Iranians in Europe (without threads)

[Team Melli Fan]

Milad Nejad signed with Wehen Wiesbaden

https://www.reddit.com/r/teammelli/comments/1kxtucp/milad_nejad_signs_with_sv_wehen_wiesbaden/

[Pluto2000]

Talented Central Midfielder: ✓
Signed a pro contract with Feyenoord: ✓
Invited to Netherlands U17 National Team: ✓
Dream is to play for Iran: ✓

Also I believe his agent is Amir Hashemi for those who don't know (I could be wrong? I've been seeing lots of connections)

[Pluto2000]

Exactly.

However, I don't think inviting them for U17 would have been useful. Even if the federation is incompetent, it is quite tricky to detect which one of these players will reach a good level. We had plenty of these guys that don't do anything and not few of our local players had good career (taremi, Azmoun, JB ...).

I think at the very least, a player like him who just signed a pro-contract with Feyenoord senior team would be a few levels above our regular U17 who can't even pass the ball without using 5 touches and a trip

[Kian H]

Drogba emerged when France was in a particular need of a striker. France wasn't in a good shape at that time. He had the french citizenship and grew up there. Mahrez would have been in french NT without any problem.

Hakimi was called up in Spain NT, made a camp and decide after the camp that he feels more close to Morocco that with Spain players. There is also some articles in Belgium and France press about the trend of binationals that decide to join more and more and earlier their country of origin. Some racism (Benzema, Ozil), emergence of non european NT and successful examples like Ziyesh or Drogba give some good chance for non euro teams. Being the star there and having some local sponsor/commercial revenues in that country instead of being a random player of an european NT is also something good.

I said lazy but as you say, it is easier and more confortable to choose the stronger NT. Fortunately, some player goes beyond that and play for something bigger (elevate their country of origin NT). I hear that playing for Europe has advantage, it's logical but I don't find their advantages to be that big. It's like iranian parents only limiting their children career options to becoming doctor or engineer in 2025.

Like you, there isn't a world I would play for another NT than Iran. Euro cup, nation league, copa america means absolutely nothing for me. And world cup without Iran is absoutely meaningful. Too bad I am not Yamal lol.

Btw there is so many random countries giving big players now (georgia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Gabon, Costa Rica, Algeria..) that I don't think choosing a non Euro team would mean discrimination. The biggest problem of iran are the sanctions and the gap with Europe

But the thing is, drogba and Mahrez chose Ivory Coast and Algeria before they were good enough for France. They were nowhere near the team at that point. If they were, they would probably have chosen France.

And yes, some players are starting to choose their parents countries, but its mostly Morocco. And they are coming of a strong World Cup and have a strong team, so its more appealing.

The thing about the comfort must not be underestimated. The European Country Will make sure everything is made for them. Booking of flights, hotels and whatever. They are not going through trouble in a jam packed Football calender. The money Will always be pain on time. Some of the stories from Africa, Specially Nigeria are crazy. I Cant imagine Iran being much better.

We also live abroad because its an easier life. I could go work in Iran now, pay Way less taxes and probably have a more “luxorius” life than in a welfare state, but it Will be so much more difficult for me. It wont be as easy and comfortable. I Cant just make a simple phone Call to the bank of the Municipality Office and everything will be solved.

So the point is, we wont get the best players 95% of the time. Sometimes We Can get lucky, and there Will be a Hakimi that Will choose to play for us. But mostly it Will be otherwise like Zidane, Ozil, Gundogan, Henry, Benzema, Nasri, Kante, Van Dijk.

And yea, we dont need to go into how our federation wont be at any help at all. Those 5% chance We Got, Will be 1% with our Football federation

[PSGman#19]

Don't forget the most important reason: federation. Even if we did have Iranian Yamal born abroad, the federation is so incompetent they would not reach out to them/know about them.

If our federation was competent, they would be enticing and inviting all these kids to our U17/U20. They could have reached out to Nahany for the recent U17 Asian Cup. They could reach out to Kaveh, Milad Nejad, and Stuckler for our U23. All of these are non-committal and would give them a chance to see if they want to fully embrace their Iranian side.

Exactly.

However, I don't think inviting them for U17 would have been useful. Even if the federation is incompetent, it is quite tricky to detect which one of these players will reach a good level. We had plenty of these guys that don't do anything and not few of our local players had good career (taremi, Azmoun, JB ...).

[Pluto2000]

Btw there is so many random countries giving big players now (georgia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Gabon, Costa Rica, Algeria..) that I don't think choosing a non Euro team would mean discrimination. The biggest problem of iran are the sanctions and the gap with Europe

Don't forget the most important reason: federation. Even if we did have Iranian Yamal born abroad, the federation is so incompetent they would not reach out to them/know about them.

If our federation was competent, they would be enticing and inviting all these kids to our U17/U20. They could have reached out to Nahany for the recent U17 Asian Cup. They could reach out to Kaveh, Milad Nejad, and Stuckler for our U23. All of these are non-committal and would give them a chance to see if they want to fully embrace their Iranian side.

[PSGman#19]

Drogba and Mahrez both chose their african countries before they were relevent for France. They were no where near the France team. Later they become starts, men which wasnt expected. And drogba was born in the Ivory Coast but moves to France at the age of 5. Dont know if that counts as anything.
hakimi also chose Morocco before Spain called him up, but in his case their were a chance of him getting called up to Spain later in his career, as he was a Young player playing for Real Madrid.

Ziyech I remember straight up choosing Morocco instead of Netherlands. He is one of the rare occasions. Diaz the same but he was on his Way to Morocco when Spain suddenly found interest in him. If Spain had called him up 2 years earlier he would play for Spain

The point is, 95% choose the european country. Specially the one with the biggest talents. See Germany. Ozil and Gundogan chose Germany instead of Turkey, even though Ozil clearly see himself more of a Turk, which the whole “Erdogan is my President” thing showed

personally I would choose Iran, but I understand why Many chooses the european country. Its easier, its much more proffesional, and its so much better for your career. Even Dejagah wanted to play for Germany before finally choosing Iran. It has nothing to do with Them being lazy
Point being, that a Iranian Yamal born in Germany wont choose us, and Germany sure as hell wont let him go. He have to hope for the second or third tier Iranian players 95% of the time, and then hope they suddenly develope late like Taremi. Its just facts and it shows all over the world.

Benzema was never interested in playing away matches against Burundi, and Henry was never interested in playing for Martinique

Drogba emerged when France was in a particular need of a striker. France wasn't in a good shape at that time. He had the french citizenship and grew up there. Mahrez would have been in french NT without any problem.

Hakimi was called up in Spain NT, made a camp and decide after the camp that he feels more close to Morocco that with Spain players. There is also some articles in Belgium and France press about the trend of binationals that decide to join more and more and earlier their country of origin. Some racism (Benzema, Ozil), emergence of non european NT and successful examples like Ziyesh or Drogba give some good chance for non euro teams. Being the star there and having some local sponsor/commercial revenues in that country instead of being a random player of an european NT is also something good.

I said lazy but as you say, it is easier and more confortable to choose the stronger NT. Fortunately, some player goes beyond that and play for something bigger (elevate their country of origin NT). I hear that playing for Europe has advantage, it's logical but I don't find their advantages to be that big. It's like iranian parents only limiting their children career options to becoming doctor or engineer in 2025.

Like you, there isn't a world I would play for another NT than Iran. Euro cup, nation league, copa america means absolutely nothing for me. And world cup without Iran is absoutely meaningful. Too bad I am not Yamal lol.

Btw there is so many random countries giving big players now (georgia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Gabon, Costa Rica, Algeria..) that I don't think choosing a non Euro team would mean discrimination. The biggest problem of iran are the sanctions and the gap with Europe

[Kian H]

And benzema was excluded from the french team for Many years and hated by the media. Of course he regrets it

Look at Nigerias team. Almost all of Them are born in England but none of Them are good enough for the english team. But one nigerian born in the UK is good enough. That is Saka. And who does he represent? England. It is not a coincidence

Same with jamaicans. The good ones represent England, whole those who isnt represent Jamaica.

[Kian H]

About africans it is not always true. Lot of africans favor african NT as 1st choice to their european nationality : Drogba, Mahrez, Hakimi, Ziyech, brahim Diaz.. lot of algerian and moroccans from France, Belgium, Spain or Holland snub their european NT after U20/U23 even if they have the level to continue with the European NT. You also have case like Benzema that straighly said he regretted the choice of France NT over Algeria.

Mbappe and Yamal in addition to their european nationality have two other countries by their father and Mother. When you have 2 countries of origin, I guess the connexion is less with them

About the list of reason of choosing European NT over african/asian NT, another one is lazyness/koon goshadi by the player. You have to exit your confort zone, specially to join a country like Iran.

Drogba and Mahrez both chose their african countries before they were relevent for France. They were no where near the France team. Later they become starts, men which wasnt expected. And drogba was born in the Ivory Coast but moves to France at the age of 5. Dont know if that counts as anything.
hakimi also chose Morocco before Spain called him up, but in his case their were a chance of him getting called up to Spain later in his career, as he was a Young player playing for Real Madrid.

Ziyech I remember straight up choosing Morocco instead of Netherlands. He is one of the rare occasions. Diaz the same but he was on his Way to Morocco when Spain suddenly found interest in him. If Spain had called him up 2 years earlier he would play for Spain

The point is, 95% choose the european country. Specially the one with the biggest talents. See Germany. Ozil and Gundogan chose Germany instead of Turkey, even though Ozil clearly see himself more of a Turk, which the whole “Erdogan is my President” thing showed

personally I would choose Iran, but I understand why Many chooses the european country. Its easier, its much more proffesional, and its so much better for your career. Even Dejagah wanted to play for Germany before finally choosing Iran. It has nothing to do with Them being lazy
Point being, that a Iranian Yamal born in Germany wont choose us, and Germany sure as hell wont let him go. He have to hope for the second or third tier Iranian players 95% of the time, and then hope they suddenly develope late like Taremi. Its just facts and it shows all over the world.

Benzema was never interested in playing away matches against Burundi, and Henry was never interested in playing for Martinique

[PSGman#19]

Yea of course they would also like to play for Iran and they keep their options open. But if Germany or Netherlands are offering them a spot, there really aint much we Can do. They are born and raised in those countries, their friends May play for those countries and its a much much much better career step. The exposure of playing the Euros or Nations League is much higher than playing in Laos against North Korea.

I have no doubt that all these guys feel Iranian. Just like moroccans, nigerians, jamaicans and so on all feel the same, but history shows that they choose the country they have been raised in and where they have grown in their Football system.
Raheem Sterling is born in Jamaica but chose England. Morocco wanted Lamine Yamal, but he chose Spain. Their aint much to do, we are at the bottom of the food chain, unless some guy really really really insist of playing for Iran. Even then, his family members May talk them out of it

About africans it is not always true. Lot of africans favor african NT as 1st choice to their european nationality : Drogba, Mahrez, Hakimi, Ziyech, brahim Diaz, Ben Seghir, maybe Cherki and Akliouiche.. lot of algerian and moroccans from France, Belgium, Spain or Holland snub their european NT after U20/U23 even if they have the level to continue with the European NT. You also have case like Benzema that straighly said he regretted the choice of France NT over Algeria.

Mbappe and Yamal in addition to their european nationality have two other countries by their father and Mother. When you have 2 countries of origin, I guess the connexion is less with them

About the list of reason of choosing European NT over african/asian NT, another one is lazyness/koon goshadi by the player. You have to exit your confort zone, specially to join a country like Iran.

[Kian H]

Yea of course they would also like to play for Iran and they keep their options open. But if Germany or Netherlands are offering them a spot, there really aint much we Can do. They are born and raised in those countries, their friends May play for those countries and its a much much much better career step. The exposure of playing the Euros or Nations League is much higher than playing in Laos against North Korea.

I have no doubt that all these guys feel Iranian. Just like moroccans, nigerians, jamaicans and so on all feel the same, but history shows that they choose the country they have been raised in and where they have grown in their Football system.
Raheem Sterling is born in Jamaica but chose England. Morocco wanted Lamine Yamal, but he chose Spain. Their aint much to do, we are at the bottom of the food chain, unless some guy really really really insist of playing for Iran. Even then, his family members May talk them out of it

[Pluto2000]

All these young Iranian players, 9 out of 10 times they Will choose the european country where they grew up. Not everyone is like us, giving all our energi and stressing over Iranian Football 😂

If they arent good enough for The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden whatever then We Can Pick Them up. Its the same with the african nations recruiting players from France and Netherlands

You would be surprised by our diaspora tbh. Nahany for example recently said his inspiration are Mehdi Taremi and Azmoun, and his dream is to play for Team Melli one day. A lot of these kids were 6-8 when the current generation came by are growing into their 20s.

Obviously career comes first for them, so if our federation sits around being useless as usual then of course they would choose some other country.

Not like they can play for us when our federation doesn't even ask them eh? 🤣.

I think last player we tried approaching was Arzani way back in like 2018? Been basically almost 10 years

[Kian H]

All these young Iranian players, 9 out of 10 times they Will choose the european country where they grew up. Not everyone is like us, giving all our energi and stressing over Iranian Football 😂

If they arent good enough for The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden whatever then We Can Pick Them up. Its the same with the african nations recruiting players from France and Netherlands

[Pluto2000]

Yes, he's Iranian, nice find!
FC Copenhagen's own Twitter page mentioned it today:

And on this note:

I hope Abdi can call him up to our U20 team or something....

[Team Melli Fan]

Fc Copenhagen has just signed 15 year old Shahin Pelyad. Im pretty sure he is Iranian, as their are some iranian comments from friends and family on his Instagram comments.

Lets see if he can evolve into a first team player. A first team player in Copenhagen = a transfer to a bigger League. Copenhagen have always been full on national team players

Yes, he's Iranian, nice find!
FC Copenhagen's own Twitter page mentioned it today: