Amir Ghalenoei

• 1. Introduction

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  Amir Ghalenoei's fans at Esteghlal called him "General," and the title stayed with him long after his playing days ended. He was born in Tehran on the 22nd of November 1963. His father worked as a taxi driver and died when Amir was thirteen years old. That early grief fell on a boy who would eventually become the most decorated club coach in Iran's top football league. What shaped a player who stayed loyal to a relegated side when his teammates left? How did a captain become a serial title-winner from the dugout? And what brought the Iranian football federation back to him twice as the man to lead the national team?

• 2. The Making of a Player

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  In the late 1970s, Ghalenoei passed a technical entrance test to join Rah Ahan, one of the oldest clubs in Iranian football. He spent two years with the youth setup before Nasser Ebrahimi promoted him to the first team in 1981. He scored three goals during the domestic Tehran Hazfi Cup and demonstrated enough quality that when Ebrahimi moved to Shahin, Ghalenoei followed him.

  Nasrollah Abdollahi, Mehdi Dinvarzadeh, and Hamid Majd Teymouri were among Shahin's established internationals when Ghalenoei arrived. When Dinvarzadeh retired, Ghalenoei took the captaincy. He led the side to runner-up finishes in the Tehran league in 1985 and again in 1986. His final match for the club was a 2-0 win over Persepolis, with both goals coming from his assists. He departed midway through the 1987-88 season and signed with Al-Sadd of Qatar.

  Al-Sadd gave Ghalenoei two domestic league titles and the Emir Cup. Al-Sadd also won the 1988-89 AFC Champions League, defeating Al-Rasheed in the final. Ghalenoei had already returned to Iran before that triumph and was not part of the championship squad. In July 1989, he signed with Esteghlal.

• 3. Staying When Others Left

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  His debut for Esteghlal came in a Hazfi Cup quarter-final against Persepolis, where he missed a penalty kick. The setback did not define his time at the club. His first full season ended with the Iranian league title in 1989-90. The 1990-91 campaign brought the Asian Club Championship, Esteghlal's first continental crown in nearly twenty years.

  The 1991-92 season was harder. A heavy injury cost Ghalenoei most of the campaign. The club failed to earn a place in the 1992-93 Azadegan League and was dropped to the third division. Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh, Shahrokh Bayani, Majid Namjoo-Motlagh, Samad Marfavi, and Reza Ahadi all left. Ghalenoei stayed. The club appointed him captain, and he helped guide the rebuild.

  Esteghlal returned to the top flight in 1994-95 and finished second in their first season back. In the final game of the 1995-96 Hazfi Cup, Ghalenoei scored twice. That June, he also scored for Iran in a 2-2 friendly draw against Kuwait in Kuwait City. In his final season at the club, head coach Mansour Pourheidari resigned midway through the campaign, and Nasser Hejazi stepped in to manage the team to a sixth-place finish. Ghalenoei retired at the end of that season. His long captaincy of Esteghlal would prove to be groundwork for a return to the club, this time from the dugout.

• 4. From Player to Coach

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  Club chairman Mohammad Gharib named Ghalenoei as Esteghlal's head coach before the 2003-04 season. He was the formal successor to Mansour Pourheidari, the manager he had played under for years. Before that appointment, Ghalenoei had served five matches as Esteghlal's interim head coach in spring 2002 and won the Hazfi Cup. He then spent part of the 2002-03 season managing Esteghlal Ahvaz. His first full season in formal charge ended in painful fashion. The club lost the league title on the final day, beaten by Esteghlal Ahvaz, the same side he had managed the year before.

  He won the Iranian league with Esteghlal in 2005-06. A brief spell at Mes Kerman in early 2008 saw him lift the club from the bottom of the table to a top-half finish. He returned to Esteghlal in May 2008 and won the league again in 2008-09, starting a run of three consecutive title-winning seasons. He signed with Sepahan in summer 2009 and won the Iranian league in 2009-10 and 2010-11, completing that three-year streak. Sepahan also reached the AFC Champions League quarter-finals, finishing as the top team from the west Asian division. He left Sepahan on the 4th of June 2011 after a dispute with the club's new board director. A fifth league title came with Esteghlal in 2012-13. By 2018, the Iranian football federation had named him Manager of the Year for the fifth time.

• 5. Twice Called to Lead Iran

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  On the 17th of July 2006, the Iranian Football Federation appointed Ghalenoei as head coach of the national team, replacing Branko Ivanković. Iran finished first in their qualifying group for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, two points clear of South Korea. At the final tournament in Malaysia, they topped the group stage again. The quarter-final brought another meeting with South Korea. The match went to a penalty shoot-out, and Iran were eliminated. Ghalenoei received strong criticism from the Iranian press. The federation chose not to renew his contract, and the team went several months without a permanent manager.

  He returned as Iran's head coach in 2023. Under his guidance, Iran reached the semi-finals of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. Across both stints combined, his record with the national team stands at forty wins from sixty-one matches.