Kourosh Ziabari - Futsal Planet: We have just passed 2 weeks since the curtains of 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup tumbled on the stage dramatically for the squad of Hossein Shams when Brazilian captain “Vinicius” hoisted the championship trophy superciliously in front of 16,000 audiences attending at the Ginásio do Maracanãzinho stadium.

The Iranian side which was a medal favorite, lost its hopes to qualify for the semi-finals after failing to defend its 5-4 triumph over Italy in less than 50 seconds and finishing with a painful 5-5 draw with the European opponent at a second group round match in Rio de Janeiro.

Although the veteran captain Vahid Shamsaee who carries the title of world’s all-time best goal-scorer was placed among the WC’s top ten players alongside the astonishing star of Iranian box Mostafa Nazari, he missed the precious chance of winning the “Golden Ball trophy” while most of the commentators, journalists and observers had anticipated to see him on the stage.

After drawing with the defending champion Spain in the opening match, most of the analysts and spectators confessed that Iran deserves to be ranked as one of the finishing fours.

However, that dream came not true and Iran eliminated by a “one goal” shortage in the very closing moments of its match with Italy, but experienced a two steps spring in the overall FIFA futsal teams ranking of October 2008 as the world’s 4th power, passing Portugal, Russia, Argentina and Ukraine.

Up to now, Iran national futsal team has won 9 titles out of 10 Asian championship editions and grabbed a silver medal of 2007 Grand Prix de Futsal too which is an informal, small-scaled world cup being held annually in Brazil.

Moreover, it might be interesting to know that the Iranian swarm has won its first international appearance 19-6 against a Persian Gulf rival, Kuwait in a friendly match hosted by Hong Kong and made its greatest victory over Singapore by thrashing the southeastern competitor 36-0.

In the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup which received wide and unpredictable media coverage worldwide particularly by the French and British media whose countries lacked a representative in Rio de Janeiro, the Iranian youth caught the eyes and attracted millions of TV viewers with their fascinating performance where they trounced all of their group round rivals excluding the defending champions Spain which tied with 3-3.

The Iranian white-wearers defeated Czech 3-2, demolished Libya 4-2, broke Uruguay 4-2 down and pushed the Spanish tornados to the crater of a historic lose so entered the second group round with 10 points and 14 goals scored with a same point of Spain.

In the second round, they endorsed the slightest win of Brazil in the last years and lost a 1-0 game while they had great chances for a draw or even a fabulous win. For the second step, they surpassed Ukraine 5-4 which was not a desirable win because they needed a 2-goal-long win to clinch a semi-final berth by drawing against Italy.

Finally, the breath-taking match with the European champions Italy came up and the Iranian medal favorites stepped the battlefield without Vahid Shamsaee because of his double-carded state. They were also deprived of their powerful striker Majid Latifi because of the injury.

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Iran has claimed a maiden AFC U-16 Championship title with a 2-1 win over 10-man South Korea at Pakhtakor Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

On an overcast day in the Uzbek capital on Saturday, Korea goalkeeper Kim Tae-sung - making just his second appearance of the tournament in place of Kwon Tae-ahn - saved Mehrdad Yeganeh’s 25-yard bullet after five minutes.

Iran were nearly handed the breakthrough after 29 minutes as a long forward ball caught the Korean defense flat-footed but, after nipping in behind the backline, Kaveh Rezaei could only lift the ball over a stranded Kim Tae-sung and the crossbar.

Korea were reduced to 10 men 13 minutes before the break as Kim Dae-kwang, who was making his first start of the tournament, collected a second yellow card from Uzbekistan referee Valentin Kovalenko after picking up the first after just nine minutes.

And Iran capitalized on their advantage six minutes later as Mohsen Talebaat picked up the ball just inside the Korea half, flicked it past Lee Dong-nych, before surging into the area and slotting it under an advancing Kim Tae-sung.

Korea coach Lee Kwang-jong introduced Son Heung-min shortly after the break and the move almost paid off as Lee Jong-ho met his cross a minute before the hour mark but watched as his glancing header drifted past the post with Iran goalkeeper Iman Sadeghi caught flatfooted.

But with Korea pressing for an equaliser, Iran doubled their lead three minutes later as Rezaei ran at Korea captain Rim Chang-woo, skipped past the center-back’s challenge before calmly finishing past a badly positioned Kim Tae-sung.

Iran continued their dominance in the closing stages, but in the last minute before time Lee Chang fired under Iman Sadeghi from close range.

The win ensured Iran progressed through the entire competition from the qualifying stage with a clean record after winning all 10 games, scoring 31 goals and conceding just three.

Adapted from: Press TV

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has praised the country’s futsal team for its strong, dazzling performance in the 2008 Futsal World Cup.

“The Iranians have been very successful in the 2008 Futsal World Cup in Brazil, as they have achieved great success in every field,” Ahmadinejad said at a cabinet meeting in the country’s Gilan province on Thursday evening.

The President further added that the Iranian players exerted their utmost against world champions although they did not have their key players. “We regard them (Iranian futsal players) as champions despite their failure to advance (to the semifinals). They played fairly and beautifully,” Ahmadinejad explained.

The Iranian Futsal squad was welcomed back home by the Iranian Football Federation (IFF) president Ali Kafashian and the IFF deputy president, Mehdi Taj, and many futsal lovers at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International airport early Friday morning.

Iran’s national futsal team, coached by Hossein Shams, failed to reach the world cup semifinals despite drawing 5-5 with Italy in its third match in the second round of the event.

adapted from: Press TV

Thanks to three goals of salvation scored in the last 10 minutes of its opening match of 2008 FIFA Futsal world cup at Brazil, Spain escpaed from a historical lose to the 9-times Asian champions Iran.

The defending champion Spain scored its equalizer in the 36th minute, just 4 minutes to an unforgettable lose to the young squad of Iran which is enjoying the world’s all-time best scorer, Vahid Shamsaee.

Having played twice in friendly matches in Tehran, Spain defeated both the games 2-1 against Iran but remained unsuccessful to beat Iran for the third time and drew luckily in just 4 minutes remaining to the end of an opening day nightmare.

Iran has won 9 titles out of 10 at the AFC Futsal championships which is reckoned as the most authenticated tournament in Asia.

Iran is also slated to array against Uruguay, Libya and Czech republic in its next games and is one of the highest hopes for being ranked into the top 3 after Spain and Brazil.

The national volleyball team of Islamic Republic of Iran has honorably won the first Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Men’s Championship, narrowly defeating South Korea in the final match.
In a close game, the Iranian squad lost the first and fourth sets 25-13 and 25-15, but won the second, third and fifth sets 25-15, 26-24 and 15-7 to claim victory.

The win was particularly sweet as South Korea had beaten Iran 3-1 in the preliminaries on Saturday, Iran’s only loss of the tournament.
Iran had defeated China, Taiwan and Japan in its last three matches to reach the final held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

China and Japan took third and fourth place in the tournament respectively, and Iran’s Hamzeh Zarini was named Most Valuable Player.
The Japanese and Chinese audiences attending the exciting match in Thailand Venue all applaused the Iranian team loudly after defeating the traditional rival and gaining the historic triumph.

Iran is looking forward to win a berth for the volleyball world league at 2009 which is highest level of international volleyball tournaments.

Adapted from: Press TV