Part 2 of 32: The Iranian Interview
I caught up with Farhad Andalibi for Part 2 of the series. Farhad is the webmaster of Iranian Football website IranGoals.com. Almost 18 years old, football captivated Farhad ever since he was a kid. He started following Team Melli from the Asian Cup held in 1996. A passionate Iranian fan if you ever will find one, I thank Farhad for agreeing to this interview.
Tell us a bit about the Road to the World Cup � the qualification, and the emotions the fans went through at the time.
We were all confident that we would qualify to the World Cup this time, but there were some unforgettable moments indeed. The 0-1 loss to Jordan at home was a shocking moment for all of us. We were playing much better than Jordan but one chance was enough for them while we missed more than 10 excellent chances.
But we still had another 90 minutes to go in Amman. One unforgettable thing about this match was that Vahid Hashemian came back again to play for Team Melli after refusing to play for a long time. Thanks to Ali Daei and AliReza Vahedi-Nikbakht who both scored a goal we won this match.
The most shocking and emotional moment was definetely the match against Qatar. After just eight minutes Vahid Hashemian scored the first goal of the match and we all were waiting for he second goal, but instead Qatar scored the equalizer. Again in the second half, Iran started with many goal scoring chances but all chances were wasted by Team Melli. Then only fifteen minutes from the end Yahya Golmohammadi scored an own goal. It wasn’t his fault but everyone was disappointed.
Even the commentator of Tapesh TV thought our WC dreams were over. But only 3 minutes later Borhani finished a beautiful pass of Kaebi and the game was level again. Finally in the last minute of the game we got what we deserved. Vahid Hashemian scored the third goal for Iran and we were qualified to the second round…
Give us a brief summary of your country’s footballing history.
From the moment football was introduced in Iran it became a football crazy country. Everyone loves football in Iran. Even a lot women watch it. Kids start to play ‘gol kuchik’ (street football) at the age of 4. There is no place in Iran where they don’t play football. The problem has always been that Iran has a lot talented players but we don’t have good facilities and we lack good scouts and coaches. We were improving a lot in 1978 when we qualified to the World Cup for the first time but because of the revolution in Iran and the war with Iraq we had to start over again.
What style of football does the national team play?
We played very offensive in the past but that didn’t worked out good always so our current coach Branko Ivankovic introduced a new very effective tactic which allows the players to play defensive and offensive football at the same time.
What do you think your country’s prospects are for the future?
We have talented players. There are a lot young Iranians playing abroad and in a few years a we will see a lot new players in our team. Also teams like Persepolis en Foolad Khuzestan are spending now a lot money on the youth so that these talented players will be discovered.
How do you expect your country to perform at the World Cup?
Although Mexico and Portugal are the favorites in our group, I think we still have a very good chance to make it to the next round. Probably our most important match is our first match against Mexico. If we win that one we most probably will qualify to the second round.
Who will be the most important player for your country?
I think all of our players will play good. If you asked me this last year I would go for Javad Nekounam because he was never out of form, although he is getting back to his form again its difficult to say if he is going to play as good as last year. Therefore I choose Mehdi Mahdavikia.
Which player in your country’s side would you most like to get rid of?
None, its up to the coach to select the team. The only thing that I can do as a fan is support them.
Who are the players to watch from the other countries?
There are a lot players that are good enough to be listed here, but I will choose 3 youngsters from the other countries which I think will play very good: Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
What will be your excuse in the event of failure?
I am not thinking of a failure of Team Melli.
Have you got the right manager?
Branco Ivankovich brought us to the World Cup, the players like him and he knows our team very well as he is coaching this team for more than four years. So yes he is the right manager in my opinion.
What advice would you give him?
The only thing I can do as a fan is to support him and the team.
Which team do you most want to beat?
Portugal.
Which opposition player will get the most stick?
Borgetti, Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Where will you watch the matches?
I will be in the stadium.
How keenly will the World Cup be followed in your country?
Everyone will watch is. Iran is a ‘football crazy’ country.
Who will be the player of the tournament?
Ronaldinho.
Who will win the Golden Boot?
Wayne Rooney.
Which team will disappoint the most and why?
Holland, because I don’t think they will make it to the second round.
Who will be the surprise team of the tournament and why?
Serbia & Montenegro. Everyone is thinking of Ivory Coast, Holland and Argentina in Group D while Serbia & Montenegro played the best football out of all these teams in the World Cup qualification matches.
Finally, Who will win the World Cup? Why?
Brazil, because they have three superb players for every position. Of course you can’t win the World Cup with only good players but they also play superb football so I can’t think of any team that could stop them from winning the World Cup.
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I hope you enjoyed part 2. Follow up questions for Farhad can be emailed to me at pratyushkhaitan[@]gmail[.]com Also, feel free to contact me if you would like to be interviewed or know a friend who would like/could be interviewed. Specific questions for specific countries which might pop in your mind in due course may also be sent. Coming up next is the interview from England.
For the rest of the interviews, check out the World Cup interview series page.
Tags: FIFA World Cup 2006, Football Interview Series, Iranian Football.
