Twenty years ago today we lost a humble playmaker and captain in addition to his son during a traffic accident. Rest in peace.
The late Sirous Ghayeghran was one of the most complete soccer players our country has ever produced. An inspirational captain for both club and national team, Sirous, commonly known as Sia Sia by the Anzali locals, controlled the midfield, blasted long range shots at goal, threaded pinpoint passes for forwards, crossed from both sides, encouraged his teammates, hustled, tackled, saved children from burning buildings….sorry got carried away. He started his career with Esteghlal of Anzali and then Malavan, before he got lured to Tehran by Keshavarz. Ghayeghran certainly had his ups and downs with the IFF, but his ups clearly outweighed his downs. Our national team suffered a major setback as a result of his absence from our crucial game against China due to an IFF suspension (allegedly for going out for a drink while in the Soviet Union) and part of the reason for our elimination in the first round of the 1990 World Cup qualifiers could be attributed to the apparent lack of a midfield maestro.
He was originally penciled in as one of the many players that resigned from the national team after the 1986 Asian Games in protest to the management of the team, however, Sirous later reversed his decision and would go on to captain the team of young newcomers.
Sirous achieved many honors during his soccer career, but there are a few that stand out more than others. After the mass exodus of our established players and the emergence of young and inexperienced players such as Abedzadeh, Zarrincheh and Namjoo Motlagh, Sirous took charge and became the gel that kept the individuals together as a unit. He masterfully captained the team during the 1988 Asian Championship to a bronze medal. It was during the ill fated game against South Korea, a 3-0 loss, that Ghayeghran emerged as one of the few bright spots demonstrating his thunderous long range shots, forcing the Korean keeper into 3 acrobatic saves. It was only fitting for Iran to end the tournament with Ghayeghran’s perfectly placed spot kick to give us the win on PKs.
Taking away the captaincy is a major blow to any soccer player, yet in early 1990 when Parvin brought Panjali back to the national team, Sirous made no Klinsmann-Matthueus-ish fuss and accepted his new role. He played a major role in our march to Asian Gold in 1990 and avenged our 1988 loss to the Koreans. In the semifinals in overtime a perfectly timed run and chip of the Korean keeper enabled Sirous to get the only goal of the game. Once again he took part in the deciding PKs and scored one of our 4 goals in our shootout victory over North Korea in the final.
But perhaps Sirous’s greatest accomplishment in my mind was not at the international level, but rather at the club level with Malavan in 1990. During the 1990 National Championship Malavan faced Persepolis in the semifinal round. The return leg in Tehran had ended 2-1 in favor of Persepolis, thus a 1-0 victory would have been sufficient for Malavan to advance. Early in the 1st half Malavan earned a freekick that was clearly in Sirous’s territory. The calm and collected run-up towards the ball and the placement in the upper corner of the goal beyond Ghilich’s outstretched hand was pure magic. The one goal lead would have been enough for Malavan but not Ghayeghran. Ten minutes later the Malavan and Persepolis players tangled outside the box for a loose ball that ended up bouncing ahead of Ghayeghran. He charged at it and fired it one touch with one of his trademark thunderous shots that once again ended up in the back of the net (see below). Malavan would win the match 2-0 and advance to the final against Esteghlal, a game Malavan would win in a shootout where once again Sirous emerged as a winner on PKs by converting his team’s first kick after a 0-0 draw. However going back to the semifinal, after the game Sirous truly showed his class and humility. When asked how he managed to nail those picture perfect long range shots, rather then boast about his skills or bash his opponent’s weaknesses, he simply shrugged, smiled and said, “it was luck.” (شانسی بود).
A true humble gentleman and leader on the field, we can never have a true history of our soccer without the mention of Sirous Ghayeghran. May he rest in peace.
The late Sirous Ghayeghran was one of the most complete soccer players our country has ever produced. An inspirational captain for both club and national team, Sirous, commonly known as Sia Sia by the Anzali locals, controlled the midfield, blasted long range shots at goal, threaded pinpoint passes for forwards, crossed from both sides, encouraged his teammates, hustled, tackled, saved children from burning buildings….sorry got carried away. He started his career with Esteghlal of Anzali and then Malavan, before he got lured to Tehran by Keshavarz. Ghayeghran certainly had his ups and downs with the IFF, but his ups clearly outweighed his downs. Our national team suffered a major setback as a result of his absence from our crucial game against China due to an IFF suspension (allegedly for going out for a drink while in the Soviet Union) and part of the reason for our elimination in the first round of the 1990 World Cup qualifiers could be attributed to the apparent lack of a midfield maestro.
He was originally penciled in as one of the many players that resigned from the national team after the 1986 Asian Games in protest to the management of the team, however, Sirous later reversed his decision and would go on to captain the team of young newcomers.
Sirous achieved many honors during his soccer career, but there are a few that stand out more than others. After the mass exodus of our established players and the emergence of young and inexperienced players such as Abedzadeh, Zarrincheh and Namjoo Motlagh, Sirous took charge and became the gel that kept the individuals together as a unit. He masterfully captained the team during the 1988 Asian Championship to a bronze medal. It was during the ill fated game against South Korea, a 3-0 loss, that Ghayeghran emerged as one of the few bright spots demonstrating his thunderous long range shots, forcing the Korean keeper into 3 acrobatic saves. It was only fitting for Iran to end the tournament with Ghayeghran’s perfectly placed spot kick to give us the win on PKs.
Taking away the captaincy is a major blow to any soccer player, yet in early 1990 when Parvin brought Panjali back to the national team, Sirous made no Klinsmann-Matthueus-ish fuss and accepted his new role. He played a major role in our march to Asian Gold in 1990 and avenged our 1988 loss to the Koreans. In the semifinals in overtime a perfectly timed run and chip of the Korean keeper enabled Sirous to get the only goal of the game. Once again he took part in the deciding PKs and scored one of our 4 goals in our shootout victory over North Korea in the final.
But perhaps Sirous’s greatest accomplishment in my mind was not at the international level, but rather at the club level with Malavan in 1990. During the 1990 National Championship Malavan faced Persepolis in the semifinal round. The return leg in Tehran had ended 2-1 in favor of Persepolis, thus a 1-0 victory would have been sufficient for Malavan to advance. Early in the 1st half Malavan earned a freekick that was clearly in Sirous’s territory. The calm and collected run-up towards the ball and the placement in the upper corner of the goal beyond Ghilich’s outstretched hand was pure magic. The one goal lead would have been enough for Malavan but not Ghayeghran. Ten minutes later the Malavan and Persepolis players tangled outside the box for a loose ball that ended up bouncing ahead of Ghayeghran. He charged at it and fired it one touch with one of his trademark thunderous shots that once again ended up in the back of the net (see below). Malavan would win the match 2-0 and advance to the final against Esteghlal, a game Malavan would win in a shootout where once again Sirous emerged as a winner on PKs by converting his team’s first kick after a 0-0 draw. However going back to the semifinal, after the game Sirous truly showed his class and humility. When asked how he managed to nail those picture perfect long range shots, rather then boast about his skills or bash his opponent’s weaknesses, he simply shrugged, smiled and said, “it was luck.” (شانسی بود).
A true humble gentleman and leader on the field, we can never have a true history of our soccer without the mention of Sirous Ghayeghran. May he rest in peace.
I had the chance to see one game he played, it looked like a man was playing with a bunch of children! he was such a remarkable player.
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