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Afshin Dastafshan:
Iranian
professional league is in its sixth season however the professional
league has brought no success to Iranian football in Asia. Season after
season we have seen a club doing well and winning the top league in Iran
only for their performance to deteriorate the following season and that
of course is when they represent Iran in the Asian Champions League
(ACL). This inconsistency is part of Iranian football culture; it’s more
a disease that the officials running the show in Iran football are
incapable of removing.
The first five
seasons of Iran Pro League (now Persian Gulf League, PGL) produced no
success in ACL, this was mainly due to the less experienced Iranian
clubs winning the league and Hazfi Cup and qualifying for the big stage
in Asia. In theory clubs across Iran winning the league and playing in
Asia should be in the interest of Iran football as standard of football
should rise across the country hence a stronger league. But things have
not worked out that way due to poor management, poor planning, poor
coaching and poor facilities, there is also a skills drain in players
with many of Iran’s rising stars and top players heading abroad.
Season after season
we have seen costly blunders and mismanagement hurting Iran football,
last season Iranian Champions Foulad Khuzestan had to play all their
home matches away in colder Tehran climate since their own stadium in
Ahvaz was undergoing renovation (thus losing home advantage), this
season Iranian champions Esteghlal did not even get to play in ACL
(Esteghlal’s disqualification has already been fully discussed but the
damage is done).
Therefore Iran’s
hopes of success in Asia this season rest with Sepahan of Esfahan. As in
previous seasons Iran’s representative in ACL is not the top club of the
moment from Iranian league. Sepahan currently lie sixth in PGL and
twelve points behind leaders Saipa. Sepahan have lost three of their
last four league matches (including the last two), this week they
kicked-off their ACL campaign against Syria’s Al Ittihad that are
currently leading Syria’s league on 40 points.
Whilst Sepahan
playing at home in front of 20,000 fans beat Ittihad 2-1 their
performance was far from convincing if they are to make their mark in
ACL. This is Sepahan’s third shot at the ACL in the last four seasons;
competition is fierce with only the group winner qualifying for the
quarter finals. Sepahan’s biggest challenge in this group is yet to come
from the Saudi Champions Al Shabab, the two sides meet on March 21st
when Sepahan take on Al Shabab on Saudi soil, if Sepahan are to win
Group D then they must avoid defeat against Shabab this month and beat
them in Esfahan in the return leg on May 23rd.
Then comes the
former ACL Champions Al Ain of UAE, Iranian fans will remember Al Ain’s
3-3 draw with Paas FC two seasons ago which knocked Paas out on away
goal rules (Paas had drawn with Al Ain 1-1 in UAE). Although Al Ain lost
their opening match to Al Shabab 2-0 on March 7th and are now
bottom of Group D they cannot be under-estimated with five matches left,
I believe Sepahan played their easiest match of their ACL campaign of
this season against Ittihad on March 7th, I expect Sepahan to
face much tougher opposition when facing Al Ain and Al Shabab, the
return leg of their match against Ittihad will be a tough one also,
Sepahan will face 75,000 Syrian fans in the return match against
Ittihad. In last season’s ACL Al Ittihad took four points from the
Iranian Champions Foulad Khuzestan (beating Foulad in Iran) whilst Al
Karama of Syria beat Saba Battery at home and away taking all 6 points,
so the alarm bells are ringing for Sepahan despite the Iranian TV
commentator claims during the match that Iranian football is head and
shoulder above Syrian football (was a 2-1 home win sufficient to make
this claim?).
I will round this
article up with the following; as a consequence of Iranian clubs
performing poorly in ACL in recent years Iranian clubs now face losing
one of their two automatic spots in the ACL, this threat is for real and
it would mean only the Iranian league (PGL) champions qualifying for ACL
outright (not Hazfi Cup winner). Esteghlal’s disqualification from ACL
this season could not have come at a worse time for Iranian football, an
Iranian club qualifying to the knock-out stage of ACL this season might
well secure the two automatic spots for Iranian clubs in ACL for the
moment (and only for the moment), there is immense pressure on Sepahan for
various reasons to win their group in ACL this season, if facts and
statistics of recent ACL seasons are anything to go by (not mentioning
Sepahan’s performance this season) I do not see Sepahan qualifying for
the quarter finals this year which will have sever consequences for
Iranian clubs in the years to come.
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