Morteza Pouraliganji

Morteza Pouraliganji (Persian: مرتضی پورعلی‌گنجی‎; born 19 April 1992),[2] is an Iranian professional footballer who currently plays for Shenzhen FC, in the Chinese Super League and Iran national team. Pouraliganji represented Iran at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

Morteza Pouraliganji
Pouraliganji in 2018
Personal information
Full name Morteza Pouraliganji
Date of birth (1992-04-19) 19 April 1992
Place of birth Pain Ganj Afruz, Iran
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Center back
Club information
Current team
 Shenzhen
Number 35
Youth career
2005–2007 Paykan Babol
2007–2008 Pas Tehran
2008–2009 Persepolis
2010–2013 Naft Tehran
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2015 Naft Tehran 74 (2)
2015 Tianjin Teda 26 (2)
2016–2018 Al Sadd 49 (9)
2018–2019 Eupen 6 (2)
2019–2020 Al-Arabi 22 (2)
2020– Shenzhen 6 (1)
National team‡
2009 Iran U17 4 (0)
2010 Iran U20 2 (0)
2012–2014 Iran U23 14 (2)
2015– Iran 42 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 December 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:11, 12 November 2020 (UTC)

Early life

Pouraliganji was born in Pain Ganj Afruz, a village in Babol County.[3]

Club career

Naft Tehran

Pouraliganji started his senior career with Naft Tehran in 2010.[4] He scored his first professional goal in 2011 in a 4–1 win against Paykan.

Tianjin Teda

He joined Chinese Super League club Tianjin Teda on 25 February 2015 with a one–year contract.[5] He made his first appearance for the club on 8 April 2015 in a match against Henan Jianye. On 4 June 2015 Morteza scored his first goal for Tianjin in a 2–2 draw against Guangzhou Evergrande. Morteza left the club at the end of the season after he decided not to renew his contract.

Al Sadd
Pouraliganji at Universal Children's Day 2017.

On 8 January 2016 Pouraliganji rejected several offers from European and Chinese teams and accepted an offer from Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd.[6] He stated playing with Xavi was one of the main reasons he accepted this offer.[6] He signed a four-month contract on 20 January 2016 until the end of the season.[7] He scored his first goal for his new club in February 2016 in a 3–1 victory against Al Arabi.

Pouralingaji decided to remain with Al Sadd for another season and he scored his first league goal of the 2016–17 season on 12 December 2016 in an 8–0 win against Umm Salal. He scored again in the following match day on 16 December 2016 in a 3–1 victory against Al-Sailiya SC.

International career

Youth

Pouraliganji represented Iran U-17 in the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[8]

In 2012, he broke in to coach Ali Reza Mansourian's squad and has been regular feature ever since. He named in Iran U23 final list for Incheon 2014.[9]

Senior
Pouraliganji playing for Iran against Portugal in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

After his performance in Asian Games in October 2014, Carlos Queiroz called Pouraliganji up for a training camp in Portugal. He played a friendly fixtures against Estroli and Benfica and was later called up for an international friendly against South Korea on 18 November 2014. He was called into Iran's 2015 AFC Asian Cup squad on 30 December 2014,[10] making his debut in a friendly match against Iraq on 4 January 2015 which Iran won 1–0.

Pouraliganji was selected to start in Iran's opening match at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, a 2–0 win over Bahrain. His good performance in Iran's second match against Qatar earned him a place in the AFC Best 11 of Round 2.[11] In the quarter-final match against Iraq, Pouraliganji scored his first goal for Iran as they drew 3–3 at Canberra Stadium and were eventually defeated 7–6 on a penalty shootout.[12]

In May 2018 he was named in Iran's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[13]

Career statistics

Club
As of 31 December 2020
Club Season Division League National Cup Continental Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Naft Tehran 2010–11 Pro League 12200––122
2011–12 16010––170
2012–13 11000––110
2013–14 21010––220
2014–15 1402110–171
Total 742411000793
Tianjin Teda2015Chinese Super League26210––272
Al Sadd 2015–16 Qatar Stars League 8200100092
2016–17 234001000244
2017–18 18320602[lower-alpha 1]0283
Total 499208020619
K.A.S. Eupen2018–19Belgian First Division A6210––72
Al-Arabi 2018–19 Qatar Stars League 7100–0071
2019–20 15100–00151
Total 222000000222
Shenzhen2020Chinese Super League6100––61
Career total 1831881902020219
  1. Appearances in Qatar Cup

International
Statistics accurate as of match played 12 November 2020.[14]
Iran
YearAppsGoals
2015102
201660
201790
201870
201990
202010
Total422

International goals
Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.[2]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.23 January 2015Canberra Stadium, Canberra, Australia Iraq2–23–32015 AFC Asian Cup
2.12 November 2015Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran Turkmenistan1–03–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club
Al-Sadd

References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup: List of players" (PDF). FIFA. 18 June 2018. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  2. Morteza Pouraliganji at Soccerway
  3. http://www.iribnews.ir/fa/news/2152320
  4. "Morteza Poor Ali Ganji مرتضی پورعلی گنجی – IPL 2010–2011 – Player Profile with career statistics and history – PersianLeague".
  5. "Morteza Pouraliganji Joins Tianjin Teda".
  6. "پورعلی گنجی همبازی ژاوی (عکس)". ورزش سه.
  7. "کاپ - با قراردادی 4 ماهه/پورعلی گنجی به السد پیوست".
  8. "FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009 List of Players" (PDF).
  9. "بازیکنان اعزامی تیم ملی امید به اینچئون مشخص شد". ffiri.ir. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  10. "Queiroz Names Team Melli Squad". afcasiancup.com. 30 December 2014.
  11. "AFC Asian Cup - Timeline Photos - Facebook".
  12. "Asian Cup 2015: Iraq claims incredible shootout win over rival Iran to reach semi-finals". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  13. "World Cup 2018: Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz names final squad". BBC Sport. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  14. Morteza Pouraliganji at National-Football-Teams.com
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