iranican

(Updated on May 3, 2009: One of our friends made the video above, a good overview of what happened.) As most of you are well aware, Team Melli, in another utterly lackluster performance, lost to Saudi Arabia 2-1 on Saturday. We showed some promise early on, with aggressive, crisp passing that reminded me of the [...]

We’re thankfully more than a week separated from Team Melli’s previous match, a 2010 World Cup qualifier draw against South Korea, which by most measures was a huge disappointment. Instead of going over Iran’s countless faults in the match, be it the lack of effective midfield passing, sloppy defending, or a subpar tactical display from [...]

In an interesting turn of events, Ali Karimi has rejected his call-up to Team Melli last week. Although there were whispers in the Iranian media of his planned rejection of the offer, due to ill will stemming from his five-month suspension from Iran’s national football (soccer) team, the news still comes as a big surprise [...]

Five days later, and Team Melli fans are still breathing sighs of relief. Thanks to Javad Nekounam’s unlikely header on an 81st minute corner, Iran was able to shrug off a mainly poor performance and escape Riyadh with a 1-1 tie with the Saudis. The first half was especially problematic for Team Melli. Its defense [...]

Well, maybe the title’s a bit ambitious. But come Saturday, Team Melli fans can judge for themselves whether they need to book tickets for 2010, as they will finally get their first peek in months of the Iranian football (soccer) team at full strength. Team Melli will take on Saudia Arabia in Riyadh in a [...]