A man from Basque to steer Iran

PTV - After a long period of increasing speculations, Javier Clemente finally signed a three-year contract with the Iranian Football Federation (IFF).

The news about the terms of Clemente's contract, his residence, salary and annual days-off had become a topic of hot debate in Iranian media.

The IFF had made a long list of possible candidates for coaching the national team, making clear its obvious preference for Winfried Schaefer, Jacques Santini and Artur Jorge.

The latter was even named as Iran's coach on the team's page in the FIFA official website, however, the IFF later said Jorge was only one of the options available and had the same chance as others.

Jorge's appointment was completely ruled out when the IFF realized the Portuguese was out of favor with supporters.

Clemente was not regarded as a player in the game until an IFF board member revealed on national TV that a delegation had been sent to Germany to negotiate with the Basque and that he would soon be visiting the country.

He came to Iran, visited the country's football facilities and a few days after returning to Spain announced he had accepted the IFF's terms.

Clemente was the Spanish national team's coach in both 1994 and 1998 world cups. During his reign Spain went 31 games unbeaten however, he was criticized for choosing too many Basque players and also for dropping Barcelona's Josep Guardiola.

Spain lost to Italy in the 1994 World Cup quarter finals and could not even reach the second round in 1998.

When Spain lost 3-2 to Cyprus in Euro 2000 qualifiers, Clemente was dismissed after 62 games.

Clemente who steered the Serbian national team was released from his contract in December 2007, when the squad failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

During his career, he successfully helped Athletic Bilbao acquire two La Liga titles in 1983 and 1984; he led Espanyol to the UEFA Cup final in 1987 but they lost to Bayer Leverkusen; he also guided Atletico Madrid to second place in La Liga in 1989.

Iranians are in favor of Clemente whom they see as the man who can help the national team give a memorable performance in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The World Cup qualifiers have so far proved to be a real challenge for the national team, which tied with Syria 0-0 in Tehran on February 6. Clemente, who was a spectator of the game, will coach the team in its March 26 match against Kuwait.

Clemente must now find a way to overcome Iran's scoring problem which has been intensified ever since legendary striker Ali Daei bid football farewell.

Strikers such as Reza Enayati, Ali Samereh and Mohsen Khalili, who have not been successful in national matches, maintain they should be given other chances to prove themselves.

The Basque's appointment promises a bright future for Iran as the only thing the national team lacks is a man of discipline and strong-willed players.