October 28 2001

Frank O'Farrell briefly managed Manchester United, but had happier times in charge of Iran

Our man in Tehran
 

A year after being sacked from Manchester United , his court business settled, Frank O'Farrell joined Cardiff City, and helped them avoid relegation to the second division. It was then that Iran came calling. A devout Catholic with a deep love of ancient history and religion, O'Farrell was intrigued. Brian Clough had been their first choice but had declined. O'Farrell was the next name on the list. The Shah had his man.

A gentle nudge and his mind drifts back to the happy, gentle rhythms of his Persian days. He is in Shiraz, 900km south of Tehran, the place they call the city of roses and poets. Outside Shiraz is Persepolis, spiritual home of the culture and civilization of ancient Iran, a magnificent capital built by Cyrus the Great. The same Cyrus, says O'Farrell, mentioned in the Bible because he freed the Jews from captivity in Babylon. "They're a great people with wonderful traditions," he says. "A very intelligent people."

He arrived in Iran in 1974 just as the Asian Games were about to get underway there and his brief was simple: win gold. "They'd built this big new stadium that could hold 120,000 people and the success of the games hinged around the football team. They were good at other sports like weightlifting and wrestling but football was number one."

They won the tournament, beating Israel 1-0 in the final, and O'Farrell was accorded hero status. Long-term his plan was to build a team capable of performing at the 1978 World Cup and, though he left in 1976, the team that distinguished itself in Argentina was coached by Heshmat Mohajerani, who had cut his teeth under O'Farrell.

Good times. Once a week he went to the Shah's palace in Tehran and took his son and heir, the crown prince, for football lessons. They talked about ways they could make Iran stronger as a football nation. O'Farrell told him they should look towards Turkey and beyond to Europe but the revolution came in 1979 and everything including football was set back many years.

He wasn't there for the revolution but one picture affected him deeply. "It showed these 13 generals laid out on the floor, with no clothes, having been executed by the revolutionary forces. I don't know what their crimes were just that no one deserved a fate like that. I knew one or two of them through football and that shocked me deeply."

He doesn't watch much football these days but he did see Iran beat the United States in the 1998 World Cup and that cheered him. "They're quite skilful and their physique is good. They're a nation of weightlifters and wrestlers so they have these physical attributes they bring to football."

And the UAE? There isn't much to say. He signed a two-year contract with the club El Al Shaab in July, 1980, but stayed only six months and, according to press reports at the time, took an £80,000 settlement payment. "I only fancied it on a short-term basis. Nothing much happened," he says.

A story, perhaps, for a later day. For now he's back in Iran and reluctant to leave. "They appreciated me being there and treated me very well. They gave me a nice party going away and a beautiful Persian rug. It all ended very friendly, a better experience than I had in Manchester anyway."

He remembers a colleague sounding a warning note when he was going to Iran. "Be careful Frank," he warned. "They're a funny lot over there." O'Farrell could only laugh. "I've just come from a funny lot up in Old Trafford," he said. "They surely can't be much funnier than that."

 

Iran showed more than enough in the first leg of the Asian play-off against UAE to worry the watching Mick McCarthy

Class on side of Iranians
 

HE MAY be thousands of miles away checking on Ireland's play-off opponents but Mick McCarthy will surely have one concerned ear on events closer to home. He will certainly be without Kevin Kilbane and there are serious doubts about Roy Keane, Damien Duff and Niall Quinn. "Touch and go" was Alex Ferguson's sympathetic appraisal of Keane's chances of recovering from a knee injury in time and, after hearing that, McCarthy will pray harder than ever that his side has to overcome the United Arab Emirates and not Iran.

Playing at home, Iran managed only one goal to take with them to Wednesday's second leg and their previous implosion against Bahrain precludes absolute conviction but the case for them finishing the deal in Abu Dhabi is still compelling. On the evidence of Thursday, the Emirates are limited in their scope and ambition while Iran, for all their mental faults, are bright and inventive. Allowed time on the ball, they are free-flowing, a joy to watch.

As is the case in Japan and China, Asia's other most progressive football nations, it is normal for Iran's best players to look to Europe to further their careers. Some 18 of the nation's finest are plying their trade overseas, led by the revered Ali Daie at Hertha Berlin, his strike partner Mehdi Mahdavikia at SV Hamburg, and the talismanic Karim Bagheri, back in the Bundesliga after a mini-spell at Charlton last season.

How they missed Daie, suspended, and Mahdavikia, injured, against the Emirates. In their absence Ali Karimi started up front. Karimi is a highly promising talent with a breathless ability to ghost past defenders but, as he demonstrated with a succession of near misses, he is no finisher. Against Ireland if they despatch the Emirates, it is possible to see Karimi using his pace and trickery to expose a possible weakness on the right of Ireland's defence.

But on Thursday the eye was repeatedly drawn to the majestic Bagheri in the heart of Iran's midfield. Comparisons with Roy Keane are inevitable but only go so far. The similarities are apparent: Bagheri scored the vital goal against the Emirates, as Keane did on several occasions during Ireland's qualifying campaign and Iran's skipper invariably acts as his team's driving force much like his Irish counterpart. But there the comparisons end.

One moment illustrates the contrast. Picking the ball up in front of his own defence, Bagheri launched a raking, 60-yard pass with his left foot that landed perfectly for Pehzman Jamshidi to run clear on goal. Though Keane's worth is unparalleled, such moments of class are not in his repertoire.

Then on the stroke of half-time, Bagheri took a defensive clearance on his chest before striking a 30-yard half volley with his right foot that the keeper could not reach. It was an exhibition of a range of football skills that will have alerted the watching McCarthy to the potential dangers of facing Iran.

They had other performers, too. A few minutes before Bagheri's sublime ball, Afshin Peyrovani had bettered it with a sweeping 60-yard ball that also released Jamshidi on goal. Peyrovani, who also plays in Germany, is a central defender. Imagine Richard Dunne or Steve Staunton, for all the homage heaped on his distribution skills, trying to perform the same trick.

The obverse view is that Thursday's performance flattered them. That operating in an environment which is clearly far inferior to Europe, it is easy to read too much into such displays of verve and skill.

Against a more robust team like Ireland, the argument goes, Iran will have less chance to express themselves and will lose heart. It is a risky assumption. Ireland will try to close Iran down and stifle them, but the Iranians are quick and pass well so to achieve that, Ireland have to be able to get near them.

Neither should the physical argument be decisive. Daei is built like Niall Quinn and, almost to a man, Iran are rugged and well-built. To beat them Ireland will have to play.

McCarthy will fervently hope that UAE might still upset the odds. They looked hapless on Thursday but they were without their top scorer, Yaser Salem, sacrificed in the negative plan of Tini Ruijs, their Dutch coach.

On Wednesday they must adopt a more lively approach and use the pace of Salem and Mohammad Omar up front. The away leg may actually suit Iran, who can use the pace and finesse of Karimi and Mehrdad Minavand to counter attack.

The Emirates are eminently beatable - in four home qualifying games they lost to China and Qatar and only drew to Oman - but the prospect of Iran imploding again is still a live one. The shock of the 3-1 loss to Bahrain last Sunday is still there, the disbelief best captured in the absurd rumour that Iran's own rulers ordered the defeat to prevent a further outbreak of public unrest.

Mindful that Bahrain would have lifted their game to help their Saudi friends, Iran coach Miroslav Blazevic has always contended that his side is more comfortable playing non-Arab opposition. One more nervous evening to overcome and it will be Ireland's time to grow a little restless.