{"id":12965,"date":"2012-05-23T09:36:36","date_gmt":"2012-05-23T16:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2012\/05\/23\/khalatbari-asia-has-made-a-huge-leap-in-quality\/"},"modified":"2012-05-23T09:36:36","modified_gmt":"2012-05-23T16:36:36","slug":"khalatbari-asia-has-made-a-huge-leap-in-quality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2012\/05\/23\/khalatbari-asia-has-made-a-huge-leap-in-quality\/","title":{"rendered":"Khalatbari: Asia has made a huge leap in quality"},"content":{"rendered":"

FIFA<\/a> – TEHRAN, When the fourth round of Asian qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil\u2122 get underway in June, Iran will be doing all they can to grab one of the two Group A qualifying slots and guarantee their place at the finals.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The responsibility for realizing this dream rests on the shoulders of the young men who will be representing their country, key amongst the group will be 28-year-old forward Mohammad Reza Khalatbari, who plies his trade for United Arab Emirates side Al Wasl under the watchful eye of legendary coach Diego Maradona.<\/p>\n

Speaking to FIFA.com, Khalatbari discussed his team\u2019s Asian qualifying campaign and their chances of booking a ticket to Brazil.<\/p>\n

Making the finals<\/b><\/p>\n

Long considered one of the giants of Asian football, Iran made their first FIFA World Cup appearance at Argentina 1978 though they had to wait another twenty years until their next showing at France 1998. Since then Team Melli have been somewhat hit and miss, failing to qualify for the finals of either Korea\/Japan 2002 or South Africa 2010.<\/p>\n

With Germany 2006 their last appearance on football\u2019s greatest stage, the Iranians are determined not to miss out this time. Qualification at all costs is their motto and on paper at least their chances look good, the squad boasting a mix of exciting domestic talent and the skill and experience of seasoned overseas professionals.<\/p>\n

It is this experience that proves its worth in a high-pressure environment where every point is worth its weight in gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe missed the tournament in South Africa,\u201d Khalatbari explained. \u201cI remember that we missed out on qualification for the finals or even the chance to enter the Asian play-offs by just one point.\u201d<\/p>\n

That failure, though hard to cope with, served its purpose: \u201cWe\u2019ve learnt our lesson now and our top priority is qualifying directly for the Brazil 2014 finals from Group A. We\u2019ve been given a chance and we\u2019re not going to let it go. We\u2019ll fight hard every single game, home and away, and we\u2019ll stay positive, too. Football\u2019s a funny game and sometimes it can be hard on those who lack luck in the big matches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Confident but cautious<\/b><\/p>\n

Iran have truly earned their place in Group A alongside Korea Republic, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Lebanon and now Team Melli have made it to the fourth and potentially final round they are not about to take their opponents lightly.<\/p>\n

Khalatbari is realistic but wary: \u201cWe know that Korea Republic and ourselves are favourites to qualify for the finals because we\u2019ve both appeared in World Cups before, but that won\u2019t mean much when the whistle blows.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHistory doesn\u2019t matter now,\u201d he added. \u201cIf a side gets to this stage then they have proved themselves and we respect all our opponents. We will just look to play to our strengths, to rely on our experience and the fans\u2019 support to win us the points. If all goes according to plan then we will qualify for the finals, but nothing will happen if we don\u2019t make the effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Khalatbari sees it, the fact that Uzbekistan, Lebanon and Qatar have never reached the finals of a FIFA World Cup is hardly relevant at all. \u201cAll the teams have changed these days,\u201d he explained. \u201cRecently in Asia there has been a huge leap in quality and sides are getting results they would never have dreamed of before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The third round of Asian qualifiers was a case in point: \u201cThere were some real surprises in that round. It taught us to keep our guard up and never assume there\u2019s such a thing as an easy game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting better all the time<\/b><\/p>\n

In its constant quest to maintain Iran\u2019s status as a leading force in the Asian game, the country\u2019s football association has once again signed up a European coach for their qualifying campaign.<\/p>\n

The last two times Iran qualified for the finals of a FIFA World Cup they were led by Croatians, with Tomislav Ivic at the helm during France 1998 and Branko Ivankovic taking them to Germany 2006. This time round it is the turn of the highly experienced Portuguese manager Carlos Queiroz, formerly of Manchester United, Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team, and the side\u2019s excellent third round results suggest the new man is paying dividends.<\/p>\n

Khalatbari, no stranger to legendary coaches himself, is full of praise. \u201cQueiroz needs no introductions from me,\u201d said the forward who plays under Diego Maradona at Al Wasl. \u201cHe\u2019s highly experienced and in my view one of the best coaches out there. Since he has taken over he has introduced new training techniques and improved the team\u2019s performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players work hard to learn from him,\u201d said Khalatbari. \u201cWe try to carry out his plans on the pitch and I reckon our results so far show we\u2019re getting better. In the eight qualifiers we\u2019ve played we have scored 22 goals and only conceded five. That is an excellent record and I hope we can carry this form into the fourth round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Realizing the dream<\/b><\/p>\n

Participating in the finals of a FIFA World Cup is the dream of every footballer and Khalatbari and his team-mates are no different. The 28-year old was not part of the squad that went to Germany in 2006 but now he has the chance to realize the dream for himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone wants to play at a World Cup,\u201d Khalatbari said, \u201cand I may not get another chance. Along with my team-mates I\u2019m going to be doing all I can to make the dream come true. It\u2019s a huge honour to represent your country at the biggest football tournament there is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The striker is certainly an integral part of Queiroz\u2019s plans. He has taken the field in every single game under the Portuguese maestro\u2019s stewardship, either in the starting line-up or as a substitute. More than most, then, his chances of making it to Brazil 2014 are in his own hands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FIFA – TEHRAN, When the fourth round of Asian qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22615,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c13-team-melli-news"],"views":3814,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22615"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}