The little man from Shiraz ( 1.69 m) who is built like a powerful wrestler, whose speed and acceleration is reminiscent of puma and his goal scoring skill is worthy of some repeated viewing on the TV, is guiding his team to the top of the league.
Gholamreza Rezaei, who had a mixed success in his 3 years stint with Persepolis including a torrid period of lingering injuries and long layoffs affecting his form and morale, eventually, left for Foolad Khuzestan in 2013 the club he originally moved away from to join Persepolis.
With full fitness regained , the fast Rezaei found his form down southg and started scoring for Foolad, but his true & real value was in the way his coach, Hossein Faraki , used him in destroying the opposition defenses with sharp runs into the area and providing quality balls for his teammate to score.
Faraki was instrumental in reviving the fortunes of the fast winger and with the fine combination of youth and the experienced; Foolad Khuzestan won the Persian League Title for the second time in its history.
Not many critics have predicted that Foolad would lift the trophy at the start of the campaign, but with the presence of a coach who has an impeccable ability to get the best out of his players, and players such as Rezaei with his amazing runs, the championship was set for the Khuzestani team
Rezaei surprisingly left Khuzestan and Foolad after one season only. Many of his supporters feared that his form will suffer under a new environment, surroundings, coach and teammates. Those fears were unfounded, because Gholam Reza Rezaei continued where he left off last season but this time in Naft Tehran.
Naft structure is not far different than what Foolad was last season. A fine balance between youth and experience, excellent younger players, quality management , and a shrewd and adventurous coach , Alireza Mansourian , who believes in beautiful game, Naft has entertained the crowds with their style of play.
On Friday , Rezaei was the star of the show when Naft Tehran , arguably the best tactical team in the League , defeated the league leader Tractorsazi 2-1 to close the gap at the top to one point only. Gholamreza Rezaei, scored both of his team’s goals. The first one was a beauty, a team goal and a worthy candidate for the goal of the season after some real fine team work by Naft ending by a sublime assist from Iman Mobali. Rezaei scored the winner for Naft , after Tractorsazi equalized in the first half , and it was another fine goal.
For 18 months now, Rezaei has been ignored by Team Melli despite his hard work. His championship medal and trophy, his goal scoring ability and his assists has not impressed Team Melli selectors and coaches, instead they opt for a player such as the lethargic and uninspiring Masoud Shojaei !
It is a dilemma and an enigma put together. There is no doubt that Queiroz wants to select the best players for Team Melli. Also , there must be someone out there who watches Naft Tehran matches else the likes of young Pouraliganji , Ale Nemeh and Biranvand would not have been picked for Team Melli.
However, when the quality of Rezaei is ignored, one has to wonder why. Since it does not take a person to be a Professor in Physics to notice a quality player, there should be some logical reason behind his exclusion. Normally issues such as behavior, discipline and characters are motives behind such exclusions. That said , Rezaei , remains one of the gentlemen of Iran’s football, a player who gives his absolute best to the team and a strictly disciplined player whose excellence is being ignored by Queiroz and his men.
