Mehdi Mahdavikia @ Hamburger SV U17 & U19 | 2015-16

[irani8perspolis]

Mahdavikia has started with the U17 and U19s, and he will also be the coach of attack. He will soon start his professional coaching license so he can coach senior teams.

http://footballitarin.com/link_page.php?id=236836

[AIrani]

Very good for Kia.

I did not know he was only 17 years old when he scored the 40 yard goal against China.

Overall, as Footballitarin article mentioned, it is good to see an Iranian devoting his time and money to football.

[Doroudi]

edited

[persian-eagle-13]

good for him. very professional way of starting out his coaching career. start from the bottom and slowly work your way up.

[AminGP]

Very good for Kia.

I did not know he was only 17 years old when he scored the 40 yard goal against China.

Overall, as Footballitarin article mentioned, it is good to see an Iranian devoting his time and money to football.

I still remember that rocker. What a great start of WCQ we had. Edgar Davids scored a very similar goal with Juventus few years later.

[Abtin]

[ایرانی]

^his put on some pounds!

I hope he can accomodate a few Iranian talents into that youth system.

[persian-eagle-13]

home boy is getting a bit chubby there

[irani8perspolis]

Nice Interview with Mahdavikia, I translated to English.

Q: Mr.Mahdavikia you have started your work in Hamburg. There have been some pictures of you with the youth teams.

Mehdi: For now I am in charge of coaching the attacking of the U16, U17 and U19s. That picture you saw is from the U17 team. The coach I am standing beside is Christian Titz () who is very famous in the youth systems. For now I coach the attacking work of the youth teams. The defensive work is with Christian Raun whom I used to play with. I also used to play with Cardozo, the head coach of the U16s. To tell you the truth I like to work more with the U17s. I have to chose myself in this field. For now everyweek I work with 1 age group on attacking.

Q: Tell us how you feel to work with Hamburg.

Mehdi: I have felt really good so far. The interesting thing is that we returned to the pitch where 16 years ago I trained with Vahid Hashemian. My first trainings with Hamburg was on this pitch were I also start my coaching career. I hope like in my playing days everything will go well. Hopefully that when I came here as a player and did well is a good sign.

Q: What is your goal in your coaching career? To go to the Bundesliga?

Mehdi: My goal is to go the highest level, but it is a tough task. Maybe to become a great manager you have to work harder than you did to become a successful player. But my aim is to progress well and I hope one day that at the highest level I will become a manager with the same reputation I had as a player. I think I have started in a good place because to reach that level I have to start somewhere like here and I believe I made the correct choice.

Q: How much is the difference between young players in Iran compared to those at Hamburg's youth academies?

Mehdi: The age situation is different here. Here I work with 16,17 and 18 year olds while in Iran I worked with 10 and 11 year olds. In the short time I have worked here the players are good, but the talents we have in Iran..... I don't want to say are better, but are certainly not worse. The difference between us is the infrastructure and facilities and planning. If we can fix those problems four sure we can be successful like Germans in world football.

Q: You always said you want to bring Iranian players to Germany. Do you think this is possible?

Mehdi: I like that very much. One of my wishes is that all young Iranian players with talent I wish to bring them to the youth setups of Europe, to receive football education in Europe from a young age. Either with this team or another team I can arrange with. This is all part of my plan. It is not that right now I am just came and am ready to bring players with me, for now I have to focus on my work. In Iran, Ali Doustimehr helps with the youth team (KIA Academy) and I am sure that when the time comes for me to bring a young player I am sure we will do this because it is was my goal that when I set up that youth academy (KIA Academy) was that to bring kids from an early age to Europe and I am sure we will do that.

http://www.khabaronline.ir/detail/43...rt/iran-soccer

[04041374]

DFB Interview with Mehdi Mahdavikia

DFB: Mr. Mahdavikia, what are you doing at the DFB base?
Mahdavikia: I always found it interesting to see Germany's progress after the disappointment in Euro 2000. I realized that a lot of money was put into the youth. Now, I get the impression to see how the Germans feature their youth system. The talents come to the DFB base once a week to have systematic practice alongside their regular practice session. We teach them technique and tactics. Aside of that, some matches are played here. Our next goal is to reach the next level, that would be to play in the HFV (Hamburg Football Association) or in the youth sections of HSV or St. Pauli.

DFB: Can you explain us about your experience in the youth teams?
Mahdavikia: I could have practiced a team in the first Iranian division. However, not every successfull player becomes a good coach. For that reason, I wanted to start from the bottom. I also work in the HSV youth section.

DFB: Do you tell your kids about your experience as a professional player?
Mahdavikia: The boys ask a lot of questions. And I am pleased to talk about my experiences. A lot of kids dream about being a professional player. But that's not easy as talent is not enough. You have to practice with a lot of discipline.
DFB: Do you recognize some of the kids as the possible successor of Mahdavikia?
Mahdavikia: Of course, there were not the same facilities in Iran. We have played on the streets. Maybe, a tournament was played in school. I joined a club when I was 14 years old.

DFB: That's really late.
Mahdavikia: Yes, but I have played other sports. I was good in Handball as well since I was capain of the U14 national team. But football has always been my life. I have definitely played about five or six hours a day on the streets.

DFB: You have founded a club called KIA FC. What is the goal of founding this club?
Mahdavikia: My club is only focused on the youth so far. We train players between 11 and 17 years. In a few years, we want to play in the first league with these boys. For that reason, we use the methods i got along with in Germany.

DFB: What was your idea of founding a youth club?
Mahdavikia: Unfortunately, money is hardly being spent on the Iranian youth teams. Even the big clubs mainly invest in their main team. I have hired a few coaches who work with my youth teams. In addition of that, I bring my players to Europe twice or three teams in a year to play at youth tournaments. I am sure that those 12/13 year olds are going to become national team players. I would also like to help them playing in Europe.

DFB: And what are your own goals as coach?
Mahdavikia: I would like to coach in the Bundesliga. But I know, that the path is a very difficult one. I just want to give everything to achieve my goal.

DFB: Which one of your former coaches had the most impact on you?
Mahdavikia: I had a lot of good coaches. I was really impressed by Huub Stevens. When he arrived to Hamburg in February 2007, we were last and only got 15 points after 20 league games. This regularly leads to relegation. However, at the end of the day, we made it to the 7th place. He was outstanding to teach tactics and discipline.

DFB: And what kind of a coach are you?
Mahdavikia: I am a very friendly guy. But I have found out, that a coach needs to be severe on some occasions. You need to have the right combination since only being friendly isn't very useful.

DFB: You have already mentioned your work as coaching the youth team of HSV. What are your tasks there?
Mahdavikia: I'm teching 11 to 19 year old players special offensive training courses. It has always been a dream to return back to Hamburg one day. This has always been my favorite club. Hamburg was my best place in my entire career. Last year, I have talked with team manager Bernhard Peters to return back to HSV. Fortunately, I got the position.

DFB: If Hamburg is your favorite club, you definitely suffered a lot in the last two and a half years, didn't you?
Mahdavikia: Of course, it was very tough. Especially when we played in the relegation against Karlsruhe, when we equalized in the dying seconds of the game. I become sad when I compare the current situation to the time I played there. I'm not sure if they can get back, but the last two seasons should not repeat.

http://www.dfb.de/news/detail/mahdav...er-138028/p/2/

[ehsan singapore]

great move by kia, to be honest ali daei should have done that, he could have gone to bayern youth or hertha berlin youth, he would have been a coach there easily ,coaching the forwards, but he remained in iran which was a bad move

[teammelli91]

Eyval, dame Agha Mehdi hesabi garm!

This is a man who truly cares about our football, and especially the future of our football.

Much love to Mahdavikia! I wish him nothing but success

[mahestan]

I can't believe it was only 3 years ago when he retired. It feels like it was ages. I never forget his 40 yard goal against China.

[PSGman#19]

In his interview, he said he is a too nice person (Hashemian is like that too it seems). I wonder how can a too nice person succeed at the head of 22 players with some of them being strong headed.

[Ali.Karimi79]

^Iranians are stuck in taroof. That`s our main issue evers ince.