NASSER HEJAZI
Odd man out

Passed over on numerous occasions in Iran's pursuit of coaching excellence, Nasser Hejazi still remains an icon in the eyes of most Iranians. As coach of Iranian champions Esteghlal, the 1978 World Cup veteran is trying to guide his club to the Asian Club Championship title they first won in 1970 - when the 21year-old Hejazi was between the posts.

Michael Church reports. Pictures by Naoki Aomori.

he politics of football in Iran is an unpredictable beast. Since the nation's return to the top of the Asian game at the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates in 1996, Iran have gone through five different coaches.

Nasser Hejazi

Mayeli Kohan, the man who guided Iran to third place in the UAE two-and-a-half years ago, was ousted after a 2-0 defeat to Qatar put Iran's World Cup qualification in severe jeopardy. The man who replaced him, Valdir 'Badu'Vieira, was soon to follow, despite guiding the national team through the final, hair-raising moments of qualification with an historic 22 draw against Australia in Melbourne.

Next up was Tomislav Ivic, the experienced and wellrespected Croatian coach who guided the UAE to the brink of their first-ever Asian Cup title in 1996. But Ivic was soon packing his bags and heading for Belgian club Standard Liege, just three weeks before the World Cup finals in France.

Jalal Talebi, who worked under Ivic as part of the Iranian Football Federation's coaching panel, stepped in to take charge of the team and was lauded by the entire nation as Iran won their first-ever World Cup match, in the historic exchange with the United States.

But Talebi was the next out through the revolving coach's door, resigning after the World Cup under questionable circumstances. Speculation mounted over who would be next to take over what has become the poisoned chalice of Asian football. Saudi Arabia and the UAE may change their coaches as regularly as most of us change our underwear, but the Iranians were making the Arab nations look like reliable and trustworthy employers.

As Iran began the search for yet another new coach, Esteghlal were winning their first league title in years. The Tehran giants, after living for so long in the shadow of their great rivals Pirouzi, finally reclaimed the Azadegan League title last year.

Almost as soon as the championship win was confirmed the team was being broken up. Mehdi Pashazadeh had already left to join Bayer Leverkusen and transfers for two other players to the same German side were already being lined up.

Hejazi's Esteghlal side celebrate reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Club Championship once again.

So it was only natural that the name of coach Nasser Hejazi be linked with the national team job. He certainly had a more impressive pedigree than most of the potential candidates. Hejazi was a member of the ali-conquering Iranian team of the 1960s and '70s that won the Asian Cup a record three times in a row and played in the team that represented the country in Argentina at the 1978 World Cup.

Despite retiring from international football when only 29, few in his position have experienced the same highs and lows. Only Ali Parvin over at great rivals Pirouzi comes close to matching Hejazi's impressive curriculum vitae.

But when the name of Mansour Pourhedari was announced as the new coach of the Iranian team, charged with leading Iran to the Asian Games in Thailand, it became obvious that Hejazi had again been overlooked. Of the two remaining greats in the Iranian game, Parvin has already had his day in the sun. For Hejazi, it seems increasingly likely that his day will never come.

"In Iran the people want me to be the national team coach but the circumstances are not right for me to be national coach," says Hejazi, somewhat diplomatically. "For some reason I will never be national team coach."

The 49-year-old refuses to be drawn on the situation but it's one he already seems to have accepted since returning in late 1996 - after a five-year self-imposed exile in Bangladesh - with the purpose of restoring Esteghlal to their former glories.

For a club that had twice been crowned champions of Asia - the first time under the pre-revolution name of Taj, when Hejazi played in goal - Esteghlal's decline had been worrying. At one stage, the club plummeted to the third division.

As Tehran's blue half struggled, the reds of Pirouzi, Esteghlal's fiercest rivals, were flourishing, winning the title twice in the last three years, both times reaching the semifinals of the Asian Club Championship. The club was spawning such players as Ali Daei, Karim Bagheri and Mehdi Mahdavikia, and Esteghlal were having to watch in agony, waiting for their chance.

"If we want to win we can," says Hejazi, but can he complete the unique double of both playing in and coaching an Asian Club Championship team?

That chance came last year, when they ran away with the league title as the national team prepared for the World Cup. With seven Pirouzi players featuring in the national squad and with the reds holding significant political power within Iran's

footballing set-up, Pirouzi were allowed to drop out of the league for the rest of the season. Esteghlal took advantage and cruised to the league title.

The man they all had to thank for the success was Hejazi, the man who continues to give his best despite having had to endure a career filled with numerous highs and lows. From playing at the World Cup in 1978 to missing out on a contract with English giants Manchester United due to the lack of organisation within the Iranian FA, Hejazi has seen it all.

Hejazi first broke into the Esteghial side when he was only 18 years old. Yet within six months, he joined up with the national team, just in time to feature in the squad that won the Asian Cup in 1968. From there followed an 11 -year career that marked him out as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the Asian game. He represented Iran at the Olympic Games in 1972, won an Asian Club Championship winners medal in 1970, picked up two more Asian Cups and went to the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

"If I had continued my career I would have been the best in Asia," says Hejazi of finishing behind Saudi Arabia's Mohammad Al Daeyea in a recent poll to decide Asia's greatest goalkeeper of the century, "I was 29 when I retired from football because of some matters I can't talk about after the revolution.

"When the revolution began I was with Manchester United. I'd been invited to play there and I was there for a month. I played in a reserve match against Stoke City and at the time Dave Sexton was coach. They wanted me to stay for another two or three months and then they would sign me. But, unfortunately there was no-one at the Iranian Football Federation (to arrange the extension) so United signed Gary Bailey. I was unlucky. They needed an experienced goalkeeper and it was my bad luck that I was not able to go there.

"In the World Cup we had played against Scotland, so (Manchester United players) Lou Macari and Gordon McQueen knew me from that. When I went to Manchester they were really friendly to me and called me 'Naz'. After that I wanted to stay but I couldn't. But it was my good luck to meet people like Ray Wilkins (the former Manchester United and England midfielder). He was with his wife and I was with mine and we are still friends.

"But football has changed. Then, football was a slow game. Now, the condition of the players is very good and the game is very fast, so it's more difficult for the players to play a slow game. I'd rather be playing now because then I wasn't given any money. We bought our own jerseys and boots, while players can get good money now. I was given a little money but I was an amateur, even though my job was playing football."

Understandably, the undoubted highlight of Hejazi's career was playing for his country in the World Cup. With Scotland, Holland and Peru providing the opposition, few gave Iran much hope of making an impact. Aside from a surprise 1-1 draw with Scotland that wrecked the Scots hopes of qualifying for the second round, Iran did as expected.

"Every player wants to play in the World Cup," says Hejazi. "The 1978 World Cup was the first time Iran had been in such a big competition. We were just happy to be there and our first game was against Holland, who were the biggest team in the world. They should have won in 1974 but they had been unlucky, and in 1978 they could have been champions against Argentina and again they were unlucky. We were happy to play against teams like that even though we were afraid because it was our first time. Now, we have done it again 20 years later. We went again and we did well because we had the experience of being there before. Iran continues to improve and there are very many talented players in the country who can still learn from the players who played in 1978.

"Our problem is that we don't have good quality pitches and other facilities. When our players play on good grounds then they can do well. I hope that the government can look at this problem. We are already among the top teams in Asia, along with South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Japan."

Just as Iran has problems providing the facilities to develop the country's potential as a major football power, so Hejazi has had to struggle with problems of his own at Esteghlal. Winning the league failed to keep the financial wolves from the door, and the team that won the title was very quickly broken up, the club selling five of the championship side.

"It was very difficult for me but there was no alternative but to sell them. The club was in bad condition and we didn't have a lot of money to buy new players so we needed to sell. I'm confident that these new players will do well, if they want to do well, that is. If they want to play good football then they must want to play with all of their heart.

"A player can have a name but the name is not what plays. If you have a name and you just stand there and do nothing, then you are nothing. I'd rather have young players. They may not be able to play as well as the players with the big names but they want to win, and if we want to win we can."

However, winning is not something Esteghlal have been doing a great deal of at home this year. Their defence of the title has ended in nothing more than a whimper, the Tehran club struggling well behind the runaway leaders Pirouzi.

"I had some problems with my assistant coach and I had to change him," says Hejazi by way of explaining this season's disappointing form. "in some countries the assistant wants to replace the coach, he wants my position. He talks to the players saying things like, 'Why are you on the bench? If I was coach you would play,' and he caused problems for me. When I found out that was going on I changed him and replaced him with a good friend. He is friendly with the players, his commitment is very good and now there are no problems. I'm relaxed and I know that no-one will bother me.

Every coach has that problem, not only in Iran but everywhere.

"When you are a player you don't think too much about the results of the team, there's no pressure on you. There's more pressure on you as a coach - the television, the press, your friends, everyone puts the blame on you. In Iran there are two men left - Ali Parvin and me - who are very popular with the people. They love us more than any other coach due to that fact we have a lot of responsibility on our shoulders."

The Asian Club Championship remains Esteghlal's only real hope of glory this season. But what better way to put one over the old enemy than to win the trophy Pirouzi have failed to win for a third time.

Glory is the only incentive Hejazi and his men need, says the coach. While other teams from the region were promised major bonuses for winning this year's Asian Club Championship, Hejazi's side were promised just US$800 each should they win. The money, says Hejazi, is not what motivates his side.

"We don't think about the money. We think about our country and we think about our team. If we play well and become champions then the people will be happy. And when they are happy, we are happy. We are playing for these people who love us and money is nothing compared to that love."

With a crowd of 100,000 people behind them at the Azadi Stadium and the inspirational words of Hejazi ringing in the ears of the players, Esteghlal will be hard to resist come the end of April