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Sports

The 2010s: A New Golden Age of Iranian Football

August 28, 2022
Payam Younesipour
2 min read
Several Iran Pro League clubs including Tractor FC enjoyed a golden era of foreign coaching in the mid-2010s
Several Iran Pro League clubs including Tractor FC enjoyed a golden era of foreign coaching in the mid-2010s
Branko Ivanković led both Persepolis and the Iranian national team
Branko Ivanković led both Persepolis and the Iranian national team
Winfried Schäfer filed a complaint over unpaid wages after he was sacked from Esteghlal FC
Winfried Schäfer filed a complaint over unpaid wages after he was sacked from Esteghlal FC
The Turkish coach Mustafa Denizli formerly managed both Persepolis and Tractor Sazi
The Turkish coach Mustafa Denizli formerly managed both Persepolis and Tractor Sazi

This article is part of a 22-part miniseries on the history and stars of Iranian football released ahead of Iran's participation in Group B of the 2022 Qatar World Cup in November. You can explore the rest of the series here.

 

From 2011 until late 2019 successive well-known European and South American football coaches had spells working in Iran. They in turn fostered a new generation of players, ushering in dramatic changes in physical fitness, training style and tactical understanding.

Carlos Queiroz was, of course, first among them as the head coach of Team Melli. So critical was he to the club’s future that Ali Saeedlou, then-head of the Physical Education Organization, claimed the then-president of Iran himself, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had personally sought out Queiroz for the role.

The appointment sparked off a trend within the Pro League clubs: shortly afterward in June 2011, Persepolis signed a contract with the Portuguese coach Manuel Jose, formerly of Egypt’s Al-Ahly and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad. This was a less than successful partnership; three Iranian managers later, Persepolis landed on the Croatian coach Branko Ivanković. During his tenure the club won three Pro League championships and one runner-up title.

Esteghlal, the traditional rival of Persepolis, which in the past tended toward drawing head coaches from within its own ranks, began hiring European coaches in 2017. The first was Mick McDermott, a former assistant coach under Carlos Queiroz on the national team, followed by the German Winfred Schaefer less than a month later. In June 2019, the mantle was taken up by the Italian Andrea Stramaccioni.

Elsewhere, Sepahan FC of Isfahan had drafted in the Croatian Zlatko Kranjčar as its head coach in 2010 and retained him until 2013. He was followed by Igor Stimac, also from Croatia, from 2015 to 2016 before returning again himself in 2017.

Tractor Club was also overseen by Tony Olvera from 2012 to 2013, then again in 2014 and 2015, followed by Ertugrul Saglam in 2017 and the Welsh coach John Toshack the following year. Toshack was formerly head coach of the Welsh and Macedonian national teams, as well as Real Madrid. He was succeeded in 2019 by Georges Leekens, former head coach of Belgium, Tunisia, Algeria and Hungary.

Other European managers including the Turkish national Mustafa Denizli, the Croatians Dragan Skočić and Luka Bonačić, the Montenegrian Miodrag Radulović and Serbian Milić Ćurčić have been on the scene in the same period. The presence of this many foreigners in clubs and the Pro League reinvigorated Iranian football and is paying dividends today as Team Melli prepares for the World Cup.

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