Underestimated Skocic out to showcase credentials on Iran return
By Amirhadi
Arsalanpour
Staff writer
New Tractor head coach Dragan Skocic will have a point to prove once he begins his reign in the upcoming Persian Gulf Pro League season.
Tractor will be the Croatian’s fourth job in the Iranian top flight over the past decade – following Malavan, Foolad Khuzestan, and San’at Naft Abadan – before his controversial appointment to the national team role in for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
The 55-year-old coach, who leaves his country’s under-21 side for Iran, must have always felt hard done by, perhaps rightly so, since he was sacked by the Iranian Football Federation in September 2022 – fourth months before the World Cup finals in Qatar.
He took over of the Iranian bench in the most critical circumstances as back-to-back defeats against Bahrain and Iraq under Belgian Marc Wilmots had left the Asian powerhouse on the verge of a shock exit in the preliminary round of the qualifiers.
However, Skocic steered his team to 11 wins in 12 matches and a place in Qatar with three games to spare in the final qualification group phase, with Iran’s two defeats in his 18-game spell over two years coming in an away dead-rubber in South Korea and a friendly against Algeria.
Despite a low-profile career before the Iran role as well as the questions being asked of his tactical acumen and control over a star-studded dressing room, the Croatian still believed he had earned the right to sit on the bench against England, Wales, and the United States in the global showpiece.
Mahdi Taj, nonetheless, had other ideas as he axed Skocic two days after being reelected as the head of the federation to bring back fan-favorite Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, whose spot-on defensive tactics had led to some decent performances by Team Melli against international heavyweights Argentina, Spain, and Portugal in the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.
Iranians hoped their team would achieve a first progress to the World Cup knockouts at the sixth time of asking but defeats against England and USA either side of a 2-0 victory over Wales saw Queiroz’s side finish third in the group.
And now, four years after an impressive stint at minnow side San’at Naft, Skocic will be back to prove he could be the right man for every daunting task in the Iranian football as the scale of the new job is nothing like he faced in his previous Pro League roles.
Despite a massive spending spree by owner Mohammadreza Zonouzi in recent years, Tractor has failed to lift a maiden top-flight trophy and a serious title charge is the least the club’s devoted fans will expect from their new manager.
The Croatian is set to be blessed by a group of marquee signings during the summer transfer window, with Iranian international goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand and wizard winger Mahdi Torabi – the linchpins of Persepolis’s domestic dominance over the past eight seasons – as well as the Tehran Reds’ prolific fullback Danial Esmaeilifar all on their way to play for Tractor next season.
Still, being Tractor’s 14th coach since 2018, Skocic will have to long for Zonouzi’s patience and trust during his time in northwest Iran.