FIFA World Cup 2018: Iranian Messi who worships Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Azmoun is an Iranian of Turkmen ancestry, and is from Golestan province in North East Iran, south of Caspian sea. A nomadic tribe for centuries, they are known for keeping their traditions still – the rugs and they also pride themselves on the famous Turkoman horse which has influenced many modern breeds. Unsurprisingly, Azmoun owns at least six horses and rides them when he is back home. On an Iranian TV show, he even sang in Turkmen, endearing himself to his people. Even his jersey number 69 is because that’s the number of vehicle regional code of Golestan region. Sport ran in his family, his father Khalil played Volleyball for Iran, and coached several teams. Azmoun himself almost veered towards volleyball before he switched to football. For two years, at the age of 13, he gave up football after being ignored for a national camp and switched to volleyball. But at 15, he was called by his old coach to play a provincial tournament, and he returned to his old love. Experts trace his headers, in particular the spectacular leap to his volleyball roots. As an aside, Sardar literally means “he who heads” – though it indicates noblemen and leaders. At 18, Russia came knocking on the doors. So did Inter Milan but Azmoun took up the offer of Russian club Rubin Kazan as it was coached by Kurban Berdyev, a Turkmen known for running a rosary prayer beads through his fingers during matches. Since then, every now and then, rumours circulate of interest from European teams but it hasn’t materialised yet. Azmoun played for Kazan, 450 miles east of Moscow, for a while before being loaned out to another Russian club FC Rostov before returning to Kazan again in June 2017.

Detrimental effect

The pressure of the Messi tag has proved to be a detriment of sorts. Even Kurban, his mentor and a strict disciplinarian coach, has spoken about it in an interview with Kazan-based Sport BO. “His big weakness is that he doesn’t handle outside pressure very well. There was huge, crazy interest in him: all the clubs called us and his father. Top clubs at that: Arsenal, Celtic. Everton’s Iranian owner contacted me and tried to reach a transfer agreement. Azmoun has millions of fans, incredible amounts of attention – and he couldn’t handle it. He came to Rubin as a star, after a good season, and his head was in the clouds. I’m grateful to God that he tested him in such way. If he hadn’t scored a single goal, it would’ve been even better for him.”

The harsh and frank mentoring didn’t stop there. One day, Kurban told Azmoun that “Allah was punishing him for getting carried away with fame”. “You’ll have a lot of chances, but you’ll never score.” Azmoun’s attitude had come in question, and it’s said that frequent run-ins with the referee prompted that outburst from Kuban. “He tempted the fate in Rostov where he had just two or three chances, but scored consistently, his conversion rate was crazy. But luck means very much for a forward. As a result, Sardar lost his place both in the club and in the national team, then he got injured. This unprofessionalism was the cause of his difficult season.” Luckily, he turned a corner, and has now propelled himself as the best player for Iran and his club.