DOHA, Qatar (AP) — As long as the players steer clear of politics, a combination of Persian pride and American spirit is the recipe for success for Iran's national football team, according to coach Afshin Ghotbi.
Iran has been in political turmoil since the crackdown on opponents of the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009. That year, Ghotbi, an Iran-born American who helped rejuvenate football in the country by taking leading club Persepolis to the Pro League title in 2008, took over the national team.
The 46-year-old coach, who was born in Tehran but grew up in Glendale, California, has faced adversity during his tenure with the national team. As an Iranian who lived abroad most of his life and barely spoke Farsi when he returned in 2007 after 30 years away, many were suspicious of his motivations and coaching style.
Even the country's political opposition had its doubts.
Why would Ghotbi, the former Los Angeles Galaxy assistant coach and an assistant to Guus Hiddink when South Korea reached the 2002 World Cup semifinals, take up the daunting task of coaching a national team that has been short of success in international football since the declaration of the Islamic Republic 1979? And why stay after the ruling regime had crushed a popular uprising?
Because it was a tough job and one based in his homeland, was his answer.
"I took the most difficult path," said Ghotbi, who will end his stint with the national team after the Asian Cup and move to Japan as Shimzu S-Pulse coach. "I felt working for my country will give me an opportunity to influence people and give them hope in the darkest moments, heal the pain and make people proud of their country."
Sports has the power to do that, he said, and there's no better sport to do it than football — as long as the players know the national team represents all Iranians all over he world regardless of their political views.
"Who am I to decide what the country should be doing politically?" Ghotbi said. "That's why I went into sports. It made life simple. It was just a ball, two goals and 22 players."
However, it can get complicated, particularly when some of the players on the national team bring their political convictions into the game.
That's what happened during Iran's last World Cup qualifier against South Korea. Just days after massive protests erupted in Tehran following Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election, most of the players took to the field with green wristbands in support of opposition candidate Mir Hossain Mousavi.
While Iran fans at the match in Seoul cheered the national team with protest chants of "Death to the Dictator," the symbolism did not resonate well with the coach.
"It was a mistake and a very disappointing night for me, because it took the concentration of our players away from doing the job, which is to make people happy with performances and victories," Ghotbi said.
"Had the team won that game, Iran would have gone to the World Cup," Ghotbi added. "That would have been the best thing for the Iranian people no matter who they thought the president should have been."
Ghotbi restructured the team for the Asian Cup, bringing in younger players to play the "attacking and exciting football" he developed during his coaching career.
"I have an Iranian heart, the spirit of an American and a football brain of a Dutchman," said Ghotbi, who is trying to help Iran win a fourth continental championship.
Iran, which last claimed the Asian Cup in 1976, won Group C with a perfect nine points after defeating defending champion Iraq, North Korea and the United Arab Emirates in Qatar. The team plays South Korea in the quarterfinals on Saturday for the fifth straight time in the continental tournament.
Ghotbi said this time there will be no politics.
"We are athletes and we should concentrate on our job of making people happy with our performances and victories," Ghotbi said. "The national team belongs to the people and from the head coach and all the way to the ball boy, nobody should use it as a vehicle to express their political views."
