A comedy of errors marred the match between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals of the AFC U-19 Championship Bahrain 2016 which produced an incredible 11 goal thriller.

Defensive mistakes one after another, plain amateurish blunders, alarming lack of focus and some horrible goalkeeping ensured that the few fans in the stadium in Bahrain enjoy an unforgettable goals fiesta the likes of it Asia has never experienced as such level. As an Iranian fan, though, it was far from a pretty scene and downright humiliating.

In retrospect, the result of this match and the performance of Iran U-19 team in this competition as a whole was a classic reflection of how poor this talented group of individuals has been coached. Lack of tactical prowess, disastrous defensive errors, and poor discipline on and off the field was evident in this team and there was no escaping the fault of the coach Amir Hossein Peyrovani.  

Traditionally, we have been accustomed to experiencing the Iranian football federation having a small list of coaches who are rotated around the Team Melli age group teams. None of the coaches in the list have achieved anything of significance in their careers, yet and for one reason or another, they are appointed as coaches for the young representative team and are expected to qualify for World Cups or challenge for trophies at Asian level at minimum of budgets and at the least cost.

Amir Hossein Peyrovani , is one of these names. He turned up as an assistant coach for U-23 team in 2009 but lasted less than a year. Between jobs at Team Melli levels, he was appointed as an assistant coach of 2^nd division Gohar Drood (2011), then coach of Parse Tehran (2011-2012). He was jobless for 3 years after that before he was finally handed the U19 team head coaching job!

Peyrovani’s CV is devoid of any achievements at club level or at any level for that matter. He is an aspiring young coach but nowhere near the class required to lead a national team in important competitions. Yet by hook or crook, he is the head coach. How is competency, capability and suitability is measured in FFIRI, is anyone’s guess, but the end result is quite clear and evident.

There is one risk is such appointments of poor vision. Promising footballing talents could go to waste.  

Make no mistake, this Team Melli U-19 that has just been beaten by 6 goals, has what it takes to be much better than this. They are definitely a group of talented individuals who lacked proper guidance, lacked the appreciation of Teamwork, were so badly organized in defense, lacked competent leadership and were indiscipline, hence suffered one embarrassing defeat.

This team has many promising players, but in the football field, they were 10 individual players rather than a cohesive team. Except for the goalkeeper, who was admittedly quite an embarrassment against the Saudi’s, the rest of the team have talent each to a different degree. At this age in football, talent alone is simply not good enough to produce a professional player for the future. For that, young players require professional management, guidance and above all, knowledgeable and skilled coaches. Iran has witnessed many of these young players pop up from every corner of the country throughout the years, yet only a handful make it big.

This current federation like many before it, have little regard to team building and long term strategy. The people at the helm always think of quick success and now to maintain their grip. Very few seem to care how a team ends up in 6 or 7 years from now.

This short term thinking is why Iran never appointed proper professional coaching at age group levels. Starting at club level, young players are kind of neglected and assigned the weakest of coaches and sometimes even rejects , who work for free to build up a CV. There is hardly a long term strategic planning for talented players. While FFIRI is struggling to provide a decent Training ground for Team Melli in the midst of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup, it is perhaps too much to ask for when it comes to the welfare of young teams.