Thirteen years after retiring as a player, Vahid Hashemian is returning to Iranian record champions Persepolis FC. As coach. This move has not been met with universal enthusiasm.

Former Bundesliga professional Vahid Hashemian is to become coach of Persepolis FC. Iran’s record champions made the announcement official with the words “Helicopter returns to the Red Army.”

This marks the return of the former VfL Bochum striker to the capital club in Tehran a good 13 years after the end of his active professional career. After stints as assistant coach for Hamburger SV’s U17 team and the Iranian national team, this is the 48-year-old’s first head coaching job in professional soccer. Expectations are high for the 16-time champions. “Persepolis is no place for trial and error. Choosing someone with no coaching experience for a team under this kind of pressure shows either complete ignorance or disrespect for the fans,” said one user on X under the announcement, a comment that received several “likes.”“Vahid Hashemian doesn’t even have experience as an assistant in the first division!” said another. Hashemian was a key player in Iran and at VfL Bochum. As a player, Hashemian was always very popular. He played 51 international matches for Iran, scoring 15 goals. At club level, he spent almost a decade hunting goals in the Bundesliga. Most of that time was spent at VfL Bochum after arriving from Hamburger SV in 2001, where he played 137 competitive games (107 in the Bundesliga) in three years, scoring 40 goals and providing 13 assists.

During this time, FC Bayern Munich took notice of Hashemian. He spent one season with the German record champions. Although he never made it beyond a reserve role (15 games, one goal), he won the only club titles of his career with the championship, the DFB Cup, and the League Cup.

After three years with Hannover 96, he returned to Bochum for two seasons before finally ending his playing career at Persepolis.

Hashemian can look back on a total of 208 Bundesliga appearances for HSV, VfL, Bayern, and Hannover 96 (38 goals).