This is how things looked like 2 years ago

[Haf3z]

I found this thread from late 2005.

http://www.persianfootball.com/forum...ad.php?t=20844

It's basically a short summary of 2005 and the success we enjoyed with our qualification to the WC finals, Ali Karimi's transfer to Bayern and Mehdi Mahdavikia's impressive season at Hamburg.

I know this is being discussed in different threads and I really don't want to repeat all the negative and disappointing things that are being said about Iranian football at the moment.

But what brought us here? 2 years ago I was still optimistic about things that (at that time) could have been improved. I was mainly looking forward to see some more Iranian players in Europe and that they would eventually see how a professional environment looks like and how it really works. The funny thing is that we saw some transfers taking place, and the only player who left Iran for Europe and actually made it was Javad Nekounam. Kaebi and Teymourian were better players before their moves, sad but true!

Then we have the issue of the federation, how it was banned and how things generally are run. I don't know what that organization lacks or what the different factors behind the latest failures are. What if some of our former players (from the past 15-20 years) took over, started to see things over and implement what they have seen during their careers as professional footballers. Perhaps even people that are less known to the Iranian people. Afshin Ghotbi is an excellent example, but he is not less known anymore ...

I don't see us qualifying to the 2010 World Cup finals with the current state of our football. Surprise surprise. I keep asking myself what would have happened if Branko stayed after the World Cup (Peyman, please don't hurt me ). He was in my opinion not the only one to blame after the lame performances by the Iranian team in Germany. When the players don't have faith in the manager's words and philosophy, it doesn't really matter if the manager's name is Marcello Lippi or Branko Ivankovic. It was obvious that players like Daei and Karimi spread negative energy in the group while others tried and did their best (Mahdavikia and Hashemian).

So, what will happen from here? Iraq managed to win the Asian cup with an unknown coach and (in my opinion) less talented players than Team Melli.
When will we win anything? When will we qualify for the world cup and expect nothing less but a qualification from the group stage?

[maij]

Thanks Hafez.

Prediction or speculation not being one of my strongest point, I would usually hesitate from doing so , however , in such critical scenario and fear of failure , one can assemble the facts and analyze the situation to come up with some possibilities.

I find the road to World Cup 2010 quite difficult. Suddenly the easy group is NOT that easy after seeing the other team’s preparations. Syrian football is in the same political turmoil that IFF experienced, but Kuwait and UAE have really prepared well. If Iran wins the group, it will be by very tight margin and results. But then again, it is very difficult to predict until Syria match, so one could have an idea about the coach game plan and players selection.

I n the corridor of power, I am not sure if Kafashian is a independent man of his own or a stooge of Trabiyat Badani. Knowing that will expose a lot of things including the selection of Team Melli coach.

Apart from a few , most of Team Melli players had a bad season or underperformed. I can’t see how they will suddenly improve in matter of weeks to super players. Kaebi , Teymourian , Nekounam & Hashemian have seen very little or no action. Karimi is still playing, but not the player he used to be. The UAE league players have fared better in fairness. No IPL player has exactly been on Fire, so the outlook of the player’s standards is suddenly not brilliant.

No coach, poor preparation and poor overall player’s standard does not augur very well for 2008. But , we live in hope and since organization , planning and technical superiority is not one of our strong points in Iran football , we always have the options of raising our hands towards the sky and hope for the best………………..

[Doctor DOOM]

LOL.
hafez jan, why shd "I" hurt you?
"khoda" has already hurt you by denying you the memory of 2 years of regress, mistake after mistake, bad decision followed by horrible decision !

but seriously, I agree the present status quo is massively disheartening and depressing.
but that does not and SHD NOT justify past horrible experiences.

[Haf3z]

Agha Majid, thank you for your reply! I agree that one reason why WC2010 feels very distant right now is because our players didn't perform well last year. There are examples of national teams where the organization and administration have been chaotic, but the team has still managed to perform well despite these obstacles. One example is perhaps Ghana.

Peyman jaan, I was referring to my suggestions/question about Branko and that maybe he should have stayed after the world cup last year .
Anyway, thank you for your reply, you are absolutely right!

[Doctor DOOM]

Peyman jaan, I was referring to my suggestions/question about Branko and that maybe he should have stayed after the world cup last year .

... and I was referring to his last 2 years' horrible performance that shd have made it clear enough that even retaining him for the WC games was a gigantic mistake as it was.
which makes any desire to keep him AFTER his miserable showing at the WC quite moot.
( remember his confused look that made him look like a little lost child whenever the camera showed him during the games? )

[Ali Chicago]

Despite all the gloom and doom, I think we make the WC2010. Iranian football based on sheer number of players who play inside Iran and mad love of football among our people is a head and shoulder above other Asian countries still. Organizationally we suck and our club and federation situation is miserable, but despite all that, we make up for all of this with our physical strengths, technical talent and passion for football.

[Haf3z]

If we make it, it is in my eyes a bigger achievement than the last campaign. Our players haven't been provided with the tools to build such castle (strange metaphore, I know...) so therefor it wouldn't be fair to expect them to do it. We have some young players that have the talent but haven't had the chance to get into the national team atmosphere. What frightenes me is that while we stand still and stagnate in our development, our opponents make progress. One can discuss the progress of Syria and UAE over the last 2 or 3 months, but I'm talking in general terms.