An interview with Iraj Danaifard, the quiet riot (By Nader Jahanfard)
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Posted on Monday, May 9 2005 
By Irankicks correspondent Nader Jahanfard
(Irankicks.com) Argentina, Estadio Cordoba, June 7th 1978
The thousands of Scottish fans who made the 7,000-mile journey to Argentina yelled abuse at their team during and after their performance in which they were outsmarted by the little fancied Iranians.
Scotland took the lead, as they had done against Peru, when Eskandarian powered the ball into his own net from 15 yards for an absurd own goal after Joe Jordan forced the error between the defender and his goalkeeper. The goal came two minutes from the interval and should have been a killer blow to the Iranians, but they came out raring to go in the second half and appeared not to have been unsettled by that ludicrous own goal.
Thirteen minutes from time, Danaifard netted the equalizer after receiving a pass from Sadeghi. Danaifard held off Gemmill and virtually ended Scotland's hopes of remaining in the tournament.
Video of the goals from Iran V Scotland courtesy of Irankick's Scotland based moderator Afshin Dastafshan (2.5 MB), link:
World Cup 1978; Iran V Scotland goals
That was a historical moment in Iranian football history. We scored our primary goal and took our first point from our very initial experience at the World Cup in Argentina and the man who was responsible for putting himself and Iran on the roadmap of football history was no one but the quiet midfielder of team melli, Iraj Danaifard.
 
Iraj Danaifard lives in Dallas, Texas with his family now and I was honored to have a brief conversation with him. I asked him about his first club and he said:
Iraj
My first club was Taj FC of Tehran, then I moved To Oghab FC. After the closure of Oghab, I moved to Paas FC and finally then ended my career in Iran with my original club Taj.
My late Father Ali Danaifard was one of the most prominent coaches in Iranian football. He was the real motivation behind my success. He was also the coach for Taj FC. Throughout my football career I worked under the guidance of different coaches such as Mr. Hossein Fekri, Hassan Habibi, Mohajerani, Sharafi and of course my father!
Nader (IK)
Let’s start form the end of your career and move backwards. You also played football in USA, is that correct?
Iraj
Yes, after I left Iran I played for Tulsa Roughnecks in Oklahoma. They were in NASL (North American Soccer League). I played for this team from late 1979 to 1984 before they shut down the league for good. Tulsa Roughnecks became NASL champions in 1983 and I was the only member of the team with World Cup experience behind me.
Nader (IK)
After the World Cup, you were selected to play for the World All Star team. Can you tell Irankicks visitors about your experience?
Iraj
Andranik Eskandarian and I were chosen to play for the world team that was coached by Caesar Menotti (who coached the World Cup champions, Argentina). He invited about 20 players from the teams who participated in the World Cup to come and play in an exhibition game that took place in New York against Cosmos. There were loads of superstars who played that day. Pele, Yohan Cryuff, Revelinho, Oscar are only few names to mention.
They flew us with Pan American to New York and from there we took limousines to the stadium. I guess Eskandarian and I were the only non-millionaires who were invited for that game! We all played a full half and the game ended 2-2.
Nader (IK)
Please talk about the atmosphere of the locker room after drawing with mighty Scotland.
Iraj
As you know Scotland had one of her best squads ever. They beat Holland who took Silver in Argentina by the score of 3-2. We were real joyful for the accomplishment and could not believe what just took place.
I was real close to Eski (Eskandarian), after he was forced to score an own goal, I felt real poignant. I was assigned to cover the legendary Archie Gemmill at all times, after that incident (own goal) I left Archie alone for a moment and took advantage of the free space beside me and scored the equalizer.
That was a double ecstasy. Not only I stabled the result, I also felt better about Eski and that unfortunate occurrence.
Nader (IK)
What was Mohajerani’s strategy against Scotland?
Iraj
Well, before the game two things happened. First of all the coach of England national team (whose team did not even make it to Argentina!) came to the hotel and gave some tips to Mohajerani with regards to how to play against Scotland!
He suggested that a fast player is needed to cover Gemmill and not allow him to get creative. After their conversation and before the game Heshmat went over the list of players, I was the very last player who was chosen to play. Heshmat told me to follow Gemmill everywhere, he then jokingly said; follow him into the bathroom if you have to!
Nader (IK)
How about when you returned to Iran, how did they welcome you?
Iraj
People were real happy and apparently all the newspapers had big headlines about our game against Scotland. But the overall mood of the media was not a friendly one. They were all in opposition to Heshmat Mohajerani and they were looking for opportunities to lash out at him.
On our way to Iran Heshmat had a long conversation with all the players and urged them to be positive about the whole ordeal. He did not want us to give a bad image of the team and asked us to be upbeat about issues.
After our arrival they put so much pressure on me to say something bad about Heshmat, because of my father and his position I was in a very difficult situation, of course I did not say a word. I am just glad that its all in the past now.
Nader (IK)
Please talk about your experience with Khosravani.
Iraj
Timsar Khosravani and my father were the founders of “Docharkhe Savaran” club in Iran, but they lived in two different worlds. While my father did not even have a house of his own, Khosravani lived in a palace!
Khosravani had a strange personality, he did not try to hide it either. After I left Iran to play for Tulsa, I needed to have my release papers from Taj FC, it was right before the revolution. Khosravani sent one of his military buddies to meet with me. He asked me all kinds of questions regarding the Tulsa team and how much I was going to make with them. I told him that I was about to get paid somewhere around 50 to 60 thousand dollars a year. He relayed the massage to Khosravani and he then asked for 50,000 dollars in exchange for my release papers from Taj FC!
I told him that I have not received my money yet but he insisted that I had to come up with that money right away or forget it!
Khosravani told me he would not accept my personal check (spelt as cheque in the UK). My father who was real close to him offered to give him a check/cheque as guarantee, knowing about my father’s financial situation, Khosravani still did not accept the offer!
Hossein Kazerani offered him the same and Khosravani rejected his offer as well! I was in real distress and didn’t know whom to turn to. But Khosravani’s luck ran out just in time. The revolution happened and Hossein Fekri became the head of Iranian Physical Education Department.
Shortly after with the help from Abolfazl Jalali, I took care of my papers. My mother personally went to Mr. Fekri and received my release papers, Timsar Khosravani did not get a penny from me.
Sometimes god works in mysterious ways!
Nader (IK)
What do you do in Dallas now?
Iraj
I have a soccer shop, I took my family to Iran for a few years, after my daughter received her high school diploma, we moved back to Texas. My daughter is about 22 years old now and my son Ali who is 18 is a great soccer player.
Nader (IK)
What is your best football related memory in Iran?
Iraj
We were playing against Persepolis in Takhte Jamshid tournament. Persepolis had just hired Parviz Ghelichkhani and despite his services we were able to beat them 3-0. Those days Donyaie Varzesh and Kayhan Varzeshi used to pick the best players for the week. Right after that game both papers chose me as the player who made a difference. That was my proudest moment in Iran.
Nader (IK)
Are you in touch with any of your old team-mates?
Iraj
Yes. I am real close tom Eski, Nazari and Kamal Khalilian (former Paas FC player).
Nader (IK)
Who were your best football partners in Iran?
Iraj
Eskandarian and Kazerani.
Nader (IK)
Your thoughts on Hassan Roshan?
Iraj
Hassan was something else. He was an unbelievable football icon. Unfortunately he was prone to injuries and that kept him away from some games; otherwise he was a unique player. If Roshan was a player today, he would have been able to play for Bayern Munich. He really could.
Nader (IK)
What do you think about the national team today?
Iraj
They play real well, my only concern is that they are inconsistent, you can never predict their result. If Karimi or Hashemian or Kia or any other individual perform well, we will win, otherwise there is no dependable system that guarantees success. The team may be a little better than before but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Nader (IK)
Your thoughts on Daei?
Iraj
We all have to be proud of what Daei has done for us. When Daei was younger, no one worried as much about the outcome of the games as he came to the rescue many times. He is a living legend.
Nader (IK)
What do you think about the Iranian fans?
Iraj
We have some excellent fans in Iran. Unfortunately some young people do not care about “Pishkesvatha” in our country. We need to work on educating those certain individuals.
Nader (IK)
Do you think we will qualify for the world cup in Germany?
Iraj
I am 99% certain that we are going to make it.
Nader (IK)
Have you ever thought of coaching?
Iraj
In Iran they wanted me to coach the Futsal team, I never liked it. May be it is because of what my father went through. He spent a lifetime coaching and in the end he was left with nothing. Coaches eventually become scapegoats and everyone blames them for everything.
I played Futsal in Tulsa; I scored at least 2 goals in each game. I am in Tulsa hall of fame (Futsal). But I hate coaching.
Nader (IK)
And your thoughts on Ali Parvin?
Iraj
Parvin is a noble man. Let me tell you a story about what Parvin has done for me. Throughout my career I had many ups and downs, at one point I was playing for Oghab FC. Oghab was going through some turmoil, Parviz Ghelichkhani and Mostafa Arab were in the middle of it all. I remember that we were getting close to the end of season and we had to face Malavan FC.
Ghelich had some players on his side and so did Arab, it was like having two different teams in the same team!
The night before that game we had dinner at Mr. Arab’s house and the decision was made that Arab’s team should play against Malavan the next day. Right before the game Ghlichkhani’s group decided to take the center stage and Ghelichkhani assigned me to be the captain!
He just did not want Arab to become a captain! I called my father for advice and he said; you should play with any team that is going on the pitch to play against Malavan.
To make a long story short, that day Ghelich’s team played and the very next day the Air Force sent me to Kish Island (this was their way of retaliating against me, it was like sending someone on an exile!).
My father talked to the late Timsar Khatam, he transferred me to Tabriz. For one year I flew to Tehran every weekend to play with the team and flew back to Tabriz the following day! Finally my father suggested that if I wanted to leave the Air Force I had to go and see Ali Abdo (he was the owner of Persepolis FC at the time). The very first question that Mr. Abdo asked me was; do you have your father’s consent?
He then gave me a contract and a check/cheque for 80,000 Toman. I already had plans for a trip so I gave the check/cheque and the contract papers to Ali Parvin and asked him to keep it for me until I got back.
When I got back from my trip, to my surprise Taj club offered me a great contract worth 200,000 Tooman, bearing in mind that I already had a contract with Persepolis!
I met with Parvin and told him about the offer from Taj and right there in front of me he destroyed the check and the contract and gave me his blessing without hesitation.
He said; don’t worry about a thing, this is a great offer and you should not refuse it. I will take care of the rest on your behalf. That’s the kind of a man Parvin is.
Nader (IK)
Any messages for your fans?
Iraj
I’d like to thank all the people who supported me throughout the years. I will never forget their kindness, I wish them all the best.
Nader (IK)
Thank you so much Mr. Danaifard, I am honored to talk to you. I also wish you and your family great success.
Acknowledgment
Many thanks to Mr. Behrouz Sedighi who made this interview possible and teammelli.com for great introduction, stats and the pictures, and Irankicks moderator Afshin Dastafshan for editing, video and graphics.
You can discuss this article on Irankicks discussion board, direct link to the thread:
http://www.irankicks.com/ikboard/showthread.php?t=30431
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