Hassan Rowshan, in an interview with Mehr’s sports reporter, decried the status of Team Melli’s readiness which is busy preparing for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.

Team Melli defeated Bulgaria 1-0 away and will be playing in Azadi against Angola on Tuesday as part of these preparations. Hassan Rowshan a star in his own right, who also played and scored Iran’s goal in its first qualifying to the FIFA World Cup 1978, indicated that he is not so optimistic about the chance of Iran Lifting the trophy that eluded it since 1976, which Rowshan lifted with his teammates.

“Becoming the champions of Asia has become elusive,” Roswhan said: “Team Melli is actively involved in training for the Asian Cup but without playing against powerful teams in order to test all its lines and mitigate the shortfalls. We Have not won the Asian Cup for over 4 decades. Asia has become an unattainable dream. We should not expect success from this team.”

He continued “We should not expect success from the national team either. The Japanese national team plays against Germany, which is one of the great football teams in the world, and we are satisfied playing against the 2nd tier European team, Bulgaria, which cannot be a good benchmark for our national team.”

“We will not go far with such standard of preparations,” the football veteran stated: “If we are looking for a championship, we will not go anywhere with these poor preparations. It is factual that we have some excellent players who are known in the world of football, but football is a team game that requires teamwork not depending on individual players. High standards require tactical coordination and collaboration, unity, and understanding of each other. You cannot count on being successful based on individual performance.

Deceptive wins

“The games against Bulgaria and Angola and teams like those do not determine the caliber of the national team, and winning in these games will deceive us and raise expectations from Team Melli. We should remain longing for the Asian Title.

In response to the question, “What solution will make the national team successful?”, the Iranian football veteran said: “All teams make the best use of FIFA Day. Many camps, and games with teams can expose the weaknesses of our team so that the technical staff can deal with them, and work around them to mitigate failures. Our competitors started working years before the championship started, In Iran, it is always last minute rush. This is the premiere continental championship and lifting the trophy of the AFC Asian Cup is the demand of all the fans. Teams such as South Korea, Qatar, Japan, and Saudi Arabia are all contenders for the title. and with the financial resources they have, they choose to play with the best teams in the world, but because we don’t have their ability and deep pocket we have to contend playing with 2nd and 3rd-grade teams, so we shouldn’t expect success with such level of preparations, and I still think we would miss the chance of becoming champions in Asia.

Esteghlal in crises

Hassan Rowshan then turned to the situation and heavily criticized the club for its poor performance on and off the field saying that the current management structure, including the coaching staff, has marginalized Esteghlal.

He noted: “Esteghlal needs a capable manager, a manager who can take ownership of all the problems facing the team whether it is financial or technical. Esteghlal in this critical situation. Esteghlal needs a manager who talks less and gives fewer interviews while doing all the work on the field.

This football veteran noted: that Esteghlal’s weak and ineffective managers did not solve the financial problems, did not pay the demands of the players, and did not manage to attract the quality coaching staff. So it is useless for them to stay in this position and they should be replaced by a worthy manager, a manager who has a good interaction with the coaching staff and players, who is all focused on the success of Esteghlal.

“How do you evaluate the first four weeks of the league?”, Rowshan was asked “We must be frank and honest, and first look at what facilities do we have. If we want a quality league, the absolute basic minimum is a decent field with proper lawn standards. Unfortunately, even the grass field of Azadi Stadium is of poor quality and the teams are protesting. Let’s understand the depth of the disaster Rowshan continued: When the head coach of Persepolis says in a press conference that we don’t like to play in Azadi because of the bad quality of the grass, we must understand the depth of the disaster. Our football has talented young players who can secure the future of Iranian football, but with such facilities, it can not attract young footballers. We have to have proper infrastructure so that our football can grow, otherwise, we will play alone as always.

“We don’t want beautiful football from the Iranian league, Hassan Rowshan pointed out in the end: “Our football is result-oriented, teams and managers are only looking for points and they don’t care about the beauty and the quality of football. It has been like that for decades. The first week of the league was full of goals, and in the following weeks, the number of goals decreased and the teams are looking to collect points, so we should not expect beautiful and spectator-friendly games.”

Hassan Rowshan, has played in the FIFA World Cup 1978, and Olympic Games 1976 and lifted the AFC Asian Cup trophy with Iran in 1976, the last time Iran won the trophy and before the Islamic Revolution. He has played 38 times for Iran scoring 12 goals