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On 2 March 2008 IRIFF officially appointed Ali Daei as Team Melli’s new head coach. Despite admitting that his appointment as manager of the Iranian national team was a “surprise”, Daei refused to leave his current coaching job at Saipa F.C., therefore taking on dual managerial careers until after Saipa had entered the Asian Champion League quarterfinals, after which Daei left Saipa by mutual consent. While Daei guided to a respectable 16–6–3 mark, his third loss on 28 March 2009 to a Saudi Arabian team that was down 1–0 to proved to be the final straw.