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?
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?
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