Team Melli’s top scorers of 2011

PFDC – TEHRAN, A successful year has passed for for Iran’s national team and Persianfootball.com takes a look at Iran’s statistics, with a special focus on the numerous goals scored in 2011.

Excluding the unofficial games against club teams during a training camp in Austria (two wins, one draw), Team Melli played 15 matches, suffering only one defeat while drawing two and winning 11 games.

The only loss came in extra time of the Asian Cup quarterfinal against South Korea, after winning all three games in a tough group.

Overall, Iran scored 36 goals in 2011 while conceding just five. The 36 goals were scored by 18 different players, while one being an owngoal by the UAE.

Iran’s most successful goalscorers were skipper and veteran midfielder Javad Nekounam as well as young striker Karim Ansarifard, who both scored five goals.

Both of them scored three of their goals during World Cup qualification, therefore also being Iran’s most successful goalscorers of the competition together with Mojtaba Jabbari, who scored all of his three goals of 2011 in the final three qualifiers of the year.

While Nekounam’s two further goals came in friendly matches, Ansarifard also scored one during the Asian Cup.

Gholamreza Rezaei has three goals to his tally, however, only two of them in World Cup qualifiers while having scored another one in the Asian Cup as well.

The most successful goal creator of 2011 was Andranik Teymourian, who assisted no less than five goals.

Mojtaba Jabbari (4), Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari (4) and Khosro Heydari (3) are narrowly behind him.

Adding up the scorer points of goals and assists, Mojtaba Jabbari and Andranik Teymourian (both 7 points) lead 2011’s ranking ahead of Karim Ansarifard, Javad Nekounam and Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari (all 6).

Jabbari’s success is particulary impressive, as he collected the seven scorer points in just four appearances.

Below come the top five in terms of goals, assists and scorer points respectively.

Goals:
1. Karim Ansarifard 5
    Javad Nekounam 5
3. Gholamreza Rezaei 3
    Mojtaba Jabbari 3
5. Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari 2
    Jalal Hosseini 2
    Hadi Aghily 2
    Javad Kazemian 2
    Andranik Teymourian 2

Assists:
1. Andranik Teymourian 5
2. Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari 4
    Mojtaba Jabbari 4
4. Khosro Heydari 3
5. Ehsan Hajsafi 2
    Hossein Mahini 2
    Mohammad Ghazi 2

Scorer points:
1. Mojtaba Jabbari 7 (3 goals + 4 assists)
    Andranik Teymourian 7 (2 + 5)
3. Javad Nekounam 6 (5 + 1)
    Karim Ansarifard 6 (5 + 1)
    Mohammad-Reza Khalatbari 6 (2 + 4)