Football Before the Revolution or Football After the Revolution?

[Leicester City]

While there are some highly respected individuals prior to the revolution such as Nazari, Hejazi, Parvin, Shahrokhi, etc... I feel as if most of our best football occurred after the revolution with players such as Daei, Karimi, Mahdavikia and Abedzadeh and especially with more and more of our players wanting to make the move to Europe.
What do you all think, Pre-1979 football or 1979 and after? And for those that agree 1979 and after, do you think the revolution served as a basis for the success? For those that are Pre-1979, why didn't our players really make the move Europe back then in comparison to the present?

[Hadi]

dude i think only 1% of the members here have even been alive before the revolution

[KC McElroy]

Are we comparing national team accomplishments or talent of individual players?

[Leicester City]

Are we comparing national team accomplishments or talent of individual players?

Both.

[KC McElroy]

Both.

I would imagine to make the comparison one would have to be familiar with both sets of players/teams.

[KC McElroy]

It is very difficult to make the comparison as both periods are so long (one 25 the other 40 years) and teams have good and bad periods within each. But I doubt any Iranian selection (or Asian for that matter) has had a more successful period than Iran from 1964 to 1978 (although even in that stretch we had bad results). We seemed to win or just about win everything in sight in Asia. We withdrew from the qualifiers for the 1964 Asian Championship (some sources state problems with India while others mention the finals being held in Israel), qualifiers the 1968 Olympics, and the 1978 Asian Games (internal political situation) although our team seemed capable of doing well in them. Here's a list of the good (and bad) results of events during that period that we took part in against Asian opposition:

1964: TM qualified for the Olympics
1966: TM finished second in Asian Games
1968: TM finished first in Asian Championship
1970: TM was eliminated in group play in the Asian Games
1972: TM qualified for the Olympics
1972: TM finished first in Asian Championship
1974: TM failed to qualify for the World Cup
1974: TM finished first in Asian Games
1976: TM qualified for the Olympics
1976: TM finished first in Asian Championship
1978: TM qualified for the World Cup

During this period we qualified for 1 of 2 World Cups that we attempted, qualified for every Olympics that we attempted, won every Asian Championship that we took part in and were finalists in 2 out of 3 Asian Games. A third place finish in the Asian Championship was considered a failure.
We qualified for the World Cup when only one country from all of Asia and Oceania made it. Currently our biggest accomplishment has been qualifying for a World Cup for which 4.5 teams from Asia make it unless we wanna brag about winning the Asian Games back in the 90s.

[Persian-Pride87]

I wasn't alive in the 60s or 70s. However, I imagine that the level of competition in Asia was actually lower than it is now. If someone was old enough in the 60s and 70s to remember TM playing and the overall strength of our Asian opposition please correct me if I am wrong.

[KC McElroy]

I wasn't alive in the 60s or 70s. However, I imagine that the level of competition in Asia was actually lower than it is now. If someone was old enough in the 60s and 70s to remember TM playing and the overall strength of our Asian opposition please correct me if I am wrong.

The powerhouses of today's Asia were weaker (Japan, South Korea, Australia) but there were just as strong other teams (Burma, Israel, North Korea).

[Doctor DOOM]

I would imagine to make the comparison one would have to be familiar with both sets of players/teams.

and that makes this poll or at least getting a real result off it, nearly impossible.

80-90% of members here arent even familiar with pre-disaster guys like Hejazi , ghelickhani, parvin, rowshan, behzadi, kalani, ashtiani, sadeghi, ... etc (except having "HEARD smatterings of opinions" of them.
So how are they going to compare them to kia, daei, bagheri, nekounam, hosseini, fariba, motlagh, ... of post-disaster ?



So, the ONLY way the two eras can be compared, sadly s through stats (that dont reveal all. but unfortunately is the closest thing to a correct answer).
And winning asia cup 3 times, 1 WC appearance and getting 1 point out of the possible 6 (1/6), winning 3 asia youth cups, .... etc etc etc trumps the post-disaster era

[naderb94]

If you take our current players and had them playing during "pre-revolution" times, they would FREQUENTLY make the knockout stage.

[Camran khan]

If you take our current players and had them playing during "pre-revolution" times, they would FREQUENTLY make the knockout stage.

Football develops throughout time, so that's not really a fair assessment.

However seeing how we made the world cup, olympics, became Asian champions 3 times in a row, clearly shows we were on another level back then than we are today (relative to all other teams).

[naderb94]

Football develops throughout time, so that's not really a fair assessment.

However seeing how we made the world cup, olympics, became Asian champions 3 times in a row, clearly shows we were on another level back then than we are today (relative to all other teams).

True, but just imagine all the infrastructure and facilities that would've been provided during Shah's time. Basically, think of it as Iranian talent mixed with UAE/Qatar money and resources. We would literally dominate Asia and potentially be a world power in football

[AIrani]

Yes, it is difficult to compare.

We had a black time in our history when Iraq attacked Iran. Everything stopped. Revolution got rid of opposition and many countries including Russia and Turkey, and UAE benefited from our misery.

Each decade must be compared rather than 40 years which is a LONG time.

Iranians are talented and work hard. We can achieve many goals if we care for Iran and its heritage AND its environment.

[KC McElroy]

If you take our current players and had them playing during "pre-revolution" times, they would FREQUENTLY make the knockout stage.

Because you have seen our pre-revolution players in action and thus know this crop of players is better?

[naderb94]

Because you have seen our pre-revolution players in action and thus know this crop of players is better?

I have seen highlights on some players back then. The talents from 2006 is the best I have personally seen, but the current crop is the most disciplined and thats thanks to CQ