Morteza Pouraliganji

Morteza Pouraliganji (Persian: مرتضی پورعلی‌گنجی‎; born 19 April 1992),[2] is an Iranian professional footballer who currently plays for Al-Arabi, in the Qatar Stars League and Iran national team. Pouraliganji represented Iran at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

Morteza Pouraliganji
Pouraliganji in 2018
Personal information
Full name Morteza Pouraliganji
Date of birth (1992-04-19) 19 April 1992
Place of birth Pain Ganj Afruz, Iran
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Center back
Club information
Current team
 Al-Arabi
Number 88
Youth career
2005–2007 Paykan Babol
2007–2008 Pas Tehran
2008–2009 Persepolis
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– Al-Arabi 21 (2)
National team‡
2009 Iran U17 4 (0)
2010 Iran U20 2 (0)
2012–2014 Iran U23 14 (2)
2015– Iran 41 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 January 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:11, 14 November 2019 (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 Morteza scored his first goal for Tianjin in a 2–2 draw against Guangzhou Evergrande. Morteza left the club at the end of the season after he decided not to renew his contract.

Al Sadd
Pouraliganji at Universal Children's Day 2017.

2015–16

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 stated 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.

2016–17

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

U-17

Pouraliganji represented Iran U-17 in the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[8]

U-23

In 2012, he broke in to coach Ali Reza Mansourian's squad and has been regular feature ever since. He named in Iran U23 final list for Incheon 2014.[9]

Senior
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,[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 28 December 2018
Club Division Season League Hazfi Cup Asia Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Naft Tehran Pro League 2010–11 12200––––122
2011–12 16010––––170
2012–13 11000––––110
2013–14 21010––––220
2014–15 1402110––171
China PR League FA Cup Asia Other Total
Tianjin TedaChinese Super League201526210––––272
Qatar League Cup Asia Other Total
Al Sadd Qatar Stars League 2015–16 8200100092
2016–17 234001000244
2017–18 183406000283
Belgium League Belgian Cup Europe Other Total
K.A.S. EupenBelgian First Division A2018–196210––0072
Iran 742411000793
China PR 262100000272
Qatar 499408000619
Belgium 6210000072
Career total 15515101900017416

International
Statistics accurate as of match played 31 December 2018.[14]
Iran
YearAppsGoals
2015102
201660
201790
201870
Total322

International goals
Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.[2]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.23 January 2015Canberra Stadium, Canberra, Australia Iraq2–23–32015 AFC Asian Cup
2.12 November 2015Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran Turkmenistan1–03–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club
Al-Sadd
gollark: …
gollark: Anyway, it's not minor improvements; maybe 10% IPC improvements and possibly 10% or so clock improvements from the 7nm process, plus lower power.
gollark: Look for maybe a 1660 Ti. You have a large upgrade budget.
gollark: The 590 is worthless.
gollark: You'll maybe miss out!

References
  1. "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.
  2. Morteza Pouraliganji at Soccerway
  3. http://www.iribnews.ir/fa/news/2152320
  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. "پورعلی گنجی همبازی ژاوی (عکس)". ورزش سه.
  7. "کاپ - با قراردادی 4 ماهه/پورعلی گنجی به السد پیوست".
  8. "FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009 List of Players" (PDF).
  9. "بازیکنان اعزامی تیم ملی امید به اینچئون مشخص شد". ffiri.ir. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  10. "Queiroz Names Team Melli Squad". afcasiancup.com. 30 December 2014.
  11. "AFC Asian Cup - Timeline Photos - Facebook".
  12. "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.
  13. "World Cup 2018: Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz names final squad". BBC Sport. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  14. Morteza Pouraliganji at National-Football-Teams.com
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