Croatian coaches in Iran

[Sly]

Ciro: "he is sure Skocic will achieve good results in Team Melli. Skocic has had a hard path to reach here, he said. "
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/155391/...-in-Team-Melli
Ciro and his promises....

Love this man! Can't believe he's already 84 years old! Khoda hefzesh kone!

[Leicester City]

Dragan Skočić, best Croatian Coach. He just made history today in Iranian Football beating Bahrain in a WCQ on their own turf.

[Leicester City]

Dragan Skočić interview with Croatian media

https://www.vecernji.hr/sport/hrvat-...sam-se-1531075

HE WAS DRIVEN BY EMOTIONS

Croat on the giant's bench: When I saw that the Iranians paid tribute to Cica, I cried

- It has nothing to do with football and tactics, this man was simply wonderful as a person.

After playing 1: 1 with the strong South Korea led by Heung-min Son in the most demanding match so far , Croatian expert on the bench of Iran Dragan Skočić continues to walk towards the World Cup in Qatar next year in his incredible series of invincibility.

The fourth Croatian coach of Iran

He has led 11 games since joining the Iranian national team, and the last one with South Korea is the only one he has not won so far. In the first part of the qualifiers, he took over from Marc Wilmots the type that was in a "shaky" state (two defeats in four matches) and scored four victories to enter the second part of the qualifiers in which Iran is currently leading, ahead of South Korea. In 11 games under Skočić's leadership, Iran remained clean in as many as eight, and its total goal difference is 30: 3. What is the secret of Skocic's revival of the Iranian national team?

- I think that the most important thing is that we work with quality and detail. Of course, it helped me that I have been in Iran for seven years and that I know the league and the players, but quality work with the staff, which includes Mario Tot and Mladen Žganjer , is the main reason for good results.

Iran now has one of the best generations in the history of the national team. He is currently 22nd in the Fifa rankings, five places behind Croatia, and his best placement so far was 15th place in 2005, when the legendary national team players Ali Daei and Ali Karimi played, and the strategist was Croatian expert Branko Ivanković , highly regarded in Iran. In addition to these two of our experts, the Iranian national team was also led by Stanko Poklepović , Tomislav Ivić and Miroslav Blažević . Many other Croatian coaches worked in Iran, so we were interested in whether the strategist behind winning the Croatian Cup with Rijeka in 2006 contacted someone before taking over the Iranian national team.

- I was not in contact with them before the takeover of Iran, nor did I ask for advice, but we are all on good terms here and we communicate. Perhaps I was closest to Zlatko Kranjčar , who was really human. I was in Iran when I found out he had died and I cried all morning. That day I went to a Persepolis match in the afternoon and calmed down a bit, and when I entered the stadium and saw that a large picture had been placed in the stands in his memory , I cried again. When Branko and I once came to Qatar to watch the matches of Iranian clubs in the Asian Champions League, he heard that we were coming and welcomed us as friends by preparing a big feast for us. It has nothing to do with football and tactics, this man was simply wonderful as a person - Skočić said emotionally.

Now you have several European-renowned names in the national team, such as Azmoun (Zenit), Jahanbakhsha (Feyenoord) and Taremi (Porto), and among those European names is Dinamo's Sadegh Moharrami . What do you think of him?

- I have known Mohu since he was 16 because I was leading Malavan at the time , and he was in the junior selections. Even then, he showed a lot, and now he is growing into a top football player. He is still in Dinamo , but due to injuries and unfortunate circumstances he has not yet managed to reach his full potential, but if everything goes as it should, he will show it. He is a great guy and footballer.

How would you describe the difference on the field in the Iranian and Croatian leagues?

- Iranian footballers are individually technically savvy and physically resilient , truly at an enviable level. And what they lack and where I see a lot of room for improvement is tactical ability, they’re not that good at it yet, but when I look at the long term, it’s something that can be learned and that will raise the Iranian football ladder even further. Europeans have always been tactically tidy, and as Iran has more and more players in European clubs, that is slowly starting to change.

Lack of understanding

You have already talked about this in the talks, but we are interested in how you would briefly describe the Iranian mentality to a Croat , since many of our people do not understand the difference between Arabs and Iranians.

- The first characteristic that Iranians are specific for is exceptional hospitality , I would first say that to every Croat and I am already explaining it to them. In European countries, due to lack of knowledge and understanding, a completely wrong image has been created about Iran, and when you come to Iran you would realize how wonderful a nation it is and how much it respects and values other people.

[Iran_19]

Only decent VIC i know, the rest used Iran to make career/money.



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[DR Strangemoosh]

Have edited Skocic to include his success in qualifying Iran for world cup

[DR Strangemoosh]

BTW not many people know this about Ivic but he took the Ajax team in the wilderness (a number of consecutive third place finishes) in 1976 and took them back to the top in his first season there.

In his second season they reached the quarters of the European Cup.

He had two seasons at Porto, in one he finished top and in the second he took them to the semi final of the Champions League.

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From wikipedia:


European and international club competitions

In April 2007, Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport proclaimed him as the most successful football manager in history, due to his seven league titles won in five countries

He took Hajduk Split to the European Cup quarter final two times: 1975–76 and in 1979–80, he also reached it with Ajax in 1977–78. His biggest achievement in the European Cup was reaching the semi-finals during the 1981–82 season with Anderlecht. With Porto he won the 1987 European Super Cup and the 1987 Intercontinental Cup.
Ivić has one of the best Champions League win ratios, having won 29 out of 46 matches with a ratio of 63.0%

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I think at the time, that IFF and Sports Ministry wanted someone with a huge amount of pedigree so that Iran didn't end up embarrassing itself, especially vs USA. In the end they still ended up doing their usual backward thing, but thankfully not before he had an impact on the team.

Who knows, maybe against sheytane bozorg vah kuchik this time they will want to do the same....

[O-ZoNe]

Also Canada's coach mentioned he was so impressed with Croatian coaches and academies as a country of 4 million that while his son played in Croatia he tried for a couple years to learn their footballing system and employs it with team Canada.

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[DR Strangemoosh]

Great article on history of Croatian football with a nice photo of Ciro:

https://www.theguardian.com/football...football-steps

[Leicester City]

Skočić was warned he wouldn’t lead TM at WC: Vinko Begović

Sportske.jutarnji.hr – SPLIT, Portugal’s Carlos Queiroz will lead Iran at the World Cup, his assistant will be the former national team representative Javad Nekounam, who is being prepared as a successor, and Dragan Skočić was fired two months before the World Cup in Qatar. He was removed by the new president of the Association, Mehdi Taj.

Croatian coach Vinko Begović knows the conditions in Iran very well because he worked there from 2000 to the end of 2019, with minor interruptions when he was in the UAE and Qatar. He led the biggest clubs like Persepolis, but also led smaller ones like Foolad, Pas Hamedan, Gol Gohar. He was also the coach of the Olympic team. He says that Iranian journalists contacted him to comment on current events. Begović from Split, who is 74 years old, recalled that Tomislav Ivić was also dismissed before the World Cup in 1998.

– Four months ago, I told Skočić: “Be prepared that they won’t let you lead the national team at the World Cup.” It was clear to me. I mentioned to him the example of the late Ivic, who was removed two weeks before the 1998 WC in France. He replied that he was aware of that, but he would continue to work as if he was going to Qatar. He survived a coup, but new elections took place in the Federation there, on the eve of which Taj said clearly and loudly that Skočić would not remain a coach if he won. That’s what happened – Begović told us and went back to 1998.

– They were in a group with Germany, Yugoslavia, and the United States. Politics in Iran launched the thesis that the match against America must be led by an Iranian coach. And what happened, Ivić arranged a meeting with Roma, and knowing that rival scouts were following him, he mixed up the team and lost 6:1. He told me that personally. After that, there was tremendous political pressure that came from the state parliament to the president of the federation, who removed Ivić.

The only Croatian coach who led them to the World Cup was Branko Ivanković in 2006, but certain circles wanted to “negotiate” with him too…

– Branko made an excellent result, but there was a rush, a criticism that he is not a qualified coach. Fortunately, he had the president of the federation, Mohammad Dadkan, who firmly stood behind him, as well as some people from politics, although even then there was a big fight in the parliament.

However, after the WC, apart from Ivanković, Dadkan was also a former player. In the group with Portugal, Mexico, and Angola, they won one point and the last place. It was also an indication of how precarious the involvement in the Iranian national team is…

– Skočić did a phenomenal job and confirmed the huge impression that the Croatian coaches left in Iran. A lot of us were there, starting with Stanko Poklepović, Tomislav Ivić. Ćire Blažević, Luka Bonačić, Zlatko Kranjčar, Mladen Frančić, of course Branko Ivanković. We had a big influence, we gave them more top players and national team members than all foreign coaches combined. I claim that responsibly. The new president Taj said in the campaign that Skočić has no experience and is not good enough to lead the team at the WC, which of course is not true. There was a struggle over the successor, some were looking for an Iranian, they took Quairoz as a compromise, who had already led them twice at the WC and never made it past the group.

How was Skočić good enough to win Qatar, but now he’s not?

– That’s what I told the Iranian journalists. Before him, the coach was the Belgian Marc Wilmots, who won only two points, Skočić saved them. I said that it is a shame that the man who brought them superiorly to the World Cup should be removed in such a way. In the end, Taj said that Dragan is a good coach, but they need a man with experience.

There was a conflict between the players over Skočić. Some were for him, but one group led by Mehdi Taremi from Porto wanted to remove him. It started with Skočić leaving Taremi out of the team after he publicly opposed him in a post on Twitter. Skočić said that the Iranian players are tactically deficient, to which Taremi asserted that they are excellent tactically as well as technically and physically.

– The media wrote that the players were divided. Skočič removed Taremi because of an inappropriate statement, but later he brought him back and he played. But maybe that resulted in everything that happened next. Several other players followed Taremi and there was indeed a division. The coach must not allow anyone to violate his authority, when he loses his grip, he is finished. It was an ordinary world for Skočić because they see that what they did to him was unfair. Part of the media was also against the dismissal, they write that Queiroz received a salary of 50 thousand euros per month, but also that there is no justification for Taj and Queiroz, who with the lack of time must deliver a good preparation for the World Cup. It will be interesting, the Americans are much stronger than before, and Iran, although they have good attackers, does not have a great defense. That’s why Skočić played a 5-4-1 formation. But they will “kill themselves” against America, then he can finish the World Cup for them – emphasized Vinko Begović, whom we caught on the phone on. He is retired and not currently involved in football, although he points out that he could still give a lot in the profession.

https://www.persianfootball.com/news...vinko-begovic/

[milad_b]

Ivic and Kranjcar R.I.P . both did great in iran.

[oracle]

there should never be hiring
of any eastern european coaches
in club or tm level.
ONLY WESTERN EUROPEAN COaCHES.
we deserve the best.

[DR Strangemoosh]

Ivic and Kranjcar R.I.P . both did great in iran.

Ivic was a legend.

Most of our Croatian coaches have been excellent. I only have dislike for professor poison because of his long-term detriment to team melli which took a decade to recover from

[O-ZoNe]

there should never be hiring
of any eastern european coaches
in club or tm level.
ONLY WESTERN EUROPEAN COaCHES.
we deserve the best.

South American are the best for TM. These guys deal with so much bs with federations there and yet they get the most out of their talents against all odds. These guys would do wonders with our gol kuchik mentality. Can you imagine Dunga, Scolari, Pekerman, or Tabarez as TM coaches???

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[MucizeLions1992]

Just finished off watching the Oman - Bahrain PERSIAN Gulf Cup 2023 semi-final. Such a professional and mature performance by Oman against titleholders Bahrain.

Branko is seriously underrated on this board. He's for Asian standards up there with the best managers. You can clearly see a spike in performances and results for Oman after he took over there. The way they are going I expect Oman to contend for a semi-final run at the Asian Cup and/or to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Branko has them playing very compact and very calculated. He took also Persepolis to an AFC CL final and won the league three times in a row.

At all people who call him "Brangoh" shame on you. He's certainly a much better coach than what TM ended up with. I'm speaking of Ghalenoei here. Not CQ.

If Ghalenoei doesn't deliver us at least a convincing semi-final finish at the Asian Cup I'm all in for bringing back Branko at the helm of TM. I think he has developed as a coach and he would make us the best Asian side apart from maybe Japan.

[koorosh]

Just finished off watching the Oman - Bahrain PERSIAN Gulf Cup 2023 semi-final. Such a professional and mature performance by Oman against titleholders Bahrain.

Branko is seriously underrated on this board. He's for Asian standards up there with the best managers. You can clearly see a spike in performances and results for Oman after he took over there. The way they are going I expect Oman to contend for a semi-final run at the Asian Cup and/or to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Branko has them playing very compact and very calculated. He took also Persepolis to an AFC CL final and won the league three times in a row.

At all people who call him "Brangoh" shame on you. He's certainly a much better coach than what TM ended up with. I'm speaking of Ghalenoei here. Not CQ.

If Ghalenoei doesn't deliver us at least a convincing semi-final finish at the Asian Cup I'm all in for bringing back Branko at the helm of TM. I think he has developed as a coach and he would make us the best Asian side apart from maybe Japan.

I hate it when people disrespect coaches/players with insults like that.

Branko is a very successful coach for Asia. He just was not ready when he became TM coach and his failings in team management were a major reason why we did poorly in 2006.

Whether he is a better coach than GN is debatable...GNs record in IPL/PGL stands up very well.

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