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3 unusual facts about Iran national football team


Andreas Görlitz

Shortly after signing for Bayern, Görlitz made his debut for the Germany national team, appearing in the last five minutes of the 1–1 friendly with Brazil, on 8 September 2004; the following month, he assisted veteran Thomas Brdaric as the striker closed the score at 2–0, in another exhibition game, now with Iran.

Mick McDermott

Michael "Mick" McDormott (born 1974 in Belfast) is a Northern Irish former football player and a former fitness coach of Iran national football team.

New York Express

The Express also featured former Cosmos star and U.S. National Team player Rick Davis and Iran National Team Star Andranik Eskandarian.


1974 Iran International Tournament

Six teams participated in this edition: Iran national football team A & B, Tunisia national football team, USSR U23 and club sides Zagłębie Sosnowiec from Poland and FK Teplice from Czechoslovakia.

Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh

He played for Esteghlal F.C., Sepahan F.C., Persepolis F.C. and the Iranian national football team.

Alireza Mohammad

Afshin Ghotbi had shown how much he believed in Mohammad and when Ghotbi became the coach of the national team, he called up Mohammad for his first international cap which was made in a friendly against China on June 1, 2009 when he came on as a substitute at half time for Ehsan Hajsafi.

Asiatic cheetah

On 1 February 2014, the Iranian national football team announced the addition of the endangered Asiatic cheetah on their 2014 FIFA World Cup kits in order to bring attention to its conservation efforts.

Aurelio Vidmar

He played and scored against Diego Maradona's Argentina in Australia's final qualifying ties in 1993, he played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against Iran in 1997 when a 2-0 lead slipped from Australia's grasp.

Behtash Fariba

He played for the Iran national football team and was a participant at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, where he was substituted in Iran's last match against Peru.

Ebrahim Mirzapour

After about two years he was invited to Team Melli again on May 2008 under Ali Daei and played for Team Melli in West Asian Football Federation Championship 2008 after about 2 years and won this cup but he got injured in the match against Qatar.He featured in West Asian Football Federation Championship 2010 and was part of the squad in 2011 Asian Cup under Afshin Ghotbi.

Hamid Derakhshan

After 1986 Asian Games, he boycotted playing for Iran national football team and left for Qatar where he joined Qatar SC for which he played for 4 years followed by one season in Al-Sadd Doha.

Ibrahim Al-Shahrani

His most significant goal was against Qatar in Doha during the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) final match which eliminated Qatar and led Saudi Arabia to the top of Group A, directly qualifying to 1998 FIFA World Cup in France and leaving Iran in second place for the AFC Play-off against Japan.

Luís Oliveira Gonçalves

Perceived by many as one of the weaker nations in the World Cup, Angola were paired with former colonial masters and Euro 2004 runners-up Portugal, then FIFA World Ranked 4th nation and seeds Mexico, and previous qualifier Iran in Group D.

Mohamad Atwi

Atwi made his debut for the Lebanese national team on 11 June 2013, coming off the bench to replace Mahmoud Kojok in the 67th minute of a 4-0 loss to Iran in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

Nelo Vingada

After assisting Carlos Queiroz and the Iran national football team to 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, he is set to become manager of the Iran Olympic team after 2013 AFC U-22 Championship.

Noh Alam Shah

He scored in the 1–3 defeat to Iran at the National Stadium in Singapore and in the final group game against Jordan, which Singapore lost 1–2, at the King Abdullah Stadium in Amman.

William Atashkadeh

On 19 March, 2013, Atashkadeh was invited by Iran manager Carlos Queiroz, days after the invitation of Daniel Davari for their Asian Cup qualifiers.


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