Iran skipper Hajsafi rejects international retirement rumors
Ehsan Hajsafi, the long-serving captain of the Iranian national football team, says he has no intention of calling time on his international career.
The 34-year-old fullback, the third most-capped Iranian player of all time, was part of the team at the recently-finished AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, where Iran suffered a 3-2 defeat against the host in the semifinals.
The Iranian squad was the oldest in Qatar and many think the team needs fresh blood ahead of the World Cup in two-years’ time, with manager Amir Qalenoei insisting last week that he and his staff have already embarked on a rejuvenation project for the upcoming qualification double-header against Turkmenistan in late March, which may come at the expense of some of the senior players.
However, in a recent interview with Varzesh3, Hajsafi, who plays for Greek Super League champion AEK Athens, said he is yet to consider international retirement as he is “in the best form of my life.”
“No one has talked to me about that and I have not given it a thought either as I am in top mental and physical form,” said Hajsafi, who made four starts in the Asian Cup and was the last player to score from the spot as Iran defeated Syria in the last-16 shootout.
“I play for one of the top teams in Greece and was the best left back in the league last season, not to mention played against some high-profile sides in the Europa League this term,” added the Iranian, whose contribution convinced the club to sign a two-year extension to his contract.
“I think I am in the best form of my life, though Team Melli’s coaching staff will have the final say on who will be called up for the national team. All I know is that I will try to deliver my best if I am selected again.”
The Asian Cup had been tipped as a perfect opportunity for arguably the finest generation of the Iranian footballers in years to celebrate a fitting finale to their Team Melli careers by lifting a first trophy in the continent’s flagship international event in nearly five decades but the final outcome turned out to be a seventh last-four heartbreak for the country.
Qatar, which had been hammered by four goals against Iran in a friendly in October, went on to defeat Jordan in the final for a second successive Asian crown.
“I still can’t believe Qatar won the title. They were not as good as the previous edition and we were thrilled to land them in the semifinals,” said Hajsafi, who represented the country in a fourth consecutive Asian Cup.
“I believe in luck in football and if we had converted our chances the result would have been different. I still regret the defeat. We should have been in the final and lifted the trophy.”
Qalenoei’s men stepped into the last-four showdown on the back of a massive 2-1 victory over Japan – widely regarded as the most formidable team in the continent and the pretournament favorite – and many Iranians say the team was carried away by the triumph when taking on the host, but Hajsafi thinks that was hardly the case.
“We were fully focused on the contest and started right on the front foot. When we scored after five minutes, I thought we were going to beat them by three or four goals again. We only had ourselves to blame for the individual errors on their goals and should take lessons for the future,” said Hajsafi, who was forced out with an injury at halftime in the semifinal.
With eight Asian teams directly qualifying for the expanded World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, Iran looks to have a comfortable path toward a fourth successive berth in the global showpiece, though Hajsafi has other ideas, given some decent runs by the likes of Jordan, Uzbekistan, and Iraq in the Asian Cup.
“All Asian teams have improved as we saw some shock results in Qatar. No one fancied Palestine, given the situation in the country, but they progressed to the knockouts, or even Hong Kong had a good game against us. That was a wakeup call for us as there will be no easy games in the qualifiers.”