Sardar Azmoun - Messi Wallpaper

Sardar Azmoun (Persian: سردار آزمون‎‎; born 1 January 1995) is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Russian side FC Rostov and the Iran national team.

Club career

Early years

Azmoun started to play club football when he was 9. He began his career at Oghab Gonbad of Gonbad-e Kavus. He also played volleyball and was invited to Iran's national under-15 volleyball team. After some years, he joined Shamoushak Gorgan, before joining Etka Gorgan, who were playing in Division 1 in Iran at the time.

Sepahan

At age 15, Azmoun joined Sepahan's youth ranks. While he appeared for the club during their preseason friendlies abroad in Turkey, he did not make a professional appearance for the club as Sepahan won the 2011â€"12 Iran Pro League and lifted the trophy.

During the 2012â€"13 season, thanks to Azmoun's great display in Iran's youth team, Sardar became sought after by a couple of European clubs, namely Rubin Kazan. Azmoun became Iran's youngest Legionnaire when later that year he transferred to Rubin Kazan at the age of 17.

Rubin Kazan

2012â€"13 season

In January 2013, he Azmoun an offer from Russian team Rubin Kazan to join them; meanwhile he had interest from two Iranian teams, Persepolis and Esteghlal, as well as an offer for first team contract in Sepahan, he chose to work with Turkmen speaking Kurban Berdyev and became Iran's first football player in the Russian Premier League. In his first season at the club, he made 8 appearances for his club's reserve team, scoring two goals and receiving one yellow card. He was also picked for the 18-man match day squad on a number of occasions, but failed to make his senior debut.

2013â€"14 season

On 25 July 2013, Azmoun made his debut for the senior team in a UEFA Europa League match against Jagodina, coming on as a 73rd-minute substitute as Rubin won 1â€"0. On 29 August, he scored his first goal in just his second senior appearance for Rubin in a 3â€"0 Europa League win against Molde, coming on as a substitute in the 64th minute. He made his league debut with a goal and an assist on 6 October 2013, coming on as a substitute in the 72nd minute in a 5â€"1 win over Anzhi Makhachkala.

On 27 March 2014, English Premier League side Arsenal reportedly made a £2 million offer to Kazan for the transfer of 19-year-old Azmoun, sparking interest from A.C. Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Barcelona as well.

Three days later, he scored his second league goal for Rubin Kazan in a 2â€"1 defeat to Rostov. On 6 April, he scored a goal in Rubin Kazan's defeat to Zenit St. Petersburg. In a match against Kyrlia Sovetov on 10 May, Azmoun came on as a substitute in the 55th minute, scoring a goal and providing an assist in a 4â€"0 win.

2014â€"15 season

On 4 July 2014, Rubin Kazan announced through their official website that Azmoun would remain at the club despite transfer offers from Arsenal, Liverpool and Zenit St. Petersburg. He scored Rubin Kazan's goal in a 1â€"1 draw against Hellas Verona in a pre-season friendly match on 27 July 2014. He scored his first goal of the season in a 1â€"1 draw against Terek Grozny in the 87th minute. On 30 October, he scored a goal in their victory over Spartak Moscow in the 2014â€"15 Russian Cup.

Rostov

On 26 February 2015, Azmoun signed a three-and-a-half-month loan deal with relegation-battling Russian Premier League club FC Rostov until the end of the season. On 16 March, Azmoun came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute and scored the match winner in the 88th minute against Kuban Krasnodar. Azmoun again found the back of the net on 26 April 2015 in Rostov's 2â€"2 draw against Dynamo Moscow. His good performance earned him a place on the Russian Premier League Team of the Week. He scored Rostov's winning goal in the relegation play-offs on 7 June.

2015â€"16 season

At the end of the 2014â€"15 season, Azmoun extended his loan deal with Rostov until the end of the 2015â€"16 season. He scored his first goal of the season on 22 August 2015 in a 2â€"1 loss to CSKA Moscow. After his good performances in the first half of the season, he was linked with English Premier League club Stoke City. Later in March 2016 he was also linked with a move to English side Everton.

After a long goalless drought, Azmoun scored in Rostov's 3â€"0 win against Zenit Saint Petersburg on 24 April 2016. he scored a brace in a 3â€"1 victory over Dynamo Moscow on 12 May 2016, which kept Rostov in second place and in contention for the Russian Premier League championship. On 16 May 2016 with his goal, Rostov defeated Ural 1â€"0 and clinched at least an UEFA Champions League playâ€"off spot for the 2016â€"17 season. His goal against Ural was his fifth consecutive game with a goal which included 6 goals in 5 games.

On the last day of the Russian Premier League on 21 May 2016 needing a win and CSKA Moscow to drop points to become champions, Azmoun assisted Rostov's first goal in their 2â€"0 win against Terek Grozny. However, CSKA won their match and Rostov finished as runners up, thus securing a UEFA Champions League playoff spot.

Azmoun finished seventh in league scoring with nine goals, despite getting half as much playing time as some other top scorers. He was also voted as the fifth most valuable player of the league, narrowly behind players such as Fyodor Smolov, Moussa Doumbia, and Brazilian superstar Hulk.

2016â€"17 season

Initially it was announced that Azmoun would return to Rubin Kazan, however Rostov triggered the buy out clause in Azmoun's contract. Rubin denied this clause and claimed Azmoun was their player. Rubin lodged a complaint with FIFA. FC Rostov filed a counter-complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and on 22 July 2016 CAS temporarily ruled in favour of Azmoun and he was included in Rostov's UEFA Champions League squad. According to Rostov's lawyer Yuri Zaytsev, the final CAS decision on his status might not be reached until late 2016 or even the summer of 2017.

Azmoun made his UEFA Champion's League debut on 26 July 2016 in the first leg of a third-round qualifying round match against Anderlecht at Olimp â€" 2, coming on for Aleksandr Bukharov at the 56th minute. He started in the return leg on 3 August 2016 and scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in the 47th minute, helping FC Rostov advance 4â€"2 on aggregate. He scored his second Champions League goal on 24 August 2016 in the return leg of the playoff round match against AFC Ajax, scoring the opening goal in a 4â€"0 victory which resulted in FC Rostov advancing to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League for the first time. Azmoun scored on 1 November 2016 in a Rostov's 2â€"1 Champions League group stage loss against Atlético Madrid. In the process, he became the first Iranian to score in the Champions League group stage since Ali Karimi in 2005. On November 23 2016, Azmoun scored his second Champions League goal in the group stage against Bayern Munich at home, leading F C Rostov to a 3â€"2 victory and their first ever official Champions League group stage win.

After his good performances and goals in the UEFA Champions League, Azmoun drew interest from European giants such as Olympique Marseille, Liverpool, Arsenal F.C., Borussia Dortmund and Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

On 6 November 2016 Azmoun scored his first Russian Premier League goal of the 2016â€"17 season in a 4â€"1 victory. He scored his second goal of the season on 28 November against Anzi Makhachkala.

International career

Youth

Azmoun broke out while representing the Iran U-20 side, becoming top scorer of the 2012 Commonwealth of Independent States Cup, scoring seven goals in six games. On 8 October 2013, he played for the U-20 team during the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship qualification in Kerman. In a match against Lebanon, he captained the team by scoring two goals, assisting one and drawing a penalty.

Azmoun was called into the U-23's team for Olympic qualifiers in March 2015. He was the tournament's leading goalscorer going into the final matchday with 4 goals in 3 matches. As the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship was not held during the FIFA International Match Calendar, he was not released by Rostov.

Senior

On 5 October 2013, Azmoun was called up to the Iranian national football team against Thailand by Carlos Queiroz. He was selected in Iran's 28-man provisional squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup by Queiroz but was one of five players being dropped from the final squad.

Azmoun made his senior debut on 26 May 2014 in a friendly match against Montenegro, coming on as a substitute in the 60th minute for Reza Ghoochannejhad. However, he was not included in Iran's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, announced on 1 June 2014. He scored his first goal on 18 November 2014 in a 1â€"0 friendly win over South Korea.

Azmoun was called into Iran's 2015 AFC Asian Cup squad on 30 December 2014 by Carlos Queiroz. He scored a goal in the next match, a 1â€"0 friendly win over rivals Iraq. He then scored the winner in the second game of the Asian Cup with a great piece of individual skill against Qatar. He also opened the scoring against Iraq in the quarter-finals with a header.

On 16 June 2015, Azmoun scored a goal against Turkmenistan in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier. On 3 September 2015, he scored his first senior brace in a 6â€"0 defeat of Guam in the World Cup qualifiers. He scored his first hat-trick for Iranian national team in 3â€"0 win over Macedonia at Philip II Arena on 2 June 2016.

Style of play

Azmoun has been praised for his aerial ability, creativity, and bursts of acceleration. He has been referred to as a young Zlatan Ibrahimović. and has also been called the Iranian Messi by mainly British media.

Personal life

Azmoun is of Iranian Turkmen origin. He speaks Turkmen and Persian fluently, and is fond of riding on horseback. He communicates with Kurban Berdyev, his Turkmenistani coach at FC Rubin Kazan and FC Rostov, in Turkmen. He decided to wear number 69 at Kazan as a tribute to his hometown's vehicle registration plate. Azmoun has stated he is a supporter of Spanish club Real Madrid. in the future he has expressed interest in playing for Tractor Sazi in the Persian Gulf Pro League.

He is the son of Khalil Azmoun, a former Iranian national volleyball team player who has coached several volleyball teams, such as Golgohar Sirjan and Javaheri Gonbad VC.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 6 December 2016

International

International goals

As of match played 11 October 2016. Iran score listed first, score column indicates score after each Azmoun goal.

Honours

Club

Sepahan

• Iran Pro League: 2011â€"12

Rostov

• Russian Premier League Runners-up: 2015â€"16

International

Iran U-17

• West Asian Football Federation Championship: 2009

Individual

• Commonwealth of Independent States Cup top scorer: 2012
• Russian Premier League Team of the Season (1): 2014â€"15, 2015â€"16
• Russian Premier League Player of the Month (1): May 2016
• Rostov Player of the Season: 2015â€"16