Despite the disappointing draw in Pyongyang, Coach Afshin Ghotbi maintains his trademark optimism about the team’s chances of qualifying for South Africa 2010.
Is it too little too yet? Did Ghotbi’s appointment happen too late in the campaign? Should Iran fail to qualify, should the Iranian football authorities retain ghotbi’s services for rebuilding the team?
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Well, I am trying to be very optimistic friends, but things don’t look good! We dropped two points in Pyongyang, which means we must win the next two games against UAE and South Korea if we hope to have a shot at an automatic spot in South Africa this summer.
Even if we defeat UAE [...]

Hi fans,
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for the game to start. There are three hours to go before kickoff. If you are still out there, drop a note and share your thoughts.
Doo doo roo doo doo ……..IRAN!!!!

OK Team Melli fans, the clock is ticking! We have less than 48 hours to the kickoff. I live in California so we get to watch it live on Fox Soccer Channel at 1:00 AM, but many of you live in other parts of the world and I have been getting emails from you asking [...]

The Boys are in Peking now. After their match with China, the team made the three hour trip to Peking.
Osasuna midfielder Masoud Shojaei joined the team, but did not take part in the light training session due to exhaustion caused by his long trip from Spain. However, Ali Karimi and Khosrow Heidari, who had missed [...]

Hossein Kaebi must be in a funny position these days. The Team Melli defender played a few unhappy months for Coach Afshin Ghotbi in Perspolis FC. He then left Perspolis to play for Saipa under then coach Ali Daei, who later became Team Melli coach.
After his move, the little defender made a few ill advised [...]

According to Mehdi Taj, IRIFF Vice President, Head Coach Afshin Ghotbi has invited striker Ali Karimi and midfielders Pejman Nouri and Maziar Zare to Team Melli training. The three players are scheduled to join the team starting Tuesday.

Team Melli is scheduled to have a practice game against their U23 counterparts on Friday, Head Coach Afshin Ghotbi told the reporters. The match will take place behind closed doors.
Team Melli has a crucial WC Qualifier date with Korea DPR on June 29.
The team’s schedule in 2009 is as follows; however, more friendly matches may [...]

Team Melli Coach Afshin Ghotbi released a list of 41 players who will be invited to the team’s training camp. Most notable are Ali Karimi and Iman Mobali who were overlooked by Ali Daei.
There are also a few veterans such as Mohammad Nosrati and Rahman ezaei who had not seen international action for a while.
Ghotbi [...]

Afshin Ghotbi had an interview with Jack Bell of The New York Times Soccer Blog three days before he was appointed the Head Coach of the Iranian National team.
 
The interview is interesting from a few different perspectives, but what intrigues most in fans in North America is the fact that he is, like many of [...]