The Fall of Iranian Football

A performance that can only be described as typical of Team Melli over the past 18 months at least. Harsher critics would argue that the slide of Team Melli began during Branko Ivankovic's last year in charge of the national side, in mid-2005.

A number of factors, each deserving their own open forum, can be traced to why the national team is not producing what Iranians believe to be their potential. For so long, Branko Ivankovic and Ali Daei had been made scapegoats, but it now appears that there are far more pressing concerns at hand. One which I believe is at the center of the problems is that true talent is being dried up in Iran. One is perplexed to remember the last time a natural goal scorer came through the ranks in a country populated by 70 million. Some people may argue that players like Enayati had talent but they were not given the chance during an era ruled by Ali Daei. That argument is feeble in my opinion as whilst Enayati did score regularly at domestic level, he never possessed that extra aura that is required to be a success on international level, even in Asia against Asian opposition. He never grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck in the way Younes Mahmoud of Iraq, for instance, does for Iraq regularly.

The golden generation of Iranian football, who largely comprised the Olympic Team of 2002, including Mobali, Kazemian, Nikbakht, Nosrati, Mirzapour, Borhani and Kaabi have yet to realize their true potential. This comes down to a combination of factors. Some of them have had ample time to prove themselves, at international level but haven't. Others blow hot and cold regularly, yet believe that they should be the centerpieces of the occasion. Such undeservedly huge egos have done nothing for the progress of the national side. From among the names mentioned, one only truly feels a bit for Iman Mobali, whose vision, creativity and technique have largely been hampered by the fact that he has not really been given a run of starting consecutive games in a row for the national side, despite the fact that his form has never really dipped to an alarming low. Mobali, now 26, has possibly missed the boat to Europe at the right age and with it his chance to develop and realize his potential.

Next, comes the problem of players that are past their best, yet still being given central roles in Team Melli. One could name quite a few that fit the bill here, including a certain former golden boy of Iranian football, but at the same time we can sympathize with the coach who has to replace former "names" with a new breed that largely does not raise the hairs on the back of your neck when you watch them play. The last Iranian player that came through the ranks that truly caught one's imagination was Massoud Shojaei. Two and a half years on, Shojaei is playing in the UAE, has not figured much for the national team and has not developed any further than he had at the age of 21.

Iran's inability to grab headlines at youth level in Asia should not go unnoticed. Whilst previous no-bodies like Syria and Jordan among others have begun to develop players at youth level, testified by their improvement at the youth tournaments, Iranian footballers have failed to make an impact in recent years, unlike their counterparts in Volleyball and Basketball. The true effect of this will be seen in 3-5 years when some of the current senior players need replacing. But the future does not seem bright at the moment, and no one can complain that it had not been coming, because the reality has been clear to most rational Iranians over the past few years. However, this is not to discount that there are some that still believe that Iranian football is all rosy and all that remains is for the world's greatest coach, who is waiting on a bus stop ready to be picked up by the IFF, to come and patch a couple of small deficiencies up, especially as our current stock of players are the best in Asia, at least according to them. Living in such a world must be nice for some. For others, it is scary to imagine what the future holds unless some major changes are made, both in the short-term and preparing for the longer-term. But as we all know, this is unlikely to happen.

Whilst not denying that there are other issues at hand, including tactical coaching, man-management, motivation, organization, and professionalism, sometimes if the student does not display the aptitude necessary, then no teacher can truly teach him anything. This is besides the argument that the teacher must at least know something to teach, which must be a given. So many players, from Team Melli have tried to put their foot down to Europe but have failed miserably and returned to a hero's welcome anyway back home (to the UAE) or to Iran. Should we be believing that they were really good enough to make the journey in Europe in the first place, or should we be thanking the super-agents that are actually selling them to clubs abroad?

For now, one can only hope that pride, dignity, adrenaline, and some basic coaching and man-management skills, which probably no Iranian has, can carry Team Melli to the World Cup in 2010. If Javier Clemente agrees to take over, then one can only hope that some tactical discipline is at least injected into the side and that we begin to display something that at least comes close to being labelled football.