GOAL - When Afshin Ghotbi was appointed as the national team coach of Iran in April, he took over a team that, everybody agreed, needed seven points from three remaining qualification games to have a good chance of automatically progressing to South Africa or at least going through the play-off system.
It was a tough ask for the new man as he took over a team that had collected just two points from the previous three matches. Not only that but two trips to the Korean peninsula loomed –home to the top two teams in the group.The team came close before crashing out.
But the present situation is a bigger challenge. Needing results in front of full houses in Pyongyang and Seoul is nothing compared to what Ghotbi, who steered Persepolis to a dramatic league title in his only full season in Iran, must do over the next few months.
Iranian football is in the doldrums but the signs, on and off the pitch, have not been good since the 2006 World Cup. Missing out on expected qualification has merely deepened the depression.
More than most countries, the atmosphere in Iranian football depends on the success of the national team. Team Melli is the pride of the many millions of football fans both inside and outside the nation.
After a poor World Cup in 2006, a disappointing Asian Cup in 2007 and the persistent and public problems finding a coach to succeed Amir Ghaleneoi, the thought of not actually qualifying for South Africa probably took a longer time to register than it should.
It all started reasonably well but the away draw at UAE, the only point that that team would collect, a home draw against South Korea and a home defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia cost Ali Daei his job.
Ghotbi stepped in and promised the points and a trip to Johannesburg. After a draw against North Korea and a win over UAE, it almost happened. Iran were nine minutes away from victory at Seoul World Cup Stadium, one which would have guaranteed a play-off spot at least.
Then Park Ji-sung drove through the Iranian defence – Ghotbi ruefully told me that during his time in Korea, he, Dick Advocaat and Pim Verbeek, had repeatedly told the Manchester United man to do more of that kind of thing – and scored.
With the political issues surrounding the match, it was an intense night but now there is just a deflated disappointment.
Now Ghotbi has to somehow pick up a group of desperate players and motivate them in the knowledge that they will not be at South Africa.
This task has not been made any easier by the drop in popularity of the man after he attended the inauguration of President Ahmadinejad. While not attending was not really an option, it cost Ghotbi a good deal of goodwill from the sections of Iranian public that had enthusiastically supported him against the sections of the Iranian press that had enthusiastically not done so.
The defeat against Bahrain recently also didn’t help though the choice of opposition was a cruel one. Any coach that has just seen his team miss out on qualification at the death is going to struggle to get players excited for a friendly in Bahrain.
What made it even harder to swallow was the fact that, for the hosts, Iran were mere warm-up fodder for their World Cup play-off with Saudi Arabia. It is like days after a painful break-up you find yourself driving your ex-girlfriend to meet her date, one that you consider to be much worse-looking, for prom night.
For Iran, now it is all about qualifying for the Asian Cup and doing so in style to break some of the feel-good factor back to Tehran.
The team is well-placed in their group and two wins against a Jordan team that is having all kinds of problems will be a good start. Pride in the national team may be some way off even then but Ghotbi is a shrewd character and knows that turning to youth is a good start.
It is not only necessary but expedient –fans forgive much when young blood is coursing through the team – and with the old guard fading, Vahid Hashemian and Mehdi Mahdavikia haven’t featured in the Bundesliga this season, the time is right.
It is time for a new identity for an Iranian team that was starting to look tired. For Ghotbi, a few youngsters can reenergize the team and reconnect it to the Iranian public. The likes of Farzad Hatami, Ehsan Hajysafi and Ali Azari can give Team Melli a new start.
Ghotbi has been criticized for being conservative already in his short tenure in Tehran but he now has the chance to stamp his authority and find a new path for the national team, one that all can get behind.
Though, as always in Iran, that is easier said than done.
John Duerden
Asia Editor
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