Afshin Ghotbi named Foolad coach [Official]

Tehran Times – AHVAZ, Afshin Ghotbi has been officially named as new head coach of Foolad Khuzestan football team on Saturday.

Ghotbi has penned an 18-month contract with Ahvaz based football team, replacing Aziz Farisat in Foolad.

The two-time Iran league winners parted company with Sirous Pourmousavi in September following poor start to the Iran Professional League (IPL) season.

Pourmousavi’s Romanian assistant Ilie Stan took charge of Foolad but he was also sacked after two months.

Farisat also failed to meet expectations and Foolad opened negotiations with the 54-year-old coach.

Ghotbi was without a team since parting company with Chinese club Shijiazhuang Ever Bright.

“I want to qualify for the AFC Champions League with Foolad, that’s why I am here. I received a warm welcome from the Foolad fans and it can be a good sign. I would also like to thank Habibollah Rezaei (Foolad general manager) for his trust.

Ghotbi started his coaching career in UCLA Bruins in 1984 and was assistant coach of the U.S. and South Korea national football teams from 1997 to 2002.

In 2007, Ghotbi was named as head coach of Persepolis and led the team to title after six years.

He also took charge of Iran national football team in 2009 and headed Team Melli in 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.

Ghotbi has also coached Shimizu S-Pulse of Japan and Thailand’s Buriram United.