{"id":23925,"date":"2016-01-13T14:21:42","date_gmt":"2016-01-13T22:21:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/?p=23925"},"modified":"2016-01-13T16:29:06","modified_gmt":"2016-01-14T00:29:06","slug":"interview-with-iran-assistant-coach-dan-gaspar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2016\/01\/13\/interview-with-iran-assistant-coach-dan-gaspar\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Iran Assistant Coach Dan Gaspar"},"content":{"rendered":"

One World Sport – CONNECTICUT, After the Saudi Arabian embassy in Tehran was stormed recently, Dan Gaspar began to have second thoughts about continuing in his position as an assistant coach with Iran\u2019s national team. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAny time these world conflicts are going on, I question my judgment,\u201d Gaspar said last week. \u201cBut then I get up from my apartment, and I look out on my balcony after watching CNN and BBC and others. And I say, what I\u2019m hearing is not what I\u2019m experiencing and it\u2019s not what I\u2019m seeing.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gaspar has achieved success in Iran, his latest stop on a coaching odyssey that began more than 20 years ago. Gaspar and head coach Carlos Queiroz have a chance to take Team Melli (the national team) to a second successive World Cup. Iran is in first place in Group D of World Cup qualification and 43rd in FIFA rankings, the top-rated Asian nation. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve qualified for Asian Cup 2019,\u201d Gaspar said in an interview conducted near his boyhood home in Hartford, Conn.’s South End. \u201cIf we tie with India and Oman, we\u2019re in the next round, so if things go according to the way they should, we should be okay. But soccer is so unpredictable. It\u2019s probably the most unjust team sport in the world. Most team sports, the best team wins, but as they say, you have to play the game, and anything can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaspar\u2019s travels began after he worked with Queiroz, who was coaching the Portugal national team during the 1992 U.S. Cup, a tournament designed to help preparations for the \u201994 World Cup. Gaspar went on to work with teams in the UEFA Champions Cup, won a J. League title with Nagoya Grampus, and was an assistant in the last two World Cups (with Portugal and Iran).<\/p>\n

And after his stint with Iran, Gaspar hopes to return to the U.S., possibly with the national team program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t claim to be better than anyone else but I do believe that I\u2019m unique and special in the sense that I\u2019m an American-born coach who has had this incredible journey overseas at the highest level,\u201d Gaspar said. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to read about (Cristiano) Ronaldo, one thing to dream about being in Champions League or World Cup, but nothing can replace doing it. So, being on the same pitch with someone like Ronaldo or like a Figo or a Deco, and knowing first-hand the attributes of these players and the speed of play and how they make decision and what their rituals and routines are \u2013 that\u2019s something I can share and (bring) to the players that are here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaspar learned the game from his father, playing in local semi-professional leagues as a teenager. He coached the University of Hartford, and was goalkeeper coach for the New York\/New Jersey MetroStars in MLS and the U.S. U17 team. Gaspar brought Zach Thornton to Benfica, and believes Thornton could have been the club\u2019s starting goalkeeper had he arrived at the start of the 2003-04 season.<\/p>\n

In the late \u201890s, Gaspar and Queiroz prepared the Project 2010 report, commissioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation to develop elite players. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. is No. 1 in the world in the business of soccer,\u201d Gaspar said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s a difference between being in the business of soccer and being in the winning business. And overseas it\u2019s about the winning business. Most coaches here don\u2019t have to worry about putting food on the table if they don\u2019t have a soccer job, or not being able to pay their mortgage or provide education for their children. It\u2019s not a life or death situation. Most of them have a pension plan. Most of them, their wives are school teachers, they have fall back positions. But they\u2019re competing against coaches that if they don\u2019t win their next 90 minutes they could be without a job and none of the privileges that are offered here in the US.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gaspar said U.S. soccer has \u201cmade tremendous strides\u201d since 1996, when he assisted Queiroz in guiding the MetroStars in MLS, but is lacking the elements that set other countries apart. <\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the current structure, MLS controls all salaries, and that leads to parity,\u201d Gaspar said. \u201cJust about everybody has a chance to win, with the playoffs, the championship. And, not having relegation and our season not on the FIFA calendar, we\u2019re kind of isolated, away from the soccer culture. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not a country, we\u2019re a continent. The vastness makes it very difficult to keep the kind of control smaller countries have. Like Holland and Portugal. Because it\u2019s much easier for them to identify players and control the development system, and in those countries every single person loves the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, there is the lack of bonus structures, really rewarding players for success. What is the level of bonuses (in MLS)? Overseas, it could be $5,000 to $10,000 per game, and if that\u2019s the case, we\u2019re not going to be real casual, we\u2019re not going to be real friendly, we\u2019re going to do whatever it takes for our families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s political situation has changed in recent weeks, international sanctions having been lifted, followed by diplomatic relations being ruptured with Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Gaspar, who has talked soccer with Iranian leaders from former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to U.S.-educated foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, is hopeful soccer can help with international relations, citing the 1998 World Cup match between Iran and the U.S. in Lyon. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the perfect illustration of how sports can bridge gaps,\u201d Gaspar said. \u201cHow sports, in this case, soccer, can connect countries. If sports can get it right, why can\u2019t politicians get it right? If we can all be on the same pitch, 22 players, play fairly, play competitively, shake hands before and after the match, why can\u2019t we get along as nations? That\u2018s my challenge to the politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaspar will return to Iran after the National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention in Baltimore this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the safest place I\u2019ve ever worked, and I\u2019ve worked on four continents,\u201d Gaspar said of Iran. \u201cI\u2019ve never had any issues being a Portuguese-American. In fact, I\u2019ve been very well-received. The people are kind and generous. They have the same desires and the same dreams and aspirations as people all over the world. There\u2019s a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Gaspar was not sure what he was getting into when he joined Queiroz in Iran in 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cI accepted the invitation, one, because of my belief and trust in him of achieving success,\u201d Gaspar said of Queiroz. \u201cNumber two, I had experienced the World Cup with the Portuguese national team in South Africa and that\u2019s a feeling like no other, so I wanted to help Iran achieve qualification for the World Cup. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I shared it with friends and so-called experts and family, they all thought I was crazy and nobody encouraged me to take on this unique project. But I\u2019m a risk-taker and I did it. And when we qualified for the World Cup, that single event made it worthwhile, the personal and family sacrifices I needed to make, to achieve that joy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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