Sirous Ghayeghran

Sirous Ghayeghran (22 January 1962 – 7 April 1998) was an Iranian footballer and former captain of Iran national football team.

Playing career

Club career He played most of his club career for Malavan FC. In 1990, he signed for Ai-Ittihad of Qatar. He did not forget his roots and soon returned to Malavan, helping the club win the Hazfi Cup and participate in the Asian Club Championship. In 1993, he moved to the big spending team of the time Keshavarz FC, where he was also a coach. The team obtained respectable results but Ghayeghran moved to second division team Masoud Hormozgan where he coached once again. In 1997 and 1998 Ghayeghran stated numerous times that he would like to be involved with Malavan again, either as a coach or player.

International career In February 1986 he made his debut for the national team against Pakistan. In 1987 Ghayeghran became the national team captain, after most of the already established national team members who had participated in the Asian tournaments from 1984 to 1986 resigned from playing (these included top stars such as Nasser Mohammadkhani, Hamid Alidoosti, Shahrokh Bayani, etc.) In 1988 thanks to Ghayeghran's leadership an underprepared and inexperienced Iran side finished third in the Asian Cup tournament. He and Mehdi Fonoonizadeh came out as the two players with their trademark long-range shots, which usually compensated for Iran's shortage in the area of teamwork. Two years later the team became the 1990 Asian Games champions, where Ghayeghran scored one of the most memorable goals in Iranian football history against South Korea.

He finished his international career with 43 caps and 6 goals.

Career statistics International goals Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 24 September 1986 Hanbat Stadium, South Korea, Kuwait 4–0 W 1986 Asian Games 2. 27 May 1988 Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal 2–0 W 1988 AFC Asian Cup Qualifier 3. 23 February 1989 National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand 0–3 W 1990 FIFA World Cup Qualifier 4. 3 October 1990 Workers' Stadium, Beijing, China 1–0 W 1990 Asian Games – Semifinal 5. 11 May 1992 Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, India 7–0 W 1992 AFC Asian Cup Qualifier 6. 30 October 1992 Bingo Stadium, Onomichi, Japan 0–2 W 1992 AFC Asian CupCorrect as of 24 July 2021

Death On 7 April 1998 as Ghayeghran and some family members were driving towards Tehran during a holiday in Norouz, they collided with a truck, leaving Ghayeghran and his son dead.

Honors

Club Malavan Hazfi Cup: 1986, 1990 Runner-up: 1987

National Iran Asian Games: 1990 Third place: 1988

Individual Asian Cup Team of the Tournament: 1988