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Boyz bombarded by Iran in Middle East
BORA. this is the perfect game to learn
Let's not panic, says Bora
Tehran, Iran - It was another bout of 'Shock and Awe' here in the Middle East yesterday. However, this time it was not the might of the American military pounding the hapless Iraqis, but the Islamic Republic of Iran bombarding Jamaica's Reggae Boyz 8-1 in an international friendly football encounter in front of a partisan, drum-beating, raucous crowd at the Azadi Sports Complex.
The demolition was quick, if not decisive, but the Iranian coach would have left the venue feeling every bit contented that his squad is sharp and ready to seriously bid for a fourth AFC Asian Cup triumph, following those of 1968, 1972
and 1976.
Javad Nekounam, who plays for Osasuna in Spain's La Liga, celebrated his recent selection to the UEFA.com revelation XI with a brace.
Attacking midfielder Mehrzad Madanchi also hit a brace, as did substitute Rasoul Paki Khatibi.
Striker Vahid Hashemian, and late substitute Gholamreza Enayati, who scored a double in Iran's 4-2 victory over a Ghana Under-23 side last Thursday, applied the coup de grace.
After being down 6-0, Fabian Taylor notched a fine goal, which drew much cheers from the sympathetic crowd.
The Iranian team was given the traditional Muslim farewell ahead of the Asian Cup, when each member of the squad departed the field through an arch, and was blessed by someone with the Holy Quran.
Iran, one of the favourites alongside Japan, Australia and South Korea, are drawn in Group C of the Asian Cup with hosts Malaysia, China and Uzbekistan. They open the campaign against the latter on July 11.
Technical director Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic, who was experiencing his biggest defeat in his illustrious career, remained positive despite warning against panic.
'At this moment, our biggest enemy is panic,' he said. 'When you lose one game like this, POW! Panic. I don't have panic,' he declared emphatically.
He added: 'Always when you lose it is difficult. It is a very bad defeat. I don't like to look for excuses, but I hope everybody learns, I, the players, everybody. This is the perfect game to learn.'
The Serbian-born Mexican coach offered no comments when asked what he would have learnt as coach from the game.
'I don't like to speak publicly about it. This is just one friendly game, nothing more. We need to recognise where we are and what we need to do.'
He said he respected the players and he didn't think it was fair to them to elaborate at this time on what needs
to be done to carry the
team forward.
'I'm sorry, I've had so many games and I have never had such a big loss, but the players made effort and I hope they learn so much.
'We now need to use the FIFA dates for the rest of the year to prepare the team,' he said while refusing to elaborate on which team, though there were more than enough hints to suggest that he was referring to the overseas-based players.
The Boyz suffered a huge last-minute setback when central defender Christopher Harvey pulled up during warm-up with a groin strain and had to be replaced by Donald Stewart.
Harvey's absence had an immediate impact as within the first minute of play Hashemian forced goalkeeper Dwayne Miller to palm away a fierce shot for a corner. From the resulting free kick, Nekounam rose high at the back post to head home after Miller failed to intercept the cross.
Things went from bad to worse in a jiffy, as two minutes later the Iranian stormed down the right flank through captain Mehdi Mahdavikia, who slipped a neat pass to Madanchi in the middle of the park, and the powerfully-built midfielder unleashed a torrid drive well out of the reach of the diving Miller.
On the quarter-hour mark, Mohammad Ali Karimi should have increased the lead, but he tried to be too cheeky and lobbed the ball over the unguarded goal.
There was no relief for the visitors, and like they did against Ghana a few days earlier, Iran added a third on 18 minutes when Nekounam tapped home after Hashemian's header at the back post was blocked by Miller.
Miller, who earned a starting berth after a fine shutout performance on debut against Malaysia last Thursday, was a busy man in the opening period, and had it not been for his bravery and agility, the scoreline could have been much more embarrassing.
In what could be the save of the day, the 19-year-old 'keeper threw himself full-stretch to his right at the far post to push the goalbound header just around for a corner.
But two minutes later he was beaten for the fourth time when Hashemian rose unchallenged at the back post to head home. During the half-time break, this reporter was bombarded by Iranian journalists in the press box inquiring about the strength of the Jamaican team and how much money, if any, the Iranian Football Federation had paid the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) for the game.
For other Iranians, things were going so smoothly, they took the time to kneel and enjoy the final Evening Prayer at 7:45.
On the resumption, it was business as usual for the home side as Madanchi completed his brace within four minutes of the restart when he slid the ball under the sprawling figure of substitute goalkeeper Richard McCallum from inside the penalty box.
And just when the Boyz seemed to have finally stemmed the rush of goals, substitute Khatibi hit his first on 82 minutes, before Taylor rose majestically to nod home at the back post five minutes from time.
But the Boyz were always vulnerable to the counter-attack and Khatibi (88th) and Enayati (91st) added strikes, while Taylor had a glorious chance to add a second when he broke free inside the penalty box before booting the ball into the gut of substitute goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati.
At the final whistle, it was a deserving and fitting victory for Iran, who were undoubtedly the superior team physically, technically and mentally. And the result also went a long way in reminding all and sundry exactly where Jamaica's football is globally.
The Boyz are scheduled to depart Iran on Wednesday morning for Los Angeles via the Netherlands. They are expected home on Thursday morning.
Teams:
Jamaica - Dwayne Miller (Richard McCallum 46th), Donald Stewart, Adrian Reid, Mario Swaby (Xavian Virgo 26th), Lovel Palmer (Rodolph Austin 54th), Nicholy Finlayson (Donovan Davis 81st), Richard Edwards, Demar Phillips, Mario Harrison (Keneil Moodie 62nd), Wolry Wolfe (Fabian Davis 46th), Fabian Taylor.
Booked: Edwards (44th)
Subs not used: Allien Whittaker
Iran - Hassan Roudbarian (Mehdi Rahmati 59th), Mehdi Mahdavikia (Rasoul Paki Khatibi 69th), Hossein Kaebi, Seyed Jalal Hosseini (Mohammad Nosrati 68th), Rahman Rezaeb (Hadi Shanouri 60th), Javad Nekounam, Mohammas Ali Karimi, Mehrzad Madanchi, Sattar Zare, Masoud Soleimani Shojael, Vahid Hashemian (Gholamreza Enayati 85th).
Booked: None
Subs not used: Amir Hossein Sadeghi, Iman Mobali, Ebrahim Sadeghi, Morteza Asadi, Andranik Teymourian, Javad Kazemian, Kianoush Rahmati.
Referee: Hedayat Mombeini (Iran)
Assistants: Javad Taghipour, Alireza Kahouri (Iran)
Fourth Official: Khodadad Afsharian (Iran)
Match Commissary: Amirhossein Karimpout (Iran)
Ian Burnett Sport Editor
Copyright© 2000-2001 Jamaica Observer.
BORA. this is the perfect game to learn
Let's not panic, says Bora
Tehran, Iran - It was another bout of 'Shock and Awe' here in the Middle East yesterday. However, this time it was not the might of the American military pounding the hapless Iraqis, but the Islamic Republic of Iran bombarding Jamaica's Reggae Boyz 8-1 in an international friendly football encounter in front of a partisan, drum-beating, raucous crowd at the Azadi Sports Complex.
The demolition was quick, if not decisive, but the Iranian coach would have left the venue feeling every bit contented that his squad is sharp and ready to seriously bid for a fourth AFC Asian Cup triumph, following those of 1968, 1972
and 1976.
Javad Nekounam, who plays for Osasuna in Spain's La Liga, celebrated his recent selection to the UEFA.com revelation XI with a brace.
Attacking midfielder Mehrzad Madanchi also hit a brace, as did substitute Rasoul Paki Khatibi.
Striker Vahid Hashemian, and late substitute Gholamreza Enayati, who scored a double in Iran's 4-2 victory over a Ghana Under-23 side last Thursday, applied the coup de grace.
After being down 6-0, Fabian Taylor notched a fine goal, which drew much cheers from the sympathetic crowd.
The Iranian team was given the traditional Muslim farewell ahead of the Asian Cup, when each member of the squad departed the field through an arch, and was blessed by someone with the Holy Quran.
Iran, one of the favourites alongside Japan, Australia and South Korea, are drawn in Group C of the Asian Cup with hosts Malaysia, China and Uzbekistan. They open the campaign against the latter on July 11.
Technical director Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic, who was experiencing his biggest defeat in his illustrious career, remained positive despite warning against panic.
'At this moment, our biggest enemy is panic,' he said. 'When you lose one game like this, POW! Panic. I don't have panic,' he declared emphatically.
He added: 'Always when you lose it is difficult. It is a very bad defeat. I don't like to look for excuses, but I hope everybody learns, I, the players, everybody. This is the perfect game to learn.'
The Serbian-born Mexican coach offered no comments when asked what he would have learnt as coach from the game.
'I don't like to speak publicly about it. This is just one friendly game, nothing more. We need to recognise where we are and what we need to do.'
He said he respected the players and he didn't think it was fair to them to elaborate at this time on what needs
to be done to carry the
team forward.
'I'm sorry, I've had so many games and I have never had such a big loss, but the players made effort and I hope they learn so much.
'We now need to use the FIFA dates for the rest of the year to prepare the team,' he said while refusing to elaborate on which team, though there were more than enough hints to suggest that he was referring to the overseas-based players.
The Boyz suffered a huge last-minute setback when central defender Christopher Harvey pulled up during warm-up with a groin strain and had to be replaced by Donald Stewart.
Harvey's absence had an immediate impact as within the first minute of play Hashemian forced goalkeeper Dwayne Miller to palm away a fierce shot for a corner. From the resulting free kick, Nekounam rose high at the back post to head home after Miller failed to intercept the cross.
Things went from bad to worse in a jiffy, as two minutes later the Iranian stormed down the right flank through captain Mehdi Mahdavikia, who slipped a neat pass to Madanchi in the middle of the park, and the powerfully-built midfielder unleashed a torrid drive well out of the reach of the diving Miller.
On the quarter-hour mark, Mohammad Ali Karimi should have increased the lead, but he tried to be too cheeky and lobbed the ball over the unguarded goal.
There was no relief for the visitors, and like they did against Ghana a few days earlier, Iran added a third on 18 minutes when Nekounam tapped home after Hashemian's header at the back post was blocked by Miller.
Miller, who earned a starting berth after a fine shutout performance on debut against Malaysia last Thursday, was a busy man in the opening period, and had it not been for his bravery and agility, the scoreline could have been much more embarrassing.
In what could be the save of the day, the 19-year-old 'keeper threw himself full-stretch to his right at the far post to push the goalbound header just around for a corner.
But two minutes later he was beaten for the fourth time when Hashemian rose unchallenged at the back post to head home. During the half-time break, this reporter was bombarded by Iranian journalists in the press box inquiring about the strength of the Jamaican team and how much money, if any, the Iranian Football Federation had paid the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) for the game.
For other Iranians, things were going so smoothly, they took the time to kneel and enjoy the final Evening Prayer at 7:45.
On the resumption, it was business as usual for the home side as Madanchi completed his brace within four minutes of the restart when he slid the ball under the sprawling figure of substitute goalkeeper Richard McCallum from inside the penalty box.
And just when the Boyz seemed to have finally stemmed the rush of goals, substitute Khatibi hit his first on 82 minutes, before Taylor rose majestically to nod home at the back post five minutes from time.
But the Boyz were always vulnerable to the counter-attack and Khatibi (88th) and Enayati (91st) added strikes, while Taylor had a glorious chance to add a second when he broke free inside the penalty box before booting the ball into the gut of substitute goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati.
At the final whistle, it was a deserving and fitting victory for Iran, who were undoubtedly the superior team physically, technically and mentally. And the result also went a long way in reminding all and sundry exactly where Jamaica's football is globally.
The Boyz are scheduled to depart Iran on Wednesday morning for Los Angeles via the Netherlands. They are expected home on Thursday morning.
Teams:
Jamaica - Dwayne Miller (Richard McCallum 46th), Donald Stewart, Adrian Reid, Mario Swaby (Xavian Virgo 26th), Lovel Palmer (Rodolph Austin 54th), Nicholy Finlayson (Donovan Davis 81st), Richard Edwards, Demar Phillips, Mario Harrison (Keneil Moodie 62nd), Wolry Wolfe (Fabian Davis 46th), Fabian Taylor.
Booked: Edwards (44th)
Subs not used: Allien Whittaker
Iran - Hassan Roudbarian (Mehdi Rahmati 59th), Mehdi Mahdavikia (Rasoul Paki Khatibi 69th), Hossein Kaebi, Seyed Jalal Hosseini (Mohammad Nosrati 68th), Rahman Rezaeb (Hadi Shanouri 60th), Javad Nekounam, Mohammas Ali Karimi, Mehrzad Madanchi, Sattar Zare, Masoud Soleimani Shojael, Vahid Hashemian (Gholamreza Enayati 85th).
Booked: None
Subs not used: Amir Hossein Sadeghi, Iman Mobali, Ebrahim Sadeghi, Morteza Asadi, Andranik Teymourian, Javad Kazemian, Kianoush Rahmati.
Referee: Hedayat Mombeini (Iran)
Assistants: Javad Taghipour, Alireza Kahouri (Iran)
Fourth Official: Khodadad Afsharian (Iran)
Match Commissary: Amirhossein Karimpout (Iran)
Ian Burnett Sport Editor
Copyright© 2000-2001 Jamaica Observer.
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