Football Notes

Afshin Ghotbi on Unity, Hope, and the True Power of the Game At a time when geopolitical tensions and global uncertainty dominate headlines, sport remains one of the few spaces where humanity can still come together. Football, the world’s most popular game, has long served as a bridge between cultures, …

Tehran: Former Persepolis manager Afshin Ghotbi knows just what it feels like to savour glory at the Azadi Stadium, where the 2018 AFC Champions League final between the Islamic Republic of Iran giant and Kashima Antlers of Japan will be decided on Saturday. Ghotbi also spent three-and-a-half years coaching in …

Written by Santos Rivas In my last piece, I wrote about my visit to Shimizu S-Pulse, in 2011, Afshin Ghotbi’s first season at the helm of the club. Last week, I had another rare privilege to visit with Afshin and learn from him, only this time, at the conclusion of …

“Persepolis is one of the most popular, maybe the most popular, clubs in Asia because they have 30 million followers.” “If you are a player or a coach with Persepolis and you travel anywhere in the world you will meet an Iranian person somewhere in some street that will recognise …

Afshin Ghotbi’s place in the history of South Korean soccer folklore is assured; he was, after all, a member of the national team’s coaching staff at the 2002 World Cup, the first of three stints with the Taeguk Warriors. He would argue that there is much more to come in …

the-afc.com, FIFA World Cup / Article Kuala Lumpur: Two weeks ago, the-AFC.com profiled five Asian FIFA World Cup heroes from over the years and asked the fans to vote for their favourite. Now, it’s the turn of our experts panel.  Given the choice of Sami Al Jaber, Alireza Beiranvand, Tim …

TEHRAN – Ex-Iran and Persepolis football teams head coach Afshin Ghotbi says he is proud of his Persian origin, his history and his past. Tehran Times The 54-year-old coach led Iranian giants Persepolis to win the domestic title, however, Ghotbi believes it’s not his biggest achievement in football. Finishing fourth …

Trainer in sieben Ländern Weltenbummler Ghotbi: „ Jedes Land bietet unterschiedliche Herausforderungen “ Afshin Ghotbi (Foto) gilt als innovativer, aber auch weitgereister Trainer. In sieben verschiedenen Ländern arbeitete der 54-Jährige bereits. Ob Südkorea, Japan oder der Iran: Überall konnte er Spuren hinterlassen. Seine Arbeit war auch einigen deutschen Vereinen aufgefallen, mehrfach …

In the fall of 2011, I had the rare privilege of travelling to Shizuoka, Japan to visit Afshin at Shimizu S-Pulse. As a US Soccer Instructor and Coach, I was naturally excited by the chance to visit a top flight club in the J-League, but the amount of access and …

Since I began working for US Soccer as a national staff instructor, I have had the privilege of being part of a series of positive and sweeping improvements to how we train our youth coaches in the United States. US Soccer has highlighted all these sweeping changes with a very …