Daniel Gaspar (born August 27, 1955, in

South Glastonbury, Connecticut The South Glastonbury Historic District is a historic district in Glastonbury, Connecticut. It encompasses the historic village center of South Glastonbury, which was first settled in the 17th century. The district was listed on the National Re ...

) is a Portuguese-American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and goalkeeping coach who was an assistant coach for Carlos Queiroz's Iran team. He is a long-time assistant and consultant to Queiroz with whom he co-authored

Project 2010 Project 2010 was a blueprint that United States Soccer Federation executives created in 1998 to ensure that the U.S. men's national soccer team could become a plausible contender to win the FIFA World Cup by 2010. The Q-Report, the jumping-off poin ...

for the USSF in 1998, with the goal to create a blueprint for long-term improvements in US soccer. Gaspar worked as a technical assistant and also a goalkeeping assistant coach for the Portuguese men's and youth national football teams and for the South African men's national team. He also worked as the goalkeeping coach for Sporting CP, S.L. Benfica and

F.C. Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

in Portugal, and he was the assistant coach of

J League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most successfu ...

Nagoya Grampus Eight (formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939, the c ...

in Japan. Gaspar was the head coach of

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and it ...

men's soccer team between 2005 and 2010. He resigned in March 2011. He played as a goalkeeper when he was a business management college student at the

. He was also the associate head coach of Central Connecticut State University men's soccer team. Gaspar was the head coach of

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

Connecticut Wolves The Connecticut Wolves were an American soccer club that was founded by the Clifton Onolfo, the Onolfo Family, and several investors including Tony DiCicco. The Club's inaugural match was attended by 5,200 plus fans and competed in the United Socc ...

, the assistant coach of the NY/NJ MetroStars and he was also the associate head coach of Central Connecticut State University men's team. He also founded the Star Goalkeeper Academy in 1995, and he took over the Connecticut Soccer School in 2004 with the aim of bringing his international coaching expertise to the youth level.

Coaching career

Gaspar pursued his passion for goalkeeping as a club and national team goalkeeping coach in Portugal. Since 1993, Gaspar has worked with Carlos Queiroz as a goalkeeping coach, technical adviser, and assistant coach for several club and national team coaching assignments. These included the Portuguese men's national team in 1994, and from 2009 to 2010, the Portuguese U16 and U18 men's and women's youth teams from 1992 to 1993, and the South African men's national football team in 2001, as well as Sporting CP,

, and the NY/NJ MetroStars. In 2003 Gaspar worked with

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Athletico Paranaense. Scolari was a defender during his playing days, and notab ...

as the goalkeeping coach for the Portuguese men's national football team and also with

José Antonio Camacho José Antonio Camacho Alfaro (; born 8 June 1955) is a Spanish former football left-back and manager. He spent 15 professional years at Real Madrid, appearing in more than 500 official matches with the team and helping win 19 major titles, i ...

as the goalkeeping coach at S.L. Benfica, between 2003 and 2004. On April 4, 2011, Gaspar became the assistant and goalkeeping coach for Iran's national team, alongside head coach Carlos Queiroz and assistant coach Omid Namazi. On June 18, 2013, Iran qualified for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, before

qualifying Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015. The tournament was ...

months later.

Head coaching record

References

OSATv TouchLine With Dan GasparUniversity of Hartford AthleticsDan Gaspar ResumeDan Gapar: The American behind Iran's World Cup qualificationInterview with Dan Gaspar

External links

Official biography, Hartford Hawks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaspar, Dan 1955 births University of Hartford people Central Connecticut State University Living people Portuguese football managers People from Glastonbury, Connecticut American people of Portuguese descent Hartford Hawks men's soccer players Hartford Hawks men's soccer coaches New York Red Bulls non-playing staff Association football goalkeepers Association football goalkeeping coaches Association football players not categorized by nationality American expatriate sportspeople in Iran American expatriate sportspeople in South Africa American expatriate sportspeople in Japan S.L. Benfica non-playing staff FC Porto non-playing staff Sporting CP non-playing staff