An interview with Moharram Navidkia

PFDC - Below you can find comments made by gifted midfielder Moharram Navidkia. The comments were made by the 20-year old Sepahan player and Olympic squad skipper during an interview with Iran Varzeshi newspaper and reflects his opinion about the IPL season, the U23 squad and his problems with being the team's captain.

Q)    Do you read newspapers?

A)     Not much, I am more into novels, especially by Alexander Dumas.

Q)    Usually the players are interested to know what newspapers are writing about them.

A)     I rarely do, sometimes when I am in the plane or I know there is an article written about me.

Q)    After a game do you like to know what newspapers write about your game?

A)     If I played well and we won the game then of course. Otherwise it is better that if I don’t read them because that could be quite disturbing. In the 11th week of the IPL league we lost to Esteghlal of Ahvaz and the next day I was "Mr. Bad player".

Q)    In the last year we have rarely seen you play bad, how do you evaluate your games in TM?

A)     So far I have not been too bad. But in IPL game I performed poorly in two or three games.

Q)    It has been said that you were the best player against Uzbekistan.

A)     I do not agree, Iman Mobali played much better than I did.  Arash Borhani also played a superb game. To be honest we did not play very well the first half. I think the Uzbek team did not know how to distribute their energy during the game and did not have much energy left toward the end of the game. This also happened in the first leg.

Q)    After the Bussan game there is much expectation from you to be the star, does this put extra pressure on you?

A)     This is natural and sometimes hard. However a professional player cannot be affected that much for the whole year. It may affect few games here or there but in general and throughout the year it does not matter. I personally think that I am not very talkative in the playground, as a result I asked from Mr. Ahmadzadeh not to select me as the captain. But for now I have been the captain and I think so far it has been a positive experience.

Q)       You play with much confidence. In the game against Uzbekistan everyone expected Javad Kazemian to play better that what he played but it appears that due to much stress he could not play his usual game.

A)     I do not know what to say about that. He played well but as you said he is much better player.

Q)    Where do you get confidence during the games?

A)     I do not quite know, this is the style of my play. I give the impression that I have confidence. However I have my share of bad days.

Q)    Has it ever happened to have a fight with the coaches or the players?

A)     I have been playing bad from time to time but I never fight with the coaches or the players. I think if a player wants to analyze why he had a bad day during a match and makes it bigger that what it was it could be counter productive.

Q)    When Sepahan captured the first place there was not much joy displayed?

A)     You could have seen the joy you are talking about in Esfahan.  But we were trying to avoid any kind of confliction with Perspolis fans.

Q)    What did you do after the game against Perspolis?

A)     Together with Edmond Bezik and Mahmood Karimi and few others went to eat sandwiches. I think I got food poison and was sick for two days.

Q)    Are you going to have any celebrations?

A)     After the game against Paas, we are going to have our celebrations.

Q)    You talk with so much excitement. We had not seen you so happy before.

A)     Well, the first place in IPL is very sweet. This was a big achievement for our city as well as the whole IPL league and us. I believe if any team other than Perspolis and Esteghlal wins the IPL league from time to time that would benefit our football. It was a time that if one wanted to be invited to TM he had to play in either Esteghlal or Perspolis. Those times are gone. I promise you that in few years either team will not have an easy time to get the first place and there will be closer completion between the teams in the league.

Q)    Foolad Kuzestan played well last year but could not claim the championship. Your coach Mr. Farhad Kazemi seems to know how to handle the pressure and the players in the crucial times?

A)     He is quite aware of the team.  From the beginning of the season he was saying that we should capture the first place. The claim was even funny at times. He was saying we should not only be the first team but also in addition should finish with 15 points difference compare to the second team. He must have had faith in his players to have such opinions. At the beginning I was thinking that I need to go to Perspolis or Esteghlal but after the Pusan Asian Games, where we had only one or two players from these two teams I knew there is no need for that.

Q)    Did you expect to be so effective in TM in such a short time?

A)     Not really. Everything I have and everything I am is because of God’s willing. In two years time frame I have grown from a reserve player to the one that is considered reliable. I owe it to TM and Mr. Ivankovich.

Q)    Do you have special training session for penalty kicks?

A)     Now, I do not believe that penalty kicks require great talents, only that the players that at the time have better frame of mind should attempt them. If they believe they make it then they will. If they have doubts then they miss. Ali Daie always hits the same side but he believes it goes in and it does.

Q)    Then to be Mr. Goal does not have much value for you?

A)     No, from the twelve goals I made seven were penalties. From the other 5 goals only two looked good.

Q)    What are your thoughts about Esteghlal and Perspolis? Do you think they can solve their problems?

A)     I do not think they had problems this year. I think they had few old players and this hurt them with all due respect for those players of course.

Q)    Did you ever see a game in Azadi Stadium as and spectator?

A)     In 78 or 79 I saw a game between Perspolis and one Arab team.

Q)    Which team did you favor growing up?

A)     Not anyone in particular. I played in Sepahan in their youth team and wanted to play in their full team. I will stay in Sepahan as long as I am in Iran.

Q)    Is there any talk of you going abroad?

A)     If I do, I will go for few years. I do not like to go for a year and come back.

Q)    Do you think education can benefit a player?

A)     Of course. For example I think one reason that Mr. Daei was so successful was that he knew how to interact with other players since he had learned their language.

Q)    You have diploma. Why don’t you continue your education?

A)     Due to the team practices I have not had the time.

Q)    How was the quality of the grass in Azadi stadium?

A)  It was good but I think it was a little long and did not appear to be very strong. I think if it rains and there is a play in there it will be as bad as it was before.