The Esteghlal Herald
Match1 Aug 2026
Esteghlal let it slip despite Munir
Munir had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Padideh were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Alireza Koushki runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 31. 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
Both of them Munir's — 8.10
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.10, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market3 Aug 2026
Esteghlal turn down Al-Ra'ed for Saeid Saharkhizan
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Munir signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Munir commits to Esteghlal for another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Esteghlal
Munir 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
As if he never left: Aref Gholami returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Aref Gholami is a Esteghlal player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
Graduation day at Esteghlal
3 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
Ramin 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.
In brief
- Squad The manager makes an example of Antonio Adán
- Market Esteghlal promote Shahriar Pouraliganji from within
- Market Masoud Moharrami steps up from the Esteghlal academy