{"id":27444,"date":"2017-03-08T16:38:18","date_gmt":"2017-03-09T00:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/?p=27444"},"modified":"2017-03-08T18:27:39","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T02:27:40","slug":"could-rostovs-azmoun-be-irans-zlatan-ibrahimovic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2017\/03\/08\/could-rostovs-azmoun-be-irans-zlatan-ibrahimovic\/","title":{"rendered":"UEFA: Could Rostov’s Azmoun be Iran’s Zlatan Ibrahimovi\u0107?"},"content":{"rendered":"

UEFA.com – NYON, Massive in his native Iran and getting bigger by the day in Russia, Rostov forward Sardar Azmoun is starting to command attention worldwide; is the 22-year-old a superstar in waiting?<\/strong><\/p>\n

With 1.6 million followers on Instagram, Sardar Azmoun has not quite reached Zlatan Ibrahimovi\u0107’s level (23 million followers), but Rostov’s Iranian striker is already a massive name in his home country, and at 22, could well become a big star the world over.<\/p>\n

What they say<\/strong>
\n“He is improving all the time. He has to keep his feet on the ground, work hard and make the right decisions. If so, he could be a real star of Iranian and Asian football for years to come.”
\nCarlos Queiroz, Iran coach<\/p>\n

“Azmoun is close to me, and not just because he has Turkmen roots … I am more strict with Sardar than with the others, and I have the right to be \u2013 his father gave me permission. Azmoun has ten million fans in Iran, and he gets funny thoughts now and then. I have to speak to him a lot so he does not pay too much notice of them.”
\nKurban Berdyev, Rostov vice-president and former Rubin coach<\/p>\n

Current tally<\/strong>
\nInternational: 23 appearances, 16 goals
\nUEFA club competition: 14 appearances, 6 goals
\nDomestic competition: 81 appearances, 23 goals<\/p>\n

What you might not know<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Compared by some to Zlatan Ibrahimovi\u0107, Azmoun was once dubbed the ‘Iranian Messi’ though it is not a comparison he welcomes, saying: “I do not dribble past defenders like the Argentinian. I cannot understand why they compare us at all.”<\/p>\n

\u2022 His relationship with Berdyev \u2013 his coach at Rubin and vice-president at Rostov \u2013 has been strengthened by the fact that they have a common language, Turkmen. “Berdyev is like a father to him,” said the player’s agent.<\/p>\n

\u2022 He took on the No69 shirt at Rubin as it is the vehicle licence plate number for his home region, Golestan in north-east Iran.<\/p>\n

\u2022 His father Khalil Azmoun was an international volleyball player, and Azmoun followed in his father’s footsteps for a while before switching to football as a trainee at the Iranian Manchester United, five-time champions Sepahan. Rostov assistant coach Dmitri Kirichenko said of him: “Sardar has great positioning skills. That is in his genes, I guess \u2013 his parents were seriously into volleyball.”<\/p>\n

\u2022 Anticipating, perhaps, a move to the Premier League, the tattoos on his left arm are in English: “Love me for what I am” and “if people are trying to bring you down it only means you are above them”.<\/p>\n

\u2022 He likes horses.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Having moved to Russia aged 17, he has already matched Ali Daei’s record as the top Iranian goalscorer in UEFA club competition with six goals (see table below).<\/p>\n

What he says<\/strong>
\n“Ali Daei is my role model among Iranian players, and Zlatan is my role model among foreign players. I want to play like him.”<\/p>\n

“[Ali Daei] was my hero when I was a kid. If Ali Daei had been born in another country they would have made a statue of his legs and put it in the middle of the city because he has achieved so much.”<\/p>\n

“As a player one of my ambitions is to play in the English Premier League. I have always fancied playing for Arsenal under Ars\u00e8ne Wenger \u2013 he is famous for trusting young players and giving them the opportunity to grow and display their potential.”<\/p>\n

“I might seem quite ambitious, but that’s absolutely normal for a player. My greatest wish is to lift the Champions League trophy one day.”<\/p>\n

Most appearances by an Iranian player in UEFA club competitions*<\/strong>
\n35: Mehdi Mahdavikia (Hamburg)
\n23: Ali Daei (Bayern M\u00fcnchen, Hertha Berlin)
\n21: Mehrdad Minavandchal (Sturm Graz)
\n19: Ashkan Dejagah (Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg)
\n14: Sardar Azmoun (Rubin, Rostov)
\n12: Alireza Jahanbakhsh (AZ Alkmaar)
\n11: Javad Nekunam (Osasuna)
\n7: Reza Ghoochanneijhad (Heerenveen, Standard Li\u00e8ge)
\n6: Saeid Ezatolahi Afach (Rostov)
\n6: Kavianpour Hamed (Kayserispor)
\n6: Vahid Hashemian (Hamburg, Bayern M\u00fcnchen)
\n6: Ali Karimi (Bayern M\u00fcnchen, Schalke)<\/p>\n

Most appearances by an Iranian player in UEFA club competitions (only players who have scored more than one included)*<\/strong>
\n6: Ali Daei (Bayern M\u00fcnchen, Hertha Berlin)
\n6: Sardar Azmoun (Rubin, Rostov)
\n5: Mehdi Mahdavikia (Hamburg)
\n2: Karim Ansarifard (Olympiacos)<\/p>\n

*UEFA club competitions means European Champion Clubs’ Cup\/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup\/UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Intertoto Cup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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