TEHRAN - Edmond Bezik, an expert on Iranian football, thinks that the U17 team's World Cup qualification is a great incident, but he believes it happened by chance rather than due to a process.
Iran secured a place in the FIFA U17 World Cup Indonesia 2023 after advancing to the AFC U17 Asian Cup Thailand 2023 semifinals.
I know that Hossein Abdi has worked hard as head coach to make his team successful,” Bezik said in his interview with Tehran Times.
Iran achieved great results in the group stage and managed to defeat Yemen in a penalty shootout. It's a fantastic opportunity for our young players to participate in the World Cup,” he added.
Iran lost 3-0 to Japan in the semifinals, which prevented them from entering the final match, and the critics put Abdi under pressure.
Bezik, with more than 15 years of experience in coaching junior football teams, shared his thoughts on this issue.
To me, Iranian teams' success in youth and junior age groups is always based on luck, not a well-planned process.
Mr. Abbas Chamanian led Iran in the 2017 FIFA World Cup and his team played remarkably well, and captured the attention of football experts. But they made it to the World Cup without any specific plans and were eventually finished their adventure without any strategy. Consequently, the head coach and several players are no longer involved in top-level of Iranian football.
Abdi has done a great job with the current U17 team, but he needs more facilities and time to make a significant impact in the upcoming World Cup.
To those who criticize the U17 national team, I suggest that they have to participate in their training and closely observe their efforts. Furthermore, experiencing the challenges in Iranian football club's junior group ages can help to understand the issues,” the former Persepolis forward concluded.
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