Iranian footballer (born 1993)
Amir Abedzadeh
(
Persian
:
???? ????????
; born 26 April 1993), known as
Amir
, is an Iranian professional
footballer
who plays as a
goalkeeper
for
Liga Portugal 2
club
Maritimo
and the
Iranian national team
.
Club career
[
edit
]
Youth teams
[
edit
]
Abedzadeh was a member of the
Persepolis
Youth Academy from 2006 to 2007,
[4]
having previously trained under his father since he was 7. He moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 15,
[5]
and after spending two months with the third-tier outfit of
Brentford
[6]
and taking part in a trial with
Arsenal
,
[7]
he joined
Tottenham Hotspur
's academy team in 2009. Abezadeh left Tottenham in the same year, following their signing of Italian goalkeeper
Mirko Ranieri
.
[8]
During his time in the UK, Abedzadeh also played for amateur youth teams Dinamo Dorigo,
[9]
London Tigers
,
[5]
[10]
and Persian FC, the latter of the G.E. Roberts Enfield Football Alliance League.
[11]
United States
[
edit
]
Abedzadeh was unable to obtain a work permit in UK and after briefly returning to Iran and training with
Iran Pro League
side
Steel Azin
, where his father was a coach, to keep himself on form,
[12]
he moved to the United States in 2011,
[10]
and signed for the
Los Angeles Blues
in the
USL Championship
, where his father was an assistant coach.
[13]
He made his debut on 7 June 2011, playing for
Los Angeles Blues U-23
(LA Blues' reserve team) in a
USL Premier Development League
game against
Orange County Blue Star
. He made eight saves but conceded five goals, and was also shown a yellow card.
[14]
[15]
In 2012, he had the option to join
Chivas USA
of
Major League Soccer
, but he decided to extend his contract with the Blues.
[16]
Persepolis
[
edit
]
Abedzadeh signed a three-year contract with
Persepolis
on 15 July 2012.
[17]
He played for
Persepolis U21
in AFC Vision Asia U-21 Tehran Premier League. He scored a goal for Persepolis U21 in game with
Niroye Zamini U21
.
[18]
Abedzadeh left the Persepolis in 2014 and without playing a single game for the club.
Rah Ahan
[
edit
]
On 3 July 2014, Abedzadeh joined
Rah Ahan
with signing a four-year contract. He worked under the supervision of his father,
Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh
who also worked at Rah Ahan as goalkeeping coach. He played his first professional match on 19 September 2014 against his former team
Persepolis
, where he came in as a substitute of injured
Igor Nenezi?
in 34th minute. He was released by Rah Ahan at the end of the 2014?15 season.
Maritimo
[
edit
]
Abedzadeh signed with Portuguese
Primeira Liga
club
Maritimo
on 23 January 2017 after good performances with
Barreirense
in the
Campeonato de Portugal
.
[19]
He became the second Iranian goalkeeper to sign for the club after
Alireza Haghighi
who played for the club in 2016. He made his first appearance in September 2017 in a Portuguese League Cup match.
He made his
Taca de Portugal
debut on 14 October 2017 in a third round match against Uniao Torcatense. Abedzadeh kept a clean sheet and was named Man of the Match, as Maritimo won the match 1?0.
Ponferradina
[
edit
]
Abedzadeh joined
SD Ponferradina
on 7 July 2021 making him the first Iranian to play for the club.
[20]
Return to Maritimo
[
edit
]
On 30 August 2023, Maritimo, who had been relegated to the
Liga Portugal 2
the
previous season
, announced the signing of Abedzadeh.
[21]
International career
[
edit
]
Abedzadeh in training with Iran Olympic team in 2014
Abedzadeh was once called up to
Iran national under-17 football team
's camp for
2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup
in
Kish Island
, but never invited again.
[6]
[8]
About his playing probability in
Iran national under-23 football team
, Abedzadeh said:
"Again, they told me that they wanted to take the players who have been together for a long time and know each other well... They also explained that if we should qualify, they are going to call in and examine new players . So hopefully they can beat Iraq and qualify for
the Olympics
, and hopefully I'll get my chance then. I think the problem is that I was in England for the past four years and that they weren't able to watch me play as much as the local players. That has been pretty disappointing for me."
[6]
Abedzadeh was part of Iran's team for in
2014 AFC U-22 Championship
, but he did not play any match. In 2015, he was invited to
Olympic team
for
2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification
.
Senior
[
edit
]
Abedzadeh in training with
Iran
in
2018 FIFA World Cup
On 5 November 2017, Abedzadeh was called into the
Iran national team
for the first time for friendlies against
Panama
and
Venezuela
.
[22]
In June 2018, he was named in Iran's
final squad
for the
2018 FIFA World Cup
in Russia.
[23]
He made his debut against
Uzbekistan
on 19 May 2018.
Personal life
[
edit
]
He is the son of former Iranian national team legendary goalkeeper
Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh
.
[5]
Career statistics
[
edit
]
Club
[
edit
]
- As of 7 April 2024
International
[
edit
]
- Statistics accurate as of match played 23 September 2022 .
[24]
Iran
|
Year
|
Apps
|
Goals
|
2018
|
3
|
0
|
2020
|
1
|
0
|
2021
|
2
|
0
|
2022
|
5
|
0
|
Total
|
11
|
0
|
Honours
[
edit
]
Persepolis
Iran U-23
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]