Vahid Hashemian, a former Team Melli forward who played in the FIFA World Cup 2006 believes that Iranian players have an acute lack of physical strength and fitness issues.
“In both of our the last World Cups , Team Melli came short. It is evident that Iranian players are not capable of playing 3 consecutive competitive games at the highest levels of football. The reason for this is well-known and that is the poor physical strength, body fitness and lack of stamina. Of course, it is not entirely the fault of the Team Melli coaches, because these players are the byproduct of a league that fails to create physically strong teams and players.” Hashemian said.
The Ex Pas and Bayern Munich forward , is currently undergoing a one year long German Football Coaching course, which is globally recognized as the best quality training for future football coaches.
In an interview with Tasnim , he described the performance of Team Melli in the FIFA World Cup as honorable. “When you look at the statistics, you will find that our passing and creativity was one of the worst amongst the World Cup teams. It was clear that our aim was to play like destroyers and prevent the other teams from attacking us. If that was the aim of the coach and his aspiration, then he has done a good job of it in the first two matches, but then again we failed at the last hurdle like we always do. Because of lack of strength and energy, our defense crumbled in the last match. In one sense, the fact that we were not beaten easily, is a success in itself”
On the contract extension with Querioz , Hashemian said ” If the priority was for a foreign coach , then Queiroz after 3 years at the helm , would be the best option. However, the Football Federations needs to be intelligent and astute while spending such a huge amount on a coach. We need to ask many questions such as , what has Queiroz done for the country’s football, how many young players has he produced for Team Melli, is he following young players leagues and careers , is he paying attention on the foundations, has he any plans in producing certain numbers of young players for Team Melli by 2018 , is he doing anything to promote Iranian assistant coaches for Team Melli? Many other questions need to be asked to justify the high value contract.”
Asked if the huge payslip of Queiroz is justified, Hashemian commented “ The contract pay out should be proportional to the capabilities of the federation and in unison with the country’s ability, i.e. it should not be a burden. Queiroz pay was the 16th highest in the World Cup and with the US$800,000 bonus that he got, he climbed to number 7 or 8 in the world. What that means is that he is very highly paid coach, but that is not important for me. What is important is what has he delivered or going to deliver in the future for that sort of money and whether his end product is worth it.”
On the issue of Iranian assistant coach for Queiroz, which has become a hot topic, Hashemian said “I don’t think it is right to force appoint someone as an assistant coach to work with Queiroz. The coach has to hand-pick his own , else it is not going to work. I have no comment on the issue of Majid Saleh who left the Camp. I think that he wasn’t Queiroz’s choice and that is where problems started.”
Hashemian (38 years) played 49 times for Team Melli scoring 14 goals. He played in the Bundesliga from 1999 to 2010 for Hamburg VfL , Bochum , Bayern Munich , Hannover 96 and VfL Bochum a second time , before transferring to Persepolis in 2010 where he ended his footballing career two years later.
