Football
Reuters 18y

Soccer-World-Iran need new management after World Cup exit

By Annika Breidthardt

BERLIN, June 22 - Iran were left to find new
leadership on Thursday, a day after their hopes for at least one
victory at the World Cup were shattered by finishing bottom of
their group with one point.

Iran's coach Branko Ivankovic said after the 1-1 draw
against Angola on Wednesday he was now looking for new
challenges, while the head of the football federation was sacked
and an official apology extended to the nation.

"The Physical Education Organisation apologises to the
Iranian nation for its wounded pride," authorities said.

Iran failed to win a single match in their third World Cup
finals, losing 2-0 to Portugal and 3-1 to Mexico before drawing
with Angola, and missed their own target of making it through to
the second round.

FADING FAST

The team that had hailed themselves as Iran's best ever
side, simply did not have the experience to keep up 90 minutes
at a time, with the younger players' power fading fast in the
second halves.

The more experienced members of the squad, some of whom play
for clubs abroad, were plagued by injuries and never got into
full form, with FC Bayern's Ali Karimi just one case in point.

But on Wednesday, Iran midfielder Mehdi Mahdavikia said they
should have won.

"There is no question we were the better side. We also
created better chances and it is a real shame we did not
capitalise on them," he told reporters.

"We are out of the World Cup with just a single point to our
name and we should have done better. That is annoying."

Still, while there are question marks over who will coach
Iran in the future, Mahdavikia said the mix of old players --
such as 37-year-old record scorer Ali Daei -- and young players
stood the team in good stead for the future.

If Iran's players were disappointed with their early
elimination, their departure helped scupper a potential
diplomatic run-in.

Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had left open
whether he would visit the World Cup, has faced criticism across
Europe in the past for inflammatory remarks about Israel and
statements questioning whether the Holocaust happened.

While European leaders stopped short of banning him from
visiting, they made it clear he would have faced a frosty
welcome.

^ Back to Top ^