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Persian: سردار آزمون
Born in the remote city of Gonbad-e Kavus, Golestan in northeastern Iran, Azmoun was a volleyball star in his teenage years before landing a place at the Sepahan football academy in Isfahan.
He made a serious impact with IR Iran youth teams between 2009 and 2013 and was snapped up by Russian club Rubin Kazan at the age of 17, becoming the first Iranian to play in the Russian Premier League.
From U19 Sepahan Esfahan side to the U20 Iran national under-20 football team it was a short step for Sardar, but for him, the best was yet to come. At 18 Azmoun was noticed by Rubin Kazan and Inter Milan scouts during a tournament in St.Petersburg, Russia.
Sardar decided to join Tatars because the coach of the Tatarstan-based side was Turkmen Kurban Berdyev, who later would want the talent from Golestan in Rostov.
Azmoun stayed with the team despite reported interest from Arsenal and Liverpool, among others. He left for Russia to join Rostov in 2015 before returning to Rubin Kazan two years later. The young striker did not play a single game in Iran professional league, nevertheless.
He played 14 matches scoring 4 goals and providing 3 assists in the Russian Premier League. Thanks to these good performances Sardar was included in the first 30-man squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
However, in the final list for Brazil, the Portuguese coach of Team Melli, Queiroz dropped Azmoun prompting massive criticism by many including the fans against national team coach Carlos Queiroz: Sardar reacted by posting on social networks that his exclusion from World Cup squad caused by posting "The worst day in my life.â€
However, he wished his teammates the best in the World Cup 2018. On the contrary, Azmoun father reaction was really polemic declaring to Iranian media that no one was better than his son!
Azmoun was however an important part of the plan for the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia.
After AFC Asian Cup elimination Azmoun went on loan to FC Rubin Kazan coached by his mentor Berdyev, helping the team to avoid relegation in the Russian Premier League. With the Selmashi team, he reached second place in the league, two points fewer than CSKA Moscow earning Champions League qualification.
Other facts are recent: he scored decisive goals in the Champions League preliminary rounds against Anderlecht and Ajax (alongside his fellow countryman Saeid Ezzatollahi) making history on 1st November 2016 by scoring the equalizing goal against Atletico Madrid. It was the first one conceded by Diego Pablo Simeone side in this Champions League campaign. And on 23rd November he made history again with a goal in the surprising Rostov victory over Bayern Munich.
On 1st February 2019, Azmoun signed a 3.5-year contract with Zenit St. Petersburg.
Sardar scored two goals and assisted once in his debut start for Zenit against Fenerbahçe in the Round of 32 in the UEFA Europa League. He was chosen as the Player of the Week for his outstanding performance by UEFA.
Azmoun also scored in his Russian Premier League debut on 2nd March 2019, against FC Ural Yekaterinburg. On 31 March 2019, in a home game, he doubled against FC Orenburg. On 17 September 2019, Azmoun scored the first goal of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage in his Champions League debut for Zenit against Olympique Lyonnais. With a goal against Benfica in the following match, he surpassed Mehdi Mahdavikia and Ali Daei to become the most prolific Iranian goal scorer in the UEFA Champions League with four goals.
On 5 July 2020, he scored twice in a 4–2 victory over FC Krasnodar that secured a second consecutive Russian Premier League title for Zenit. On 22 July 2020, the last day of the 2019–20 Russian Premier League season, he scored his 17th goal in the league to finish as the co-top scorer of the league with his teammate Artem Dzyuba.
On 2 May 2021, he scored a hat-trick to bring his league season scoring total to 19, as Zenit secured their third title in a row in a 6–1 victory over second-place FC Lokomotiv Moscow. He was overtaken as the league top scorer by his teammate Artem Dzyuba in the last game of the season on 16 May 2021 when Dzyuba scored four to bring his total to 20. He was voted RPL Player of the Season for the 2020–21 Russian Premier League season.
in January 2022 after 3 successful seasons with Zenit St. Petersburg, Azamoun transferred to the Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.
On August 26th, 2023 Azmoun signed a loan deal to play for AS Roma under the Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho.
After Daei, a star of Azeri descent, the new Iranian talent is the ethnic Turkmen Azmoun.
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Club:
Shabab Al-Ahli (UAE)
D.O.B:
01-Jan-95
Born:
Gonbad-e Kavus
Height:
183 cm
Weight:
78 Kg
International Debut:
Montenegro 26.May.14
Position:
Forward
Age:
29
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