It was difficult for Ghotbi to sit there knowing his side failed to qualify for the sport’s global showpiece but he is taking the first steps towards reviving Iran’s football fortunes.
The former Korea Republic assistant coach has named a fresh-looking 25-man for a training camp in Austria, with an eye on January’s AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™.
And he was spurred the by impressive performances of Asian teams in South Africa, particularly Japan and Korea Republic.
“Asian teams raised the alarm for all of us at the World Cup and we have to prepare ourselves for Asian Cup in Doha,” Ghotbi was quoted as saying.
“I was sad, like every other Iranian citizen, that Iran were not in the World Cup 2010.
“I watched some games of North Korea, South Korea and Australia to learn more about their style and their team formation.
“In six months’ time, we would have had enough time to test many players for Team Melli and take part in an adequate number of training camps and friendly games.”
Team Melli have been drawn alongside DPR Korea, United Arab Emirates and defending champions Iraq in Group D of the January 7-29 tournament.
The Iranians will play three matches during the camp, which starts on July 11, against Serbian side Red Star Belgrade, Hungary’s MTK Budapest and Italians Lazio.
A few experienced heads stay in the side, such as veteran striker Ali Karimi and Andranik Teymourian.
Zob Ahan, the only Iran side to reach the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League, have been rewarded by having four players in the side while top clubs Sepahan, Esteghlal and Pirouzi provide 11 in total.
Other star players such as Javad Nekounam and Masoud Shojaei were not included because of club commitments in Europe.
Iran training camp squad
Seyed Mehdi Rahmati, Hadi Aghili, Khosro Heidari, Seyed Jalal Hosseini, Ehsan Haj Safi (all Sepahan); Iman Mobali, Farzad Ashoobi, Hanif Omranzade, Milad Maydavoodi (all Esteghlal); Shahab Gordan, Mohammad Reza Khalatbari, Seyed Mohamad Hosseini , Qasem Haddadi Far (all Zob Ahan); Ali Karimi, Mehrzad Madanchi, Hassan Ashjary, Milad Zenidpour(all Steel Azin); Alireza Haghighi, Hadi Norouzi, Gholamreza Rezaei (all Perspolis); Mohammad Nosrati (Tabriz Tractor); Pejman Nouri ( Bandar Anzali ); Karim Ansari far (Saipa); Ebrahim Mirzapoor (Peykan); Andranik Teymourian (free agent).