, 2010 Africa Cup of Nations was a perfect example of how well an adhoc deadly gun attack in the beginning of ACN Tournament was contained. While the under-attack Togolese team were in absolute disarray and panic over witnessing their team bus driver getting killed and several others injured, instantly withdrawing from competition and even making unsuccessful attempt to encourage other African nations to boycott of the Continental Tournament, the final verdict of the Tournament officials, in all odds at the time, was for the games to continue as planned; Something the gunmen separatist group trying to dismantle the prestigious tournament, the least expected and aimed for. Thankfully the games did continue as planned, without any further disruption, scare threat and so forth. The spirit of the game was kept alive, as tremendous surprises and upsets was displayed along the way to see Egypt take ACN trophy home in the end. The beauty of the decision made by ACN officials was that by resisting against terrorist groups’ violent threats, and by keeping the ball rolling in the competition, not only any risk of further attacks was minimized, but it also sent an iron-willed message that football spirit is one you cant kill.

Therefore, as World Cup game excitements looming, match prediction leagues filling up, online bets skyrocketing and football fans from all around the world packing their luggage to echo football chants in the mesmerizing natural beauty of Africa, lets hope FIFA Officials and other World Cup football nations follow a similar approach, even if faced with a similar attack aimed at this beautiful game; For the sake of football fans you cant disperse, the football chants you cant censor and the spirits you can’t kill.

Mehran Afshar (lastkick.com) – Browsing and reviewing the content of the “Technical and Development” (Fanni va Toseeh) section of Iran Football Federation’s official website brings into light a sad reality about our Football. Let us take a look at it together:

Technical and Development Committee of Iran Football Federation (IFF) was formed about two years ago when its scope and role were written and adopted.

Under the “Main Activities” of this committee, the task of short, mid, and long term planning of development programs, strategic planning, and supervision is stated as its primary responsibilities.

In other words, the task of forming Iranian football’s master development plan is assigned to this committee amongst many other tasks such as talent scouting, budget planning and proposals for various IFF programs, and initiating research projects.

Within the past 25 months, this committee, in its several meetings, has drafted and edited the “Vision Statement of Iran’s football “ in the context of national 1404 Master Plan (2025). According to the site approximately one thousand man-hours are spent on

- Reviewing the Football Development plans of England, Ireland, USA, China, Japan and Australia

- Studying the Football Macro Management systems of Germany, Spain, Italy and Turkey

- Reviewing the current global football development trend

- Studying the national strategic plan 1404, 44th Constitutional Privatization Law, Fifth National Development Plan, and IFF and Olympic charters.

- Reviewing the FIFA, AFC and UFA standards, compulsions and recommendations.

- Interviewing more than 40 sports experts and experienced managers …….. etc

At a first glance, it seems like the IFF is keen on becoming and working like a modern football organization with a clearly defined vision and mission, carrying Iranian football to the 21st century, passing its milestones, and reaching its targets, right? Wrong!

While this little advertised part of the IFF is doing all this research and trying to create the ideal technical environment for the development of the country’s football, the other more publicly noticed part of IFF that includes its Board of Directors and Executives is governing Iran’s football like a disordered and impotent medieval establishment flooded with chaotic behavior that looks like anything but a normal football organization.

Initiatives such as forming a Technical and Development Committee are more of a sophisticated gesture than a fundamental step towards progress, and have two main flaws:

1 – During the whole process the most important factor in football (i.e. the fan) is systematically ignored. The policy writers never approached or invited the fans to share their views.

We all know that when the end user or the consumer of any product is ignored the product is likely to flop.

2 – Whatever the outcome of such efforts, visions derived from such committees is not going to be adapted successfully without a change in the mentality and approach in the part of the Sports politicians. The main problem is that in execution of Sports and Football policies, like many other policy formulations and executions in the country, the main aim for the sports governors is to “Control” the environment. At its core, football is a necessary evil in the minds of these people and its development is not and will not be a priority.

Until the day arrives that Iranian football authorities start respecting the fans and their rights and opinions, and begin to really serve the fan community, the most progressive policies that are formulated behind closed doors, or copied from the best football associations around the globe, will not repair this wrecked ship that is the Iranian Football.

Kaveh Mahjoob (lastkick.com) – The upcoming Hazfi Cup match between Perspolis and Gostaresh of Foold of Tabriz is an excuse to share some thoughts.

First of all this is a blog not a commentary. As such I can be biased in my opinion. I was born red as Pespolis Red. Some 30+ years ago, I had photos of Parvin, Iranpaak, Iraj Solymani (remember the goal to Manga?), Ashtiani and Kalani on my bedroom wall. I admit that Hejazi, Nazari  and Roshan were there on the wall but their images decorated the room because of their national team contributions not the club side.

I grew up in Khouzestan where we were all fans of Sanat Naft. Naft and  Aab-o-bargh (later Niroo, nowadays Foolad) were the local teams we all cheered for but nationally, Perspolis was the team.

Years later, in the U.S., from the time big wide dishes showed up and allowed connection to homeland, Persplis matches were never missed and I did wake up at 3 or 4 AM to watch “The Derby.” Oh, and I did see Perspolis-Sepahan live a couple of years ago and jumped in joy when Perspolis won the league.

Why all the above self confession? The reason is simple. This year for the Hazfi cup, I am rooting for Gostaresh of Foolad of Tabriz.

Why?

It is complicated. I have always been in the side of underdogs.

Apple vs. Microsoft… Bayern Munich vs. Inter Milan…Anybody vs. Real (OK  Barcelona is not an underdog), and so forth.

I think Tabriz football fans deserve a championship. What they have done for Teraktorsazi is exceptional, unbelievable and newsworthy.

Those fans deserve a spot in the Asian Champions League and as such, I will be fine with Gostaresh of Foolad (who are these guys and where did they come from) winning the championship.

I think what Perspolis has done over the last five weeks, since Norooz is unbelievably inept. This team doesn’t deserve to go to Asia and needs wholesale changes.

At the risk of getting booed by my RED friends, Go Gostaresh of Foolad and go Tabriz.

Photo: Amir Dolati

Afshin Afshar (lastkick.com) and Hadi Mahdavi in Tabriz – On Wednesday, May 12 Gostaresh of Foolad FC, a small first division club from Tabriz, will host Tehran giants Persepolis in the first leg of the Iranian Hazfi Cup Final, and at stake is Iran’s final spot for next year’s AFC Champions League.

Tabriz is the beautiful Capital of East Azerbaijan Province and has a rich history that goes back over two millennia. However, despite its long standing in the country’s football, Tabriz has never had a team represented in Asia, and the ethnic Azeri football fans see this as their first real opportunity to showcase their beautiful and historic city and their football prowess on the Asian stage.

When it comes to football, this city of one and half million residents has always been a one club town, Tractor-Sazi FC, a club founded in 1970, but now for the first time another local club has everyone jazzed about the possibilities.

Tabriz fans’ love and commitment to Tractor FC may be compared to that of Newcastle United fans, but in this instance their strong sense of ethnic and civic pride and Tractor’s safe position in mid-table, has convinced them to rally behind Gostaresh and will it to accomplish the near impossible task of defeating one of the country’s biggest clubs.

“I support all the Tabriz clubs unless it is a local derby, then Tractor is my number one team. I’ll be there on Wednesday even if it rains solid rock all day! I want Tabriz football to be represented in Asia. That would be good for our football and good for our city.” says Kamal a 21 year-old student.

“I think we have a 50/50 chance, but we must get good results in Tabriz. I’ll be there 100%; don’t you doubt that for a minute”, says 29 year-old Hamed.

“Unfortunately I can’t go because they don’t let female fans into the stadium, but I would have gone if I could”, says 25 year-old Fatemeh. “I am hoping to see Gostaresh in Asia because that will help us tell the rest of Asia a little bit about our city, our culture, and our football. I think they have a 50/50 chance, but with overwhelming fan support we can increase the odds to our favor”

With eight matches to go Gostaresh is in ninth place and twelve points behind leaders Bargh of Shiraz in Group 2 of the Iranian First Division. Although their chances for promotion do not look great, winning the Hazfi Cup will put them on the map and encourage stronger financial backing for the club. For the fans, however, there is a greater cause. They like to compare their relationship with their football clubs to that of Catalonians and FC Barcelona. They think of them as more than just football clubs, but rather vehicles through which they can tell the rest of the world about themselves and their history and culture.

“I am a Tractor fan, but I support other Tabriz and Azerbaijan teams too”, says Yashar a 23 tear-old student. “Tractor is more than a football club for us. It is like our Barca, and our football is a venue through which we can unite as a people and make friends with others. Other Azerbaijani clubs can play the same role too”.

From 2002 to 2009 Tabriz did not have a presence in the top league football, but with Tractor’s promotion last year, Gostaresh’s success in the Cup competition this year, and another first division club’s (Shahrdari FC) most likely promotion at the end of this season, the future of Tabriz and Azerbaijan football looks very bright.