Queiroz: National Team's Enemies Should Read the Tale of Molla Nasreddin and Roof Repair

Hours after a verbal altercation between Afshin Peyrovani, the manager of Iran's national team, and the secretary of the Football Federation, Carlos Queiroz held a meeting with the members of the federation's board. On Monday night during the television program 90, Peyrovani stated that the disagreements between the national team coach and the federation secretary began at their first meeting when Asadi told Queiroz that he did not accept him technically. Asadi joined the program and said that Peyrovani, not being present at the meeting, could not comment on this matter, but the national team manager reminded that Asadi had made similar statements several times in interviews with the press and had never denied them. After the meeting with the board members, the national team coach said: "I will write my views on my personal page. We are 150 days away from our first match in the final round of World Cup qualifiers, and now it's time for everyone to wake up." Another decisive meeting between the national team coach and the board members will be held on Saturday, which will be crucial for the fate of Iran's national team. Queiroz, who had previously submitted his resignation letter, considered this action inevitable and wrote on his Facebook page: "We are faced with promises that have been constantly broken, lack of support for players, absence of facilities, and lack of ambition in the federation to reach the World Cup. Nothing has changed." In his text, which was published in English without a Persian translation on Facebook, the national team coach emphasized: "Only false and fake information can be worse than ignorance. We are dealing with people who think others are fools and only they have intellect. But we are not fools; the players and football fans of Iran are not fools either." Carlos Queiroz continued: "They do not know that we know they are jealous and their behavior is hostile. We are ready to forgive them while also forgetting them." The former Real Madrid and Portugal national team coach told "those who try to deceive fans with false information" to read the tale of Molla Nasreddin repairing a roof. At the end of the story, Molla Nasreddin, whose unnecessary donkey companion caused the roof to collapse after repairs, says: "Curse me for not knowing that if the donkey reaches a high place, it will ruin both that place and itself!" The sports website Varzesh 3 published a report about Queiroz's record in Iran, stating: "A man whose behavior has sometimes provoked criticism from football figures has always been a guardian of our football's dignity, both with technical competence and by using coaching cunning." Queiroz has led the national team in 61 matches, making him the record holder in the history of Iranian football, where only three coaches have managed to sit on the national team bench more than forty times. His team has suffered only four defeats in official matches over these five years: twice in World Cup qualifiers to Lebanon and Uzbekistan, and twice in the World Cup to Argentina and Bosnia. Under Queiroz, Iran has remained unbeaten against Asian opponents for 1100 days and has been ranked as the top Asian team in the FIFA rankings for the past 17 months. The president of the Iranian Football Federation told reporters about the future of the national team: The coach says he needs good grass fields, timely payment of players' bonuses, proper training camps, and timely payment of his salary to continue cooperation. Kafashian continued: "Queiroz has stated that if conditions are not met, he will not stay. If he leaves, we will suffer because he knows the national team well and can lead the team to the World Cup."