What could be more a more unlikely combination than Diego Maradona and the Iranian national soccer team? Well, how about an American citizen and former UCLA women's soccer coach being Team Melli's manager? But as implausible as that scenario seems, Iran will be led at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar next month by former Glendale High standout, Afshin Ghotbi.
Earlier this month, Ghotbi announced that he would be leaving his Iran post after the Asian Cup to become head coach of Japan J-League side Shimizu S-Pulse. That announcement was soon followed by rumors of Maradona's impending appointment to succeed him. Those reports proved unfounded, but they did put the spotlight on Ghotbi's remarkable story.
Born in Tehran, Ghotbi moved to southern California with his family in 1977. After his stellar career at Glendale, Ghotbi played for Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid at UCLA. As a senior, he coached the Bruins women's team while completing his degree in electrical engineering. Ghotbi has been helping to construct soccer teams ever since, from high school level all the way up to World Cup qualifying.
In 1997, Steve Sampson brought Ghotbi onto his U.S. national team staff as a technical adviser and scout. That job saw Ghotbi use his computer technology expertise to analyze an opponent's tendencies, breaking new ground that would gain him a reputation as a soccer innovator. At the 1998 World Cup, Ghotbi was on Sampson's coaching staff as the U.S. went 0-3, which included a 2-1 loss to Iran. But the U.S.'s dysfunctional last-place finish in France didn't negatively effect Ghotbi's growing status in the game.
Four years later, at the 2002 World Cup, Ghotbi was a member of Guus Hiddink's South Korea staff, as the co-hosts made a historic run to the semifinals. Apart from a stint with Sampson helping the Los Angeles Galaxy win the 2004 MLS Cup, Ghotbi has spent a large part of his coaching career in Korea. He's worked for two of Hiddink's Dutch compatriots who followed him into the Korean hot seat, Dick Advocaat and Pim Verbeek.
But in 2007, Ghotbi couldn't resist the call of his homeland, and took the heading coach job at Persepolis FC in Tehran, and promptly led them to the Iranian championship in his first season. That success made him a candidate for the head coaching job of the Iranian national team, which was offered to him in April 2009.
Ghotbi's appointment came in unusual circumstances. When Iran legend Ali Daei was fired as head coach in March 2009 after a slow start in 2010 World Cup qualifying, his replacement, Mohammad Mayeli Kohan, got embroiled in a public spat with another coach and had to resign the post. Ghotbi then became Iran's third head coach in a matter of weeks.
With World Cup qualification seemingly a lost cause, Ghotbi almost pulled off an improbable turnaround. But a 1-1 draw in South Korea on the last day of Asian qualifying saw Iran fall short of South Africa. That game is best remembered for the green wristbands worn in the first half by four Iran players, including captain Ali Karimi, as a protest against the disputed re-election of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In the fallout from that most public of protests and Iran's World Cup exit, few pundits expected Ghotbi to keep his job. But he did, and Iran has continued to thrive under his leadership, easily winning its group in Asian Cup qualifying.
In Qatar, Iran will face Asian powerhouses Japan and Australia as well as Uzbekistan in the first round. Advancing out of the group seems like another unlikely Iranian scenario. But Afshin Ghotbi is used to defying the odds.