Saeid Ezatollahi – One of Iran’s biggest football talents

Persianfootball.com – ROSTOV, Saeid Ezatollahi had already been his countries youngest goal scorer when he scored in the FIFA World Cup qualification in late 2015, but since his goal for Rostov this week, he also became Iran’s youngest goal scorer in the UEFA Champions League. Albeit yet only in the qualification, but his goal against Anderlecht kept his team alive and kicking.

Saeid is still only 19 years old played in the Persian Gulf League with Malavan when he barely had turned 16 years old. A couple of years later he played for Atletico Madrid in the Youth League. Of course he was the first to take part in the competition coming out of Iran.

Carlos Queiroz and Qurban Berdyev have one thing in common, they both want to take credit for discovering this major talent. At age of 18, pretty much simultaneously Queiroz called him up for the senior team and Berdyev signed him up for a long term deal. Saeid had yet to play a full season of professional football and he didn’t even appear for Iran’s u-21 or u-23 team.

What makes Ezatollahi unique not only in Iranian football but probably on the entire continent is his combination of physic, vision for the game and his skillset. His type of play at times could be compared to an old school NFL quarterback that sits back and finds his teammates with a long range pass but then he can suddenly attack you just like the newer younger more exciting type of quarterbacks.

Ezatollahi can pass, shoot, dribble and play defense in a way that many are comparing him to former Team Melli captain Javad Nekounam and some even to Yahya Toure.