Tag: Mehdi Rahmati

23/09/202023/09/2020

The bitter reality of Iranian football

The poor showing of Iranian clubs in the AFC Champions League has resulted in many criticisms and demands for change.

Masoud Eghbali, a football expert and FIFA instructor, talked to Mehr about the performance of the four Iranian clubs representatives in the AFC Champions League currently being played in Doha, Qatar. He was particularly critical with the appointment of the coaches of these clubs and considered some most of the appointments as irresponsible, amateurish, and indicative of a lack of insight and knowledge.

The format of the competition has been changed due to the COVID19 pandemic, The remaining group matches and next round plus the next round of the AFC west division has been arranged like a mini tournament in Doha,

Iran is represented by Perspolis, Esteghlal, Sepahan, and Shahr Khodro. The latter two teams have been eliminated from the competition however, Persepolis and Esteghlal still stand a slim chance in the final group games.

Eghbali commented: “The appointment of Mehdi Rahmati (Shar Khodro) and Moharram Navidkia (Sepahan) who have no qualification whatsoever as coaches and neither have attended any coaching courses as head coaches of teams that are playing in Asian competition, makes a mockery of football and its principles. It is only natural that these inexperienced coaches will fail and it is clear for even the average football fan to predict their failures against the top clubs in Asia who invest in the best coaches in the world.”

“Our football is facing deep-rooted and fundamental issues. While in the few last decades, Asian football has experienced rapid movement forward, our football has snoozed in the memories of past successes and proudly stood still and even retreated in many cases. We have to accept this reality, even though it is bitter. The bitter truth about our football is that we are years behind the top tier of Asian football. Just look at the facilities of Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan and many other Asian countries and compare it with our football facilities. You will instantly recognize the vast gap in infrastructure and our shortfalls. Korea and Japan have hosted the World Cup in the past, and Qatar is set to host the next World Cup. Look at the stadiums in Iran, we do not even have one such high standard facility in comparison. In terms of investment, it is not possible to catch up with these developed countries. In football management, we are light years behind the Asian competition and that is where it really hurts. Technically, the results of our clubs and national teams is evident as it show that we are not at the top tier of Asian football anymore. We are at best second tier, drifting down to third if drastic measures are not taken to address the shortfalls”

If football in the developed Asian countries stagnates at the standards where it is today and makes no progress, and there is a revolution in our football that progresses and develops rapidly in the fields of structure, technology, facilities, investment, and management, we may require 15 years later to catch up with the top tier Asian countries like to reach Japan, Korea, and Qatar.”

“We still look at football as a ‘game’ while the world sees this sport as a ‘sport, industry, business, economy and politics’. We must change our mentality and mindset with regard to football. As long as our clubs are the playground and backyard of political leaders and they look at it as “a heavy burden in every way”, as long as we do not invest enough in it, as long as we do not become proactive, honest, and dedicated to the sport rather than using it as a tool for political propaganda or personal gains, the status quo will remain and this football will not improve, perhaps even drop further. This current situation means a large distance between us and the top level of Asia and it will be more and more evident day by day.

Honestly, with this situation of our football, there will be hardly any progress and it remains only at the level of a (childish) game and entertainment.”

04/09/2017

End of the road for Jalal Hosseini

The Persepolis central defender, a veteran of 108 games for Team Melli and 8 goals will be appearing for the last time against Syria.

Seyyed Jalal Hosseini , who has been a fixed player for his club Persepolis winning the league title last season, has not featured in Carlos Queiroz’s team this year although he was included in the squads for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

At 35 , Jalal Hosseini is obviously not as versatile and quick as he used to be years back. He has formed a strong partnership with Pejman Montazeri in Team Melli for the last few years , but his loss of pace , his temperemnt and certain lack of self-control has reduced his chances of appearing for Team Melli and relegated in the pecking order for defenders by Queiroz.

In essence, Carlos Queiroz is a great believer in youth energy and for the six years he has been at the helm of Team Melli , the Portuguese coach has introduced many new players while he easily dispensed with the service of the most senior member of Team Melli without affecting the overall performances or result of the team. In Hosseini’s case, the performance of his club teammate Mohammad Ansari was quite assuring and hence he seems to be the perfect replacement for the aging Hosseini.

Like Mehdi Rahmati, Hadi Aghili, Andranik Teymourian, Khosrow Heydari, Mohammadreza Khalatbari, Mehrdad Pooladi , AmirHossein Sadeghi, Mojtaba Jabbari , Gholamreza Rezaei , Mohammad Nouri, and Mohammad Nosrati before him, the Persepolis defender is bidding farewell after a fine 10 years career with Team Melli which included participation in the FIFA World Cup 2014 and three AFC Asian Cups 2007, 2011 and 2015.

11/11/201511/11/2015

More players drop out for the Turkmenistan match.

Team Melli’s Captain Andranik Teymourian is the latest player to drop out of the team as he left the camp to fly to Doha where he is supposed to get his Visa to Guam from the American embassy.

INJURY LIST

Earlier on , Pejman Montazeri , pulled out of the squad due to an injury sustained in training. In total, 5 key players will be missing from the match in Azadi as Queiroz has to reshuffle the whole defense with the absence of Hosseini, Montazeri and Ghafouri.

NEWS CONFERENCE

Both the coaches conducted their Pre-match conference today in Tehran, The Turkman coach Amangylych Koçumov emphasized that his team is here to win a match that ios crucial for them. “:Iran is a strong team and top team of Asia, there is no denying that fact. However, we are not here just to show up for the match but get all the 3 points. We have played each other before and both teams are familiar with each other. ”

On the status of his team readiness, Koçumov confirmed that he has no injury worries and he is in Tehran with the full squad. Turkmenistan landed in Tehran yesterday via Istanbul more than doubling the actual distance between Tehran and Ashgabat!

Meanwhile, Carlos Queiroz brought all the four goalkeeper to his press conference!, one of the first questions was what is the message in this unusual gesture, to which Queiroz responded that this is the future of Team Melli! Most reporters have connected this show of force as a defiance message from the Portuguese coach against all the experts who demanded that he calls the most prepared and best goalkeeper in Iran, Mehdi Rahmati. Queiroz has not hid his contempt for Rahmati and took a swipe at him only a few days ago after the brilliant display by Esteghlal Keeper in the derby. Today Queiroz said that he cannot say everything and if he does open his mouth , he will be sacked.

Queiroz is never far from controversies , fiery attitude and the will to confront everyone not to his liking.

FREE ADMISSION

The attendances for Team Melli matches have been steadily in decline with no real studies conducted to find where improvements can be made. FFIRI urged Team Melli fans to flock to the Azadi stadium to support their team by allowing free admission to the stadium. However, the timing of the match , is far too early for many as it will be either during some working hours or not allowing many fans enough time to get to the stadium from work/ home to. The free entrance might encourage fans to make an effort. Less than 20,000 fans turned up to watch Team Melli’s only home game in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers against Guam on 3rd September. The friendly international against Japan, a top team in Asia with many household international players, did even worst with less than 15,000 turning up.

A solid performance and result by Team Melli , will certainly help to attract more fans.

02/11/2015

Kaffashian orders Queiroz to cap it.

Ali Kaffashian , has ordered Carlos Queiroz to seize issuing any public statements without the FFIRI approval. In a rare show of force against the uncontrollable Carlos Queiroz, the head of football federation is determined to put an end to the public squabbling that his undermined his authority and that of his federation.

In statements to the press Kaffashian told Mehrnews that both Queiroz and Asadi were at fault for meddling into each other’s duties. “Carlos Queiroz has no authority on Asadi and has no right to question his appointment in FFIRI office, while Mr. Asadi should not suggest players like Rahmati to team Melli, which is the coaches’ job.”

“If I , as head of the football federation , am asked about any player, I reserve judgment and refrain from suggesting or otherwise. I believe that is the sole responsibility of the technical and coaching team. I expect the others to follow suite.”

Kaffashian described that some of the public exchanges between Asadi and Queiroz as being childish like and detriment to the reputation of the federation.

02/11/2015

Esteghlal club threaens to boycott Queiroz!

After the unprovoked attack by Carlos Queiroz on Rahmati following Esteghlal’s goalkeeper excellent form in the derby, the club issued a strong statement questioning Queiroz motives, his behavior and the continuous absence of punitive measure against him following a series of misdemeanors since he took over Team Melli.

With 10 days to go to the match against Turkmenistan in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers, the Portuguese coach is already embroiled in several conflicts starting with the ethics committee who have issued statements questioning him about illegal payments from UHLSports, the Team Melli Kit providers and another public war with the Secretary General of FFIRI, Alieza Asadi.

True to character, Queiroz has opened another front now, this time against Esteghlal club and Rahmati. Esteghlal, along with Persepolis are the two most popular clubs in the country and their response was rapid and very strong.

Extracts from the long statement follows:

During week, Iran’s national football team coach conducted interviews and issued several statements. His interviews and statements contents were full of cruel words both spoken and written. In those statements, Insult, humiliation, and flagrant display of antagonism, perhaps more than ever exposed Queiroz real character exhibiting his retaliatory behavior.

Carlos Queiroz has long been belittling various personalities, including the General Secretary of the Iranian Football Federation, players and sports officials, insulting and ridiculing them in the process. Unfortunately he has not been held accountable for such. In reference to the Captain of Esteghlal team, he has issued statements using ridiculous words in the hours of night and with a bizarre content that were astonishing and leads to questioning of Queiroz’s mental status and motives while creating resentment between millions of Esteghlal fans.

[pullquote align=”right”]”he has no right to publicly insult or question the character of the player.” [/pullquote]

Team Melli coach can assess the capabilities of players and consider their technical abilities to decide if he will invite a player or ignore him for selection to the squad, however he has no right to publicly insult or question the character of the player. Are these tirades, statements and direct insults that he deploys a part of his character and culture? Perhaps this time Queiroz, and pursuant to the excellent form of Mehdi Rahmati ran out of technical excuses for not inviting him and found himself short of verse in the poem, even embarrassed, so he engaged in character assassination. Unfortunately, this behavior of his, once again typifies his extreme nature and as such his demeanor has to be severely questioned.

By using such method, Queiroz is putting his motives under question. His behavior and manners are totally rejected. In other words, social consciousness and human morality dictates that a foreign guest must have respect for Iran and Persian culture. Queiroz presence in major European teams has not enhanced his reputation as such, however it managed to create a great illusion of personality in his own mind surrounding himself with such false impression that he is beyond accountability.

With all due respect we have for the position of national team coach, Queiroz has overstepped the line, and took a bite more than he can chew and bigger than his mouth.

Now it is time to address how this person manipulative behavior like raising the flag of our country in frenzy, obscene gesture towards an opponent coach , insulting behavior against a referee and many other misdemeanors, that we all conveniently brushed aside in the name of patriotism and protecting Team Melli.

[quote class=”If we did not want him, we would not have signed with him after the World Cup”] We will stop providing players to be under the control of this type of character![/quote]

It is expected from both the Football Federation and the national team coach Carlos Queiroz to withdraw that absurd statement against Rahmati or deny it if it has not occurred. It is expected that both sides to apologize to the club, the millions of supporters of Mehdi Rahmati and the player himself.

If you continue this rhetoric and the use of inappropriate language by a national team coach, Esteghlal club will hold both sides legally and morally accountable, and shall not only seek legal action with these perceived insults, but will stop providing players to be under the control of this type of character!

We believe there are more to this than technical issues or matters related to selection of players, we suspect that the coach wants a way out and by creating such turmoil and turbulent atmosphere, it seems the ideal way of exiting.

When Queiroz says that Rahmati does not possess the character, he has insulted more than the players himself but tens of National coaches and other team Melli coaches like Daei, Ivankovic , Ghotbi, Faraki and Peyrovani whom all picked and selected Rahmati for Team Melli.

In Iran , the a person is judged on his character , behavior , respect for others , esteem and not by his monetary value, of course in a country like Mozambique it could be different.

31/10/201531/10/2015

Iran’s best goalkeeper is missing from Team Melli!

Very few would argue against the selection of Seyed Mehdi Rahmati as the Most Valuable Player of the 2015/16 derby between Esteghlal & Persepolis which ended in a 1-1 draw in front of 90,000 fans in Azadi on Friday 30^th of October. Amongst the huge crowds was the Head Coach of Team Melli, Carlos Queiroz.

Rahmati, single handedly (Literally) saved his Esteghlal team with some brilliant reflexes and, wait for it , superior aerial interception of the ball. The aerial weakness of Rahmati in goal was becoming his Achilles heel in the last few years and a source of embarrassment. Rahmati, to his credit, has remarkably improved in this department and had plenty of time to work on that weakness point and others as he was away from Team Melli.

The match against Persepolis was not the only one that Rahmati has shined in recently. With his performance against Sepahan and earlier in the league season, Rahmati has showed the masses that he is by far the number one goalkeeper in Iran, other keepers fall distant seconds and thirds even those at Team Melli.

However, no matter how many games Rahmati excels in and shows his commanding performance, the Esteghlal goalkeeper apparently has little chance to add to his 76 caps that he won for Team Melli since his debut back in 2004.

One may assume that the current No 1 Team Melli goalkeeper must be much better than Rahmati in all departments to keep Rahmati away. The sad truth is that, Alireza Haghighi who is Carlos Queiroz no. 1 choice for goalkeeper has not even played a single league match with his club Rubin Kazan this season, let alone have a chance to show his worth. Haghighi has been warming the bench for 12 games in the Russian league and several matches in the Europa league including last week’s draw against Liverpool in Anfield.

Surely , there is something odd and logic defying here. Again the sad truth is Yes, it does not make sense in football and technical terms. The problem that prevents Rahmati from claiming the No1 Jersey in Team Melli is his form or ability but past behavior. His petulant behavior and annoyance after being criticized for his weaknesses during the 2011/12 season, lead him to quit Team Melli. Without coordination or consultation with the Team management, Rahmati simply left to the anger and disgust of many and particularly , the head coach. Queiroz declared that as long as he is in charge, there is no place in the team for people who quit or lack discipline. The likes of Rahmati and Aghili who left the team hotel after not being named in the starters list, would never be invited to Team Melli.

Long months later after the dust settled and both sides calmed down with time, Queiroz announced that he is open to selection of Rahmati once again, after the goalkeeper apologized for his wrongdoing and admitted his shortcoming. Despite that, Rahmati was never selected for Team Melli although he was once named in a 40 odd list of players.

Rahmati has returned with a vengeance and this season seems to be his best year. The 32 years old custodian of Esteghlal is the undisputed no 1 Goalkeeper in the league and hence he has the legitimate right to claim Team Melli’s No. 1 jersey on merits, performance and experience.

It remains to be seen if Carlos Queiroz will act professionally by selecting the best goalkeeper for Team Melli based on performance, merits and form. Or remain stubborn, with his vengeance overruling his professional and rational decision making. The Portuguese coach is known to be stern and disciplinarian, which is in fact a good attribute for a coach to deal with many of the belligerent Iranian players, however, the interest of Team Melli, the nation and the fans supersedes any personal grudges. The Fans should not be victimized nor the reputation of Team Melli tarnished by antipathies.

[divider size=”5″ margin=”20″]

Data comparisons between Mehdi Rahmati and Alireza Haghighi.

24/05/2015

Solutions for the goalkeeping calamity in Iran.

It is no shame to admit that the recently concluded league season, was one of the worst for the goalkeepers in Iranian teams. Some, like Dariush Esfandiari, even call it a tragedy.

Every single team in the Persian Gulf League suffered goalkeeping headaches, some worse than others. Persepolis lowly rank in the table which is one of its worst in the history is attributed to several factors but it was on the field that the team performed poorly especially at the defense and goalkeepers’ end. Sousha Makani has proven that he is inconsistent, unreliable and a keeper who cannot be trusted when called upon to deliver. On top of those erratic performances Makani is also quite poor in discipline, a player who has created numbers of incidents at the club. He was sacked from the team only to return back after a few kisses. His last match in the league, the Tehran Derby , resulted in 3 match suspension for his role in skirmishes at the end of the game.

Whether it is fair or otherwise, many experts in Iran attribute Tractorsazi’s failure to win the league and poor performance in the AFC Asian Champions league to their goalkeeper Hamed Lak. Frankly, the keeper was dreadful in many crucial games and definitely cost his team some precious points. Putting all the blame on him is open to debate.

Alireza Biranvand, young, so promising and so confident when he came through the ranks, was as another huge disappointment for his side, Naft Tehran. Rahman Ahmadi was the no.1 Keeper for Team Melli after the dismissal of Seyed Mehdi Rahmati , but he soon flopped and lost his place in Team Melli while his repeated mistakes with his club Sepahan relegated him to reserve and the bench. Mohsen Frouzan had a torrid time in Esteghlal goal. Many hailed his arrival with the blues but he has shown little to raise the fans’ trust and confidence.

Dariush Esfandiari , the goalkeeping coach of Gostarish concurs to the fact that it was a “disastrous “ season for Iranian goalkeepers. His own team suffered quite badly like the rest. Esfandiari has some interesting thoughts on the reasons behind such failures by Iranian keepers.

“Much of the problem with goalkeepers stems from their demeanor, their personality and what is their mindset. Goalkeeper need to act professionally and be trained by dedicated experts because they are the last wall of defense. If Keepers concede easy goals, the chances of the team winning would be minimized. No team can challenge for honors without a competent keeper.” Dariush Esfandiari commented.

“There is obvious weakness at foundations level. Professional trainers need to be available for these keepers. Goalkeeper coaches must not be marginalized and not considered as peripherals in the team. I urge the federation to establish a program for the clubs to increase the level of competency and standards of Goalkeepers coaches in Iran. It is as important to do that at foundations levels, all the way to the seniors. I dare to say that it is even more important at foundations. This program has to be run with the aid of qualified professionals”

“We must utilize this opportunity to correct the situation else Iran will be facing a real disaster in this important post in the near future. This season was the alarm bell, it was loud and clear. The federation and clubs have to act to establish a competence program for goalkeepers. We can send Iranian coaches for specialized Goalkeepers coaching workshops. Turkey is a good place to start as they have some advance set ups there.”

Beitashour,Haghighi R.,Hoisseini,Davari,Nekounam-Sadeghi AH,Mahini,Ghoochannejad, Dejagah, Jahanbakhsh,Shojaei

10/03/2015

Queiroz “Possible cancellation of Chile match is a big blow for Team Melli”

The Portuguese coach of Team Melli Carlos Queiroz has returned back to Iran to select and prepare the team for the two high profile friendly matches against Chile and Sweden in two weeks time.

Rumors have been rife in Tehran about the possible cancellation of the Chile match in Austria because of the customary shortage of funds to cover the cost. Queiroz was confronted by the reports on his arrival about his feelings on such possibility. “It will be a big and major blow for Team Melli if this match is canceled and regrettable if there is shortage of funds. We have all been looking forward for this unique opportunity to play two of the finest teams in the world and if the Chile match is canceled it will be a big psychological blow” Queiroz commented.

Queiroz was also asked about the status of several players and he had these to offer.

“Azmoun and Jahanbakhash are members of Team Melli and are definitely required for the two matches in Europe. This is a big opportunity for them. There is no chance that I will not select them for this trip. It is regrettable that this tour coincides with the Omid team qualifying matches , but once again , both will be required and will be with us in the trip to Europe”

“Mohammad Nouri and Mehdi Rahmati are not Team Melli players and will not be part of the squad to Europe. I have no further comments to offer on the subject. Full stop.”

“The list of Team Melli players will be announced soon and will be starting our preparation from Iran before flying to Europe”

26/02/2015

The Goalkeeping dilemma.

Any Iranian fan watching the recent AFC Champions league matches would have been alarmed by the lackluster standard of Iranian goalkeepers. Added to the fact that the recent showing of Team Melli matches where goalkeepers performed poorly, such performances does not instill much confidence in the custodians who form the last frontier of any ambitious team challenging for championships and trophies.

The beautiful free flowing passing game of Naft Tehran deserved much better than the 2-1 defeat in Uzbekistan, as the Persian Gulf League leader fell victim to two horrible and amateurish errors by their goalkeeper Alireza Biranvand which cost them two goals and a defeat, after leading 1-0.

Nearly identical scenario was repeated a day later again in Uzbekistan as Tractorsazi was leading 1-0 before two blunders by their goalkeeper allowed the Uzbeks to win the match 2-1. The culprit goalkeeper was Hamed Lak. His edgy performance was a contributing factor in this defeat.

Persepolis , whose goalkeeper Sasha Makani is very well known for his calamitous performances was spared its blushes when they defeated Lekhwiya of Qatar 3-0 against all the odds. The Qatari league leader with some expensive star players were simply having a day off as Makani was hardly tested.

The common dominator of all these goalkeepers is that Carlos Queiroz has picked the above mentioned goalkeeper for Team Melli at different stages and competitions. Which , for all practical terms and purposes , means they are the best keepers in Iran. Biranvand is still in the list and was part of the last squad in the AFC Cup 2015 in Australia while Makani and Lak have only been recently replaced by Haghighi and Frouzan.

Haghighi , the surprise pick of the obstinate Portuguese coach , was the main goalkeeper for both the World Cup and Asian Cup. Not surprisingly, his performances have left a lot to be desired. The fans need to be thankful for the outright defensive game plan of Queiroz that has protected Haghighi in goal from being bombarded in both tournaments. However, when the team changed plans and needed to win by playing more offensively , Haghighi and his defense were truly exposed and conceded 6 goals in the last two matches of the two major competitions. 3 goals against Bosnia in the World Cup and three against Iraq in the quarter finals of Asian Cup. To make matters worse, Alireza Haghighi failed to save any penalty kick in the penalty shootout as Iran was knocked out from the Asian Cup.

All this was happening when two of the most experienced goalkeeper in Iran, Mehdi Rahmati and Rahman Ahmadi , were enjoying a holiday back home as Queiroz did not seem to believe in their abilities nor their skills.

Queiroz issue with Rahmati and some other players is a problem that is quite clearly undermining Team Melli. His personal antipathies against certain staff and players like Khalatbary , Mojtaba Jabbari, Hadi Aghili , Majid Saleh , Ali Karimi amongst many others are leaving the team handicapped and nothing is more evident than in between the three posts where the absence of the experienced Rahmati was felt.

Queiroz is only a part of the entire problem as Iran’s football system seems to have a distinct lack of ability to produce quality goalkeepers. It is also evident that the goalkeeping coaches are not of a high caliber at clubs and junior teams’ levels.

Iran’s goalkeeping problem is not new either. For more than a decade, Iran has been suffering from lack of quality goalkeepers. Ebrahim Mirzapour and his generation of keepers did not enhance the reputations of Iranian keepers, before Rahmati came into the scene. However, even Rahmati, arguably still the best keeper in Iran (not according to Queiroz, of course) , had difficulties like poor handling of aerial balls which marred his good records.

While goalkeeping is the least popular of posts amongst young players and good keepers are always in demand, the lack of production of quality keepers which requires a careful study and planning from the root level , could very well be a serious problem in the near future for Team Melli.

02/02/2015

Is there a shift in Iranian fans’ mentality ?

An intriguing enigma has developed lately in Iran’s football that might be the beginning of a new era, at least from the fans side of the, if not with the whole of the system.

Iran has the largest football fan base in Asia, even more that China that has several folds more population. People just love football in this country and if you have ever missed it , you should look at the attendance of the local derby between Perpsolis and Esteghlal , the two highest fanbase teams in Iran and beyond. It is always one of the biggest match attendance in the world.

Persepolis and Esteghlal are the two most popular teams in Iran.

Like many other countries, football fans in Iran have more loyalty to their clubs than the national team. For decades these two teams had a monopoly on the number of players in Team Melli. It was unthinkable of announcing a squad without any player from the reds of Persepolis or the blues of Esteghlal.

Not anymore. The original squad for AFC Asian Cup 2015 did not have a single player from Persepolis. That was a historic first. The trend of breaking the monopoly if the 2 top teams on Team Melli started way back during Branko Ivankovic days and reached its peak a decade or so later during Carlos Queiroz. Former Team Melli managers will deny it, but it is a common knowledge that pressure was excreted upon them to include as many as Persepolis and Esteghlal players in the team to assure the federation of fans attendance and support in the 100,000 capacity Azadi Stadium.

After the elimination of Team Melli from the Asian Cup, Queiroz embarked on a vicious ward of words against Amir Ghalenoei and Hamid Derakhshan accusing them of treachery, amongst many other allegations. Team Melli head coach war of attrition with local club coaches has started sometimes ago, but his conflict with Persepolis and Esteghlal coach seemed to have hit the peak after the failing of the Asian Cup.

Queiroz in a feeble attempt to justify the team’s elimination pointed the fingers at Ghalenoei and Derakhshan as contributory factors to the team’s failure!

Essentially , Queiroz was telling them “You are getting a taste of your own medicine!”

Aside from the others reactions to Queiroz tongue–lashing, many Persepolis and Esteghlal fans took exception to it and defended their club coaches, some in fact even marched with banners and had to be restrained by security personnel at the two clubs respective training grounds.

Up to here, the plot is progressing normally as expected under such circumstances but the shock that has awaken everyone was in NAVAD TV show. The popularity of Carlos Queiroz when a poll was conducted in Navad TV reached an overwhelming 88%!

Let us carefully run through some facts.

Fact 1) the absolute majority (greater than 80%) of Iranian football fans polled before the Asian Cup, believed that Team Melli will win the title or be in the final match at least. Less than 10% thought Iran will not make it past the quarter finals. So, we assume that 80% of the fans are quite disappointed by the result.

Fact 2) Team Melli has failed to progress beyond the group matches in the World Cup , ranked by FIFA as 31 out of 32 teams with some embarrassing performance figure. It has failed to win any championship or titles, even the good old WAFF championship, failed in Asian Cup , and very miserably so in the Asian Games( U 23 team).

Fact 3) Team Melli has not been displaying a pretty or entertaining football with a stern defensive style and mostly sticking to the same faces and names.

Fact 4) Carlos Queiroz has made more enemies in Iran that anyone can think of. From Omid Namazi , Rahmati , Aghili , Salih etc and all the way to Ali Karimi who abandoned ship in the last hours.

The above mentioned are facts, not speculations or rumors. So, how on earth one can explain the popularity of such a character?

Is there a shift in mentality in Iranians fans? are they sick of the archaic Iranian establishment ? Are they tired of Iranian coaches and their antics? Are they sending some kind of a message to the hierarchies? Are they “Blue eyes worshippers” as Ghalanoei alleged ?

In Europe and certainly some of the Persian Gulf Countries, National Team Managers that have achieved much better than Queiroz have lost their jobs, yet Iran is an exception. It defies the common logic for a coach to have such popularity without being able to win anything.

Not that Carlos Queiroz is to be blamed for the whole of Iran’s football deficiencies, but in essence, he is part of the system that has disappointed and failed the fans and an important one for that matter. It is criminal to shield him from criticism while blame the failing on the rest of the establishment.

In any case despite the fact that Queiroz has not won anything for Iran, he managed to win the heart of the fans.

NOW..

Go Figure.