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Iranian assistant coach for Skocic is to be named.

The Croatian Head coach of Team Melli will soon identify his Iranian assistant among five candidates.

Dragan Skočić, has taken over the post after the mediocre tenure of the Belgian Marc Wilmots in which Iran's qualification for the next round of FIFA World Cup 2022 Asian zone qualifiers is under threat

Skocic will soon be supported by an Iranian assistant coach. There are 5 candidates in the pot for the post;

According to the reports, Karim Bagheri, Moharram Navidkia, Sohrab BakhtiariZadeh, Pirouz Ghorbani, and Vahid Hashemian are the most likely candidates for the job as Skocic aide.

Karim Bagheri: (46 Years) Assistant coach to Perspolis in two separate periods under Golamahammadi and Daei. Bagheri has not achieved FIFA Class certification but has the strongest international background as a player with 87 caps and 50 international goals for Team Melli.

Moharram Navidkia: (37 Years) the least experienced of the lot. Very little coaching experience with Sepahan. Navidkia has a complex sulky character that is not well suited for coaching.  As a player, he scored one goal in 25 caps for Iran.

Sohrab BakhtiariZadeh: (42 years) head coach of Naft Masjed Soleiman in 2016, followed by  Iran U-23 assistant coach between 2018–2019. As a player, he scored 4 goals, including the goal against Angola in the FIFA 2006 World Cup in 37 caps for Iran.

Pirouz Ghorbani: (42 years) It is not clear whether Ghorbani has any coaching experience in his CV. The former Esteghlal player who retired from football in 2015 with Saba Qom, has not been officially appointed in any coaching position. He played 6 matches for Team Melli.

Vahid Hashemian:(43 years) Selected as an assistant to Wilmots based on his knowledge of German which both Wilmots and Hashemian speak fluently. Hashemian has attended several training coaches courses in Germany and achieved German certification.  he managed  SV Halstenbek-Rellingen, for one season then  Niendorfer TSV in 2013. Hasmeian went to his old club Hamburger SV in 2017 to work in the Academy then became U17 Team assistant coach from 2017–2018 and finally with Hamburger SV (U21) in 2018 as an assistant coach before working with Wilmots.

It is clear from their experience that none of the Iranian coaches have the proper qualification and experience to be of value to the Team. The only advantage is communication which is itself a two-edged sword.

Skocic monitors Team Melli players in Belgium

Dragan Skocic headed to Europe for a close look at the Iranian legionaries players. The recently appointed head coach of Team Melli will be attending several matches involving the Iranian players.

This trip to Belgium by Skocic follows his attending of matches of Esteghlal and Persepolis matches in Kuwait and the Emirates in the AFC Champions League last week. Belgium is one of the countries with the most Iranian players in its league. Omid Ebrahimi and Saeed Ezzatollahi play for Eupen, Ali Gholizadeh, Younes Delphi and Kaveh Rezaei for Royal Charleroi and Milad Mohammadi for Gent.

On his trip to Belgium, Skocic first met with Saeed Ezzatollahi and Omid Ebrahimi and spoke with Eupen's technical staff about the two Iranian players' performances. Ezzatollah has not played for Eupen for a long time while Ebrahim is a fixed starter for the squad.

The Iranian teams competing in the AFC Champions League had a torrid start with only Sepahan managing a win in a total of 8 matches played by all the 4 Iranian teams. Skocic must have been concerned with such a performance especially since some of the Team Melli players have been less than ideal in those matches.

Lesson learned from AFC Champions League

In one of the worst weeks of Iranian club football, the four teams representing Iran played in the second round of AFC Champions League and managed 1 point from a possible 12 with Persepolis' draw against the unfancied Sharjah Club of the UAE.

What have we learned from the appearance of Esteghlal, Sepahan, Shar Khodro, and Persepolis in this edition of  AFC Champions League 2020 Week 2:

  • After being the top contenders and challengers for trophies in Asia, Iranian clubs are no more than also-ran and will have serious difficulty holding to their quota in the AFC Champions League in the future or even next season.
  • Despite the admirable action by sticking to the local coaches, the Iranian clubs have unfortunately also handicapped themselves as they seem to be behind the rest in terms of tactical strategy, game-plans, changes in plans, options and knowledge of modern coaching.
  • There is an undeniable gap between the best Iranian coaches and the foreign counterparts who are working in this region. This gap in knowledge and competency requires many years to close.
  • The transition from players to successful coaches has never been easy, even if the player was one of the elites. Golmohammadi and Majidi have fared worst in the two matches as head coaches of the two most popular teams in a polarized football of Iran. The results and performances of Persepolis and Esteghlal were extremely disappointing.
  • It is quite rare to experience an Iranian team, be it a club or Team Melli come from behind and win a match. This is indicative of a perennial character weakness of the whole team, players and coaches.
  • Iranian teams DO NOT learn from their experiences and mistakes. They keep repeating the same and losing due to similar weaknesses. The accountability mostly lies in the coaches for not emphasizing these mistakes and their failures to address them in order to not repeat.
  • Protests, objections, shouting and general petulant behavior of the Iranian team have become iconic. It is a regular scene to find an Iranian player or coach protest and shout his head off. This is a serious shortcoming that always affects a player’s performance.
  • Iranian teams and coaches have very little regard to sport psychology and as such, players do not act professionally and do not stick to their tasks especially while they are losing.
  • The current league has failed to produce quality players for Team Melli. The poor standard of the League, the system, coaching and politics/corruption has ensured that the league players focus on issues unrelated while ignoring their tasks and development.
  • Only a handful of Iranian players who took part in the two matches of their team are worth mentioning. Payam Niazmand, Mehdi Ghaedi , Omid Noorafkan and possibly Mehdi Torabi are the only ones that have excelled and could be assets for Team Melli.
  • There is a goalkeeper crisis in Iran. Mehdi Rahmati was a calamity in the two matches for Shahr Khodro and his standing watching while the Uzbek player score should be taught in all football schools. Alireza Beiranvand is unreliable, weak and lacking confidence. His performance is also affected by contractual issues and the desire to leave Persepolis. Hossein Hosseini , despite a few good saves for Esteghlal, is quite inconsistent and shaky at times. The only bright keeper that played well in both matches is Payam Niazmand. The young Sepahan keeper was a pleasure to watch and should be seriously considered for Team Melli instead of Beiranvand.
  • Iran used to produce solid as a rock defender and any hall of fame of Iranian football will have defenders by the dozen as great defenders. Not anymore. It is a mystery why the defenders are deteriorating, but the answers may lie in the ineffectual coaching and guidance from technical directors.
  • The poor standard of Iranian clubs will be directly reflected in Team Melli and threatens its ambition to qualify for the World Cup.

Dragan Skocic's first Press Conference

The first press conference of the new head coach of the Iranian national football team was held in the presence of the media on Saturday 15th February 2020.

Dragan Skočić, the Croat coach, faced a large group of media personnel, reporters and photographers in a meeting that lasted for more than 100 minutes. Skocic had a happy face and did not seem to be overwhelmed by the large number of reports and the atmosphere. The newly appointed Head Coach of Team Melli answered the questions and posed for the cameras, unwittingly. The Academy Hotel Amphitheater had one of its busiest days in a long time. No one was late, and everyone had made it to the nearby Azadi Stadium on time. Admirably, he accommodated all the reporters and photographers without much complaint.

The reception by media companions was as expected. It was Skocic's most pressing meeting in Iranian football and now he has to get used to these crowds of reporters. Skocic first began the introductory remarks and responded to the vast majority of questions. At the end of the press conference, the Croat showed to both his backers and opponents that they must believe that Skocic has become the head coach of Team Melli.

Like many of Head Coaches press conferences, this one was mostly predictable. Much of the questions were either routines or had no direct definite answers, on the other hand, Skocic response was either diplomatic or full of positive messages.

Brief Details of the conference will be published separately.

Security of Sport Ministry objected to Daei's appointment !

Ali Daei has claimed that his nomination for Head Coach post of Team Melli had been rejected by the Ministry of Sports. He was disqualified by the orders of the Ministry's security department.  "I don't know what to say when a person like me is denied his right to be a candidate for Team Melli head coach by the security wing of the Sports Ministry !!"

Daei added, " Of course, I personally know the reasons for this disqualification."

The head of the Ministry of Youth and Sports's Security Department denied any inquiries or comments about Ali Daei. The circumstances of Ali Daei's presence in Iran's national football team remain controversial, to say the least. From the front runner, Daei found himself disqualified according to ISNA. After Ali Daei announced in an interview with ISNA that the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and specifically the Ministry's security wing, opposed his presence in Team Melli's technical staff, the head of the concerned department of the Ministry dismissed the claims. Sameei, told ISNA, "There was no inquiry about Mr. Daei's security clearance, nor did the security comment."

The Security department of the Ministry is charged with watching Iranian Athletes activities specifically during their trips abroad and ensuring compliance with the regime policies and Islamic principles like praying and keeping away from undesired athletes from countries such as Israel. It also sanctions each candidate for leadership and membership of boards of all clubs and federations. The Security department has the final say on when and where important matches and sporting events are hosted.

All athletes need security clearance before representing Iran home or abroad. This practice started decades ago to prevent opposition and terrorist organizations such as MKO from infiltrating Iranian teams and squads.

ALi Daei lost his job because he would not allow the President into the dressing room.

Hossein Kazemi recalled what happened during the match between Team Melli and Saudi Arabia in the FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifiers at Azadi Stadium.

 

Ali Daei was the head coach of the team. Iran was leading by a Masoud Shojaei goal in the first half. At half-time, he was informed that the then President (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) wanted to enter the dressing room for an inspirational chat with the players and coaching staff, which is a highly unusual request under the circumstances.

Due to the sensitivity of the game and its importance for Iran's qualification to the next round, Ali Daei, who saw this interruption as negative and might lead the players to lose focus, rejected Ahmadinejad's request and preferred if it was done after the final whistle.

Hossein Kazemi, who was playing in the midfield in that match said: "We lost the game after the Saudi's came from behind and scored two goals. It was our only loss under Daei, yet Ali Daei was dismissed from his post that same evening."

Iran failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2010 held in South Africa.

Kaveh Rezaei scores a hat trick for SC Charleroi

Kaveh Rezaei became only the second Iranian player to score a hat trick in one of the European Leagues. SC Charleroi was able to count on Kaveh Rezaei with a prolific performance scored a hat-trick on 45 + 4th, 70th, 79th  versus Zulte Waregem (4-0) on Saturday. the Team Melli striker was the orchestrator of the biggest victory of his team this season against Zulte Waregem.

The first goal scored by Rezaei was assisted by compatriot Ali Gholizadeh. Rezaei, who is on loan from Clube Brugge, has now scored 11 goals for his club SC Charleroi.

Mehdi Taremi was the first Iranian to score a hat trick in the Portuguese league, Kaveh joins Taremi in this elite group.

The Croatian Legacy.

Croatian football coach Dragan Skocic (51) has been named Iran's new coach, the football association announced there. Rijeka's Dragan Skocic has replaced Belgian Marco Wilmots on the bench of Iran following two consecutive defeats in qualifying for the FIFA 2022 World Cup against Bahrain (0-1) and Iraq (1-2). According to the Iranian state news agency IRNA, Skocic has agreed to sign with the Iranian Football Federation until the end of the second round of the FIFA 2022 World Cup qualifications, or by June this year. Another Croat on Iran bench Skocic followed in the footsteps of Tomislav Ivic , Stanko Poklepovic , Miroslav Blazevic and Branko Ivankovic , all of whom managed the Iranian football team quite successfully. "It is certainly an honor to be in the company of other great Croatian coaches. Croats are highly respected in Iran, so I'm really happy that I got the opportunity to be the coach of Iran, a great football nation," says Skočić in an interview with HRT's Ivan Dorian Molnar .

Skočić has been working in Iran since 2013 and has led four clubs, Malavan, Foolad, Knooneh be Knooneh and Sanat Naft. "With three of the four teams I led, I made the greatest successes in their history. I think this was one logical sequence. I came up with something very tangible, and that is the position of the Iranian national team coach," he added, noting that this is actually his biggest career challenge. Iran "hunts" Bahrain and Iraq Iran is currently ranked third in Group C of the second qualifying round with six points from four appearances. Iraq tops with 11 points from five duels, the second is Bahrain with nine points from five appearances as well, with Hong Kong with five points and Cambodia with one point, and both teams also played five matches each. The winners of all eight groups and the four best runner-up teams will compete in the third qualifying round.

Anton 'Toni' Usnik
Mladen Zganjer

"There will be a battle, the key matches are with Bahrain and Iraq. Both games are played in Tehran in front of a full stadium that seats 100,000 people. We have a lot of looks, I hope we pass the group. The key matches will be against my friend Srecko Katanec (current Iraq coach.). It will be interesting," Skocic adds, pointing out that expectations are high, that everyone wants Iran to qualify for the FIFA World Cup  2022, and especially after a great performance at the last edition in Russia, where they almost passed the group with Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Skocic's assistants will be Mladen Zganjer, former U-21 national team coach and Toni Usnik, who worked at the Slovenian national team headquarters.

Mehdi Ghaedi , the Prince of Persia , a star in the making.

Mehdi Ghaedi, Esthghlal's winger has been making the headlines for all the good reasons in the last few months.

Only 1.66 m tall, (or short as most will refer to his height) and barely 60 kgs in weight, Ghadei's built is hardly the physique of a top-level footballer. Yet he has already demonstrated plenty of skills and scored enough goals to make him a star. He is even shorter than Messi who is 1.70 m.

The 21 years old Mehdi Ghaedi was born and raised in the port city of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf. After joining his local club IranJavan Bushehr as a kid. His talent was recognized early and was soon promoted to the full team in which he played in season 2016-17 scoring 10 goals in a total of 29 league games.

Esteghlal Tehran, forever a club with scouts spread all over the country looking for talents, was forewarned about this skillful tiny player that is drawing rings around defenders. He was immediately recruited at the age of 19 and made his debut as a substitute in 2017 against Foolad Khuzestan.

Less than 3 years with Esteghlal, the tiny Ghaedi is becoming a household name in Iranian football. This is the season that transformed the young man into a fearful player with dribbling skills, pace and crossing accuracy of the highest kind.

During the immaculate performance of Esteghlal in the AFC Champions League qualifier against Al Rayyan Club in Doha, Mehdi Ghaedi was the undisputed star. He even out jumped much taller defenders to score a fine heard on the far reach of the goalkeeper.

He has scored 9 goals this season and provided 6 assists in the league plus two goals in the AFC Champions League.

What Ghaedi lacks in physique he compensates in his outstanding dribbling which is in fact helped by his tiny frame. Mehdi Ghaedi is also a controversial player already with many accusing him to be a fall guy. Although he has been awarded yellow cards for easily falling on the ground during tackles, he has been unfairly treated by the Referees even when genuinely fouled upon. With such a tiny built, it seems to be difficult for referees to decide whether his fall to the ground is genuine or not.

He was involved in a fatal car accident a couple of years ago and was lucky to survive after a series of surgical operations.

Although transfermarkt.com , the website that evaluates the price of players, Far from a complete player, half a million Euro, Ghaedi is easily worth several folds value. Ghaedi is a rough diamond who and is destined to be a true star of Iranian football. The rough edges need to be handled by skilled managers and if this player manages his time on and off the field well enough, there is little doubt that he will end up in a European club challenging at the highest level.

Turkish clubs have already made serious inquiries about him, but Esteghlal will not be easily persuaded to let go of this talent at such an early age. The mistake they have done with releasing Majid Hosseini will not be repeated.

For the time being, Esteghlal fans are enjoying the performance of the Prince of Persia who is torturing defenders with his clever dribbles and body shimmy as seen yesterday when he passed 3 Persepolis players right on the touchline to cross for Motahari to score Esteghlal’s goal in the local Derby.

His next destination is Team Melli. Surely Dragan  Skocic has seen enough potential in Ghaedi to select him for the next squad.

Dragan Skočić appointed as Head Coach of Team Melli

The Croat coach Dragan Skočić has been appointed as the new head coach of Team Melli on Thursday.

The 51 years old Croatian has just resigned from his post as head coach of Persian Gulf League club Sanat Naft after a long dispute with the Abadani club for their failure to respect the contract and failure to provide proper support for the team.

A day after Dragan Skočić announced his departure from Sanat Naft Abadan, he was appointed as Team Melli head coach.

Skočić first arrived in Iran in 2013 where he coached Malavan Anzali where he could not have much success with the team. Next season he was recruited by Foolad Khuzestan where he remained for two seasons and managed to improve the results of the team but still could not win them any trophies. He left Iran in 2016.

In 2018 Skočić turned up again in Iran where he took over the coached of Azadegan league side Khooneh be Khooneh. A season later 2019 he was coaching  Sanat Naft Abadan in July before he resigned his post on 4th February 2020.

Zlatko Kranjcar with Dragan Skocic in a league match encounter
Zlatko Kranjcar (left) with Dragan Skocic (Right) in a league match encounter

During his long managerial career, in Croatia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, Skočić managed only a single achievement with his home club Rijeka, winning the Croatian Cup for the 2005–06 season.

Team Melli is the first National Team coaching experience of Dragan Skočić