January 24-2014
. . . not happy
Coach Carlos Queiroz says Iran’s preparations for the World Cup are far behind schedule with no friendly matches nailed down, no overseas training camp planned and less than five months to go before the opening game.
In an interview last week with Agence France Presse (AFP), Queiroz sounded disillusioned, angry with the Iranian government for providing no help, and prepared for dismal defeat.
Queiroz said he hopes his side can overcome poor preparations to make an impact at the World Cup finals in Brazil, but admits that is a huge task.
The team, known among fans as Teem Melli (national team), will be competing in their fourth World Cup finals after previous appearances in 1978, 1998 and 2006. They will face Argentina, Nigeria and Bosnia in the opening round in Group F.
“This is our mission impossible—once, twice and three times,” Queiroz said, sounding very depressed. The 60-year-old Portuguese took charge as head coach in April 2011.
Iran is Asia’s top-ranked team, but Queiroz told AFP his squad lacks the quality needed to make a serious impact.
He conceded a loss to Argentina, ranked third in the world, and said that game is simply to be enjoyed with the pressure off. “You have to pay millions of dollars to play a friendly match against Argentina, but my players have won this game with their sweat,” he said.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to face a team that plays with that player [Lionel Messi] who is not human.”
No one expects Teem Melli to win the World Cup, but after being wiped out in the first round of three World Cup finals, the goal and the wish is simply to advance to the next level, the round of 16. In order to advance, Iran must emerge from Group F as one of the top team; in other words, it doesn’t need to beat Argentina.
As for their chances of qualifying for the round of 16, Queiroz said the players have “a duty to try our luck” even if it seems like “an unrealistic dream.”
In 2010, he coached his native Portugal at the World Cup in South Africa, taking them to the round of 16 where they lost 1-0 to eventual winners Spain.
And Queiroz came to Iran to duplicate that feat. But he is no longer confident he can do that. He said preparations for this year’s finals are a daily struggle in a country whose access to the global banking system has been cut due to international sanctions.
As a result, a scheduled training camp in Portugal was canceled in September due to a lack of funds, and Queiroz admits Iran are some way behind in their plans.
“We lost six months. I hope we will be able to find a solution as nothing is clearly scheduled for the moment,” he said, bemoaning the lack of financial support.
The Ahmadi-nejad Administration cut funding. There were positive noises when Hassan Rohani took office, but more funding has not come through.
Despite the difficulties, Queiroz believes the passion for the game in Iran can help spring a surprise or two in Brazil.
“Iranians have soccer in their blood and soul. You don’t need to promote soccer through marketing here,” he said. “It is amazing to see that—with so few resources and capabilities—the federation [that runs Iranian soccer] has achieved so much.
“With its potential, imagine what Iran could achieve if it had the resources of Qatar.”
When Queiroz took over as coach, he arrived to find a national federation he described as “lethargic, lacking ambition.”
He tried to make changes, including bringing in Iranian players with dual nationality, such as Daniel Davari of Germany’s Eintracht Braun-schweig, Fulham, England’s, midfielder Ashkan Dejagah, who was raised in Germany, Dutch-Iranian striker Reza Ghoochan-nejad and, most recently, American-born right-back Steven Beitashour of the San Jose Earthquakes.
However, his said he found his efforts met with skepticism.
“In a conservative society like Iran, it is not easy to talk about reform and change of habits. It is not easy in Iran, not easy in other parts of the world.
“We cannot be competitive without international experience. The only thing here similar to professional soccer is that, at the end of the month, players get their salaries.
“But my commitment to Iranians is to make them happy. This is our World Cup, this is our time to tell the world that Iran is a soccer country.”
Since the draw in early December placed Iran in Group F with Argentina, Nigeria and Bosnia, FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, has issued new team rankings that rate Iran higher and Nigeria lower.
In the November rankings before the draw, Iran was rated the worst team among the four. But now Iran has advanced and Nigeria slipped so that Iran is ranked third. Here are the global rankings of the four teams.
Nov Jan
Argentina 3 3
Bosnia 21 19
Iran 45 34
Nigeria 36 41