Fresh blood injected into Iran women’s futsal team, Mozaffar says
Head coach Shahrzad Mozaffar says a major generational change is underway in the Iranian women’s national futsal team ahead of the upcoming Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Riyadh.
The sixth edition of the multi-sport event will kick off on December 11 in the Saudi capital, with futsal among the 18 sports on the program.
Mozaffar made the remarks at the start of the national team’s latest training camp this week, which is the first camp in which she believes the coaching staff has reached the team’s main structure ahead of the Games.
“This is actually the first camp in which we have almost reached the main structure of the national team,” Mozaffar told IRNA. “After numerous camps and after inviting around 180 players from different levels of the previous domestic league season, we held several camps in which many players came and went. This team is actually the result of those camps.”
The coaching staff has now reduced the squad to 20 players, with the number set to be trimmed to 14 for the Riyadh tournament.
“This shows that we have seriously pursued youth development and a generational change,” Mozaffar said.
The coach explained that the decision to rebuild the team was taken after the national side’s participation in last year’s Women’s Futsal World Cup, where Iran had one of the oldest squads in the competition.
Mozaffar took over the Iranian team for a second spell ahead of the inaugural World Cup, replacing Forouzan Soleimani following Team Melli’s underwhelming campaign at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup earlier in May, where Iran failed to defend its back-to-back titles, finishing third.
At the World Cup in the Philippines, Iran suffered defeats against eventual champion Brazil (4-1) and European powerhouse Italy (3-1), either side of a 6-2 victory over Panama, to finish third in the group and miss out on a place in the knockout stage.
“The average age of our team at the World Cup was 31, and after Brazil, we were the second-oldest team at the World Cup,” she said. “We took charge of the team three months before the World Cup, and there really was no opportunity for major changes.”
Mozaffar said the coaching staff subsequently decided to begin the transition immediately, despite the contribution of the experienced players who represented Iran at the World Cup.
“After the World Cup, because those players were our beloved and respected stars and, naturally, they could have been part of the squad at the next World Cup as well, we decided to start the process of youth development from now,” she said.
The move, she added, is designed to give the younger players enough time to develop before the next World Cup.
“We wanted the young players to have time and reach the necessary maturity over the next three and a half years for the next World Cup,” Mozaffar said.
The transformation has already produced a significant reduction in the team’s average age. According to Mozaffar, the average age of the current 20-player squad is just 21.5 years, meaning the figure has fallen by almost 10 years in the space of eight months.
“As I speak to you now, the average age of these 20 players is 21,” she said. “The team’s average age has fallen from 31 to 21.5 in these eight months. In other words, the national team has become almost 10 years younger.”
“I think it is a low average age for a national team, and I hope this generation can once again guarantee the success of Iranian futsal for years to come,” Mozaffar said.
The coach also stressed that the decision to introduce younger players should not be interpreted as a criticism of the experienced stars who are no longer part of the current squad.
“I want to repeat that the players who are not currently alongside those immortal and beloved stars, and whose absence is felt, are players we value and who have always made us proud,” Mozaffar said. “But we made this decision for the next World Cup and for the years ahead. This does not mean that they lacked ability. It was simply forward planning that we decided to start from now.”