Call’em up to camp!

Over the last two years there has been a debate over inviting foreign born Iranian footballers to national team camp. Midfielder Freydoon Zandi is one who successfully made the move. Zandi was born in Germany of a German mother and Iranian father. His Persian is not that fluent, but he has managed to win the hearts of the Iranian fans with his performance and personality on and off the pitch.

There are many more like Zandi, but apparently there is a reluctance to invite them. About a year ago, the news leaked that Coach Branko Ivankovic was going to invite a few of these young men to Iran’s training camp. There was uproar in Iranian newspapers against this move!

Personally, I think it is stupid not to invite these young men, especially those who can clearly help the team. Babak Behrad makes his case in an article titled “Iran should learn from Bosnia’s mistake”