Interview with Behrang Safari

IranSportsPress - Behrang Safari, born in 1985, is the new kid on the block. Behrang has been moved up to the A-team of Malmö FF from the Junior team.

IranSportsPress - Behrang Safari, born in 1985, is the new kid on the block. Behrang has been moved up to the A-team of Malmö FF from the Junior team. Malmö are the big favorites to win the championship this season after spending lots of money on transfers, bringing in the likes of Patrik Andersson from Barcelona.

Malmö FF was founded in 1910. It took the club 20 years to be promoted to the highest division, Allsvenskan. The club has stayed in this league ever since, for the exception of five years. In 1951 the team had 49 straight league games without loss. In 1957 Malmö had an average attendence of over 15,000 spectators.

In 1966 the club played its first ever european cup game, getting knocked out by Atletico Madrid. Two years later they beat AC Milan at home but lost in San Siro with a score of 4-0 and lost on aggregate to the Italians.

Bob Houghton was their coach during the years 1974-1980. Malmö played in one of the European Cupes in every year during Houghton's time. In 79 Malmö beat Austria Wien in the UEFA Cup semifinal to face Nottingham Forrest in the Olympia Stadium in Munich, infront of 70 000 spectators.

Roy Hodsgon was the coach from 1985-1990. In 89 Malmö eliminated Inter Milan from the UEFA Cup.

In year 2000 Zlatan Ibrahimovic made a name for him self while still being a teenager. The year before Malmö had been relegated from Allsvenskan but won promotion the next year. Never has a player not playing in Allsvenskan had so much attention on him as Zlatan had this year.

Zlatan left Malmö for around 10 million dollars the next year to Ajax Amsterdam, still being only a teenager.

Malmö had an average attendence of 18,715 in 2003.

ISP's Naveed Moula has been talking exclusively to Behrang Safari.

ISP: Tell us about yourself.

Safari: I came with to Sweden as a two year old from Iran together with my family. I have one sister and one brother. We settled down in a small town called Höganäs. We later moved to Lund when I was five, and we still live in Lund. (Lund is a small town, just outside Malmö. Malmö is the third biggest city in Sweden.)

ISP: When did you start playing football?

Safari: I started playing with my brother in Höganäs as a very young kid. When we moved to Lund I started to play my first club-football being around 6-7 years old. This was in Lunds SK, which I played my football for until I signed with Malmö. In Lund I was playing for their senior team which played in the 4^th division, but as one day I heard our junior team will play against the Malmö junior team I asked my coaches if I could play in this game. The Malmö coach liked my game and i participated in a youth camp two weeks later. I later signed a youth contract with Malmö and played B-team matches with them. Prior to start of this season, I was offered an apprentice contract with the Malmö Senior team. This meant that i was able to train with the senior team but could mainly play with the B-team.

ISP: What position do you play? What do you think of your trainer Tom Prahl?

Safari: I play mostly as a left midfielder. We have changed our system to a 3-5-2 this year so I will have both some defensive and offensive duties. Tom is a very good trainer, known as one of the best in Sweden. He has a lot to teach and I am thankful for having him as my coach.

Joseph Elanga is my main competitor in the team, he has been a regular for a few seasons now and I will have to fight hard to get a chance in the first team. My main goal this season is to play as much as possible for the first team. Bit it is going to be hard since we have such a good squad this season.

ISP: What do you think of the Swedish league (Allsvenskan)? Do you have any contact with other Iranians playing in the league?

Safari: Well since I am yet to play in the highest division it is a bit difficult for me to judge how strong the league is. Although the football is played on a high level, it should still be difficult to compare it with the best leagues in Europe.

ISP: How was your training camp in La Manga?

Safari: The main goal of the camp was to get a good feeling in the team. We were practicing once or twice a day, but they were not too tough. We also played two games against Norwegian teams.

ISP: Would you say that you are an Iranian or a Swedish?

Safari: I would say I'm an Iranian who has been growing up in Sweden. I feel like being an foreigner in my home-country.

ISP: What do you know on Iranian football?

Safari: I know very little and I don't know much about the IPL either.

ISP: How do you see your future?

Safari: I want to become a big player here in Sweden first of all. Then I want to play in Europe. Juventus is my favorite team. Ronaldinho is one of my absolute favorite players. He has great technique and a big heart for playing football.

ISP: Anything you want to add?

Safari: Thank you for giving me this opportunity!

ISP: Thank You and good luck!

Note: Safari played his first game ever in Allsvenskan last week as he came on as a substitute. Malmö won the game 5-1, which was their second straight 5-1 win.