Team Melli’s link with Stramaccioni; a sales pitch?

The Italian media’s reports came as the Iranian Football Federation has already signed an agreement with Croatian Dragan Skocic for the sit after Belgian Marc Wilmots stepped down after six months in charge.

The federation was then under immense pressure to appoint a quality coach since the team was seeing four must-win games in a few months. And on the other hand, lack of enough financial resources, due to the US sanctions against Iran, hampered the federation’s capability to negotiate with top coaches. There were rumors of choosing an Iranian coach for the hot seat but eventually, the position was offered to Skocic who had achieved good results with Sanat Naft club in IPL and had a good understanding of Iranian football.

As the coronavirus hit the world, all the sporting events were affected, including the 2022 World Cup Qualifications where the Iranian team was supposed to play. Iran sits third in Group C and needs to win all four remaining games against Cambodia, Hong Kong, Bahrain, and Iraq to ensure a safe entry into the next level of qualifications. Had the officials in the federation knew in advance that such an outbreak would happen, they would have probably waited a bit longer to appoint the coach.

The appointment has received both praise and criticism from the Iranian football society. Some say that Skocic is not experienced enough for a national team as he has never guided one. However, some believe that he was the best choice with regard to circumstances.

Stramaccioni (left) greeting with Calderon