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Society & Culture

The Carlos Queiroz Story: From A Failed Expulsion to The President’s Praise

June 26, 2016
8 min read
A member of Iran’s national football squad holds one of the “magic balls” Queiroz’ presented to the team prior to their World Cup games
A member of Iran’s national football squad holds one of the “magic balls” Queiroz’ presented to the team prior to their World Cup games
Prior to the 2014 World Cup championship getting underway in Brazil, Sports Minister Mahmoud Goodarzi tried to replace Queiroz
Prior to the 2014 World Cup championship getting underway in Brazil, Sports Minister Mahmoud Goodarzi tried to replace Queiroz
Immediately after Iran's exit from the World Cup, the Ministry of Sports entered into negotiations with Safet Sušić, Bosnia’s head coach
Immediately after Iran's exit from the World Cup, the Ministry of Sports entered into negotiations with Safet Sušić, Bosnia’s head coach
Khosro Heydari (right) holds up one Queiroz’s inspirational tennis balls before the game against Argentina
Khosro Heydari (right) holds up one Queiroz’s inspirational tennis balls before the game against Argentina
If the referee had declared a foul after an Argentinian player tripped Ashkan Dejagah, everything might have been different
If the referee had declared a foul after an Argentinian player tripped Ashkan Dejagah, everything might have been different
Queiroz objects to a referee decision during the Iran-Argentina game
Queiroz objects to a referee decision during the Iran-Argentina game

 

In the fourth part of our series on Carlos Queiroz, Payan Yunesipour looks at the obstacles the manager of the Iranian national football team continued to face, even as he got closer to securing a place for the team in the FIFA World Cup. Many of Iran’s sporting officials are united in their belief that the Iranian team must have an Iranian manager, regardless of that manager’s experience or achievements, and this has been a constant issue for Queiroz’s reputation in Iran. Despite some of the more petty arguments for his removal — including anger over the team’s uniform — he continued to work hard to make sure Team Melli made it to the World Cup, and to win the respect of the team.

*******

 

It never takes long for the Iranian public — or at least sporting officials – to get tired of the national football team’s managers. From 1997 to 1998, the team was managed by Tomislav Ivić, a Croatian footballer and manager who was considered to be one of the most brilliant strategists and innovators in the history of modern football. But just two weeks before the 1998 World Cup, Iran fired him. The same thing happened to Miroslav Blažević, the Bosnian Croat head coach, in 2001. According to FIFA, Blažević was one of the best coaches around in the late 1990s, having successfully engineered the Croatian national team to the World Cup for the first time. The team came third in the tournament. Blažević then went to Iran, and it nearly destroyed his career.

Then it was the turn of Branko Ivanković, who had been Blažević’s assistant before taking over as head coach. But during his tenure from 2002 to 2006, he did not have an easy time. Mohammad Dadkan, the head of the football federation at the time, later gave an example of this. “It was so painful to hear it,” he told a group of Iranian reporters at a friendly gathering. “When our plane took off from Tehran airport [for Germany] he told me, ‘only now I am sure that I am the coach of the national team.’”

But Carlos Queiroz did not suffer from such self-doubt. He did, however, offer his resignation twice before the 2014 World Cup competition in Brazil got underway. His reason both times was that Mahmoud Goodarzi, the country’s new sports minister, continuously found faults with him.

Prior to the Brazil World Cup, Goodarzi had a meeting with the editorial board of the newspaper Iran, during which he said, “The national team was at the training camp in South Africa. I noticed Mr. Queiroz was overstepping his authority by talking about the national team’s clothing. I called Ali Kafashian [then head of Iran’s Football Federation] and told him to immediately recall him to Iran and replace him with Hossein Faraki. But this gentleman has become completely wilful. He said no!” At the meeting, Goodarzi also told the editors of the newspaper that his statements were not for publication.

Three days before the meeting, Mohsen Safaei Farahani, the former president of the football federation, gave an exclusive interview to the same editorial board, talking about how he had promoted Iran to the wider world. “I took advantage of the [1998] World Cup in France,” he told them. “We purchased billboard space in all the towns that were hosting Iran — not with the federation’s money, but with the help of the government and the Foreign Ministry. The Physical Education Organization also helped us...we displayed photographs of Persepolis and other historical sites to the French, in the heart of France.” 

When Goodarzi visited the newspaper a few days later, the editors asked him whether the new Sports Ministry would again take advantage of the World Cup to introduce Iran to the world. President Rouhani’s sports minister smirked and said, “the World Cup is not a film festival for us to show off. We are only supposed to play football there.”

Carlos Queiroz had to deal with these sorts of petty disputes, just as all the other previous “westerners” who had managed the national team before him did. Iranian coaches had launched a campaign against “alien managers” long before he came in. In 2006, Majid Jalali, head coach of Pas Tehran Football Team, wrote a protest letter to President Ahmadinejad. Speaking to Radio Javan in 2012, Iranian footballer Bijan Zolfagharnasab said Jalali had waited in the sun for hours for Ahmadinejad’s car so that he could deliver his letter in person. The contents read: “The position of the head coach of the national team rightfully belongs to an Iranian Muslim.” 

Before the 2014 Brazil World Cup, Jalali met with the Minister of Sports and delivered the same message. His efforts to oust Carlos Queiroz had the support of a number of Iranian coaches. One of their primary arguments for Queiroz’s removal was that he had refused to allow goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati back on to the team. Rahmati had quit after hearing that Queiroz had been speaking to Iranian-German Daniel Davari about joining the squad.

But the most serious quarrel between the Sports Ministry and Carlos Queiroz started over uniforms. Iran’s football federation had entered into negotiations with Puma SE, a major German sports apparel manufacturer, but the Sports Ministry vetoed the negotiations, and a third-rate German company was chosen instead. Queiroz objected to the quality, and insisted that the uniforms shrunk after washing. Goodarzi called for Queiroz to be expelled. Speaking at the 2014 meeting with the editorial board of Iran newspaper, Goodarzi accused Queiroz of wanting a percentage of the sale from the apparel manufacturer.

But Queiroz stayed and chose the lineup for the national team. He brought in Alireza Haghighi to succeed Mehdi Rahmati as the goalkeeper and even made room for the midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh. But while Queiroz remained in his job, Goodarzi ordered that Ali Kafashian, head of the football federation, be banned from even entering the offices of the Sports Ministry.

For the team’s players, it was sufficient that Queiroz had stayed. Defender Pejman Montazeri, who played in the team’s match in Rio De Janeiro, had a story about Queiroz. “That night I had quarreled with my family in Iran,” he said. “When I left my room in the morning I met Carlos. As soon as he looked at my face he said, ‘you didn’t sleep well last night. Who were you arguing with? Why?’” According to Montazeri, Queiroz could tell what was going on with his players just by looking at them and the expressions on their faces. He could tell whether they had slept well, what they were thinking, and whether they were afraid. 

But for all that his sports minister was against the Iranian team’s manager, President Rouhani sang Queiroz’s praise to the media. After Iran’s first game of the World Cup on June 14, 2014, when the team tied 0-0 with African champion Nigeria, Rouhani tweeted: “I am proud of our boys for their first success. I hope other successes are on the way.” Rouhani had promised that if the national team made some good news, he would also have some good news to give the people. He was of course alluding to the ongoing nuclear negotiations.

Iran’s game against Argentina on June 21 would undoubtedly be remembered for Iranian national football’s most memorable game — second only to its victory over the United States during the 1998 World Cup. In a press conference before the game with Argentina started, Khosro Heydari showed reporters the tennis balls Queiroz had given to each of the players on the Iranian team. “Carlos has given each of us balls with inscriptions on them,” he said. “He himself had prepared the 23 balls. Each ball has the first six letters of six important words: Self-sacrifice, responsibility, the objective (goal), enjoyment (through practicing and competition), team spirit and positive energy.” Heydari said the players kept the mementos with them at all times.  

Iran lost to Argentina 0-1. But commentators from across the sport were extremely impressed with the Iranian National Football Team’s performance. Argentina had only two real chances to score. Sergio Aguero had the first chance, but his kick was palmed away by the Iranian goalkeeper Haghighi. Lionel Messi created the second, and scored a goal in the last minutes of the game. “Our panthers played excellently,” said President Rouhani in a message to the team. “You did not deserve the score, but your effort was extraordinary. Keep your heads high.”

Perhaps if the referee Milorad Mazic had declared a penalty after the Argentinian Pablo Zabaleta took out Ashkan Dejagah, if Jalal Hosseini’s header had penetrated the Argentinian goal, if Dejagah’s kick had not been brilliantly blocked by Sergio Romero, if Ghoochannejhad kick had been more powerful and accurate — then, on that day Carlos Queiroz would have become a legendary figure for Iranian football.

The June 25 match against Bosnia provided Iran a chance, however small, to rise in the ranks. That day, the city of Salvador was swept by rain and storms and Iran lost 1-3 to Bosnia. That day, Queiroz told the media he was saying goodbye to Iranian football.

A reporter for the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun put a question to Queiroz: “As the greatest coach of Asian football at present,” he asked, “what do you believe is the reason for the lack of success by Asian teams in this World Cup?” All of Asia was waiting for his answer, he said.

Just as the reporter was referring to Queiroz as the greatest coach in Asia, two senior officials from Iran’s Sports Ministry, also in Brazil, began negotiations with Bosnia’s head coach Safet Sušić, with a view to hiring him as Carlos Queiroz’s replacement. Queiroz had of course submitted resigned verbally, but the Sports Ministry wanted to make sure that he was really going.

 

Read part one: Sports, Politics and the International Stage

Read part two: From Generational Change to Change in Management

Read part three: From a Populist to a Gentleman

 

 

 

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