SALVADOR // Carlos Queiroz, the popular and pragmatic Iran coach, reluctantly resigned on Wednesday night after failing to receive a concrete offer from the Iranian football association.
The Portuguese journeyman watched his side’s lingering hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the World Cup fizzle out during a 3-1 defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina, yet he and his team were heralded on social media.
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The Middle East’s sole representatives were drawn in a tough group yet started their final Group F encounter knowing a win could see them into the round of 16 for the first time.
Bosnia’s Edin Dzeko, however, made the task all the harder when he opened the scoring midway through the first half. Miralem Pjanic added a second 14 minutes after the break, and when Iran scored their first goal of the finals through Reza Ghoochannejad, late in the game, Avdija Vrsajevic restored the two-goal lead a minute later.
The Iranians depart Brazil with their heads held high after solid, disciplined displays against Nigeria and Argentina, and Queiroz remains a well-liked figure among the country’s football supporters. He said, however, that he decided to leave after failing to receive backing from the country’s decision-makers.
“Over the past 11 months, I showed my availability and commitment to keep going with this project, but I never received a single concrete objective proposal,” Queiroz said.
“I will always keep the country, fans and players in my heart because I fell in love with them – they gave me everything – but you cannot have a marriage when only one side wants to be married and, unfortunately, it is not the people on Facebook who make the decisions. I waited and there was a moment that I was forced to make a decision, so now I say ‘thank you’.”
Against Bosnia, Queiroz’s side had shown caution in attack and Safet Susic, the opposition manager, said he was surprised that a team that needed to win would play so defensively. “Iran needed a win, but they were still calculating,” he said.
“Maybe this is what backfired for them. I got the feeling they were playing for a draw. Maybe that is just their style and it is difficult to break the habit, but I was surprised.”
Queiroz took exception to Safic’s remarks, replying: “Next time, I will give him the luxury of training Iran and I will train Bosnia and we will see what he can do. When you have players from Roma, Man City, Milan, it’s easy to give some opinions after the game.”
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
