Esteghlal begins quest for new manager
Domestic and foreign faces have been lined up as Persian Gulf Pro League club Esteghlal is searching for a new head coach ahead of the next Iranian club football season.
Portuguese manager Ricardo Sa Pinto, who led the Blues to a third-spot finish in the Iranian top flight in May, parted ways with the Tehran-based giant following a 2-1 defeat against archrival Persepolis in the Hazfi Cup final less than a fortnight ago to join Cypriot club APOEL Nicosia, bringing an end to his one-year stint in the country.
The passionate Portuguese’s departure means Esteghlal will have to name a ninth manager – including interims coaches – in seven years, and the club will be facing a race against time in the preseason as the rest of the league sides have already been involved in the summer transfer market.
Esteghlal announced on Saturday that “four Iranians and a number of foreign coaches are under the club’s radar and the technical committee will continue assessment of their CVs and plans before coming up with the best choice for the start of next season.”
The club refused to name the domestic candidates but Iranian sports website Varzesh3 later reported that former Iranian international midfielder Javad Nekounam, who has been without a team since leaving Foolad Khuzestan in February, Alireza Mansourian, who replaced Nekounam in Foolad and was in charge of Esteghlal bench for 15 months before being sacked in 2017, as well as Havadar manager Saket Elhami and Mes Rafsanjan manager Mohammad Rabiei are being considered for the job.
In a later statement on Saturday, Esteghlal said Spanish coach Juan Ramón López Caro is due to arrive in Tehran in the coming days to begin negotiations with the club.
An ex-player in La Liga club Real Betis, the 60-year-old Spaniard was the manager of several Spanish clubs in the 2000s, including Mallorca, Levante, and Celta Vigo.
López Caro was in charge of Real Madrid’s reserve team for four years before taking over as the caretaker manager of the first team in December 2005 following Brazilian Vanderlei Luxemburgo’s dismissal.
He also led his national team at the European Under-21 Championship in 2009, where their campaign finished in the group stage.
The Spaniard succeeded Frank Rijkaard as the manager of Saudi Arabia in January 2013 but was shown the exit door less than two years later and took the Oman role in January 2016 before leaving the job by the end of his one-year contract.
He won promotion to the Chinese top flight with Shenzhen FC after taking the helm in April 2018 but was sacked 15 months later, with his team second from bottom in the table following a 12-game run without a victory, being succeeded by Italian Roberto Donadoni.