Afshin Afshar, lastkick.com

One of the most puzzling aspects of Iranian football in the last few years has been the way successful teams get gutted out at the end of each season. It is almost certain that any team that does well enough to make it to Asia as an Iran representative will lose its coach and a few, if not most, of its top players.

Having said that what is happening to Zob-Ahan of Isfahan last week is almost unprecedented.

Zob-Ahan, under Coach Mansour Ebrahimzadeh, finished second in the league and won the Hazfi Cup. But that was not all! Zob-Ahan Sports Club as a whole had a banner year in basketball, handball, track and field, and women’s sports in general. The credit for all of the success should go to the club’s Board of Directors, and President Saeid Azari, the man who hired Ebrahimzadeh and supported him throughout the season.
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Afshin Afshar, lastkick.com

Reportedly FIFA is fining IFF 12,000 Swiss Francs because of an explosive throwing incident during the Iran and Saudi Arabia qualifier in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.

Iran Football Federation President Ali Kaffashian confirmed that the Federation has indeed received a letter on the matter from FIFA. When asked about the details, Kaffashian admitted that he has not yet seen the letter personally.

Apparently, because this was the first reported incident of the sort for Iran, FIFA decided to be lenient and not ban the fans from attending the qualifier match against UAE in Tehran.

There was a similar incident during the AFC Champions League match between Perspolis FC of Tehran and Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan in the same venue. That incident, however, is under the jurisdiction of AFC and not FIFA.

Afshin Afshar, lastkick.com

Team Melli chalked its first victory under new Head Coach Afshin Ghotbi by defeating Indonesia 5-0 in Karaj’s Enghelab Stadium.

The match that was attended by 20,000 fans had a slow start, and neither team looked very impressive. However, 20 minutes into the match an own goal gave Iran the lead.

Iran showed considerably better organization and more determination in the second half and in 54th minute doubled their lead through midfielder Freydoon Zandi. Striker Arash Borhani put the game out of Indonesia’s reach on minute 63 and ten minutes later Mohammadreza Khalatbari scored a fourth.
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Mehran Afshar, lastkick.com

Team Melli officials and coaches have upped their campaigned to win back the fans, and Mehran Afshar was there to witness it in person ……

After years of having to sit on cement blocks to watch their National team’s training, the Team Melli fans can now sit on brand new green and white seats, watch their heroes train, and feel appreciated!

In an attempt to win the hearts of the faithful camp visitors, the old and ugly cement blocks at the camp were equipped with approximately 1650 seats. The change has given the training ground a very sleek and tidy look.

To top the these improvements, last Thursday, the Team Melli coaching staff led by Head Coach Afshin Ghotbi made a surprise friendly gesture and approached the three or so dozen fans after the practice session, shook hands, chatted, and posed for pictures with them. The move was a big hit with the fans.
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Afshin Afshar, lastkick.com

Gholamreza Rezaei is the last of a pack of three or four players who have left the Team Melli camp under somewhat strange circumstances.

Players like Maziar Zare, Sattar Zare, and Mohammad Mohammadi sighted injuries as their reasons for leaving; however, some of the statements they made to the press in the days that followed made some wonder what the real reasons were.

At this point Rezaei claims the reason for asking to be excused from the camp is a chronic back injury that has plagued him for the last few weeks.

Yesterday the speedy Saba Battery forward told reporters that he was looking forward to playing against North Korea.

“I don’t want to get involved in the side issues, and I am not saying this to get on Ghotbi’s good side when I say that I really wanted to take part in this game.” said Rezaei. “You all saw that he invited me to the camp. I happened to think that he is a logical coach and he believes in my abilities!”

It is possible that a few of these players are upset over not getting a guaranteed spot. Veterans like Sattar Zare have been fixtures in Team Melli for the last few years.

Afshin Afshar, lastkick.com

Zob-Ahan of Isfahan defeated Rah-Ahan of Shahr-e-Ray 5-1 in the Final of Iran’s Hazfi Cup to secure the second Cup title in the club’s history.

The Hazfi-Cup final is played in a home and away format. Zob-Ahan, that had lost the first match 1-0, started the game putting constant pressure on their opponents and were rewarded for it 20 minutes later when Shahin Kheiri’s shot hit the net. Eleven minutes later a mistake by Rah-Ahan defense let Esmaeil Farhadi double the lead for Zob-Ahan. Rah-Ahan’s Mojtaba Zarei cut Zob-Ahan’s lead to half, ten minute before the half, but Zob-Ahan put the game away in the second half with three unanswered goals. First Ghasem Haddadifar scored in the opening minute of the second half, and then again on 90th minute, and Mostafa Salehinejad scored the Zob-Ahan’s fifth in extra time.

In 2002-03 Hazfi Cup Final Zob-Ahan defeated Fajr Sepasi in a penalty shootout to capture their first title.

The Isfahan club that had finished the league behind winners Esteghlal of Tehran did their cross-town rivals Sepahan FC a big favor because by the virtue of their victory, Sepahan that had finished fourth in the league will now qualify for Asia as Iran’s fourth seed. Zob-Ahan will qualify as the Cup winners.

Mehran Afshar, lastkick.com

Mehran Afshar visits Team Melli camp at any opportunity he gets. Last week he paid the team’s training facilities another visit and compiled the following report.

Team Melli’s preparation under Afshin Ghotbi’s supervision was interesting to watch.

During this session of the Team Melli’s training camp, there were obvious changes compared to the previous training techniques that distinguished Ghotbi from his predecessors.
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Afshin Afshar, lastkick.com

The annual Iranian Professional League's coaches' musical chair game is in full swing!

After Mjid Jalali, Parviz Mazloumi, and a few other coaches announced their move, Mohsen Poursina, the president of the Sepahan FC board announced that the club is very close to signing Esteghlal's title winning coach Amir Ghalehnoei to a two year contract with the option to extend.
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