Iran Sport
Iran Ranking
FIFA 29 (+5)
Asia 3 (0)
Iranian Football has the most impressive record in Asian Cup finals. Having won it three times and coming in third place three times, Iran is a power to wrecken with in Asian soccer.
History of Iranian Soccer
Soccer has been played in Iran since 1920’s, but the national team was not formed till 1941.
Since then, Iran has played over 400 games against national or Olympic teams. Soccer development of teame-melli (Iranian National Team) can be summarized in to five distinct periods.
A-1) Period of initiation, 1941-1959:
In 1941, the first game was played against Afghanistan at Kabul to a zero-zero tie. Players consisted of mainly Military school students, some of which became military personalities during Pahlavi regime.
This game marked the beginning of a period of initiation that featured a second place finish in
1951 Asian games. Boromand, Boyok Jedikar, Parviz Dehdari, Gholizade and
Hajari were among the main players of this period.
A-2) 1962-1974 : Period of transition
The second period of Teame –melli’s history covers years 1962- 1973. This was a period of transition in which Iran came out of its shell, more
international games were played, legendary Rykov introduced new players and tactics to the team and foundations of supremacy in Asia were placed. Coaches such as Fekri and Dehdari, led Iran into two major international arenas, Olympic games of Tokyo and Munich. Players such as Behzadi, Shirzadegan,
Arab, Ali Jabari, Mehrab Shahrokhi, A.Eftekhari and legendary Ghelichkhani emerged at the beginning of this period. In late 60’s and early 70’s new generation of future stars such as Mazlomi, Ashtiani, Parvin, Sadegi and legendary goal keeper Hejazi were the key features of Teame-melli.
Some of the most memorable individual performances took place in this period.
In a game against N.Korea witnessed Naser Hejazi "getting a hand from the gods" as Korean
coach called it. Hejazi single handedly advanced Iran to 72 Olympic games.
In game against Thailand Ali Jabari in a span of 15 minutes scored 3 goals to save Iran from 0-2 defeat by Thailand. And who could forget sardar Ghelich’s performance in game against Australia in which he scored two moral boosting goals in the first half.
A-3)1974-1978: Prominence In Asia
Public out cry and disappointments, as result of failing to qualify to 1974 World Cup, led to some fundamental changes in the administration of Iranian Football:
New IFF chief Atabay, appointed aggressive DIDEBAN
as secretary in charge of the federation.
Youth football program at the national level was established and aggressively maintained. The next generation of teame-melli players such as Rowshan, Masih nia, Barzgari and several others were products of this program.
A new league of clubs at the national level, Takhte–Jamshid cup expanded football to areas other than Tehran and Khozestan. Clubs like Malavan Anzali, raktorsazi Tabriz, Sepahan and Zobahan Isphahan institutionalized football in their respective regions. For years to come these teams produced players of national caliber such as Shojaii, Jahani, Changiz, Ghayeghran, Bagheri and so many others that otherwise would have never been discovered.
Education of domestic coaches and hiring of well known O’Farrel to facilitate this purpose, provided a generation of Iranian football especially at the youth level, with adequate coaching. Some of the best coaches of these years are products of coaching development programs of 70’s.
As a by product, Iran dominated competitions in Asia such as championship in Asian games, Asian cup, several consecutive youth level championship,qualification to Olympic games and the 1978 world cup all attest to this prominence. In short, the fruitful efforts and successes of this era are still being cultivated in areas of coaching and club competitions.
Some of the all time most significant and impressive performances by any Iranian teams took place in this period. These performances were against
likes of Poland (# 3 in the world at the time), Argentina, Soviet Union (Top 8 at the time) and Scotland. In their 116:th game, Iranian team performed their best game ever against Argentines (1:1 tie). Reza Adelkhani and Ghasempour showed the Latins the brilliance of Iranian magic.
In a game against Poland, Rowshan and Parvin introduced Iran as a team that needs to be respected.
In a game against Scottland, Danaiifard brought the Scotts to their knees.
B) Records:
Iran’s record stands at over 200 wins, 70 losses and 75 ties. Games
decided by penalty kicks have been counted as ties.
The most significant result remains to be 1-1 tie with Scotland
during the 1978 World Cup Games (Argentina) and 2-1
win over USA in France '98 World Cup.
The best game played ever (performance) was 1-1 tie with
Argentina (a year later Argentina became world champions).
This game was played in Madrid, Spain in 1977 and Iran
dominated throughout.
The worst game ever played (performance) was defeat to
Turkey 0-4 in Ankara, Turkey 1966.
The most lopsided victory was 19-0 defeat of Guam at Tabriz 2000 and 17-0 defeat of Maldives at Syria, 1997.
The most lopsided defeat was 1-6 to Turkey in Istanbul, 1954.
R
The most memorable results were defeat of Israel (twice) in
1968 and 1974 and a tie with Australia in 1997.
The sweetest unexpected results were 3-0 defeat of Israel (1959),
1-1 tie with Ecuador (1972), 1-0 defeat of Cuba (1976), 1-1 tie with Argentina (1977), tie with Scotland (1978), 4-0 defeat of China (1984),2-1 defeat of Algeria (1991), 3-0 defeat of Saudi Arabia (1996), 6-2 defeat of South Korea (1996) , 4-2 defeat of China (1997), 17-0 defeat of Maldives, 2-2 tie with Australia (1998), 4-0 defeat of Lebanon (Asian Cup 2000),1-0 defeat of Iraq (Asian Cup 2000) and 19-0 defeat of Guam (World Cup qualifying)
C). Statistics:
MOST CAPS:
Only 5 players have more than 60 caps to their credit:
1-Ali Parvin 82
2-Parviz Gelichkhani 73
3-Ahmadreza Abedzade 70
4-Naser Hejazi 65
5-Javad Zarinche 60
Ali Daii and Nader Mohammadkhani have also more than 50 caps.
CAPTAINS:
A.Heydari, M.Khatami, H.Sadaghiani, M.Boromand, Amir Araghi,
A.Gholizade, P.Dehdari, A.Al Kheyrandish, M.Ranjbar, M. Amir Asefi,
H.Habibi, M.Arab, H.Behzadi, P.Ghelichkhani, A.Parvin, B.Zolfagharnasab,
A.Jabari, A.Shjaii, H.Nazari, N. Hejazi, M. Yousefi, I.Danaiifard,
M.Haghigian,M.Dinevarzade, A.Sejadi, B.Fariba, M.Panjali, S.Rahimpor,
C.Ghaeyghran, A.Hajiloo, F.Pius, M.Khakpor, M.Moharami, M.Agajanian,
A.Abedzadeh were captains of Iranian National Team.
5 of these players have been captain of teame-melli for more than 20 times:
1- Ali Parvin 36
2-Ahmadreza Abedzadeh 33
3-Parviz Ghelichkhani 32
4-Mohammad Panjali 28
5-Cyrus Ghayeghran 21
MOST GOAL SCORERS:
1-Ali Daii 38 goals
2-Karim Bagheri 33 goals
3-Gholamhossein Mazlomi 21 goals
4-Farshad Pius 21 goals
5-Homayon Behzadi 16 goals
PLAYERS WHO HAVE SCORED 4 GOALS OR MORE IN A SINGLE GAME:
1-Karim Bagheri 7 goals against Maldives (Damascus,1997)
2-Ali Daii 5 goals against Srilanka (Tehran, 1996)
3-Ali Daii 4 goals against South Korea (UAE, 1996)
4-Ali Daii 4 goals against Nepal (Tehran, 1996)
5-Ali Asghar Modir Rosta 4 goals against Taiwan (Tehran, 1993)
6-Naser Mohammad Khani 4 goals against Bengaladesh (Jakarta, 1986)
7-Behtash Fariba 4 goals against Bengaladesh (Kuwait, 1980)
Masood Boromand was the first Iranian player to score 3 goals in a single game. He scored 3 goals against Pakistan (Amjadie,Tehran, 1950). Twenty more times a player scored 3 or more goals in a single game mostly against mediocre teams. The exception was Ali Daii’s 4 goals against South Korea in 1996 Asian Cup.
TENURE OF 10 YEARS or MORE:
1- Mohammad Panjali 13 years and 6 months
2- Hamid Derakhshan 13 years and 2 months
3- Parviz Ghelichkhani 12 years and 5 months
4- Mostapha Arab 12 years and 5 months
5- Majid Namjoo-Motlagh 11 years and 6 months
6- Naser Hejazi 11 years and 1 months
7- Ahmadreza Abedzadeh 10 years and 9 months
8- Javad Zarinche 10 years and 9 months
9- Masoud Boromand 10 years and 5 months
10-Farshad Pius 10 years and 3 months
11-Homayun Behzadi 10 years
COACHES (Since 1945):
Sadegiani, Gable(England), Mayovski(Austria), Mesarush(Hungary),
Fekri, Soch(Hungary), Mahmoud Bayati, Rykov(Yugoslavia), Mohammad Bayati,
Neto(USSR), Dehdari, Ranjbar, McLenon (Scotland), Skinnes(England),
O’Farell(Ireland), Mohajerani, Habibi, Cheraghpor, Yavari, Ebrahimi, Dehdari,
Monajati, Parvin, Stanko(Croatia), Mayeli Kohan, Vierra(Brazil),
Ivic (Croatia), Jalal Talebi, Mansour Pourhaydari
MOST ATTENDED GAMES:
1. Vs Saudi Arabia (1997, Tehran) 120 000 attended.
2. Vs Kuwait (1997, Tehran) 105 000 attended.
3. Vs China (1997, Tehran) 100 000 attended.
4. Vs Israel (1974, Tehran) 100 000 attended.
5. Vs Syria (1997, Tehran) 100 000 attended.
6. Vs Algeria (1991, Tehran) 100 000 attended.
7. Vs Oman (1996, Tehran) 100 000 attended.
8. Vs Australia (1997, Tehran) 100 000 attended.
Learn to love these colors, and everyone wearing it.
HAIL IRAN
Who does forget this:
Australia, comfortably 2-0 ahead, cheered on by a passionate 80,000 crowd and having weathered a threatened Iranian comeback, looked all set to become the 32nd qualifier for the World Cup finals in France. But within three minutes goals from Karim Bagheri and Asia's 1996 Player of the Year Khodadad Azizi had changed all that.
Their strikes levelled the scores at 2-2, and with the aggregate scores at 3-3, Iran qualified for the finals on the away goals rule. Rarely can the qualifiers have ended in such drama.
But it wasn't the first time the Iranians had made headlines during their qualifying campaign.
For on June 2 in Damascus they crushed the Maldives 17-0 to record the highest-ever score in the World Cup's 67-year history, and two years later they once again recorded the highest-ever score in World Cup Qualifying round by crushing Guam with 19-0.
Those matches certainly say something about their players inner strengths and self-belief and although they have reached the World Cup 98 without winning any of their last six qualifiers, they could prove awkward opponents for the more fancied teams in the finals.
Iran have also reached France'98 after overcoming internal conflicts and a slump which plagued them after a strong start in the final round of qualifiers. It was an undefeated start to the final round that helped carry them to the finals for the first time since their only previous appearance in 1978.
Matches
Matches between 1941-59
Matches between 1960-69
Matches between 1970-74
Matches between 1975-79
Matches between 1980-84
Matches between 1985-89
Matches between 1990-94
Matches between 1995-99
Matches between 2000-04
Iranian Players Abroad
Latest News and results from Iranian soccer
Ali Daei fires Iran to victory in Ukraine
Friday, Aug. 23
Former Asian Player of the Year Ali Daei scored the only goal of the game as Iran secured a 1-0 win over Ukraine in an international friendly in Kiev on Wednesday.
The Iranians dominated the home side as they scored their most significant win since Branko Ivankovic took charge of the team following their failure to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.
After surviving an early scare with Ukraine striker Sergei Rebrov going close after six minutes, Iran enjoyed the bulk of possession as Daei blasted just over the bar in the 18th minute.
The enterprising play of the Asian side was rewarded in the 57th minute when Daei tapped in the game's only goal following a corner kick.
The Ukrainians piled forward in search of an equaliser but substitute Olexandr Melaschenko missed a good chance in the final minute as the East Europeans crashed to a disappointing defeat.
"Ukraine is a strong team. And in front of its fans they wanted to win very much. But Iran deserved this victory - we were fresher and our star - Daei - used his chance," said Ivankovic.
Click here for the latest News and report about Iranian Soccer from Iran Sports Press
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AFC's Conspiracy against Iran
(Irankicks.com) Would AFC and Fifa plot a conspiracy against Iran?
As most Football fans have already realized, Fifa is a profitable business and in order to increase the profit one must increase the sales which in this case points toward broadcasting rights and sales of merchandise.
China possesses one of the greatest untouched fan resources for FIFA to exploit. With over one billion Chinese fans, one can hardly deny the facts that China's participation in World cup can double Fifa's profits.
On June first the highly anticipated draw was announced and to no ones surprise AFC's great incompetence or shall I say great business tactic was exposed. UAE and Saudi
Arabia were seeded as group leaders. The selection of UAE as a group leader over Iran shocked the nation. The shocked and puzzled fans asked themselves "who in their right mind would select an under performing UAE over Iran?" Iran is the only Asian nation with over one dozen European based players, plus two times World Cup finals participation and second highest ranked Asian national team. No one in the world can deny the fact
that Iran out performs UAE on all aspects of the game.
"The Asian Football Confederation's seeding method for the draw, however, put the
United Arab Emirates, ranked 68 by FIFA, above Iran, who are ranked 48." AFC
Hannover 96 and Besiktas pursue Daei
(AFC)
The captain of the national football team of Iran has for the first time named two of the teams who are interested in signing him for next year
According to The Hamburg Morgenpost in Germany, Hannover 96, the champions-elect of the German Bundesliga second division, are hoping to sign up Iranian captain Ali Daei for the forthcoming season as they prepare for their first season back in the German top flight since 1989
The other team who has been in in touch with Daei about his availability for next season is Besiktas, one of the top teams in Turkey.
Iranian teenage football sensation waiting to succeed Daei
He is only 17 years old but he is already
being chased by Germany's top professional clubs seeking his
goal-scoring services.
His superb football skills not withstanding, Iranian-born
Ardeshir Dejagha, caught the attention of the German media, after
starring in a recent NIKE football commercial (EDDIE), displaying his superb
razzle-dazzle tricks on German television alongside other football
greats like AS Roma's Francesco Totti and Lazio's Gaizka Mendieta or
Claudio Lopez.
"It was the best thing I have ever experienced so far. It was like
a dream," Dejagha said, sitting next to his proud parents who
emigrated from Iran to Germany in the mid-1980s.
"But my real dream is to play one day for the Iranian national
team in front of 100,000 spectators at Tehran's Azadi Stadium. That
would definitely top everything else," Dejagha added, having also
received an invitation to try out for Germany's under-18 national
team.
"If I have a choice to play for the German or Iranian national
squad, I would most definitely choose Iran," Dejagah stressed who
also could not hide his deep disappointment over Iran's recent
failure to qualify for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
"Given Iran's football talents, it should have made it to the
World Cup. It's really a shame."
The youngster who regularly visits his native country, is
mesmerized by the football madness of Iranians and has also
experienced it first hand at his own club Hertha Berlin where Iran's
living football legend Ali Daei is playing.
Dejagah did his share to help his team win the 1999 German junior
championship, scoring the decisive goal in the semi-finals against
Werder Bremen.
Daei announced Third Goalscorer of the World
The striker of Iran's national soccer team and German squad of Hertha Berlin, Ali Daei, was listed as the Third Goalscorer of the World by the soccer governing body of world FIFA, announced the Saudi daily Al-Riyadh Tuesday.
According to the paper, the Bundesliga-bound striker has managed to score 76 goals in 103 games during his 8-year spell at the nationalside. Daei enjoys great skills, said Al-Riyadh adding that the number ofgoals the international has scored is praiseworthy.
Other News and Results
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Iran's National Tae Kwon Do Team Win the Second Spot in the World Championship
The National Tae Kwon Do have won the second spot in the World Tae Kwon Do Championship in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The Iranian team managed to win two gold, one silver and two bronze, and finished second behind South Korea who won 3 gold and 2 bronze. France finished third with two gold.
My favorite team in Iran, only god knows how many times i´ve bean kicked and beaten up because me and my friend were the only Esteghlal supporters in our street. But its worth is...i do it for the love of the game.
Visit the Official website of Esteghlal F.C.
Pictures, Audios and Videos related to Iranian national Team
Click here to visit Iran Sports Press (ISP) huge archive of soccer videos, all about Iranian National Team
Iranian National Team's trip to US JAN'2000
World Cup Memories (Great Pictures)
Iranian Players Profile
Photo Album, before World Cup
Audio of peoples celebration in Tehran after Iran-US match(Real Audio)
Video of the people's celebration and party in Tehran(Real Video)
Video of players arrival to Mehrabad Airport(Real Video)
Sorood "Varzeshkaran"(Real Audio)
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