Iran head to Brazil as Asia’s top-ranked nation but their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of a World Cup for the first time have been hampered by a lack of top class friendly opposition and a wave of negativity surrounding the team.
Since booking their spot in the finals by winning their Asian qualifying group last June, Iran, ranked No 1 in Asia and 37th in the world by Fifa, have only played one international friendly match against Guinea in Tehran, which they lost 2-1.
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By contrast, Asian champions Japan have faced World Cup finalists Uruguay, Netherlands, Belgium and Ghana in friendlies, aiming to give their squad an experience of the task they will face In Brazil.
Iran’s Portuguese boss Carlos Queiroz bemoaned the situation, believed to be down to politics and finances, after the loss to Guinea, which drew withering criticism from a local media fed up with the sluggish performances of an ageing team.
“We try our best, we have limited resources, we have some issues in our preparations but the federation make a lot of efforts to give the best to the players and the team,” Queiroz said at the Asian Cup draw in March.
“In the last three years despite all the difficulties, Iran has showed the No 1 most important thing in the football world – passion.
“If you have passion for the game, that is always a good starting point. with the passion of the players and the fans, we were able to qualify for the World Cup.”
The former Real Madrid and Portugal manager, who is expected to step down after the World Cup, tapped his contacts to help fix a training camp and warm-up matches in South Africa, whom he used to coach, and his homeland of Mozambique last month, and the team will continue preparations in Austria in May.
There they will face Belarus, Montenegro and Angola before taking on Trinidad and Tobago in Sao Paulo eight days before their Group F opener against Nigeria in Curitiba on June 16.
Queiroz will hope the games can provide him with a chance to find a solution to their struggle for goals, which has led to him scouring the Iranian diaspora to help boost his defence-oriented side.
Team Melli managed only three goals in the first five games of their final Asian qualifying group before striker Reza “Gucci” Ghoochannejhad, who was born in Tehran but emigrated to Netherlands as a child, was found and fired the team to a fourth World Cup.
Although grouped with one of the tournament favourites Argentina, hopes were raised that they could advance to the last 16 for the first time after they were also drawn against Bosnia and Nigeria in an expected three-way battle for second place.
The task of adding to their sole World Cup finals victory over political foes the United States in 1998 looks beyond them.
“[We must] take this World Cup as a learning process, and that doesn’t mean that we go there for tourism. We go to Brazil to create a legacy and the legacy is to put the team in a good position to be stronger after the World Cup but better prepared and more experienced,” Queiroz said.
“No doubt since I arrived, there is great progress in the players, great progress in the team. There is a great potential in Iran, it is just a matter of putting things in the right place.
“Three years ago Iran was fourth or fifth in Asia and today is the No 1 country.”
Expect a cagey, counter-attacking approach in a brief Brazil appearance.
Five to watch:
Jalal Hosseini, defender (Persepolis); age 32; 84 caps. The rock at the heart of the Iranian backline that booked a fourth World Cup appearance based on a miserly defence. Also an attacking threat from set pieces, he scored the opener in the Asian Cup qualifying win over Thailand in October and needs to be closely marshalled.
Javad Nekounam, midfielder (Al Kuwait); age 33; 139 caps. Captain and deep-lying playmaker, Nekounam will take part in his second World Cup after appearing in Germany in 2006. The set piece specialist became the first Iranian to play in the Spanish top flight when he joined Osasuna after the 2006 finals.
Andranik Teymourian, midfielder (Esteghlal); age 31; 76 caps. Powerful defensive midfielder, who has long been a mainstay of the team having appeared at the 2006 World Cup and also at the 2007 and 2011 Asian Cups. Played for Fulham, Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers in England before returning to Iran to play his club football. Nekounam's midfield sidekick.
Ashkan Dejagah, midfielder (Fulham); age 28; 11 caps. Born in Tehran but moved to Germany at an early age, he played for the Europeans at youth level. Was called up by Queiroz for the World Cup qualifier against Qatar in February 2012 and scored twice on debut. A tricky winger who can also play through the middle, Dejagah joined English side Fulham in August 2012 following in Teymourian's footsteps.
Reza Ghoochannejhad, striker (Charlton Athletic); age 26; 11 caps. Born in Iran but emigrated to Netherlands as a child, Queiroz convinced Ghoochannejhad to represent Team Melli after the striker had played for the Dutch youth teams. Made a blistering start to international football, scoring nine goals in his first 11 appearances, including the crucial winner in their final qualifier against South Korea.
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More from Neighbourhood Watch
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
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Emirates launched a new daily service to Mexico City this week, flying via Barcelona from Dh3,995.
Emirati citizens are among 67 nationalities who do not require a visa to Mexico. Entry is granted on arrival for stays of up to 180 days.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The Al Barzakh Festival takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in the Red Theatre, NYUAD, Saadiyat Island. Tickets cost Dh105 for adults from platinumlist.net
