Sardar Azmoun retires from TM

[Tehranto]

I don't get it, Sardar is a grown man, why does Khiabani have to plea with Sardar's mother to get him to come back? Has the whole world gone mad? At 23 years of age, he is an adult.

I agree with you.

[St_Mark]

His decision is not final.

He said today, he may play for TM.

He made that statement in Gonbad Kavoos.

[diz]

Sardar's story is now front page news on Yahoo:

Iran striker retires at 23 because criticism made his mother sick

Sardar Azmoun, a striker on Iran’s national soccer team, has opted for early retirement. Azmoun is just 23, but announced his decision to retire from international competition on Thursday.

Via India Today, Azmoun said in a social media post that it was a difficult decision.

“ “Playing in my national team has been a great honour for me and I will be proud of myself to the end of my days. Unfortunately… I have come to the decision to say goodbye to my national team.”
“This is one of the most painful and significant life decisions for a youth of 23, who faced great hardships to get here.”


The reason he gave was simple: The criticism he’s received over his performance, and the performance of his team, is making his mother sick. Azmoun’s mother recently recovered from a serious illness, but hearing what people have been saying about her son and his teammates hasn’t helped her stay healthy.

“ “Unfortunately because of the unkindness of some people, and the insults that me and my team-mates in no way deserved, her illness has become severe.
“This has put me in a difficult position where I must pick one or the other – and as a result I pick my mother.”


Iran wasn’t able to advance out of the group stage at the World Cup, but their performance wasn’t a total loss. They beat Morocco in their opening match and drew with Portugal. They lost against Spain, but the score was just 1-0. Azmoun didn’t score a goal during any of his three World Cup matches, but played all 90 minutes of each one.

The loss of Azmoun will be tough for Iran’s national team. He made his international debut at just 19, and is fifth on his country’s list of all-time scorers.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/world-c...150916615.html

[TM4LIFE]

Personally, all history aside, I would only want players in TM who have an insatiable desire to perform and heighten the name of the team. That means being focused and not caring what a handful of trolls have to say on social media.

Look at Kaveh: He took a huge risk going to Charleroi, made a name for himself and to top it off he paved the way for more young talented iranian players to go there like Gholizadeh. He was prepared to put his career interests ahead of his private ones, and did not stir not one bit of drama.

Meanwhile, Sardar (as good as he has been for TM) showed that he is too easily distracted by smaller things, by personal relationships and is very mentally fragile. If he does not want to play for us anymore, so be it. Countless fans clearly showed their support, but apparently none of that means anything to him. Is this a hit for us as a team? Of course. But lets not forget that going into this WC, our issue was having too many good forwards. So if he steps aside, i assure you 10 other hungry players will be eager to take his place and work their ass off to make a name for themselves in our history books.

[ehsan_REAL1]

His reaction kinda shows a lot of criticism was valid in his performance. He didn't have what it took to get us a few goals. Weak mentality. His horrendous performance against Morrocco missing that chance. He didn't play like he did in the champions league thats for sure.

I know he won a lot of balls etc..I saw it with my own eyes. But I kinda expected some magic...now we see his mentality is pretty weak. Not sure if this is fixiable in his future

[Martin-Reza]

We need to bring Papa Berdiyev as new TM coach if we want him back...but joking aside, the more I read about the the more ridiculous it becomes. The national team jersey is precious. You don't throw it away time trash [emoji34]

[freak]

For those who may not know, Sardar is a classic victim of overprotective parenting. At 23, the guy acts and lives like he's 16. Lives with his parents full-time, doesn't eat with the team (eats at home), and is a momma's boy. Now, there's nothing wrong with any of those things per se--family is very important--but ffs, he's not an average Joe. Dude is a professional football player playing in a decent enough league in Europe.

Compare his story to that of Cristiano who came from a poor family and moved away from his family as a teenager. Worlds apart.

Given the way he has grown accustomed to his life, this decision is not an unusual one in any way.

[persiangodfather]

Please DONT come back

[daggerhashimoto]

does that mother fucker speak English? come here and read the comments from your most devout fans! we love you. come on man.. grow a fucking pair. tell those stupid fans talking shit that maybe they should have tried out for TM and scored against spain and portugal. jesus fucking mohammad

[Afat11]

Can we start a petition to have Sardar banned from all social media? You would think that a person who is having their freaking life ruined by trolls on instagram would think to maybe delete the only tool people have to communicate with him. These bottom-feeders are sitting in their basements insulting Sardar, why is he giving them the platform?

If he can't handle reading social media messages, GET OFF. CQ needs to institute this rule in TM. No more prima donna celebrity status. Even if you have 15 billion followers, no more social media for TM players, or you are off the team!! If I were CQ, this is the first rule I would make.

[ramingeles2000]

Social media has poisoned our team. Frankly I have to criticize CQ here too. He himself uses his Facebook as a gun turret to unleash on his enemies. He himself started the hashiyeh with that interview about branko before the ink was dry on our WC run. What kind of example is this man setting? It's really beneath him. People say CQ might actually be Iranian...I second that.

I cannot believe this shit storm. Took the wind out of the sails of one of the most critical moments in TM history....all the momentum and public positivity we gained in the WC, which should have been applied toward a PERFECT asian cup preparation, has been overshadowed by CQ, Gucci, Azmoun nonsense.

Jesus.

[Futbaldoost]

I was at all three games and saw how hard he worked. Time for a character lesson from CQ. Hopefully CQ will convince him to apologize for his childish behavior and come back. He is so talented yet he really needs to grow up.

[Tehranto]

For those who may not know, Sardar is a classic victim of overprotective parenting. At 23, the guy acts and lives like he's 16. Lives with his parents full-time, doesn't eat with the team (eats at home), and is a momma's boy. Now, there's nothing wrong with any of those things per se--family is very important--but ffs, he's not an average Joe. Dude is a professional football player playing in a decent enough league in Europe.

Compare his story to that of Cristiano who came from a poor family and moved away from his family as a teenager. Worlds apart.

Given the way he has grown accustomed to his life, this decision is not an unusual one in any way.

This is exactly my sentiments that I have been saying on this thread. That his emotional state led to his decision and is not really surprising if you consider all of the evidence.

Instead of focusing on transferring out of Rubin, he is focusing on this b.s. because he wants more appeasement and assurances. You cannot assure someone who is not assured - that's his emotional state.

[GolfePersique]

WTF is happening?! is This April Joke or what?

The stupidity of the cyber warriors is not a new thing. Why such an emotional and irrational decision? Has he spoken to Queiroz?

I'm sure he will change his mind again.

[Tehranto]

I was at all three games and saw how hard he worked. Time for a character lesson from CQ. Hopefully CQ will convince him to apologize for his childish behavior and come back. He is so talented yet he really needs to grow up.

There were tons of love sent Sardar's way. Sites even made compilations of videos for him showing their support.

Besides being tied at the cord to his mother, honestly, I think that he just couldn't handle being "the man" at the World Cup and he never saw this much pressure. All the world's media outlets had him as Iran's main man. Maybe it was too much for him.