PFDC - Four years ago, Bahrain dashed our hope for a return to World Cup Finals; and with it cost Blazovich (an able coach) his job. 

Branko had to try hard to convince the IFF that he is the right choice to replace Blazovich, since he did not have any experience head coaching any national team. 

Branko (not unlike other foreign coaches before him) was attracted to this job, because of the untamed talents in Iran’s football.  

To tame this talent and achieve international success, could rocket any coach’s career.  However, unlike many foreign coaches before him, Branko became successful in Iran’s football.  There are many reasons for this success, much of which should be credited back to Branko himself: his knowledge, wisdom, hard work, and dedication.  

Slowly, but surely, Branko, brought order to the Team Melli.  He enlisted young, talented but manageable players.   At the same time, Branko strengthened the team with more experienced players.  Having good attitude and being able to be calm under pressure, were attributes that Branko looked for in players.  With mounting successes (e.g., Continued FIFA ranking improvements), Branko silenced his critics.
 
He began to receive more support from IFF, and even those who were his critics (e.g., Media, Iranian coaches who wanted his post).  Success begets success.

And so here is Branko:

The game against Bahrain on February 9 could be looked back on as a historical moment for Branko and his career.  

By wining in Manameh, Team Melli’s morale would get a great boost, and would wipe away the memories of the loss four years ago.  Iran could go into the remaining qualifying games with much greater confidence.  This could very well set the stage for Iran’s qualifications to WC2006.   

If so, this in itself would be a noteworthy achievement for Branko.  However, there would be more to come.  With ex-Team Melli players (Such as Kavian-Pour, Khaziravi, Navid-Kia, Pashazadeh) getting back into their top shape, and young players blossoming in the continuously improving Iran football league (Such as Oladi), the future for Team Melli is bright. 

Branko will have plenty of time to improve an already strong Team Melli and prepare it for the WC2006.  Give TM a nice lucky draw in WC2006, and we might even advance to later rounds.  In this scenario, Branko will be a hero in Iran’s football for many years to come, and he will be a sought-after coach all over the world!

Branko could very well look back to the Bahrain game in Manameh as a historical point in his career.  But he has to have a special game plan for playing against Bahrain in Manameh.  While Branko likes to play an attacking football in the form of a 4-2-3-1 system, he needs not to forget about the defense. 

To make it a sweet historical moment in his career, Branko has to do several things: First he has to develop and implement ways of controlling Talal Yousef  and  the rest of the middle field.  Talal Yousef is an excellent distributor of the ball. 

The attackers, Salman Isa and A'la Hubail who are fed by Talal Yousef, have to be stopped in their tracks.  Branko’s team needs to defend against counterattacks, particularly those that are initiated by Bahrain’s defense sending the ball long behind Iran’s side defenders (Kaabi & Badavi).  His team also needs to be prepared for Bahrain’s “change of point of attackâ€�, which Bahrain employs in their game plan.   

If we take care of defense, we have enough fire power in our offense to put Bahrain away in the first half of the game.  The climate should be much better now than the last time we played Bahrain. 

The pressing game may work better in this climate and might work for us as a tool against Bahrain’s surprise attacks.   

If Branko plays his cards right, we just might be on our way to WC2006, and making a historical showing in Germany.  This bodes well for the future of Iran’s football, as well as Branko’s career --which is as young as he is.

As the Persian saying goes: May you get old Branko (with the Iranian National Team, I hope!)