Nassaji to name Spanish Alcaraz as new manager
Persian Gulf Pro League club Nassaji Mazandaran will unveil Lucas Alcaraz as the new head coach in the coming days after an agreement with the Spaniard over a year-and-a-half contract.
Ex-Nassaji manager Seyyed Mahdi Rahmati stepped down from his role in the aftermath of last Tuesday’s 4-0 away loss to Esteghlal – a seventh defeat in 12 top-flight outings, which left the northern Iranian club second from bottom in the table with nine points.
The domestic cup champion in 2022, Nassaji was one of the three Iranian clubs in this season’s AFC Champions League but a third-place finish in Group D saw Rahmati’s men fail to progress to the last-16 round in their debut campaign.
A former manager of a number of teams in his home country – including Granada, Racing Santander, Levante, and Almeria – Alcaraz was last in charge of Unión Deportiva Ibiza before parting ways with the Spanish third-tier club in June after 26 games on the bench.
“Nassaji is a top team in Iran and I’m so excited for the new job in this team and country,” Alcaraz told Spanish newspaper GranadaDigital.
The 57-year-old coach was appointed to the Algeria role in April 2017 but four defeats in seven matches and the failure in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup brought his reign to an end in October that year.