Mehrdad Pooladi (Persian: مهرداد پولادی, born 26 February 1987) is an Iranian former professional footballer. He was also an Iranian international, where he played as a left back.
 Pooladi with Iran in 2014 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mehrdad Pooladi | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 26 February 1987 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Karaj, Iran | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Left-back, midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2006 | Paykan | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Paykan | 18 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2007–2009 | Esteghlal | 37 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Tractor Sazi | 30 | (6) | |||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Mes Kerman | 41 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2012 | → Persepolis (loan) | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Persepolis | 30 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2014–2017 | Al-Shahania | 62 | (5) | |||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Bangkok United | 10 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Al-Kharitiyath | 21 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2020-2021 | Muaither | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Iran U20 | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Iran U23 | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2011–2015 | Iran | 29 | (0) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 07:53, 9 October 2018 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 January 2015 | ||||||||||||||
Pooladi is a utility player, formerly playing as a forward and attacking midfielder in his youth and playing regularly as a full back, defensive midfielder and winger.[1][2][3]
Club career
editEsteghlal
editIn August 2007, Pooladi moved from Paykan to Esteghlal as one of the number of young players that were chosen by coach Naser Hejazi. He scored his only goal in Estghlal's 2–1 away at Moghavemat Sepasi. After Hejazi was sacked and replaced with Firouz Karimi, he fell down in the pecking order and eventually left Esteghlal two years after joining the team.
Tractor Sazi
editPooladi joined Tractor Sazi for the 2008–09 season where he played only for a single season. In Tabriz he managed to regain his form playing mostly as a central midfielder, scoring six goals in the season. The most noteworthy was a 40-yard free-kick against his former team Esteghlal in the Azadi Stadium.
Mes Kerman
editPooladi transferred to Mes Kerman and played for the team for a year and a half, again mostly as a midfielder. In the mid-season of 2011–12, he was not included in Miroslav Blažević's squad and left the team.
Persepolis
editIn January 2012, Pooladi moved to Persepolis, Pooladi could not play in 2011–12 season as he had missed the transfer deadline day. He was however able to register for the 2012 AFC Champions League playing in 7 games and scoring a goal against Al-Shabab from a free-kick in a 3–1 win. He extended his contract with Persepolis for two years, keeping him in the team until 2014.[4] He has established himself as a fan favorite due to the high intensity at which he plays the game. Since he joined Persepolis he played the majority of the games as a left back, occasionally slotting in as a defensive midfielder and left wing. After a good showing in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, he was monitored by Premier League clubs such as Southampton, Hull City and Swansea City.[5] On 17 September 2014, the FFIRI disciplinary committee announced a sentence on his contract with Persepolis for the forthcoming 2014–15 season due to conscription issues. According to this sentence, the contract is cancelled after the end of the 2013–14 season (in May 2014), therefore he became a free agent and was free to choose his club.[6][7]
Al-Shahania
editPooladi officially joined coach Miguel Ángel Lotina's Qatari side Al-Shahania with a two-year contract after IFF's rule that he is a free agent due to conscription issues.[8] On 5 December 2014, he provided an assist to Masoud Shojaei.[9] He also scored a 35–yard free kick for them towards the end of the season.[10][11]
Bangkok United
editIn June 2017, Pooladi joined Bangkok United Football Club - a Thai professional football club based in Pathum Thani.
International career
editPooladi played all three games for Iran U20 at 2006 AFC Youth Championship, as a product of Paykan Tehran.[12][13][14] He also made five appearances in 2005 in Valentin A.Granatkin Memorial – International Youth Tournament for Iran U20.[15] He was also a member of Iran U-23, participating in the 2006 Asian Games.
He started his senior international career under Carlos Queiroz in July 2011 against Madagascar. Queiroz moved Pooladi to the left back position a position and Pooladi has taken the opportunity and established himself as first choice left back ever since.
2014 FIFA World Cup
editOn 1 June 2014, he was called into Iran's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad by Queiroz.[16] Pooladi was named as the second best-ranked player in the first week of the tournament behind Thomas Müller by FIFA, after receiving 9.7 points in the opening match against Nigeria.[17] He also showed a good performance in the next match against Argentina. In second half time he dribbled well Higuain and Messi to shows his technical ability.
2015 Asian Cup
editHe was called into Iran's 2015 AFC Asian Cup squad on 30 December 2014 by Queiroz.[18] On 23 January 2015, he received a controversial red card in the quarter-final of the competition against Iraq from referee Ben Williams.[19][20]
Career statistics
edit- As of 9 August 2018
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Asia | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Paykan | 2006–07 | Pro League | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 2 |
| Esteghlal | 2007–08 | Pro League | 28 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 1 |
| 2008–09 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
| Total | 37 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 1 | ||
| Tractor Sazi | 2009–10 | Pro League | 30 | 6 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 30 | 6 |
| Mes | 2010–11 | Pro League | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 0 |
| 2011 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 3 | ||
| Total | 41 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 3 | ||
| Persepolis | 2012 | Pro League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| 2012–13 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 25 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | ||
| Total | 26 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 37 | 1 | ||
| Al-Shahania | 2014–15 | Qatar Stars League | 20 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 21 | 3 |
| 2015–16 | Second Division | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 23 | 3 | |
| 2016–17 | Qatar Stars League | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 0 | |
| Total | 62 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 6 | ||
| Bangkok United | 2017 | Thai League 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 |
| 2018 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 7 | 1 | ||
| Total | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 222 | 17 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 244 | 19 | ||
Honours
editEsteghlal
Persepolis
- Iran Pro League: Runner-up 2013–14
References
edit- ^ Iranvij-Group (1 January 2000). "خانه تکانی ویژه در پرسپولیس!". Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ^ "پولادي هافبك الشحانيه نه دفاع چــــــــــپـــــــــــ !".
- ^ "پو?لادي: پست بازي بر?ايم مهم نيست".
- ^ Pouladi joins Persepolis Archived 6 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Wise, Mike (13 July 2014). "Evra to Juventus, Spurs chase Bony". ESPN. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
- ^ "انضباطی". Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ^ admin (15 October 2014). "Mehrdad Pooladi saved by FIFA !".
- ^ "الشيحانية يخطف الايراني مهرداد من هال سيتي ويوقع معه لمدة عام".
- ^ "Shojaei and Dejagah on target in Qatar [VIDEO]".
- ^ Rex Xerxes (4 June 2015). "Mehrdad Pooladi Long Range Goal HD". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Han nets brace as QSC punish clueless Shahaniya 4-1". 10 May 2015.
- ^ AFC Youth Championship 2006: Heartbreak for Iran as Japan, DPR Korea go through to last eight
- ^ AFC Youth Championship 2006: Jong, Kim double up as DPR Korea thrash Iran
- ^ Iran rally for 3-1 win over Tajikistan
- ^ RSSSF
- ^ "Queiroz trims Iran squad to 24". FIFA.com. 1 June 2014. Archived from the original on 1 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ^ FIFA.com (18 June 2014). "Muller sets early pace, Pooladi on his shoulder". Archived from the original on 18 June 2014.
- ^ "Queiroz Names Team Melli Squad". afcasiancup.com. 30 December 2014. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015.
- ^ Gaskin, Lee (24 January 2015). "Former Socceroos blast referee Ben Williams for 'embarrasing' [sic] send-off in Iran's Asian Cup loss to Iraq".
- ^ "Video - News.com.au".
External links
edit- Mehrdad Pooladi at PersianLeague.com
- Mehrdad Pooladi at TeamMelli.com
- Mehrdad Pooladi at National-Football-Teams.com