Football Notes

the-afc.com, FIFA World Cup / Article Kuala Lumpur: Two weeks ago, the-AFC.com profiled five Asian FIFA World Cup heroes from over the years and asked the fans to vote for their favourite. Now, it’s the turn of our experts panel.  Given the choice of Sami Al Jaber, Alireza Beiranvand, Tim Cahill, Keisuke Honda and Park Ji-sung, the fans’ vote was won by Iranian goalkeeper Beiranvand, with Japan’s Honda and Saudi legend Al Jaber coming in second and third place respectively – a decision that goes towards 25 percent of the …

“Persepolis is one of the most popular, maybe the most popular, clubs in Asia because they have 30 million followers.” “If you are a player or a coach with Persepolis and you travel anywhere in the world you will meet an Iranian person somewhere in some street that will recognise you and run to you and talk about how you won or lost or how you performed in a particular match. That’s the kind of passion that fans of Persepolis have. “Obviously it means a lot to Japanese football, and …

TEHRAN – Ex-Iran and Persepolis football teams head coach Afshin Ghotbi says he is proud of his Persian origin, his history and his past. Tehran Times The 54-year-old coach led Iranian giants Persepolis to win the domestic title, however, Ghotbi believes it’s not his biggest achievement in football. Finishing fourth with South Korea in the 2002 World Cup as assistant of Dutchman Guus Hiddink and winning the championship with LA Galaxy are very important success in his career, the Iranian coach asserted.   Ghotbi has already worked in seven different …

Trainer in sieben Ländern Weltenbummler Ghotbi: „ Jedes Land bietet unterschiedliche Herausforderungen “ Afshin Ghotbi (Foto) gilt als innovativer, aber auch weitgereister Trainer. In sieben verschiedenen Ländern arbeitete der 54-Jährige bereits. Ob Südkorea, Japan oder der Iran: Überall konnte er Spuren hinterlassen. Seine Arbeit war auch einigen deutschen Vereinen aufgefallen, mehrfach stand er kurz davor, nach Deutschland zu wechseln. Dass Ghotbi ein besonderer Trainer sein muss, konnte man an der Reaktion der Fans und Spieler des chinesischen Zweitligisten Shijiazhuang Ever Bright sehen. Nach seinem Abschied Anfang September standen sie teils mit Tränen in …

Tehran: Former Persepolis manager Afshin Ghotbi knows just what it feels like to savour glory at the Azadi Stadium, where the 2018 AFC Champions League final between the Islamic Republic of Iran giant and Kashima Antlers of Japan will be decided on Saturday. Ghotbi also spent three-and-a-half years coaching in Japan with Shimizu S-Pulse, leaving him uniquely placed to run the rule over the sides battling to be crowned kings of the Continent. The 54-year-old has enjoyed a long and distinguished career around Asia and beyond, but his triumph of …

Since I began working for US Soccer as a national staff instructor, I have had the privilege of being part of a series of positive and sweeping improvements to how we train our youth coaches in the United States. US Soccer has highlighted all these sweeping changes with a very simple, yet elegant formula: Better Coaching + Better Environment= BETTER PLAYERS With the recent introduction of new, veteran European leadership at Soccer House, US Soccer has embarked on and even bolder and targeted campaign to improve youth soccer coaching at …

In my last piece, I wrote about my visit to Shimizu S-Pulse, in 2011, Afshin Ghotbi’s first season at the helm of the club. Last week, I had another rare privilege to visit with Afshin and learn from him, only this time, at the conclusion of his tenure at S-Pulse. It was a fascinating glimpse into the process Afshin takes his staff and players through, in order to prepare for a match. During my visit to S-Pulse, I got to see the finished product of a training session, but more …

In the fall of 2011, I had the rare privilege of travelling to Shizuoka, Japan to visit Afshin at Shimizu S-Pulse. As a US Soccer Instructor and Coach, I was naturally excited by the chance to visit a top flight club in the J-League, but the amount of access and information Afshin shared with me on my visit was absolutely astounding. Afshin gave me VIP access to the club and its facilities. He shared with me his vision and his long-term plans to modernize and professionalize the club. In his …

Afshin Ghotbi’s place in the history of South Korean soccer folklore is assured; he was, after all, a member of the national team’s coaching staff at the 2002 World Cup, the first of three stints with the Taeguk Warriors. He would argue that there is much more to come in the future whether in Korea or Japan, his current place of employment. That has been temporarily put on hold as his new career in the J-League coincided with the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 11, just five days after …