Voria Ghafouri

Voria Ghafouri
Ghafouri playing for Esteghlal in 2017
Personal information
Full name Voria Ghafouri
Date of birth (1987-09-20) 20 September 1987
Place of birth Sanandaj, Iran
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Right-back
Right winger
Club information
Current team
 Esteghlal
Number 21
Youth career
Pas Tehran
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2010 Pas Hamedan 81 (5)
2010–2012 Shahrdari Tabriz 50 (3)
2012–2014 Naft Tehran 62 (3)
2014–2016 Sepahan 45 (2)
2016– Esteghlal 52 (6)
National team‡
2014– Iran 21 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 April 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 September 2018

Voria Ghafouri (Sorani Kurdish: وریا غەفووری‎; Persian: وریا غفوری‎; born 20 September 1987) is an Iranian footballer who plays for Persian Gulf Pro League club Esteghlal and Iran national team. He has played much of his career as a right-back and also played as a right winger occasionally.

Before joining Esteghlal in 2016, Ghafouri spent a successful two-year spell with Sepahan, winning the Iranian League in 2015. Ghafouri debuted for Iran in 2014 against South Korea. He was part of Iran's squad in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Club career

Early years

Ghafouri played his entire career for Pas Hamedan until 2010 when he signed with Shahrdari Tabriz. He later signed with Naft Tehran.[1]

Sepahan

In July 2014 Ghafouri signed a two-year contract with Sepahan.[2]

Ghafouri was named "Persian Gulf Pro League Defender of the year" by F.F.I.R.I. at the end of 2014–15 season.[3]

Esteghlal

On 5 June 2016, he signed with Esteghlal on a two-year contract, reuniting him with his former manager at Naft Tehran, Alireza Mansourian.[4][5] He announced on his Instagram account that he will wear number 21, the same number he used to wear in his previous teams.[6]

Ghafouri (left) celebrating his goal against Persepolis in the Tehran derby in 2018.

He made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against his former team, Naft Tehran.[7] His first season with Esteghlal was a frustrating one for Ghafouri as he missed 13 matches in total due to various injuries which limited him to making just 17 appearances for the season in the league.[8]

Ghafouri scored his first goal for Esteghlal in a 3–0 win against Esteghlal Khuzestan on 28 December 2017.[9] On 1 March 2018, he scored Esteghlal's winning goal against Persepolis in the Tehran derby.[10] His performance elected him as Man of the match.[11] He was also named as the best right back in Football Tribe's Asia best eleven of the month for his display in March.[12][13] On 2 April, Ghafouri scored his first AFC Champions League goal from the penalty spot in a 2–0 win against Al-Rayyan, securing qualification for the Round of 16 as Group D winners.[14] He scored another goal in the following match against Al-Hilal and was named Man of the match for his performance.[15] He finished his second season with 6 goals in 34 appearances in all competition as Esteghlal finished the season in third in the league, won the Hazfi Cup and qualified for the quarter-finals of Champions League.[16]

In June 2018, Ghafouri signed a new contract keeping him at Esteghlal for another season.[17] From the start of the 2018–19 season, Esteghlal's manager Winfried Schäfer, led to him being deployed in right-wing positions, a place where he'd occasionally played in his previous teams.[18]

International career

He was called up to Iran national football team in October 2014 by Carlos Queiroz. He made his debut in a 1–0 win against South Korea on 18 November 2014 entering as a substitute for Khosro Heydari.[19]

Ghafouri was selected for the Iranian 2015 AFC Asian Cup squad on 30 December 2014 by Carlos Queiroz.[20] Despite a successful group phase, where Iran won all their games with him featuring in all matches, Ghafouri did not achieve international glory as the team were beaten by Iraq in penalties which he successfully converted his turn in the first knockout stage of the tournament.[21] Due to his performance in the tournament, he was voted as the surprise player of the tournament by the fans.[22]

In May 2018 he was named in Iran’s preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[23] however he did not make the final 23.[24]

Personal life

Born in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, Ghafouri is of Kurdish descent. Ghafouri and his wife Mona Ardalan have two children: son Radin and daughter Barin (born 2017).[25][26][27] He cites Dani Alves and Frank Lampard as his favourite football players.[28]

Career statistics

Club

As of 3 August 2018[29]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Hazfi Cup Asia Total
AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Pas Hamedan 2007–08 302—302
2008–09 232—232
2009–10 28100—281
Shahrdari Tabriz 2010–11 20111—212
2011–12 30210—312
Total 50321—534
Naft Tehran 2012–13 32000—320
2013–14 30310—313
Total 62310—633
Sepahan 2014–15 27210—282
2015–16 1802230232
Total 4523230514
Esteghlal 2016–17 1700060230
2017–18 2344072346
2018–19 32001042
Total 43640130618
Career total 2811910313230425

International

As of 11 September 2018[29]
Iran
YearAppsGoals
201410
2015110
201600
201750
201840
Total210

Honours

Sepahan

Esteghlal

Individual

References

  1. ↑ http://www.iranproleague.net/index.php/teams?id=325&view=player&sid=18
  2. ↑ "غفوری به سپاهان پیوست" [Ghafouri joined Sepahan] (in Persian). Tarafdari.
  3. ↑ "غفوری برترین مدافع فصل ایران شد" (in Persian). Varzesh 3.
  4. ↑ "غفوری استقلالی شد" [Ghafouri joined Esteghlal] (in Persian). Fars News Agency. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  5. ↑ "وریا غفوری دوباره شاگرد منصوریان شد" (in Persian).
  6. ↑ "وریا غفوری با انتشار عکسی در اینستاگرام، شماره جدیدش را مشخص کرد" (in Persian). Tarafdari.
  7. ↑ "استقلال 1 - نفت 1؛" (in Persian).
  8. ↑ "وضعیت مصدومیت وریا غفوری تا روز پنجشنبه مشخص خواهد شد" (in Persian). Tarafdari.
  9. ↑ "استقلال خوزستان 0 - استقلال 3؛ استقلال زلزله" (in Persian). 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  10. ↑ "استقلال ۱ - پرسپولیس ۰/ استقلال انتقام دربی رفت را گرفت" [Esteghlal 1 - Persepolis 0]. Navad. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  11. ↑ "وریا غفوری برترین بازیکن دربی ۸۶" [Voria Ghafouri was the best player of the 86th derby.]. Navad. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  12. ↑ "The Football Tribe Asia XI: March 2018". 7 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  13. ↑ "وریا غفوری و فرشید اسماعیلی در تیم ماه آسیا (عکس)" [Voria Ghafouri and Farshid Esmaeili in Asia's team of the month]. Varzesh 3. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  14. ↑ "استقلال 2-0 الریان قطر؛ استقلال تماشایی شفر، به راحتی از گروه مرگ صعود کرد" (in Persian). 2 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  15. ↑ "گلزن استقلال بهترین بازیکن زمین شد" (in Persian). 16 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  16. ↑ "استقلال 1- خونه به خونه 0؛ هفتمین تاج‌گذاری". Varzesh 3. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  17. ↑ "وریا در استقلال ماندنی شد". Esteghlal FC. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  18. ↑ "پروژه شفر برای جذب محمدی مهر چیست؟". Varzesh 3. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  19. ↑ "ایران 1 - کره جنوبی 0؛ هت‌تریک کی‌روش" (in Persian).
  20. ↑ "Queiroz Names Team Melli Squad". afcasiancup.com. 30 December 2014.
  21. ↑ "ایران 3 (6) - (7) 3 عراق؛ ویلیامز و بدشانسی ایران را نقره داغ کردند" (in Persian).
  22. ↑ "پدیده لیگ در جام ملت ها مشخص شد" (in Persian).
  23. ↑ "World Cup 2018: All the confirmed squads for this summer's finals in Russia".
  24. ↑ "Carlos Queiroz Names Provisional Iran Squad for FIFA World Cup 2018". IFPNews.com.
  25. ↑ "بیوگرافی و عکس های وریا غفوری به همراه همسرش" (in Persian).
  26. ↑ "وریا غفوری" (in Persian).
  27. ↑ "جشن پدرشدن وریا غفوری در اردوی استقلال" (in Persian).
  28. ↑ "بیوگرافی وریا غفوری" (in Persian).
  29. 1 2 "Iran - V. GHAFOURI - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". ca.soccerway.com.
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