Marked for Vouria Moharrami
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match9 Sep 2028
The run at home goes on for Rah Ahan
21 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Match9 Sep 2028
5‑2, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match6 Sep 2028
Rah Ahan through in the cup
A 2‑1 win over Naft Tehran, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match6 Sep 2028
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Rah Ahan scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Squad11 Sep 2028
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Sagiv Jehezkel gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sagiv Jehezkel has just signed for Rah Ahan, and for once the answer mattered.
Match9 Sep 2028
Rah Ahan cannot stop winning
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Market11 Sep 2028
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market3 Jul 2028
“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.
Market3 Jul 2028
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Sebastián Lentinelly wants continental football; whether Rah Ahan can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Sardar Azmoun 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Amir Mehdi Janmaleki 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omid Moharrami, and the manager let it.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
$5.8M on the table at Rah Ahan
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Squad3 Jul 2028
7 new faces, and Rah Ahan are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Rah Ahan sign 7 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Market3 Jul 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Amir Mehdi Janmaleki’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Jun 2028
Majid Torabi: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rah Ahan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Jun 2028
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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Hossein Ghoddos 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
Crisis
Market10 Jan 2028
Foolad say no — this time
The offer from Wolverhampton for Yousef Mazrae was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Saeid Sadeghi 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“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.
Match8 Jan 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Ali Nemati in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Foolad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch10 Jan 2028
“I watch every Foolad game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Nassr runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad10 Jan 2028
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.
Market10 Jan 2028
Majid Hajsafi is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Foolad has been clear about where Majid Hajsafi stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match4 Dec 2027
Rah Ahan through in the cup
A 5‑3 win over Sepahan, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match1 Dec 2027
Rah Ahan through in the cup
A 4‑0 win over Sepahan, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad6 Dec 2027
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Match4 Dec 2027
Rah Ahan make it 6 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Rah Ahan have 6 straight wins of it.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Majid Noorafkan
17 goals and a season average of 7.44 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Age has not caught Omid Moharrami yet — 8.01
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.01 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market6 Dec 2027
“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.
Market6 Dec 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rah Ahan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Phillipe Gabriel 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.
In brief
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Match
Nobody could stop scoring
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Match
Rah Ahan keep winning on the road
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Squad
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Nov 2027
“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.
Market8 Nov 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vouria Moharrami will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rah Ahan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Pedro Rebocho 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.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amir Mehdi Janmaleki 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Sardar Azmoun
13 goals and a season average of 7.23 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match6 Nov 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Morteza Hosseini’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rah Ahan.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Ninety minutes of Morteza Hosseini at his very best
Marked 8.14. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Rah Ahan.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Marked 8.04 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match9 Oct 2027
Rah Ahan make it 9 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Rah Ahan have 9 straight wins of it.
Match9 Oct 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Saipa, and it could have been more.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Omid Hosseini, 36, rolls back the years — 8.22
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.22 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market11 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rah Ahan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom11 Oct 2027
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Pedro Rebocho 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hossein 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.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Majid Noorafkan
10 goals and a season average of 7.23 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 63. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Morteza Hosseini commits to Rah Ahan for another 4 years.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Pedro Rebocho 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amir Mehdi Janmaleki 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
30 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Masoud Noorafkan was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.26. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Match14 Aug 2027
It needed Masoud Noorafkan to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Foolad, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Market16 Aug 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rah Ahan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market16 Aug 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Vouria Moharrami may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market2 Aug 2027
“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 Aug 2027
Pedro Rebocho 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.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amir Mehdi Janmaleki 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“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.
Market2 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Omid Pouraliganji has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market2 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Saeid Hosseini has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market2 Aug 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Saeid Taremi 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Too much change too quickly at Rah Ahan
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
In brief
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Boardroom
The Rah Ahan production line keeps running
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Boardroom
Rah Ahan spend where nobody can see it
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Jul 2027
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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Amir Mehdi Janmaleki 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“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
Upbeat
Squad19 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Omid Moharrami
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rah Ahan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market19 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Vouria Moharrami: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rah Ahan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
Omid Moharrami damages knee ligaments — 101 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 101 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Hossein Ghoddos 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Omid Dejagah
“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.