Afshin Ghotbi is the new Iran Coach

Ghotbi only moved to Iran in July 2007 to take charge of Perspolis, after leaving his job as an assistant to Pim Verbeek in South Korea national team. He won the championship with Perspolis in his first season, and became a favourite with the fans who nicknamed him "the emperor".

Ghotbi's first match will be against North Korea on 06 June 2009. Iran needs a win in this game to have any chance of qualification to the 2010 World Cup. Iran will face UAE in Tehran on 10 June 2009, and then end their campaign with an away fixture in Korea a week later.

Ghotbi is a former assistant coach for the US national team and Los Angeles Galaxy. He also worked for Korea national football team under Dutchman Guus Hiddink from December 2000 till July 2002 as a technical analyst and under Dick Advocaat from October 2005 until July 2006.

After leaving Tehran at the age of 13, Ghotbi, now 45, played the game in California before building a reputation as one of the nation’s brightest coaching prospects. That reputation earned him a spot on the coaching staff of the United States at the 1998 World Cup, an experience that included watching his native country defeat his adopted one 2-1 in Lyon. Nine years later, Ghotbi was again on the sidelines watching Iran as the assistant coach of South Korea. This time he was on the winning side as Team Melli were eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the Asian Cup.
 
Ghotbi now has the unenviable task of steering Iran to the World Cup, in what many see as mission impossible, with Iran 4 point adrift of Saudi Arabia who are third in the table.