Will Iran's Football prosper under the Islamic Republic?

[AGC]

Please stop the name calling. Exactly this kind of self righteous behaviour is what is hurting us.

You guys think tolerance is what is necessary? Tolerance as a concept is a relic of 1700 century barbarian Times. For our country to be free we need acceptance.

We need to accept each other.

[diz]

Please stop the name calling. Exactly this kind of self righteous behaviour is what is hurting us.
You guys think tolerance is what is necessary? Tolerance as a concept is a relic of 1700 century barbarian Times. For our country to be free we need acceptance.
We need to accept each other.

Agree. I’ve always been bothered by words like “tolerance” and “coexist”. Sworn enemies can tolerate and coexist without any progress. There’s even a Museum of Tolerance in LA. SMH

[Farbakhsh]

Islamic Republic has had 0 Asian Cups in 43 years. Shah had 3 Asian cups in 54 years, qualified for the world cup which was 10 times harder in 1978 when only 1 team from Asia was invited, and dominated Israel with 3 wins and 1 draw against Israel for all you IR dool suckers (Maybe that last stat will sell some of you inbred lunatics?).

We are playing football with no shoes until IR is gone, but we have the potential to be the first Asian team to win a World Cup or come close if you just let go of the propaganda you've been fed. Look inside your heart for Iran, I beg of you. Don't do it for me or you, do it for our children and our future generations.

We must stop enabling the enablers of Islamic Republic. If you don't say anything, if you don't do anything, you are enabling Islamic Republic, and you are against Iranians and Iranian prosperity.

[Arman2]

Nothing will prosper under the IR besides financial help for islamist groups left and right.

[somebuffguy]

No becoming second in a group with only Saudi as a serious competition, then losing to Japan in the playoffs for the third slot and still having a chance to qualify is an external factor. It's not all that hard to understand really...

In 1978 there was only 1 slot for AFC (that included Isreal) and OFC combined. We qualified as the only team, leaving behind teams like Australia, South Korea, Isreal etc. Etc.

In 1974 we lost to the Aussies and in 1970 we didn't even enter.

Don't you see how much more easier it is to qualify when you have 4,5 slots (and one serious competitor less), compared to just 1 slot?

This is why we can only compare results in Asian Cup against each other, and really a 2 year old could see if we progressed during IR or not.

give me your address so I can send you a dictionary. I'll overnight it because I realize it's an emergency.

[somebuffguy]

Please stop the name calling. Exactly this kind of self righteous behaviour is what is hurting us.
You guys think tolerance is what is necessary? Tolerance as a concept is a relic of 1700 century barbarian Times. For our country to be free we need acceptance.
We need to accept each other.

this right here

[somebuffguy]

Firstly "Middle East" is a political term not a geographical one, use "West Asia" instead. OK, my bad yes many women's teams outside Europe and North America appeared from 1979 onwards.

Why are you attacking me? I am not defending Hijab or women not being able to attend stadiums or segregation of men and women.

I wrote in my posts many times policies that I am against. If you haven't read my posts then go and read them.

Middle East is geographical too. Right? It's in between Africa, Europe, and Asia. So why call it west Asia?

[ben.walken]

Middle East is geographical too. Right? It's in between Africa, Europe, and Asia. So why call it west Asia?

I believe the correct definition of the term is Geopolitical. The term was originally conceived by the Brits early 1900's as a replacement for Near East (opposed to the Far East).

[koorosh]

Middle East is not geographical. There is no region in the world named East for it to have a "middle". It is a political term. Maps showing countries with borders are "political" maps. Maps showing land masses/features are called geographical maps. Same for near east/far east, Latin American etc.

[Rooyintan]

Middle East is geographical too. Right? It's in between Africa, Europe, and Asia. So why call it west Asia?

Middle East and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) are offensive terms. Reasons:
1. It was used by British and American Military, Intelligence Agencies, Politicians during the Cold War period. Later adopted by everyone else. Sadly locals of the region use it naively.
2. It is not a geographical region or terminology. It does not mention a geographical term/region. Would Europeans be happy if we called them "Middle West" or "West" without using the proper geographical term "Europe"? How about if we called North America by the name "Wild West"? or if we called Japan, China, Taiwan, Koreas, HK, Macao as "Far East" without mentioning "Asia"?
2. It is outdated. Cold War period ended in 1991.
3. Cyprus is now member of EU. The whole world considers Cyprus as being Europe.
4. Majority of the world refer to Turkey as Europe.
5. Most of the World refer to Egypt as Africa, North Africa.

Middle East is still preferred by likes of Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, some Egyptians, some Iraqis, some Israelis.

Proper geographical term is "West Asia" or when combined with North Africa, it should be "WANA - West Asia and North Africa".

[Rooyintan]

Pahlavi era Football strengths:
3 Consecutive Asia Cup wins, 3 Olympic Games appearance, 1 World Cup appearance, 1 Asian Games winner and 2 Runner-ups, 1 x U20 World Cup appearance
Reached Quarter-Finals of 1976 Olympic Games
In the 1970s it dominated Asia

Pahlavi era Football weaknesses:
Embarrassed Iran at the World Stage competitions with heavy losses. At the 1964 and 1972 Olympic Games, East Germany and Denmark were amateur teams who demolished Team Melli.
Had one decent stadium "Aryamehr" in Tehran. Only focused on Tehran, Khuzestan and to a lesser extent Shiraz, neglected other big cities and other regions.
Corruption and government inference in the affairs of Football League and National Teams.

IRI era Football strengths:
5 World Cup appearance, 1 Olympic Games qualification (boycotted the event), 3 Asian Games wins and 1 AG Bronze medal, 2 U20 WC appearance, 4 U17 WC appearance
Reached Quarter-Finals 1 and Round of 16 at U17 WC
Very tough performance at the World Stage solid and not embarrass like Pahlavi period, worst losses at World Cup were 2 x 3-1 losses and 2 x 2-0 losses
Successfully has spread Football in regions where now small cities have Football teams in national leagues.
Successfully found talent among ethnic minorities particularly Turkmens, Kurds and Arabs.
Established Women's national team and league.
Successful performance in Futsal and Beach Soccer (although unfair to use it as measure of comparison with Pahlavi period when such sports did not exist regionally or at global stage)

IRI era Football weaknesses:
No longer dominant in Asia due to many reasons possibly:
Victim of political isolation by the rest of the world specially by tournament sponsors who do anything so Iran does not qualify to the final in Asian tournaments or get out of Group Stage in World tournaments
Victim of bad refereeing

Corruption and political/religious policies hurting progress.
Poor infrastructure.
U23 team has failed big time regionally and never qualified for World Tournaments.
Segregation of Men and Women.
No investment in Women's football treating it as least priority.
High number of traitors inside and outside of Iran damaging Iran Football for their own personal interests or foreign teams interests.

Team Melli's heaviest losses in Pahlavi period:
6-1: Turkey (1950 friendly),
5-0 x 2: South Korea (1958 AG), Hungary (1972 OG)
4-0 x 4: Israel (1958 AG), East Germany (1964 OG), Denmark (1972 OG), Turkey(1969 RCD Cup)
4-1 x 2: Pakistan (1960 ACQ), Peru (1978 WC)
3-0 x 3: Portugal (1972 Brazil Independence Cup), Australia (1974 WCQ), Netherlands (1978 WC)

Team Melli's heaviest losses in Islamic Republic period:

5-1: Austria (2000 Friendly)
4-0: Mexico (2007 Friendly)
3-0 x 5: South Korea (1988 AC and 1994 WCQ), Kuwait (1998 Friendly), Brazil (2010 Friendly), Japan (2019 AC)

[inarsenewetrust]

Pahlavi era Football strengths:
3 Consecutive Asia Cup wins, 3 Olympic Games appearance, 1 World Cup appearance, 1 Asian Games winner and 2 Runner-ups, 1 x U20 World Cup appearance
Reached Quarter-Finals of 1976 Olympic Games
In the 1970s it dominated Asia
Pahlavi era Football weaknesses:
Embarrassed Iran at the World Stage competitions with heavy losses. At the 1964 and 1972 Olympic Games, East Germany and Denmark were amateur teams who demolished Team Melli.
Had one decent stadium "Aryamehr" in Tehran. Only focused on Tehran, Khuzestan and to a lesser extent Shiraz, neglected other big cities and other regions.
Corruption and government inference in the affairs of Football League and National Teams.
IRI era Football strengths:
5 World Cup appearance, 1 Olympic Games qualification (boycotted the event), 3 Asian Games wins and 1 AG Bronze medal, 2 U20 WC appearance, 4 U17 WC appearance
Reached Quarter-Finals 1 and Round of 16 at U17 WC
Very tough performance at the World Stage solid and not embarrass like Pahlavi period, worst losses at World Cup were 2 x 3-1 losses and 2 x 2-0 losses
Successfully has spread Football in regions where now small cities have Football teams in national leagues.
Successfully found talent among ethnic minorities particularly Turkmens, Kurds and Arabs.
Established Women's national team and league.
Successful performance in Futsal and Beach Soccer (although unfair to use it as measure of comparison with Pahlavi period when such sports did not exist regionally or at global stage)
IRI era Football weaknesses:
No longer dominant in Asia due to many reasons possibly:
Victim of political isolation by the rest of the world specially by tournament sponsors who do anything so Iran does not qualify to the final in Asian tournaments or get out of Group Stage in World tournaments
Victim of bad refereeing
Corruption and political/religious policies hurting progress.
Poor infrastructure.
U23 team has failed big time regionally and never qualified for World Tournaments.
Segregation of Men and Women.
No investment in Women's football treating it as least priority.
High number of traitors inside and outside of Iran damaging Iran Football for their own personal interests or foreign teams interests.
Team Melli's heaviest losses in Pahlavi period:
6-1: Turkey (1950 friendly),
5-0 x 2: South Korea (1958 AG), Hungary (1972 OG)
4-0 x 4: Israel (1958 AG), East Germany (1964 OG), Denmark (1972 OG), Turkey(1969 RCD Cup)
4-1 x 2: Pakistan (1960 ACQ), Peru (1978 WC)
3-0 x 3: Portugal (1972 Brazil Independence Cup), Australia (1974 WCQ), Netherlands (1978 WC)
Team Melli's heaviest losses in Islamic Republic period:
5-1: Austria (2000 Friendly)
4-0: Mexico (2007 Friendly)
3-0 x 5: South Korea (1988 AC and 1994 WCQ), Kuwait (1998 Friendly), Brazil (2010 Friendly), Japan (2019 AC)

god forbid there are objective ways to provide some insight rather than blanket statements and fosh dadan of last 7 pages. Adding to this, I think there are other factors that must be taken into account if this thread is now looking to compare these 2 latest eras (not sure why something in the future would mirror pahlavi era or IR necessarily - doesnt seem very likely).

While previously football in smaller cities was not as promoted, that is partially bc the country was actively experiencing an exodus from said smaller cities to larger cities due to political changes. For better or worse, that means less focus would naturally be put on developing football in those areas (wouldnt really make sense to pour a ton of money into football programs of smaller cities when they were losing large #s of their population).

In 80's Iran-Iraq war had devastating impact on our football. I wonder how long it took to truly recover from that in a footballing sense, definitely a big blow to sport and society in general.

Another major negative I add to IR list, there is way too much drama and gossip surrounding our football scene. This is not really a quantifiable thing we can compare to other times, but it seems like (due to poor management, and a press that cannot be categorized as free yet somehow manages to pass, usually quite harmful, opinions on things they have no business discussing) we seldom have an atmosphere around the national team, and indeed youth national teams, that is united and focussed on their success. On the contrary, such an atmosphere always exists for our wrestlers, including juniors, when preparing for and eventually attending international events. On a related note, the fact we still do not have HD broadcasts for every game and stadium, proper TV rights and lack of privitization of our clubs are MAJOR obstacles to footballing success.

[Roxanaz80]

Will Iran's football ever prosper with Iranian mentality should be the question. Success takes time and humility.

[taremiscores]

We’re going through a typical shitshow now and people are working overtime trying to convince us how things have improved - that can easily be disproved.

Some people need to be more present. We’re literally living through it right now.

[Farbakhsh]

They should start banning people who support Islamic Republic.