Afshin Ghotbi

Afshin Ghotbi
Personal information
Full name Afshin Ghotbi
Date of birth (1964-02-08) 8 February 1964
Place of birth Tehran, Iran[1]
Playing position Manager
Youth career
Years Team
1981–1985[2] UCLA Bruins Men's
Teams managed
Years Team
1984–1988 UCLA Bruins Women's[3]
1988–2001 Global Soccer School[4]
1988–1991 La Cañada High School[4]
1997 Golden Eagles[3]
1997–1998 United States (Assistant)
2000–2002 Korea Republic (Assistant)
2002–2004 Suwon Bluewings (Assistant)
2004–2005 Los Angeles Galaxy (Assistant)
2004–2007 Korea Republic (Assistant)
2007–2008 Persepolis
2009–2011 Iran
2011–2014 Shimizu S-Pulse

Afshin Ghotbi (Persian: افشین قطبی‎‎, born 8 February 1964 in Tehran, Iran)[5] is an Iranian football coach and the last head coach of the Japanese side Shimizu S-Pulse in J-League.

Early life

Though his family were from Shiraz, Afshin Ghotbi was born in the country's capital Tehran. He is the son of a teacher in Iran [6] (See below) with whom he left Iran at the age of 13 and moved to Los Angeles, United States of America 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 football team.[3][7]

Career

Early years

Prior to coaching in the professional ranks, for years he was a highly thought of coach Southern California youth football scene, responsible for the discovery and development of players such as Peter Vagenas and John O'Brien.

In Korea

He worked for Korea Republic national football team under Dutchman Guus Hiddink from December 2000 till July 2002 as a football analyst.[8] 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 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.[9]

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.[10]

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.” [11]

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.[12] This resulted in the IRIFF forcing Mayeli Kohan's resignation as manager of Team Melli.[12] A week later, Afshin Ghotbi agreed to succeed Mayeli Kohan as head coach of the Iranian national team.[13] After this appointment, Ghotbi said in an interview "A life dream, a longtime ambition and a journey written in the stars is about to be realized I have to thank all the people around the world who have cheered, supported and inspired me to have this opportunity,[14] however, under Afshin Ghotbi, Iran failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but his contract has 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 some results in the friendlies (such as winning against Bosnia-Herzegovina and China and South Korea in their land) which surprisingly caused a lot of criticism and even some people in IRIFF decided to replace him as Iranian coaches and journalists could not accept an American-Iranian success over Team-melli. However, after a few days his job was secured and the Iranian Federation decided to keep him at least up to 2011 Asian Cup .He had poor results in the friendlies at the beginning and then was able qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup and slowly improved the results.In 2010 his team was able to win 8 matches in a row and gain trust.Later on he finished second in West Asian Football Federation Championship 2010. In 2011 Asian cup Iran got knocked out after the extra time goal against Korea Republic with very poor performance. Iranian fans and journalists believed Team Melli plays too defensive. After Asian cup many players criticized Ghotbi's tactics including Team Melli Captain, Javad Nekounam. Ghotbi replaced by his assistant Ali Reza Mansourian was appointed as caretaker manager of the national football team until the appointment of Carlos Queiroz. He did not return to Iran after competition because of tax problems.

Move to J. League

After the Asian Cup, Ghotbi signed three-year contract with Japan's J. League Division 1 side Shimizu S-Pulse.[15] He led the team for the end of 2011 seasion which ended in the tenth rank. In his second season at the club, his team started the league very successfully but later on they lost their form and finished the league in 9th place with one progress. They also reached the final game of J. League Cup but lost 1–2 to Kashima Antlers. On 30 July 2014, Ghotbi left Shimizu by mutual contest after leaving the club at the 12th place.

Coaching career statistics

As of 27 July 2014
Nat Team From To Record
GWDLWin %GFGA+/-
United States San Fernando Valley 1997 1997 18972 50.0% 3031−1
Iran Persepolis 27 July 2007 18 November 2008 51261510 51.9% 8859+29
Iran Iran 22 April 2009 22 January 2011 301668 53.3% 3927+12
Japan Shimizu S-Pulse 22 January 2011 30 July 2014 157683059 43.3% 219198+21
Total 256 118 57 79 46% 376 317 +59

List of seasons

Champions Runners-up Third / SF
Season Club Domestic International Trophies
League Cup League Cup ACL
2007–08 Persepolis W R16 1
2008–09 Persepolis 4th QF R16 0
2011 Shimizu S-Pulse 10th QF SF 0
2012 Shimizu S-Pulse 9th 4R RU 0
2013 Shimizu S-Pulse 9th 4R GS 0
2014 Shimizu S-Pulse 12th 3R GS 0

Honours

Persepolis
Shimizu S-Pulse

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] 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. Ghotbi himself has mentioned that his father was a teacher in Iran and that they left Iran in 1977.[6]

In summer of 2009, he participated in the inauguration of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad following the controversial presidential election and that resulted in disposal of hate letters to his apartment in Dubai and fear of his wife.[17]

References

  1. ↑ افشين قطبي سرمربي تيم ملي فوتبال ايران شد. Farsnews.com. Retrieved on 22 August 2013.
  2. ↑ "UCLA alums leading U.S. and Iran toward World Cup". Los Angeles Times.
  3. 1 2 3 United Soccer Leagues (USL). Uslsoccer.com (13 July 2009). Retrieved on 22 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 Afshin Ghotbi. afshinghotbi.com
  5. ↑ "Afshin Ghobti's Official Bio". Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Aftab" (in Persian). Aftab.
  7. ↑ Duerden, John (31 October 2007). "Meet the American who could lead Iran". The Guardian (London).
  8. ↑ Bell, Jack (23 April 2009). "Iran Asks Iranian-American to Salvage Cup Bid". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  9. ↑ "Coach quits after triumph". FIFA. Archived from the original on 31 May 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  10. ↑ Azim-Araghi, Ali (3 July 2008) Afshin Ghotbi Appointed as the New Perspolis Coach.
  11. ↑ Ghotbi leaves Persepolis. mehrnews.com (19 November 2008).
  12. 1 2 IFF confirms Mayelikohan resignation. PersianLeague.com (22 April 2009). Retrieved on 22 August 2013.
  13. ↑ Iran Appoint Afshin Ghotbi As National Team Coach. Goal.com (22 April 2009). Retrieved on 22 August 2013.
  14. ↑ Bell, Jack (23 April 2009). "Iran Asks Iranian-American to Salvage Cup Bid". The New York Times.
  15. ↑ "Ghotbi took control Shimizu S-Pulse". Afshin Ghotbi. 26 January 2011. Archived from the original on 6 May 2011.
  16. ↑ آنها اين تازه‌وارد را نمي‌خواهند (in Persian). Etemaad. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
  17. ↑ حمله به منزل افشین قطبی در امارات به دلیل شرکت وی در مراسم تنفیذ. Asriran.com. Retrieved on 22 August 2013.

External links

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Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Ali Daei		 Iran Pro League Winning Manager
2007–08 		Succeeded by
Amir Ghalenoei
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