Iran wants German coach for national team - Matthäus first option

DPA - The Iranian Football Federation (FFI) is looking for a German coach for its national football team and the first option is Lothar Matthaeus, a unnamed FFI official told the Mehr news agency on Wednesday. Besides Matthaeus, a former Hungary coach who also worked at clubs in Austria and Serbia, there is also a second German candidate whose name the FFI official did not disclose.

There has, however, been speculation in the local sports media that Iran was also after Cologne coach Christoph Daum, interviewed only last week by the Fars news agency.

According to Mehr, the FFI has already had indirect contacts with the two. Talks had also been with Winfried Schaefer and Peter Neururer, but apparently without any tangible results.

Iran is the only national team in Asia which has no head coach. The players are trained for the time being by two local assistant coaches.

But the FFI wants to employ a head coach before the first World Cup 2010 qualification game against Syria on February 6 in Tehran, stressing several times that it wants a top foreign coach.