Ali Daei Named as New Iran Head Coach

The news was announced by the head of Iranian Football Federation, Ali Kafashian, on Iranian state TV on Sunday afternoon. It was widely expected that the current Perspolis head coach, Afshin Ghotbi, to be appointed for the job, but disagreements between the Iranian Football Federation, and Iran's Physical Education Organisation meant that Kafashian made a last minute U-turn, and appointed Daei instead.

After accepting the job, Daei said "I held some talks with officials from Iranian Football Federation, and we soon reached an agreement. It is an honour for me to be Team Melli head coach".

Kafashian announced that Daei is free to pick his assistants. "Daei has to decide whether he would want the current assistant coaches (Ebrahimzadeh, and Peyrovani) to continue. It is up to him to determine who is going to be his assistants in Team Melli".

Kafashian explained that he made the final decision on the appointment of the coach. "I was given complete freedom by the board members of Iranian Football Federation to pick the next Team Melli coach, and I decided that Daei was the right man for the job. He has been one of the best ever players in Iran and Asia, and he won the league last year with Saipa. He is young, and motivated, and I believe he can have great achievements as Team Melli coach too".

"After examining Ali Daei's plans, he was officially named as head coach of the national team," said Kafashian. "Initial talks were held with Ali Daei over the past days and today we held a meeting with him where he submitted his plans to the federation," he added. "He will bring all his plans for the national team and do his best at the level of head coach, like he did when he was one of the world's best players," Kafashian told state television. "Tomorrow he starts his work as head coach and he has full authority. His chief plan is to take the team for the World Cup," said Kafashian. 

Daei, 39, joined Iran's national soccer team as a striker in 1993 and was capped 151 times for the Iranian national team, including two different World Cups, scoring an historically 110 national team goals. Second in history behind Daei comes Puskas with 84 goals and third Pelé with 77 goals. Ali Karimi and Mehdi Mahdavikia are the second and third most capped Iranian players ever, both having over one hundred caps.

It will be interesting to see how Ali Daei deals with players he has openly had rows with in the past. The list includes Ali Karimi and Iman Mobali among others.