TEHRAN - Abdollah Veisi, Iranian football expert, believes that Foolad club officials must have a plan for choosing their future head coach.

Javad Nekounam stepped down from his role as Foolad coach last week before the team’s crucial match against Al Hilal in the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League.

Then, Spanish coach Manel Benavente was named Foolad coach until the end of the season.

“Foolad have been disappointing in domestic competitions, however in the AFC Champions League they did well,” said Veisi, who played for Foolad from 2002 to 2004 and managed the team for a short period in 2021.

“They qualified for the group stage and in the last 16 match they faced a weak opponents Al-Faisaly, and it was predictable that they beat the Saudi team,” he told Tehran Times.

“Against Al Hilal in the quarterfinals, Foolad players tried hard but they lacked enough concentration during the match and lost the game by a mistake against the best Asian team,” he added.

Veisi also talked about the appointing of Benevente as the interim coach of Foolad.

“It was a logical decision by the club’s management. However, they must have a long-term plan and clarify what they want to do. If they want to have a foreign coach they should bring it now and let him adapt with Foolad and the Iranian football.

“On the other hand, if the Foolad officials want to have an Iranian top coach for the next season, they should start negotiations with the candidates and explain them their goals and expectation,” he added.

“At the end, I want to say that Foolad are a big club and Khouzestan Province has a rich history of the big clubs with many cups and honors. Some people have no right to brag about their wins in the Asian competitions and one or two domestic cups that they have achieved with spending a lot of money. Foolad have previously participated in many editions of the AFC Champions League and have done better than this,” Veisi concluded.