{"id":29135,"date":"2017-09-19T17:48:49","date_gmt":"2017-09-20T00:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/?p=29135"},"modified":"2017-09-19T17:48:49","modified_gmt":"2017-09-20T00:48:49","slug":"afc-champions-league-semi-finals-three-key-players-persepolis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2017\/09\/19\/afc-champions-league-semi-finals-three-key-players-persepolis\/","title":{"rendered":"AFC Champions League Semi-Finals &#8211; Three key players: Persepolis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AFC &#8211; KUALA LUMPUR, <strong>Ahead of the highly anticipated 2017 AFC Champions League semi-final between Persepolis of Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia\u2019s Al Hilal, we look at some of the key men who could make the difference.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>First off, we begin with the Tehran giants who boast a striker on a hot streak, a talented playmaker, and a youthful right-back who continues to impress.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mehdi Taremi:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Position:<\/strong> Forward<br \/>\n<strong>Age: <\/strong>25<br \/>\n<strong>Nationality:<\/strong> Iranian<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s fair to say that 2017 has been a stand-out year so far for Mehdi Taremi.<\/p>\n<p>Part of the IR Iran side that went unbeaten to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup with two games to spare, the striker has also fired club Persepolis to a first-ever AFC Champions League semi-final.<\/p>\n<p>After netting six goals in the group stage, Taremi was on target again in the quarter-final, second leg against Al Ahli.<\/p>\n<p>The Bargh Bushehr Academy graduate is very much a penalty-box specialist \u2013 all his goals have come from inside the area \u2013 adept in the air, and with predatory instincts.<\/p>\n<p>Taremi averages 3.2 shots per match, has a shooting accuracy of 46 percent, and has been responsible for almost half of Persepolis\u2019 tally so far in the continental campaign.<\/p>\n<p>He was, though, blanked in the two Group D matches against an Al Hilal side who have yet to taste defeat in the competition.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mohsen Mosalman<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Position:<\/strong> Midfielder<br \/>\n<strong>Age:<\/strong> 26<br \/>\n<strong>Nationality:<\/strong> Iranian<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Taremi, Mohsen Mosalman does know what it feels like to score against Al Hilal, having netted the opener against the Saudi Arabian side on Matchday One.<\/p>\n<p>The playmaker might not have scored in the AFC Champions League since, but he has been far-and-away Persepolis\u2019 creator in chief.<\/p>\n<p>With 21 chances created \u2013 in the heady company of Hulk and Wu Lei as the joint highest amongst the semi-finalists \u2013 Mosalman&#8217;s importance is self-evident.<\/p>\n<p>Mosalman is noted for his passing ability and superb technique and he has flourished since joining the Tehran side from Zobahan in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>The 26-year-old is normally the most advanced central midfielder behind Taremi, dictating play while the likes of Ali Alipour and Vahid Amiri occupy the wider positions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sadegh Moharrami<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Position:<\/strong> Defender<br \/>\n<strong>Age: <\/strong>21<br \/>\n<strong>Nationality:<\/strong> Iranian<\/p>\n<p>Sadegh Moharrami\u2019s 21 tackles won is more than any player amongst the four semi-finalists. The same number as the age of the precociously talented full-back.  <\/p>\n<p>The man from the northern Iranian city of Hashtpar rose through the ranks at Malavan FC before joining Persepolis last year.<\/p>\n<p>The Iran U-23 player is largely used on the right flank of defence but is given the license to push forward.<\/p>\n<p>With 79 duels won, Moharrami is second behind only Hulk, and he also boasts an impressive 81 percent passing accuracy, 76 percent accuracy in the opponents&#8217; half.  <\/p>\n<p>The youngster was an unused substitute in the quarter-final second leg against Al Ahli, but it was the only tie he has missed so far in the continental campaign.<\/p>\n<p>A semi-final appearance is surely on the cards for the rising starlet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AFC &#8211; KUALA LUMPUR, Ahead of the highly anticipated 2017 AFC Champions League semi-final between&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26307,"featured_media":29136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,84,164,136,165,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c17-asian-competitions","category-c47-featured-news","category-ipl","category-iran-first-division","category-persian-gulf-pro-league","category-c22-players-spotlight"],"views":4319,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26307"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}