maij
07-11-2007, 01:49 PM
In quest of Championship
Asian Cup 2007
TeamMelli.com Reporting from Kuala Lumpur
Report no: 3
It was another hard long day in Asian Cup 2007, filled with suspense and stress, however the better team prevailed and I could virtually hear the sigh of relief by millions of Team Melli fan across the globe after the match finishing 2-1 for Team Melli..
Let me start by the News conference, though. The moment Amir Ghalenoei saw me, he jokingly said “ For God sake please don’t ask me any questions?.”
Mr. Ghalenoei , of course was referring to the question I asked and the warning I gave yesterday morning in the pre-match conference. I spoke of his temper and if he would control it during this championship matches. Call it a hunch or prophecy, somehow I thought , at times, this young aspiring coach is too temperamental perhaps inexperienced to face the heat and he could lose control of his temper at a crucial moment….. He lost his temper and was sent off by the Kuwaiti referee Saad Kameel.!!!!!!!!
This episode between me and Ghalenei was a hot topic in the press room for a while.
However , my question to him this time was about how his star players let him down and let the team and the fans down as well, while the less famous player like Javad Kazemian , played splendidly and scored the winner. Will he re-consider the line up for the next match?
Mr. Ghalenoei diplomatically answered by saying that all star players have their good days and their bad days. And like he always does , he gives examples , this time he mentioned Ronladinho who had his bad day near the end of the La Liga with Barcelona and was sent off. So, it is quite expected, as Ghalemnoei claims that star players don’t shine at some stages.
Of course I and many other journalists , were far from convinced with this answer but there was no room for further discussion which renders some of these press conferences as a bit useless for the media.
The problem with this approach is that the coach (and the players) will always have a readily available non-disputable justification for defeat. Surely every team in the world is beaten, isn’t it more prudent and productive to study and analyze the mistakes and gaps in the team rather than excuse yourself by saying “Brazil has also lost ????”
I also commented on why Javad Kazemian looks so sad and upset sitting in front of us with his coach. He hardly smiled or exchanged eye contact with anybody. This question amused many people who started laughing and changed the atmosphere. Ghalenoei for the record told me (Jokingly of course in Farsi ) that Javad perhaps is not satisfied with his prize money as Player of the Match !!
The match itself was split into two different scenarios. The first half was quite appalling as far as Iranian team goes. A 3 man forward line ? and including in that not-so-successful pair Enayati & Khatibi ??? What was Mr. Ghalenoei thinking about ??? As predicted this line up was nothing short of a bad dream , but worsen by the fact that the midfield was disappointing , slow , poor feeding the forwards and ineffective. Add to that , the customary Mr. Rahman. Rezaei fault of the championship, and the 1-0 result for the Uzbeks was not far from logical or reasonable.
To give credit to the Uzbeks , their defensive system was rock solid as they based it on defending from deep midfield positions. They hardly let Nekounam , Teymourian and Karimi any breathing space. It was an exemplary defensive system that worked to perfection in the first half. Team Melli did not have any real scoring chances or shoots to trouble the goalkeeper in this half.
But the final laugh went to Team Melli coach Amir Ghalenoei. He saw the team fault and pulled out Khatibi to replace him with Kazemian. It looked that young Javad was on a mission, and the rest as they say is history. His splendid runs , crosses , amazing pace , durability and to cap it all , a beautifully taken goal spoke volume about this player’s capabilities. This was Javad Kazemian’s match and his goal was a fitting finale for the man who changed the fortunes of the team.
A special praise must also awarded to Seyed Jalal Hosseini , who was towering above the rest , clearing his area and sweeping anything that passed his fellow defenders. He hardly put a foot wrong and he also scored a beautiful equalizer.
A well deserved win for Team Melli , and it is not going to be easy against Chine.
End of Part III
Asian Cup 2007
TeamMelli.com Reporting from Kuala Lumpur
Report no: 3
It was another hard long day in Asian Cup 2007, filled with suspense and stress, however the better team prevailed and I could virtually hear the sigh of relief by millions of Team Melli fan across the globe after the match finishing 2-1 for Team Melli..
Let me start by the News conference, though. The moment Amir Ghalenoei saw me, he jokingly said “ For God sake please don’t ask me any questions?.”
Mr. Ghalenoei , of course was referring to the question I asked and the warning I gave yesterday morning in the pre-match conference. I spoke of his temper and if he would control it during this championship matches. Call it a hunch or prophecy, somehow I thought , at times, this young aspiring coach is too temperamental perhaps inexperienced to face the heat and he could lose control of his temper at a crucial moment….. He lost his temper and was sent off by the Kuwaiti referee Saad Kameel.!!!!!!!!
This episode between me and Ghalenei was a hot topic in the press room for a while.
However , my question to him this time was about how his star players let him down and let the team and the fans down as well, while the less famous player like Javad Kazemian , played splendidly and scored the winner. Will he re-consider the line up for the next match?
Mr. Ghalenoei diplomatically answered by saying that all star players have their good days and their bad days. And like he always does , he gives examples , this time he mentioned Ronladinho who had his bad day near the end of the La Liga with Barcelona and was sent off. So, it is quite expected, as Ghalemnoei claims that star players don’t shine at some stages.
Of course I and many other journalists , were far from convinced with this answer but there was no room for further discussion which renders some of these press conferences as a bit useless for the media.
The problem with this approach is that the coach (and the players) will always have a readily available non-disputable justification for defeat. Surely every team in the world is beaten, isn’t it more prudent and productive to study and analyze the mistakes and gaps in the team rather than excuse yourself by saying “Brazil has also lost ????”
I also commented on why Javad Kazemian looks so sad and upset sitting in front of us with his coach. He hardly smiled or exchanged eye contact with anybody. This question amused many people who started laughing and changed the atmosphere. Ghalenoei for the record told me (Jokingly of course in Farsi ) that Javad perhaps is not satisfied with his prize money as Player of the Match !!
The match itself was split into two different scenarios. The first half was quite appalling as far as Iranian team goes. A 3 man forward line ? and including in that not-so-successful pair Enayati & Khatibi ??? What was Mr. Ghalenoei thinking about ??? As predicted this line up was nothing short of a bad dream , but worsen by the fact that the midfield was disappointing , slow , poor feeding the forwards and ineffective. Add to that , the customary Mr. Rahman. Rezaei fault of the championship, and the 1-0 result for the Uzbeks was not far from logical or reasonable.
To give credit to the Uzbeks , their defensive system was rock solid as they based it on defending from deep midfield positions. They hardly let Nekounam , Teymourian and Karimi any breathing space. It was an exemplary defensive system that worked to perfection in the first half. Team Melli did not have any real scoring chances or shoots to trouble the goalkeeper in this half.
But the final laugh went to Team Melli coach Amir Ghalenoei. He saw the team fault and pulled out Khatibi to replace him with Kazemian. It looked that young Javad was on a mission, and the rest as they say is history. His splendid runs , crosses , amazing pace , durability and to cap it all , a beautifully taken goal spoke volume about this player’s capabilities. This was Javad Kazemian’s match and his goal was a fitting finale for the man who changed the fortunes of the team.
A special praise must also awarded to Seyed Jalal Hosseini , who was towering above the rest , clearing his area and sweeping anything that passed his fellow defenders. He hardly put a foot wrong and he also scored a beautiful equalizer.
A well deserved win for Team Melli , and it is not going to be easy against Chine.
End of Part III