{"id":47803,"date":"2022-12-27T11:07:39","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T19:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/?p=47803"},"modified":"2022-12-27T11:07:40","modified_gmt":"2022-12-27T19:07:40","slug":"the-postcards-of-ezatolahi-the-iranian-globetrotter-playing-in-a-world-cup-is-a-proud-moment-we-wanted-the-round-of-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2022\/12\/27\/the-postcards-of-ezatolahi-the-iranian-globetrotter-playing-in-a-world-cup-is-a-proud-moment-we-wanted-the-round-of-16\/","title":{"rendered":"The postcards of Ezatolahi, the Iranian globetrotter: “Playing in a World Cup is a proud moment, we wanted the round of 16”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GianlucaDimarzio.com – LONDON, Our interview with the Iranian midfielder who dreamed of Ronaldo as a child, the past, fair play in the match against the United States, and the round of 16 dreams<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the phone rings,\u00a0Saeid Ezatolahi\u00a0is in London.\u00a0\u201cA few days off, then I go back to work\u201d<\/em>, he tells us.\u00a0The 26-year-old defensive midfielder currently plays for\u00a0Velje BK\u00a0in Denmark.\u00a0He is back from his second\u00a0World Cup\u00a0with the\u00a0Iran\u00a0national team.\u00a0Between joy, sacrifice, and great regret, he tells\u00a0spoke with Gianlucadimarzio.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The World Cup with Iran is a dream, even if…”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ezatolahi is a globetrotter.\u00a0He has played in seven different countries.\u00a0We repeat, he is only 26 years old.\u00a0The journey starts from Iran and passes through Spain, Russia, Belgium, Scotland, Qatar, and finally Denmark.\u00a0But the first postcard of our chat comes from\u00a0Doha, the city of the World Cup, where Saeid had already been with Al-Gharafa.\u00a0“Playing a competition of this level is everyone’s\u00a0dream: I am grateful to have had this opportunity again after Russia 2018.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is an honor to be able to put my qualities at the service of the nation, it makes me\u00a0proud\u00a0\u201d.\u00a0<\/em>But, as we said before, there is one\u00a0regret:\u00a0\u201cWe hoped to\u00a0qualify\u00a0for the knockout stage, we nurtured this dream, we believed in it and worked hard for it.\u00a0We will continue to do so in view of 2026\u201d.\u00a0<\/em>Saeid puffs out his chest, proud: \u201c\u00a0We want to be the first in history to make it\u00a0for Iran\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Password: Learn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn general, however, it was a positive experience: I learned a lot\u201d.\u00a0The recurring<\/em> concept of this interview: always\u00a0learn<\/strong>, and become stronger, and more aware.\u00a0But let’s get back to us.\u00a0\u201cSeeing my\u00a0family\u00a0cheering for me on the biggest stage in the world is the greatest aspiration that can be achieved.\u00a0I’m happy and now I’m looking ahead, I want to\u00a0improve\u00a0for the next competitions\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Impressive Bellingham. Moved by USA Fair Play”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Queiroz’s\u00a0World Cup\u00a0did not start well.\u00a06-2\u00a0against England, star Jude\u00a0Bellingham:\u00a0\u201cThat boy is\u00a0impressive.\u00a0He destroyed us and left me speechless.\u00a0He’s 19 but he plays like he’s 30. Maturity, power, and self-confidence.\u00a0He will become one of the\u00a0best\u00a0in his role, or maybe he already is \u201d.\u00a0A moment of silence, and we hear Ezatolahi’s pride (and joy) again:\u00a0\u201cAfter that beating, however, we got up again: the victory against\u00a0Wales\u00a0was a wonderful emotion.\u00a0We could only win to stay alive, otherwise, everything would have been in vain.\u00a0The atmosphere was amazing.\u00a0We were ready to fight for each other, and we did.\u00a0We won”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second postcard that remains impressed tastes like\u00a0fair play<\/em>.\u00a0Ezatolahi, sitting on the ground after his\u00a0loss\u00a0to the\u00a0United States, weeps.\u00a0Iran is out of the World Cup\u00a0after a wrestling match.\u00a0Next to him, two players from the USA (Yedlin and Sargent) console him.\u00a0\u201c\u00a0Football, sport, is this.\u00a0I think this is the best image to represent the values \u200b\u200bof a World Cup.\u00a0There is everything: fight, tears, sweat, friendship, and <\/em>respect for the opponent.\u00a0They taught me this from an early age: shake hands with those you just challenged.\u00a0They are enemies in battle, but when the referee blows his whistle three times, we respect each other.\u00a0The gesture of the US footballers\u00a0moved me, and I really appreciated it.\u00a0It is the postcard that I will always carry with me from this 2022\u201d.\u00a0<\/em>And here her voice breaks\u2026\u00a0\u201cWe wanted so badly to\u00a0qualify\u00a0\u201d.\u00a0\u201cWe wanted it so bad, mate,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Saeid repeats on the phone.\u00a0Like a mantra, a memorandum to work harder than before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I won’t forget my past: In Iran, I dreamed of Ronaldo. Guys, be strong”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Then the mind takes him back home to\u00a0Iran.\u00a0\u201cIt wasn’t easy getting here.\u00a0At 26 I have\u00a050\u00a0caps for the national team, I have played in two World Cups and I feel ready for the big leap.\u00a0But I grew up in a poor country, I didn’t have access to football schools.\u00a0Like many of my national teammates, we played on\u00a0the road.\u00a0I imagined I was\u00a0Ronaldo the Phenomenon.\u00a0I loved it.\u00a0I tried to replicate his movements on the streets.\u00a0I dreamed of emulating his path.\u00a0But I was a\u00a0child on the Iranian streets.\u00a0And\u00a0I don’t forget my past\u00a0\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think about it often.\u00a0It pushes me to always give my best, to achieve my\u00a0goals\u00a0with passion and dedication.\u00a0I was lucky enough to have a footballer father: he helped me make the right choices in the decisive moments when I was a kid.\u00a0I always tell the very young to\u00a0believe in themselves and to stay strong, in the best moments as in the worst.\u00a0Football puts you in front of many challenges, you have to be ready even for the difficult ones.\u00a0Be strong and you will achieve what you dream of\u201d.\u00a0<\/em>Word of Saeid Ezatolahi, an Iranian boy who dreamed of Ronaldo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GianlucaDimarzio.com – LONDON, Our interview with the Iranian midfielder who dreamed of Ronaldo as a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26307,"featured_media":47804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,212,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c47-featured-news","category-iranian-legionnaires","category-c22-players-spotlight"],"views":1518,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47803","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=47803"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47805,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47803\/revisions\/47805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}