IRAN NATIONAL GOALKEEPERS By Phil Osborn

Under the leadership of vastly experienced Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz Iran qualified for the 2014 world cup finals as winners of their group, edging out South Korea with a final points total of 16.

Currently ranked 37 in the current Fifa rankings and placed by many at 1500/1 to win the world cup, Iran will be classed as a minnow for the competition.

Being drawn in group F they have unfortunately been drawn against some of the best firepower in World football. Competing against Argentina they will come up against the like of multiple world player of the year Lionel Messi of Barcelona, Sergio Aguero of Manchester City, Gonzalo Higuian of Napoli and Carlos Tevez of Juventus, This quartet would surely put fear amongst any team in the Tournemant. Bosnia and Herzegovina possess the midfield maestro Miralem Pjanic from Ac Roma and Edin Dzeko of Manchester City currently on a rich vein of form in the premiership. Final opponents in group F are Nigeria, who contain the pace and threat of Victor Moses from Chelsea, Victor Obinna of Chievo and Stoke City’s Peter Odemwinge .
Iran’s Goalkeepers are coached and guided by Dan Gasper , Dan has assisted Queiroz in several roles and has the experience of working with Porto’s, Benfica’s and the Portuguese National team goalkeepers .Dan has also worked with South Africa’s national goalkeepers and coached in the J –league with Grampus Eight.

During the qualification process and selected for the preliminary squad, Carlos Querioz has used and named Four Goalkeepers .All four of these keepers have the total of 21 international caps between them so will be relatively inexperienced at this level of world football.

Daniel Davari

Daniel Davari is a 6ft 3”, 26 year old, right footed Goalkeeper born in Germany, with an Iranian Father and German mother. Daniel is a fantastic shot stopper, with a great reputation of dealing with shots from close range, He also shows a preference to dealing with crosses etc. by punching the ball and has a very capable range but needs to work on his concentration through games. Currently playing in the German Bundesliga with Eintracht Braunschweig. Currently holding 3 caps for the Iranian national side. Daniels first appearance was in an Asian cup qualifier against Thailand, where keeping a clean sheet helped the side to a 3-0 win. In this seasons Bundesliga game vs Borussia Dortmund, Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp was quoted as saying “Davari alone had five world class saves, Iran can be very happy about a quality national team goalkeeper “High praise indeed. Daniel finished the current season with multiple man of the match accolades to his name in which has been a difficult first season back in the Bundesliga for his side. His stats for the season are currently 28 games, 117 saves and 6 clean sheets. Daniel has been using Uhlsport gloves during the current season. It has also been reported that he will not renew his contact at the end of the current season.

Alireza haghghi

Alireza Haghghi currently plays for Sporting club da Covilha in Portugal and sports the squad number 88, He is currently on loan from Russian side Rubin Kazan. Alireza has been capped by his country at U-15, U-17,U-20,U-23 and full senior side making a total of 6 appearances for the senior side. The 24 year old 6ft 4”Right footed keeper has made a total 73 league appearances since breaking through into senior football in 2006, His last appearance for the national side was 05.03.14 against Guinea.
Dan Gasper has been quoted as saying that he thinks Ali has the quality’s to become a top class keeper and being the first Iranian goalkeeper to play oversees.

Rahman Ahmadi

Rahman Ahmadi is the oldest of the four goalkeepers aged 33.The 6ft keeper has spent all of his career in the Iranian pro league , making his debut in 2000 for Shamoushak.His league apprearnaces are currently over 200 and he currently plays for Sepahan, who he joined in July 2013.Rahman has currently earned 9 international caps for Iran. His last international game for Iran was 03.03.14 against Kuwait but was instrumental in the success of qualifying for the world cup with several fantastic saves including a fantastic double save ensuring the 1-0 over South Korea. He is considered one of the best keepers in the Iranian pro league.

SOUSHA MAKANI

Sousha Makani is a 27 year old Goalkeeper currently playing for Foolad in Iran .His career began in 2006 with Fajr Sepasi and has 167 league appearances for five different clubs .He has also been capped by Iran at u-23 level earning 6 caps and 2 full senior caps .He made his debut after a call up from Carlos Quieroz and played in the 2102 WAFF Championships.

Sosha Mankani is currently facing a one match suspension with is imposed by FIFA and this will keep him out of the opening Wc game on 16th June vs Nigeria, will this prevent his selection to the final squad to be chosen by Carlos Queiroz ??