Morteza Pouraliganji

Morteza Pouraliganji
Pouraliganji with Persepolis in 2023
Personal information
Full name Morteza Pouraliganji[1]
Date of birth (1992-04-19) 19 April 1992 (age 32)[2]
Place of birth Babol, Iran
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Persepolis
Number 8
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 51 (9)
2018–2019 Eupen 6 (2)
2019–2020 Al-Arabi 22 (2)
2020–2022 Shenzhen 13 (1)
2022– Persepolis 34 (1)
International career‡
2009 Iran U17 4 (0)
2010 Iran U20 2 (0)
2012–2014 Iran U23 14 (2)
2015– Iran 54 (3)
Medal record
Representing  Iran
CAFA Nations Cup
Winner 2023 Kyrgyzstan – Uzbekistan Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 October 2023

Morteza Pouraliganji (Persian: مرتضی پورعلی‌گنجی; born 19 April 1992) is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis and Iran national team.

He represented Iran at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

Early life

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Pouraliganji at Universal Children's Day 2017

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

Club career

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Naft Tehran

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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

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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

[edit]

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.

Persepolis

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On 6 June 2022, Pouraliganji joined Persian Gulf Pro League side Persepolis on a two-year deal.[8][9]

International career

[edit]

Youth

[edit]

Pouraliganji represented Iran U-17 in the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[10]

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.[11]

Senior

[edit]
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,[12] 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.[13] 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.[14]

In May 2018 he was named in Iran's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[15]

Career statistics

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Club

[edit]
As of 30 October 2024
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 CSL 26 2 1 0 – – 27 2
Al Sadd 2015–16 QSL 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[a] 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 QSL 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 CSL 6 1 0 0 – – 6 1
2021 7 0 0 0 7 0
Total 13 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 1
Persepolis 2022–23 Pro League 25 0 5 1 — — 30 1
2023–24 5 1 0 0 2 0 7 1
2024–25 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 0
Total 34 1 5 1 3 0 0 0 42 2
Career total 225 19 12 2 12 0 2 0 251 21
  1. ^ Appearances in Qatar Cup

International

[edit]
Statistics accurate as of match played 17 October 2023 .[16]
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
2022 5 0
2023 5 0
Total 54 3

International goals

[edit]
Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.[2]

Iran U23

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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

[edit]
# 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

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Club

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Al-Sadd
Persepolis

References

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  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: IR Iran (IRN)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 15. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b Morteza Pouraliganji at Soccerway
  3. ^ "ملی پوشان مازندرانی در پی درخشش در جام جهانی فوتبال".
  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. ^ a b "پورعلی گنجی همبازی ژاوی (عکس)". ورزش سه. 7 January 2016.
  7. ^ "کاپ - با قراردادی 4 ماهه/پورعلی گنجی به السد پیوست".
  8. ^ "Morteza Pouraliganji Joins Persepolis - Sports news". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Persepolis complete signing of Morteza Pouraliganji". Tehran Times. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  10. ^ "FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009 List of Players" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2009.
  11. ^ "بازیکنان اعزامی تیم ملی امید به اینچئون مشخص شد". ffiri.ir. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  12. ^ "Queiroz Names Team Melli Squad". afcasiancup.com. 30 December 2014.
  13. ^ "AFC Asian Cup - Timeline Photos - Facebook". Facebook.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "World Cup 2018: Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz names final squad". BBC Sport. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  16. ^ Morteza Pouraliganji at National-Football-Teams.com
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