Marked for Ehsan Nekounam
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The match ball belongs to Ashkan Rezaeian, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad16 Nov 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 Rah Ahan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match14 Nov 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Rah Ahan and Gostaresh Foulad in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Ashkan Rezaeian falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.20, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match14 Nov 2026
Rah Ahan are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.70, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Mohammad Daneshgar 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Siah Jamegan made Rah Ahan work for it, but the scoreboard read 4‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ashkan Rezaeian is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Ashkan Rezaeian has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Milad Kor
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Vouria Shojaei out for 72 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rah Ahan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market2 Nov 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Rah Ahan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Nov 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 Rah Ahan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hossein Ebrahimi, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Yousef Vakia falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Vouria Shojaei out for 81 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rah Ahan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Mohammad Daneshgar 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Rah Ahan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Vouria Shojaei out for 88 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rah Ahan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad19 Oct 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad19 Oct 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 Rah Ahan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ehsan Nekounam. 1‑0 against Esteghlal Ahvaz, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Pejman Azmoun has improved at 28, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I watch every Rah Ahan game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Naft Tehran runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Chances created: 4. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
Vouria Shojaei breaks a bone — 103 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match3 Oct 2026
4‑0, and Ehsan Hosseini took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Rah Ahan tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.59, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 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 Rah Ahan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Ashkan Rezaeian falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
At 22 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Ehsan Nekounam
“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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
Vouria Shojaei breaks a bone — 110 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 110 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Mohammad Daneshgar 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ashkan Rezaeian is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Rah Ahan
A 0‑3 beating by Padideh was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad14 Sep 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Mohammad Daneshgar 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Milad Kor
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Mohammad Yazdani falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Market14 Sep 2026
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Kairi Kawabata is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
Market14 Sep 2026
The window shut and Ehsan Nekounam is still in the building
Rah Ahan spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Alexis Sinisterra has just signed for Rah Ahan, and for once the answer mattered.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Rah Ahan
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammad Daneshgar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market31 Aug 2026
Malavan pay $88.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Vouria Shojaei
“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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Milad Kor 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
It needed Ehsan Nekounam to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Saba, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
Milad Taremi hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rah Ahan can pretend not to have heard.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Rah Ahan's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rah Ahan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 Aug 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 Rah Ahan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Ehsan Hosseini
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammad Yazdani is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market24 Aug 2026
The Omid Shojaei conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Malavan will make the call about Omid Shojaei this week. Rah Ahan have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.71 on the card, and the Rah Ahan support went home talking about one name.
Match22 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Malavan leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad24 Aug 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Rah Ahan did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Mohammad Daneshgar 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ehsan Nekounam, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.64, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Market17 Aug 2026
Everyone has stopped pretending: Tractor will make the call about Shahriar Karimi this week. Rah Ahan have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardar Ghoddos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Mohammad Yazdani dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Market17 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Omid Shojaei has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Rah Ahan.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Kaveh Mohammadi at 19 — 7.81
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kaveh Mohammadi did not need any: 7.81, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Ehsan Hosseini 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammad Daneshgar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match8 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Foolad leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Ehsan Nekounam knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ehsan Nekounam trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market10 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Milad Taremi has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Rah Ahan.
Market10 Aug 2026
Rah Ahan shop where it costs nothing
Mohammad Daneshgar signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Kaveh Mohammadi could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.65
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.65, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Squad3 Aug 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 Rah Ahan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
Graduation day at Rah Ahan
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ashkan Rezaeian falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
At 19 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The name of Sardar Ghoddos has come up in conversations Rah Ahan were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market3 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ramin Mohammadi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market3 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Saeid Taremi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.