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Afshin Ghotbi

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Afshin Ghotbi
File:Ghotbi.jpg
Personal information
Full name Afshin Ghotbi
Position(s) Manager
Team information
Current team
 Iran

Afshin Ghotbi (Persian: افشین قطبی, born February 8, 1964 in Shiraz, Iran)[5] is an Iranian-American football coach and current head coach of the Iranian national team.

Early life

Mr. Seyyed Afshin Ghotbi is the son of a teacher in Iran [6](See below) with whom he left Iran at the age of 13 and moved to southern California, where he has been a resident for more than two decades. He received his B.Sc. qualification in Electrical Engineering from UCLA where he was a member of the men's soccer team.[7][8]

Career

Early years

Prior to coaching in the professional ranks, for years he was one of the elite coaches in the talent-rich, highly competitive Southern California youth scene, responsible for the development of players such as Peter Vagenas and John O'Brien.

In Korea

He worked for Korea national football team under Dutchman Guus Hiddink from December 2000 till July 2002 as a football analyst.[9] He continued his journey in Korea by taking the role of an assistant coach of Samsung Bluewings from 2002-2004. He returned to Korean National Team, as an assistant coach under Dick Advocaat from October 2005 until July 2006. He continued as an assistant coach for Korea national football team under Dutch head coach Pim Verbeek from July 2006 till July 2007.

Return to Iran

In 2007 he was Head-Coach of Persepolis F.C., an Iran Pro League club, in compliance with the new contract he signed in August 2007. In February 2008 his name was on the shortlist for coaching the Iranian national team, however the job went to Ali Daei. He ultimately led Persepolis to Iranian Pro league championship in May 2008. Ghotbi left Persepolis in June 2008.[10]

However, it was reported that Persepolis F.C. were holding talks with Ghotbi again just four weeks after his departure.[11]

Afshin Ghotbi was re-appointed as the new Persepolis head coach on 3 July 2008, after agreeing to sign a two year deal following meeting Persepolis officials in Dubai.[12]

Leaving Iran

Following the session held at Persepolis club on 18 November 2008, Ghotbi announced his resignation to the club’s board and left Iran on 19 November 2008. In a letter released on Persepolis’ official website, Ghotbi said, “I returned to Persepolis with great hopes but I think there is a conspiracy outside the club to prevent the team’s success. I am the target of this conspiracy. I love Persepolis and its fans, however I ought to leave the team. I am heartbroken and leave Persepolis in hope of the team’s prosperity. If my presence hinders the success of the team, I would rather leave.” [13]

Appointment as the National Team Coach

After just three weeks after being announced as manager, Mayeli Kohan became the spearhead of a heated dispute between himself and Esteghlal F.C. manager Amir Ghalenoei[14]. This resulted in the IRIFF forcing Mayeli Kohan's resignation as manager of Team Melli [14]. A week later, Afshin Ghotbi agreed to succeed Mayeli Kohan as head coach of the Iranian national team.[15] Under Afshin Ghotbi, Iran failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This was in spite of the teams reasonable performance gaining 5 points from 3 games. His contract has now been renewed to continue coaching Team Melli. He continued to coach Team Melli in 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification where he won 3 matches out of 4 and lost the other one to Jordan Away which he the team earned 13 points and qualified as the group leaders.But he had poor results in the friendlies which caused a lot of criticism and even some people in IRIFF decided to replace him but after a few days his job was secured and the Iranian Federation decided to keep him at least up to 2011 Asian Cup .

Coaching career statistics

As of 7 October 2010
Nat Team From To Record
G W D L Win % GF GA +/-
United States San Fernando Valley Golden Eagles 1997 1997 18 9 7 2 50%
Iran Persepolis 27 July 2007 18 November 2008 51 26 15 10 51% 88 59 +29
Iran Iran 22 April 2009 Present 24 12 5 7 55% 32 25 +7
Total 75 38 20 17 53% 120 84 +26

Honours

Individual

Controversy

At the time of his arrival in Iran some media outlets reported that Afshin is the son of former National Iranian Radio and Television director Reza Ghotbi, the cousin of Farah Pahlavi.[16][17][18] The rumor was widely circulated on the net and in the Iranian discussion forums because of its political sensitivity in Iran. However, that account was challenged by other Iranian newspapers by showing that in Ghotbi's birth certificate, his father's name is Mohammad, not Reza.[19] Ghotbi himself has mentioned that his father was a teacher in Iran and that they left Iran in 1977.[6]

In August 3, 2009, Afshin Ghotbi was present in the presidential endorsement ceremony of Mahmood Ahmadinejad while many elite Iranians did not attend to protest against the recent Iran's controversial presidency election. He faced harsh criticism of his fans after his attendance in Ahmadinejad's second presidential term approval ceremony [20]. His wife also received some hate threats in their United Arab Emirates based residential home back in August 2009.[21]

References

  1. ^ http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8802021277
  2. ^ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/06/ucla-alums-leading-us-and-iran-towards-world-cup.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LAT_Sports_Blog+%28The+Fabulous+Forum%29
  3. ^ http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/346565.html
  4. ^ http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/346565.html
  5. ^ http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8802021277
  6. ^ a b "Aftab" (in Persian). Aftab. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/346565.html
  8. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/oct/31/newsstory.sport16
  9. ^ Bell, Jack (23 April 2009). "Iran Asks Iranian-American to Salvage Cup Bid". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  10. ^ "[[:Template:En icon]] Coach quits after triumph". FIFA.com FIFA official website. Retrieved 2008-05-30. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  11. ^ http://www.iranproleague.net/news/Morenews.cfm?News=4087
  12. ^ http://www.iransportspress.com/news/45/ARTICLE/6046/2008-07-03.html
  13. ^ http://www.mehrnews.com/EN/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=786365
  14. ^ a b http://www.persianleague.com/index.php/the-news/1-latest-news/4783-iff-confirms-mayelikohan-resignation
  15. ^ http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/83/asia/2009/04/23/1224708/iran-appoint-afshin-ghotbi-as-national-team-coach
  16. ^ "آنها اين تازه‌وارد را نمي‌خواهند" (in Persian). Etemaad. 2007-06-14. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
  17. ^ :: يادداشت و مقاله :: پايگاه اطلاع رساني نوروز :: برکات حاکمیت یکدست ::
  18. ^ کرگدن :: تافته جدابافته
  19. ^ "پشت‌ پرده‌ حضور سيد افشين‌ قطبى‌ در پرسپوليس‌ اين‌ قطبى‌ آن‌ قطبى‌ نيست" (in Persian). Khabar Varzeshi. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ "آنها که به تنفیذ کودتا رفتند و آنها که نرفتند" (in Persian).
  21. ^ حمله به منزل افشین قطبی در امارات به دلیل شرکت وی در مراسم تنفیذ
Sporting positions
Preceded by Perspolis FC Manager
2007-2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Iran national football team Manager
2009-present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

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