Blazevic deal done

15^th January 2001.

The Iranian Football Federation will unveil Croatia’s Miroslav Blazevic as the national team’s new head coach at a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.

Blazevic, who took his home nation to the semi-finals of the World Cup in France in 1998, has signed a one-year deal with the Iranians, with the contract due to be extended should the 65-year-old guide Iran to the finals of the 2002 tournament.

“We did the deal yesterday,” said a spokesman for the Iranian federation. “It has been finalised. We had a few talks yesterday and everything is done.”

Blazevic will remain in Tehran until the end of the week, during which time he will watch his new charges in the Civilisations Cup, a friendly tournament being played in Iran on Wednesday and Friday.

Brazilian interim coach Braga, who replaced Jalal Talebi when he resigned following Iran’s disappointing display at the Asian Cup in Lebanon, will guide the team through the competition, which will feature representatives from Italy, China and Egypt.

Blazevic is the second Croat to take on the Iranian national team job in the last four years. Former United Arab Emirates coach Tomoslav Ivic was at the helm in the run-up to France 98, only to be unceremoniously dumped just weeks before the championship kicked off following a loss in a friendly match in Italy