Daei is a legend in football. In his playing days, he achieved records and milestones engraving his and his country’s name in the archives of World Football. He is still respected as a football personality and his World Record international goals scored will be very difficult to beat for decades.

Daei ventured into management and coaching, his success was instantaneous, but that success brought a type of grandiose, complacency, narcissism and egoistic attitude that mars Iranian football coaches and management for decades.

Although he coached Team Melli well and achieved great results initially, he failed in the most important match and the game that really counted. In football, that is all it takes between Success and Failure…one result and he failed to deliver. Probably a similar path to Queiroz.

 

He was sacked from his post as Team Melli coach after that defeat against arch rivals Saudi Arabia in Azadi, never to return back to Team Melli. He is still a respected personality. But in this interview conducted recently, his words shows he has yet to learn from errors and experiences of past and that what typifies the mentality of Iranian coaches and managers. Always putting the blame on others while claiming righteous ideas for themselves. Daei is a typical Iranian coach who will go overboard to protect himself in a self-obsessed manner while having the freedom of the sky and earth to criticize and attack others for expressing their opinions or for not doing their job as he (Daei) believes it should be!.

Ali Daei normally answers a question by asking another question and conflicts himself in several issues. Some of his logic is truly questionable, like when he says “It is easy to judge a game after it is over!!!”..But of course everyone do judge after what they see, observe and experience NOT before the game!

We publish this interview because Ali Daei is still an honorable person who deserves recognition for all his achievements, but also to enlighten the fans on the thought process of an Iranian coach and why they should not coach Team Melli at these times.

* There are a lot of rumors around you and Team Melli.  Mahdi Taj has said that he had talks with you regarding the appointment of Team Melli head coach. Can you comment on that?

No, I did not have any talk with anyone regarding Team Melli.

* If you are given an official offer, would you consider it?

There are currently no offers on the table, I am Saipa coach and I’m focusing on my team.

* Carlos Queiroz has been here for eight years and eventually he left. Do you think that Queiroz will be the loser in this deal or Iran’s football?

Our football has been on a long road of decline and it is damaged due to lack of facilities and poor infrastructure in the country. Clubs cannot generate enough money to sustain and the level of the league is steadily declining, what can we do? Queiroz worked hard for Iran’s football for eight years and he left without us giving him the deserved appreciation. In my opinion, we should have arranged a farewell ceremony for him after all the hardships that he endured during his tenure with Iranian football. We should have thanked him for all what he achieved and not just allow him to leave like that. We are not such people and we have a rich culture that was not observed in his case.

* After defeat against Japan, lots of criticism was directed towards Queiroz, many said he should have won the Asian Cup. Do you agree with these comments?

I’m asking you, before Queiroz, when did we win any type of championships or titles? When was the last time we won the Asian Cup ?  Did you expect Queiroz to win the World Cup or think that we would easily win the Asian Cup? I say with certainty, if we won the Asian Cup, all science and knowledge in football would be under question. We have climbed to the top four Asian teams this year with Queiroz. Remember when did we reach the top four ranking the last time? It was fifteen years ago that we did not climb up in the next few years. So how do you expect Queiroz to easily win the title?

 * There were high expectations, so high that everybody wanted to become a champion. Isn’t that legitimate?

When you are expecting a championship you should also provide the necessary tools and facilities. You have to run the coaching staff preparations programs as he deems fit. Go and see where our football is in Asia in terms of facilities, and then talk about the championship in Asia.

* So do you think that after the defeat by Japan, the fans were unfair to him?

Unfortunately, we did it not only with Queiroz but with other coaches. Now we have a situation in which I think our football has not enough money to make deals such as Mr. Queiroz’s contract or bigger coaches. That’s why I think the federation would not leave Queiroz easily, but you should know that Queiroz was a high-level coach who had qualified Iran twice in two consecutive terms for the World Cup, which was unprecedented in the history of Iranian football. That’s why we should be grateful to Queiroz.

* Before the Asian Cup, there were a lot of criticisms of Carlos Queiroz’s performance, and you yourself have suggested that some of those critics are eyeing his (Queiroz) job. Do you have a similar opinion to the national team critics now?

If you want to analyze properly, we really cannot technically fault him. Perhaps, technically speaking, he should not have done this at the that time, or things like that, but talking after the game is very convenient. After the game with Japan, I can easily say that that player should not have started or the tactics were wrong, the team should have played a different game plan, but I’m not in the team that allows me to comment on before the match. I want to say that after you see a game, you can ask a lot of things, but it’s important that you have the right opinion before the match(!!) Certainly there were some issues that had been discussed by all experts after the game with Japan.

* Do you think Klinsmann, Zidane and Mourinho are interested in coaching Iran football one day?

What facilities do you have to attract these coaches? I’m sorry that Mr. Maziar Nazemi speaks about these issues. He is in the Ministry of Sports and the ministry has nothing to do with football. Nazemi’s rant is a government intervention in the the work of football federation and that is in direct violation of FIFA rules. Not only he, but also Mr. Soltanifar, cannot comment on the  national team manager. The only authority that can decide on the appointment of Team Melli coach is the federation or, ultimately, the board of directors of the federation.

As for the names you mentioned, do you see that Zidane who left Real Madrid will come to Iran or even Klinsmann. I dearly wish we do not fool around with people’s thoughts and emotions and be honest with them. You think these coaches come to Iran with $ 100,000 or $ 200,000. You ask Mr. Nazemi  How much was salary of Mourinho at Manchester United? Or ask how much was Zaidane’s contract? How can we pay this money? Mr. Nazemi, I have a question for you, what do you do in the football federation? If you do not have a post in football federation, talk to the ministry of sports where you have a position. FIFA has banned government intervention in football.

* Do you have recommendations for the Iranian Football Federation as one of the Iranian football myths?

Insha’llah they can take the right decision. We have enough time and we should not miss this time. We need to think about the national team and choose a good coach for the national team to prepare ourselves for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Now is the best time to rebuild ourselves.

* Pensioners were not removed from the Football Federation like other sport federations. What do you think of these issues?

I do not know much about retirement laws and regulations, and I do not like to enter and talk about these issues, but we need to look for a manager in our football and bring someone who will manage our soccer effort well. We must look for someone who loves serving and has good ideas.