Iran’s U23 team (Omid) was knocked out of the AFC U23 Asian Cup after the draw a 1-1 against host Uzbekistan in Qarashi yesterday. Winless Iran ranked third after two draws and a defeat. The host Uzbekistan and first-time participants Turkmenistan qualified for the next round.

Mahdavikia, was facing the impossible task facing the Uzbek team, miracles however are a rare commodity in football.  Uzbekistan scored first from yet another Amataurish defending by Iran, while late in the second half, the Omid team found an equalizer but too late to save the day.

The fact remains that Omid Team was ill-prepared for a tournament like that. The culprit is quite obvious to every fan by now and hope of any progress is simply futile in short term. FFIRI personnel, are too busy and too involved in their political in-fighting and lobbying to give the national teams any serious consideration. With the FFIRI without a head, as was ousted the acting Head and the rest were simply not good enough to shoulder this important responsibility. Team Melli is another victim of this politics.

However, there were surprise noises talking about sacking Mahdavikia because of the Omid Team Failure. Although there is no doubt that Mahdavikia shoulders major responsibility for the defeat and no justification such as preparing the team for the Olympics has any value, the former Hamburg player is about the best bet for the job. There is no other domestic coach who can stand up to be counted. Most repetitive names, like Hamid Estili, Peyrovani, Khakpour, etc came and gone without achieving anything for Omid Team. They all failed and some miserably so.

The difference with Mahdavikia is that he took the proper process in his coaching career. He is certified, coaching youth-level teams in Hamburg, played most of his career in Germany and has learned a lot from an anation that has the greatest football system in the world.

Of course, any coach needs the tools and the support to succeed, Mahdavikia had very little of both. Young Iranian domestic league players are victims of a poor standard league, lack of development programs, priorities to win at all costs, short-term success demanded by clubs, sub0standard coaching, and lack of professional guidance. It is surprising how some Omid Team players through this edition of the AFC U23 Asian Cup lacked simple and basic skills.

While Iran’s chances of making the Paris Olympic Games is a long shot, given some proper support, Mahdavikia will at least stand a good chance to develop a few good players to feed Team Melli in the future.

Group A