Ebrahim Mirzapour

Ebrahim Mirzapour (Persian: ابراهیم میرزاپور‎; born 1978) is a retired Iranian football goalkeeper, who played most of his career for Foolad F.C .

Ebrahim Mirzapour
Personal information
Full name Ebrahim Mirzapour
Date of birth (1978-09-16) September 16, 1978
Place of birth Mamoolan, Lorestan, Iran
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Paykan (goalkeeping coach)
Youth career
1986–1997 Behzisti Mamoolan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1998 Fajr Khorramabad
1998–2006 Foolad 168 (1)
2006–2007 Esteghlal Ahvaz 4 (0)
2007–2008 Steel Azin 5 (0)
2008–2010 Saipa 38 (0)
2010–2011 Paykan 27 (0)
2011–2012 Shahrdari Tabriz 25 (0)
2012–2013 Sang Ahan 16 (0)
Total 305 (1)
National team
2001–2011 Iran 71 (0)
2002 Iran U–23 (Wild Card) 6 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Foolad

He started his professional IPL career, playing for Foolad, and was a member of the team until August 2006. He also made it to the national team while playing for Foolad, immediately becoming the number one keeper for his country. One of his most memorable moments came when he scored a goal on rival goalkeeper Armenak Petrosyan, off a goal kick. He was the captain of the team which won the 2004–2005 IPL championship. He also played in AFC Champions League for Foolad. After World Cup 2006, despite rumors linking him to CD Nacional[1] and Saipa, he signed a one-year contract with Foolad's rival, Esteghlal Ahvaz.[2]

Esteghlal Ahvaz & Steel Azin

He was seriously injured after only four appearances for Esteghlal Ahvaz, an injury that kept him out of play for fourteen months. He made his first appearance for his new club Steel Azin in a Hazfi Cup match against Shirin Faraz in November 2007.

Saipa

Then, for the 2008–09 season he joined Saipa. He started the season with being a regular player but he could not keep this and only played in 16 matches. He mentioned that he wants to stay with Saipa. He second season was more successful where he was able to play more matches and was even called up to Team Melli.

Retirement

He joined Paykan in the summer of 2010 but after the club's relegation to the Azadegan League, he left the club and joined Shahrdari Tabriz for the next season but had a serious injury towards the end of the season and did not finish the season. He joined the first division team Sang Ahan for the next season and played 16 matches. Mirazpour retired from professional football in 2013.

Club career statistics
As of 10 May 2013
Club performance League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Iran League Hazfi Cup Asia Total
1998–99FooladAzadegan League19000––190
1999–0020000––200
2000–0122000––220
2001–02Pro League23000––230
2002–0323010––240
2003–0421120––231
2004–0522010––230
2005–061802050250
2006–07Esteghlal Ahvaz4000––40
2007–08Steel AzinDivision 15000––50
2008–09SaipaPro League1600000160
2009–1022000––220
2010–11Paykan27000––270
2011–12Shahrdari Tabriz25010––260
2012–13Sang AhanDivision 116000––160
Career total 283170502951

International career

Ebrahim Mirzapour's introduction to the Iranian football squad certainly raised a few eyebrows in Iran when the ex-national team coach, the Croat Miroslav Blazevic preferred him to some more experienced goal keepers. Although Mirzapour started nervously, his solid performance in friendly games and against the odds made Blazevic to have enough confidence in him and install him as the fixed starter in the World Cup 2002 qualification matches. Mirzapour did not disappoint either as his towering presence and agility against the best of the competition certainly increased his popularity and his fan base. Although he was faulted in one or two occasions during the qualifying rounds, he was also credited for many saves and for preventing defeats in matches, by his solid and strong performance. Iran eventually did not make it to the 2002 World Cup, due to their 2–1 aggregate loss to the Republic of Ireland in the playoffs.

Ebrahim Mirzapour was able to keep his starting position in the national team coached by Branko Ivankovic. He was the starting goalkeeper in Iran's successful run of victories, attaining a number of clean sheets throughout the 2006 World Cup qualifying matches. Iran together with Japan were the first nations to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, where Mirzapour played in all three of Iran's matches.

Although his outstanding reflexes and agility are noted, Mirzapour has a habit of suffering from lapses in concentration and is prone to make mistakes especially on goal kicks. He played a great game in Iran's second World Cup match vs. Portugal, although they lost 2–0.

Post World Cup

After the world cup and the criticism on him, he was invited to Team Melli again for the match against South Korea in 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification match under the new coach Amir Ghalenoei. After about two years he was invited to Team Melli again on May 2008 under Ali Daei and played for Team Melli in West Asian Football Federation Championship 2008 after about 2 years and won this cup but he got injured in the match against Qatar. He featured in West Asian Football Federation Championship 2010 and was part of the squad in 2011 Asian Cup under Afshin Ghotbi.

Honours
Foolad
Iran

Notes
  1. "Mirzapour to join Nacional FC of Portugal!". Footballmedia. Retrieved 2006-07-07.
  2. ابراهیم میرزاپور استقلالی شد (in Persian). IRNA. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved 2006-08-24.

References
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