COMO, Italy, May 23  - New Iran coach Jalal Talebi watched his team bounce back from a 7-1 midweek drubbing by AS Roma to beat Inter Milan 4-1 on Saturday. 

Iran trailed 1-0 at halftime but hit four goals in 16 minutes late in the second half for a much-needed boost ahead of the World Cup finals. 

Talebi, who took over on Tuesday from sacked trainer Tomislav Ivic, said: "We're not ready yet. The team's 75 percent. 

"The hardest thing for me was taking over so close to the finals." 

Iran looked out of it in the first half and fell behind when Alvaro Recoba dribbled through for a scorching goal in the 41st minute. 

But Iran improved considerably after the break and hit Inter with a goal from MahdviKia in the 71st minute followed by a double strike by Ali Daei in the 76th and 78th minutes. 

Karim Bagheri, Daei's team mate at Arminia Bielefeld, made it 4-1 with a header three minutes from time. 

Talebi, a member of the Iranian team in the early 1960s and manager of Indonesia's Olympic squad in 1996, has a less illustrious track record than Ivic, who coached Paris St Germain, Olympique Marseille and Ajax Amsterdam. 

But Iranian soccer federation vice-chairman Abbas Torabian said he expected better things. 

"Talebi isn't a famous name like Ivic, but his work will be better. A great name doesn't make a great coach. Talebi knows the history, the technical capabilities of the players and he can put them in the right frame of mind to face any situation. 

"Ivic didn't manage to understand the psychology and the culture of our players." 

Iran were jeered off the pitch in Tehran in their first match -- a 2-0 loss to Hungary -- after Ivic took over on a six-month contract in January. 

Forced on to the defensive after poor performances in France, Ivic last week described Iran as a diamond that just needed to be polished and predicted his side would beat either Yugoslavia or Germany in group F in France. 

Also in the group are the United States, but Talebi said his team had no qualms about meeting them. 

"For us, it's just another game. We're going to the World Cup to play soccer. This is a sporting competition. Sport is one thing and politics is another," Talebi said. 

Iran will be competing in only their second World Cup finals. "No one's expecting to make the semifinals or the finals," Torabian said. 

"We're playing in the World Cup for the first time in 20 years. This proves soccer isn't dead in Iran, and now it will be more successful than ever."

Iran soccer chief says Daei signs for Bayern Munich

"It's official, he has signed with Bayern Munich," Abbas Torabian told Reuters at Inter Milan's training camp at Appiano Gentile in northern Italy. 

Iran's World Cup squad are training in Italy and were due to play Inter in Como at 1500 GMT. 

Daei is currently at Germany's Arminia Bielefeld, who finished bottom of the Bundesliga and will play in the second division next season. 

German sports agency SID reported earlier this month that a deal had been reached for a four-million-mark ($2.3-million) transfer fee.

Iranian coach fired three weeks before World Cup

Karim Bagheri and the rest of the Iranian squad will have to get used to a new coach in three short weeks

"Following the crushing defeat of the Iranian national soccer team in the friendly match against AS Roma on Tuesday night, the Croat head coach of the team Tomislav Ivic was dismissed and replaced by Jalal Talebi," the official news agency IRNA said. 

Talebi was a member of the Iranian team in the early 1960s and coached Indonesia's Olympic team in 1996. He was appointed technical adviser to the World Cup squad earlier this month, IRNA said. 

Ivic, 64, was appointed in January on a six-month contract to succeed Brazilian Valdeir Vieira, who took Iran to only their second finals by winning the final World Cup qualifier against Australia in November. 

Vieira was only in charge for two months after the previous coach had been sacked. 

Ivic coached Paris St Germain, Olympique Marseille and Ajax Amsterdam in a career which saw him serve as vice-president of Hajduk Split, the club with which he achieved his first major success in the 1970s. 

But Iran were jeered off the field in Tehran after Ivic's first match -- a 2-0 loss to Hungary -- and the Croatian increasingly failed to satisfy Iran's soccer-mad fans and its politically charged soccer federation. 
Subsequent lackluster performances by the team in a tour of France -- they lost their first match 1-0 to first division En Avant Guingamp -- raised problems in the media and Ivic found himself defending his record and tactics on national television. 

Last week he predicted Iran would beat either Yugoslavia or Germany in group F at the finals and said Iran was like a diamond that just needed to be polished. 

But Tuesday's defeat was too much for his federation even though Iran was without midfielder Karim Bagheri and striker Khodadad Azizi, who play in the Bundesliga. 

It decided that, despite Ivic being an experienced and highly competent coach, he could not show the necessary "efficiency" in the time available, federation head Mohsen Safaei Farahani said. 

"Therefore, we came to the conclusion that in the World Cup he cannot coach the Iranian team in a satisfactory manner," IRNA quoted Farahani as saying. 

It had been decided the national team should be coached by an Iranian who was more familiar with the players and their morale. 

Farahani apologised for Iran's crushing defeat by Roma and said: "People must rest assured that we will not spare any effort to back up the national soccer team, a sign of which is replacing the head coach." 

Iran's next pre-Cup match is against Inter Milan in Milan on Saturday. 

One person who will not be disappointed by Wednesday's news is Ivic's wife. She was told in January she might as well stay home in Croatia as he expected to work "like a miner" until after the World Cup. 

Iran Is Getting Ready For World Cup in Italy

While in Italy, the Iranian team will hold two friendly games against Italian clubs. The first match will be against AS Roma on May 10th and later they will be playing against Inter de Milan on the May 23rd. On June they will also play a friendly game against Ivic's home team of Croatia. 

The Iranian National team in Rome 
 
Photograph: was taken in Rome showing Ali Daei and Peyrovani in a running 
practice. MahdaviKia , Esteeli , Sadavi , Pashazadeh and the rest can be seen, too. 

Iran coach downplays Group F match with U.S.

ROME (AP) - Iran's World Cup match against the United States will be like any other, national team coach Tomislav Ivic said Friday, and it's one he expects to win. 

Ivic and the players he is likely to bring to France '98 are preparing in Italy this month, using the training facilities of Serie A clubs AS Roma and Internationale of Milan. 

"I think our game with the Americans will be a normal game. And like all other games, what's important is to have a good result," said Ivic, who spent one season in Italy in the 1980s as coach of Avellino. "We know how the U.S. plays and I think we will do OK." 

Iran is in the World Cup for the first time since 1978, a year before the Islamic revolution toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. The United States and Iran have not had diplomatic relations since 1979, when militants stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. 

The other teams in Group F are Yugoslavia and European champions Germany. 

"It's a very tough group for us. For Germany and Yugoslavia it's very easy," Ivic said with a smile. "Yugoslavia has a lot of individual talent. Germany has its strong block as always." 

The U.S. team, though, provides a less imposing obstacle, he said. 

"The U.S. plays differently than you see in Europe, with pressing on the ball. It can be difficult for a team not used to that," Ivic said. "But a system always has good points and weak points, and we know that system's weak points." 

He insisted there won't be any non-soccer significance to the June 21 match with the U.S. 

"I think both teams will exchange jerseys at the end of the game," Ivic said. 

The Croat was hired by Iran in January, and said he is dedicating most of his time to working on his player's physical preparation. 

"In just a few months I have to do what a coach normally has three or four years to do," Ivic said. "Our work has to be very intense, I don't have the time to do everything a team needs for the World Cup." 

Iran arrived in Rome on Monday and will play an exhibition match against AS Roma at Olympic Stadium next week. The squad then moves to Milan, before embarking on trips for tune-up games in Portugal and Croatia. 

Copyright 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 

Azizi combines wizard-like dribbling with an accurate shot

Soon after he joined the national team, Azizi starred in Asia-wide tournaments and was named Asian Player of the Year in 1996. He was also on the short list for the 1997 award. The 26-year-old's rise to the top of Asian soccer was completed in November's decisive World Cup playoff second leg with Australia in Melbourne. 

With Iran 2-0 down, Azizi created one goal and scored a dramatic second in the last 14 minutes of play to catapult his country to the World Cup finals via the away goals rule. 

For that performance alone, Azizi is guaranteed a place Iranian soccer folklore. 

Playing for Cologne in Germany's Bundesliga, Azizi combines technical skills on par with Europe' best with an uncanny ability to slink through opposing defenses and create one-on-one situations with goalkeepers. 

And his time in Germany has taken his game to a new level since joining Cologne in September last year. 

Azizi forms part of Iran's so-called "German troika" along with striker Ali Daei and midfielder Karim Bagheri, both of whom play for Arminia Bielefeld. 

But it is Azizi who the Iranian supporters love most. When former national team coach Mohammad Mayeli Kohan refused to play him early on in qualifying due to personal differences, fans were aghast, the coach came under scathing criticism in the media and Kohan was eventually relieved of his duties. 

Nonetheless, one Iranian soccer federation official said at the time: "Why all the fuss over Khodadad Azizi? We have 10 other players just like him." 

If that were truly the case, then the team would have a good chance of winning the World Cup this summer rather than entering as rank outsiders. 

Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. 

From The Soccer Association of Asia: 
The Iranian National Team is The Best Soccer  
Team in Asia! 

Telephone numbers for ticket hotline 

Austria, Belgium, United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, EIRE, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden residents. 
0033-1-49-87-53-54 

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The lines open at 6.00 am GMT or 8.00 am European time on Wednesday April 22nd. They close at 6.00 am GMT or 8.00 pm European time. On Saturday May 2nd they open at 7.00 am GMT or 9.00 European time and close at 6.00 pm GMT or 8.00 pm European time. The maximum number of tickets per person is 16 but callers are restricted to a maximum 4 per game each and there are none on sale for the first game on June 10th between Brazil and Scotland. 

Rules for injury time 

The organisers have imported the successful system from Serie A in Italy of a board that is shown to the crowd and players at the end of each half to show how much injury time will be played after the end of the normal forty-five minutes. 

Referees will add on a minute of time for every injury stoppage for treatment and more can be allowed at the discretion of the match official. A substitution will add 30 seconds of time to the end of a half. 

Tackle from behind banned from World Cup 

In the midst of the ticket row and warnings of confusion around the grounds, the rule making board or world governing body FIFA have announced that the tackle from behind will merit a red card immediately from the start of the Finals in June. This is a decision that could have a drastic effect on the games this summer. 

The reason for this ruling is one of safety. The ruling body have long been concerned over the risk of injury to players when a tackle comes in from behind. At present it is a certain bookable offence and at the discretion of the referee as to whether to dismiss the offender. 

The new ruling will remove that discretion and could see a flurry of red cards and the showpiece of the game on a descent into farce as one tackle results in a sending off and the next one does not. The pressure on referees could become intolerable and coaches may find themselves with so many suspensions from their squad of 22 players when the new red cards are considered alongside other bookings that they cannot field a full side. 

It is rare for one player to go and deliberately injure another through a tackle from behind. Defenders go for the ball and players with their back to the goal as they receive possession have long expected some physical clash. It is part of the skill of the game to retain possession in such situations. Any mis-timed challenge for the ball could now see a player dismissed and the game instantly diminished by the loss. The tackle itself is now under threat as the coaches will have to see in actual World Cup[ matches on which their jobs and reputations depend to judge how wide the interpretation of 'from behind' by the referees actually is. 

This ruling makes the World Cup look completely different tonight.