Team Melli drops to fifth in Asia

Team Melli dropped two positions in the latest FIFA rankings landing on 62nd overall and 5th spot in the AFC behind Australia, Japan, Korea Republic, and Bahrain in that order.

This of course does not come as a surprise to those of us who have been flowing Team Melli’s recent performance going back to the January of 2009. It is safe to day that we do not deserve to be anywhere amongst the top three.

Mehdi Taj Iranian football federation’s Vice President jumped around the topic and made references to the good performance of the U16 and Women’s teams, as if defending the federation’s performance in the light of the senior team’s lowest ranking in almost 12 years.

Coach Afshin Ghotbi was more to the point when asked why his team was ranked fifth in Asia below Bahrain. He said, “Considering the fact that Bahrain is on the verge of making it to the World Cup, it is natural to have them ranked above us”.

Team Melli is scheduled to play two friendly matches before their November 22 Asian Qualifier.