Marked for Mohammad Amini
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Abolfazl Hosseinifar was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match31 Oct 2026
A point taken on 92 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Hossein Kazeminia
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Hossein Kazeminia has come out of that comparison in the side, and Esteghlal Ahvaz have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Match31 Oct 2026
It needed Shohruz Norxonov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Siah Jamegan, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammad Amini, and the manager let it.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Esteghlal Ahvaz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohammad Hossein Moradmand was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match26 Sep 2026
Three points for Esteghlal Ahvaz, 1‑0 the final word against Saipa in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
The afternoon belonged to Kaveh Torabi
A mark of 7.68, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Ahmad Karimi could afford to be generous.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Asan Vaniyev
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hossein Kazeminia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Kamal Kamyabinia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammad Amini, and the manager let it.
Match19 Sep 2026
A goal on 92 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Match19 Sep 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Naft Tehran leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad21 Sep 2026
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Esteghlal Ahvaz are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Half-satisfied: Ahmad Karimi on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hossein Kazeminia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.