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. He represented Iran at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
 Pouraliganji in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Morteza Pouraliganji | ||
| Date of birth | 19 April 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Pain Ganj Afruz, Iran | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Center back | ||
| Number | - | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2005–2007 | Paykan Babol | ||
| 2007–2008 | Pas Tehran | ||
| 2008–2010 | Eshan Rey | ||
| 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) |
| 2020–2022 | Shenzhen | 13 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2009 | Iran U17 | 4 | (0) |
| 2010 | Iran U20 | 2 | (0) |
| 2012–2014 | Iran U23 | 14 | (2) |
| 2015– | Iran | 44 | (3) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 July 2021 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:11, 11 June 2021 (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 Pouraliganji scored his first goal for Tianjin in a 2–2 draw against Guangzhou Evergrande. He left the club at the end of the season after he decided not to renew his contract.
Al Sadd
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 said that 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 a regular feature ever since. He was named in the Iran U23 final list for Incheon 2014.[9]
Senior
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 27 July 2021
| Club | Season | Division | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Naft Tehran | 2010–11 | Pro League | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 12 | 2 | ||
| 2011–12 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 17 | 0 | ||||
| 2012–13 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 22 | 0 | ||||
| 2014–15 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 17 | 1 | |||
| Total | 74 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 3 | ||
| Tianjin Teda | 2015 | Chinese Super League | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 2 | ||
| Al Sadd | 2015–16 | Qatar Stars League | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
| 2016–17 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 4 | ||
| 2017–18 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 28 | 3 | ||
| Total | 49 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 61 | 9 | ||
| K.A.S. Eupen | 2018–19 | Belgian First Division A | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 7 | 2 | ||
| Al-Arabi | 2018–19 | Qatar Stars League | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2019–20 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | |||
| Total | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 2 | ||
| Shenzhen | 2020 | Chinese Super League | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 6 | 1 | ||
| 2021 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 190 | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 209 | 19 | ||
- Appearances in Qatar Cup
International
- Statistics accurate as of match played 11 June 2021 .[14]
| Iran | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2015 | 10 | 2 |
| 2016 | 6 | 0 |
| 2017 | 9 | 0 |
| 2018 | 7 | 0 |
| 2019 | 9 | 0 |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 2 | 1 |
| Total | 44 | 3 |
International goals
- Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.[2]
Iran U23
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 18 September 2014 | Munhak Stadium, Incheon, South Korea |  Kyrgyzstan | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2014 Asian Games |
Iran
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 23 January 2015 | Canberra Stadium, Canberra, Australia |  Iraq | 2–2 | 3–3 | 2015 AFC Asian Cup |
| 2. | 12 November 2015 | Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran |  Turkmenistan | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3. | 11 June 2021 | Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain |  Cambodia | 6–0 | 10–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
References
- "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.
- Morteza Pouraliganji at Soccerway
- "ملی پوشان مازندرانی در پی درخشش در جام جهانی فوتبال".
- "Morteza Poor Ali Ganji مرتضی پورعلی گنجی – IPL 2010–2011 – Player Profile with career statistics and history – PersianLeague".
- "Morteza Pouraliganji Joins Tianjin Teda".
- "پورعلی گنجی همبازی ژاوی (عکس)". ورزش سه. 7 January 2016.
- "کاپ - با قراردادی 4 ماهه/پورعلی گنجی به السد پیوست".
- "FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009 List of Players" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2009.
- "بازیکنان اعزامی تیم ملی امید به اینچئون مشخص شد". ffiri.ir. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
- "Queiroz Names Team Melli Squad". afcasiancup.com. 30 December 2014.
- "AFC Asian Cup - Timeline Photos - Facebook". Facebook.
- "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.
- "World Cup 2018: Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz names final squad". BBC Sport. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
- Morteza Pouraliganji at National-Football-Teams.com
External links
- Morteza Pouraliganji at Soccerway
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