Iran's Karimi set for biggest year of his career

FIFAworldcup - "This is the hardest training I've ever had in my life," Bayern Munich newcomer Ali Karimi confessed after a pre-season like no other in his career.
"Could we do the interview in the evening instead?" Karimi begged after the morning session, fixing the FIFAworldcup.com reporter with an exhausted gaze. "Of course," your correspondent replied, thinking to himself: "If he can actually still talk by the end of the day that is."

The 2004 Asian Player of the Year had just emerged from another trademark work-out laid on by Felix Magath, the coach reputed to drive his players through the toughest summer programme in the Bundesliga. Magath's methods include multiple ascents of a 1,700-metre mountain peak in the course of a one-week training camp, before treating his players to exercises with medicine balls and lead-weighted jackets on their return.

"I don't know if Felix Magath would have rescued the Titanic, but the survivors would have been incredibly fit," a former player famously commented after Magath successfully orchestrated a last-ditch campaign to save Eintracht Frankfurt from relegation some years ago.


After two full hours working on tackling without a ball in sight, and an afternoon practice match, Karimi just about summoned up the energy to keep his interview appointment with FIFAworldcup.com, and offer an initial perspective on his new surroundings.

The 1.79 metre tall, technically gifted Iranian has already earned a healthy dose of respect in Bavaria. Karimi has taken on a daunting challenge by moving to the Bundesliga, with no guarantee of success whatsoever. Formerly with Persepolis Teheran and Al Ahli Dubai, he could have settled for an easier option than the hard discipline, demanding pace and power, and variable weather of the German game, especially as Iran team-mates Ali Daei and Vahid Hashemian both failed to shine at Germany's biggest club.

"If you're offered the chance to play for a world-class club like Bayern, you've got to take it," said Karimi, oozing determination to make his mark in one of Europe's biggest leagues. The playmaker is a man in a hurry as he has only signed up for one season in Bavaria although, as he observes, “there's an option for another year. As long as certain criteria are fulfilled, there's an automatic extension".

However, such thoughts are far from Karimi's mind at the moment. "For the time being, I'll just try and do my best, and then we'll see what happens," he said.

Karimi, capped 82 times by Iran, is highly motivated by the opportunity to ply his trade in the country that will host next summer's FIFA World Cup, although he insists this was not the prime reason behind the switch to Europe. "Bayern Munich is my priority, not the fact of a World Cup in Germany."
Iran sealed a place at the tournament some months ago, and will make their third finals appearance after their debut at Argentina 1978 and a second campaign at France 1998.

If Karimi can avoid injury, he is set for a pivotal role in his first appearance at the world's biggest sporting event. His brave switch to Bayern provides evidence enough of determination and resolve - and should he fulfil his potential and make a splash on the world stage, he will have cause to thank his new coach Magath's gruelling fitness regime for laying the essential foundations.