Kaveh Rezaei crowned u-22 Asian Cup topscorer

Persianfootball.com – MUSCAT, Despite having to go back home after the group stage, Iranian profilic striker Kaveh Rezaei snatched the topscorer’s crown of the first ever AFC u-22 Asian Championship.

The Saipa Karaj target man scored five goals in three appearances within just five days, a number that remained unmatched until the final today, in which Iraq defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0.

Iran had to deal with numerous top players being kept home by their clubs, sending a B team in the end in which Kaveh Rezaei was the only regular offensive player available.

Also other big Asian footballing nations could not send their best teams due to the poor scheduling of the Asian football confederation, which had moved the tournament from last summer to January due to the East Asian football federation’s local championship – in the end holding the 2013 Asian Cup in 2014 and completely outside the FIFA schedule.

21-year-old Kaveh Rezaei is seen as one of Iran’s brightest talents for the striking positions ever since leading Iran to the u-16 Asian Cup title as topscorer with six goals in five games in 2008, but had been struck by a heavy injury two years ago.

But Rezaei picked up form again in 2013, scoring a string of important goals for Saipa in Iran’s league despite mostly playing on the wing, besides scoring regularily for the u-22 –  most recently the 3-2 winner over South Korea in a friendly, before scoring a brace against Japan and a hat-trick versus Kuwait in the championship.