The Tehran New York Express; Andranik Eskandarian
By Irankicks correspondent Nader Jahanfard
Irankicks.com (Iranian Soccer news)
Nov 25 2004
In Iran the strikers feared him, in Argentina they respected him and
in New York they cherished his style of play. His name is Andranik
Eskandarian and he is one of the most treasured defenders in Iranian
football history.
After Playing for Poolad and Ararat FC of Tehran, he moved to one of
the most famous clubs in Asia called; Taj FC of Tehran (now Esteghlal
FC). He was physical, speedy, smart and fearless.
For many years he played for the Iranian national team as a defender
and he helped Iran reach her first World Cup Finals in 1978
(Argentina). The same year he moved to United States and joined the
star studded football team New York Cosmos.
Andranik or “Eski” as they call him here in United States, is now 53
and he owns his own sports store in New Jersey. I had the honor of
interviewing this man who served his country on the pitch, Iranian
football owes him a lot of admiration for that matter.
I presented Andranik with a series of short questions and he answered
all of them meticulously.
Nader,
Iran?
Eskandarian,
I miss my country. I left Iran in 1978 to come and live here in the
United States. It’s all like a dream now.
We (Armenians) are a small minority in Iran but we are so close to
that soil. We have been living in Iran for centuries and they have
always counted us as one of their own.
People of Iran always respected me, I will never forget my people.
Nader,
Daei?
Eskandarian,
Daei is a good friend of mine. Any time he comes to New York area we
get together and dine. He is one of the greatest football players in
our history, unfortunately I never had the chance to watch him play
in person but I have seen many of his games on TV.
Andranik laughs and says; He is aging like me now!
In Argentina 78 we could have used Daei’s services. Hassan Roshan was
playing with injury and the teams we played against were great on
air. We needed some one to dominate that area for us and Daei could
have been awesome for that position.
Nader,
How about Ghafoor jahani?
Eskandarian,
Ghafoor was a very good player, I don’t want to take anything away
from him. Naturally a team has to have a good chemistry and coaches
are responsible for making that chemistry work for them. Our team had
this advantage.
To give you an example; my son Alecko who plays for D.C.United team
was benched last year because their coach believed in having a
“Target” striker. He told Alecko that he was too small for that role.
This year however, Peter Novak (D.C. United Coach) believed in Alecko
and as result my son became the MVP!
It’s all about the team and believing in players’ potentials.
Nader,
Alecko Eskandarian?
Eskandarian,
They ask me a lot of questions about Alecko these days. I always
advise Alecko on how they treated us in Iran. He was born here in
United States but my wife and I always talk to him about our
homeland.
We have told him that someday we will go back to visit and see Iran
because it is important that he gets to know Iran and feel that
emotion!
Alecko played for the U.S. Olympics team when he was only 15 years
old and so far he has played 20-25 games for the U.S. side.
Because of the international rules and regulations of FIFA he cannot
play for Iran.
Here in New Jersey area he grew up with many Iranian friends, he is
real proud of his heritage, he is proud to have an Iranian
background, he has a great future and I am proud of him.
Believe it or not they even asked me if he could play for the
Armenian national team!
Nader,
Given the chance, what would you like to do for Iran and its
football?
Eskandarian,
First of all let me tell you that I am proud of our fans in Iran, I
will never forget their kindness, I have a lot of great memories. I
would love to play a friendly in Iran with the veteran’s team,
unfortunately no one has ever invited me!
There are many games that are organized for different causes and I
like to be a part of them. Last week here in New Jersey they invited
me to play in a game, they were raising money for a good cause. We
can do the same thing in Iran.
Why don’t we invite the players who played in 1978 World Cup, arrange
a friendly and raise money for the “Bam” or cancer victims for
example?
I want to be part of something like that and help my people.
Nader,
In your opinion, who are Iran’s best players of the past three
decades?
Eskandarian,
Since I have not been living in Iran, I cannot judge everyone. I have
not seen many of our great players’ performance; it would not be fair
to many.
On the other hand, I have to say that our legionnaires have done so
much for our football.
We should applaud them all.
Nader,
What are our chances to make it to the World Cup in Germany 2006?
Eskandarian,
We shouldn’t even use the word “Chance”!
We are still above everyone else in Asia, if sometimes we don’t get
good results it’s because of the internal problems in our football.
No other team in Asia has as much talent as we have in Iran.
We should make it to Germany with ease.
Nader,
Hejazi or Abedzadeh?
Eskandarian,
Hejazi.
I like Nasser Hejazi, he was my roommate, I will never forget him.
In general you have to have special qualities to be a goalie.
Anytime I hear someone wanting to be a goalkeeper I ask him or her;
“Are you crazy enough to be a goalkeeper?”
There is a certain attitude that goes with being a great keeper and
Hejazi had that, he was the ultimate goalie in my book.
Nader,
Who was the toughest forward you ever faced in Iran and abroad?
Eskandarian,
In Iran I played as a sweeper.
We always had problems playing against Persepolis forwards.
Behzadi, Kalani and Iranpak were among the toughest.
I miss the rivalry.
When I played for Cosmos they placed me in different positions,
because I was the only one who could deal with tough situations.
I remember the very first game with Cosmos I played as the right back
against the legendary George best.
The following week they changed my post to left back and I had to
face the great Cubillas from Peru (Cubillas scored three goals
against Iran in Argentina). The third week I went back to the right
position to face the well-known Johan cruyff of Holland.
It was like this every week right to the end of the season.
Nader,
Talk about your best memories?
Eskandarian,
Every game has its own story. But the memory of winning the “Takhte
Jamshid” championship with Taj FC stands above the rest.
Winning the Asian Cup was also real sweet.
Nader,
What is your message for the young players in Iran?
Eskandarian,
Most of us who play football don’t think about the future, the sports
life of a football player is very short. They have got to think about
their future, this can be achieved through education or business
investment.
When I hear things about financial circumstances of some of the
players who have done so much for our football in the past I get
emotional.
I hope that our youth learn their lesson and don’t take things for
granted.
Nothing is everlasting!
Nader,
Mr.Eskandarian, it was a pleasure talking to you.. I wish you and
Alecko the greatest success in the future. Iranian football will
never forget its sweet defender.
I am proud to be your countryman.
Acknowledgments:
Many thanks to Mr.Manook Khodabakhshian and Mr.Hassan Alesafar who
made this interview possible.
By Irankicks correspondent Nader Jahanfard, San Jose California