Shojae Khalilzadeh ( fa, شجاع خلیل‌زاده; born 14 May 1989) is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotio ...

club

Al Ahli Al Ahly SC is an Egyptian sports club based in Cairo, Egypt. Al-Ahly or Al-Ahli ( ar, الأهلي) is Arabic for "national". It may also refer to: Basketball clubs and teams * Al-Ahli Benghazi (basketball club), Libya * Al-Ahli Jeddah (basketbal ...

and

Iran national team Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. He is known for his pace, artistic tackles and positional sense.Shoja Khalilzadeh
at SofaScore Khalilzadeh starting his career in

Kerman Kerman ( fa, كرمان, Kermân ; also romanization of Persian, romanized as Kermun and Karmana), known in ancient times as the satrapy of Carmania, is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 821,394, in ...

where he moved to two clubs, first joining Mes Rafsanjan and then signing with Mes Kerman in 2010. His performance earned him a transfer to Sepahan

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

in 2013 and spent four years with ''Talaei Pooshan'', which included a successful loan spell with Tractor in Tabriz. In May 2017, Khalilzadeh joined Persepolis side that he helped turn into one of the strongest on the continent, before joining Qatari side Al-Rayyan in October 2020.

Club career

Early years in Mazandaran

At the age of 16, Khalilzadeh started playing football with local youth teams for three years.

Mes Rafsanjan and Kerman

Khalilzadeh began his professional career with Mes Rafsanjan in 2008. He spent two seasons at Mes Rafsanjan in

Azadegan League The Azadegan League ( fa, ليگ آزادگان, ''Lig-e Âzâdegân''), also known as League 1 ( fa, لیگ یک, ''Lig-e Yek''), is the second highest division of professional football in Iran. It was the top-level football league in Iran from ...

. In late June 2010, Khalilzadeh joined Iran Pro League side Mes Kerman. He made a debut for the club under coach

Samad Marfavi Abdolsamad Marfavi ( fa, صمد مرفاوی , born May 18, 1964 in Khorramshahr, Iran) is an Iranian football coach and former player. Club career He played the majority of his playing career for IPL giants Esteghlal. International career ...

in the league 2010–11 season. In his second season, under Croatian coach Miroslav Blažević, he reached with the team the semi-finals of the

2011–12 Hazfi Cup The 2011–12 Hazfi Cup was the 25th season of the Iranian football knockout competition. Persepolis were the defending champion but were eliminated by Esteghlal in the quarter-finals; The fourth consecutive wins for Esteghlal against Persepolis ...

. In June 2012, Khalilzadeh extended his contract for a third season a worth R800m. His performance did not go unnoticed, as Esteghlal, Persepolis and Sepahan teams showed interest in signing of the defender.

Sepahan and Tractor

In late June 2013, Khalilzadeh was presented as a player of Isfahani club Sepahan on a four-year contract. In his first season, under Croatian coach Zlatko Kranjčar, he formed a partnership in the heart of the Sepahan defensive with the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Hadi Aghily. He helped the team to won of the

2014–15 Persian Gulf Pro League The 2014–15 Persian Gulf Pro League (formerly known as Iran Pro League) was the 32nd season of Iran's Football League and 14th as Persian Gulf Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Foolad were the defending champions. The season featur ...

. Khalilzadeh was loaned to Tractor to complete his mandatory military service. He was one of the best players under coach Amir Ghalenoei, the club reached the top of their group at the

2016 AFC Champions League The 2016 AFC Champions League was the 35th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 14th under the current AFC Champions League title. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors defeated Al-Ain ...

, outperforming the Saudi giant

Al-Hilal Hilal or Al-Hilal may refer to: *Hilal ( ar, هلال, ''hilāl''), a crescent ** the crescent Moon visible after a new Moon, determining the beginning of a month in the Islamic calendar * Banu Hilal, a confederation of tribes of Arabia Arts ...

. He returned to Sepahan at the end of the loan spell in July 2016. Sepahan coach

Abdollah Veisi Abdollah Veisi ( fa, عبدالله ویسی, born 22 March 1971 in Ramhormoz, Khuzestan Province) is an Iranian retired football player and manager, who is currently manager of Foolad in Persian Gulf Pro League. Playing career Veisi spent the Aza ...

talking about efforts to move Khalilzadeh to Persepolis in the 2016–17 season.2 سالی دنبال خریدش بود و بالاخره هم توانست او را جذب كند

Persepolis

On 6 May 2017, it was confirmed that Khalilzadeh would join the Persian Gulf Pro League champions Persepolis on a two-year contract to play under Croatian coach Branko Ivanković. In his debut match in the league, he scored his first goal against Foolad Khuzestan. He scored his second goal for Persepolis in the

2017 AFC Champions League The 2017 AFC Champions League was the 36th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 15th under the current AFC Champions League title. Urawa Red Diamonds defeated Al-Hilal ...

quarter-finals match against

. Persepolis reached the semi-final for the first time in its history before

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

imposed sanctions on the team's top scorer and the club. In his first season with the red half of Tehran, ''

Pirouzi Persepolis Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال پرسپولیس, Bâšgâh-e Futbâl-e Perspolis) is an Iranian professional association football, football club based in Tehran, that competes in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Persepo ...

'', Khalilzadeh played 41 games and scored five goals. The following year was the most successful in Persepolis history against all odds, the ''Reds'' finished runner-up in the

2018 AFC Champions League The 2018 AFC Champions League was the 37th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 16th under the current AFC Champions League title. Kashima Antlers won the title for the f ...

. Khalilzadeh was selected in two squads "Team of the Season" for his performance in the tournament. Persepolis was scoreless with Al Ahli on Matchday Three

2019 AFC Champions League The 2019 AFC Champions League was the 38th edition of Asia's premier club association football, football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 17th under the current AFC Champions League title. Al Hilal SFC, Al ...

, when Khalilzadeh showed superb agility to adjust his body and acrobatically bicycle kick home the opening goal, which was named as the best goal of the 2019 AFC Champions League by the fans. He scored two goals in the competition but his team were eliminated of the group stage. In the

2020 AFC Champions League The 2020 AFC Champions League was the 39th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 18th under the current AFC Champions League title. Ulsan Hyundai won their second Champion ...

, the last tournament before increasing the number of clubs to 40 teams, Khalilzadeh’s goal in the final minutes of the Al Taawoun match was a leap for the team after a faltering start in the tournament. In the Round of 16 against Al-Sadd, the role and interventions of Khalilzadeh in the game were more influential, before Persepolis scored the winning goal in the 89th minute. He was also "Player of the Week" at the AFC Champions League

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

following his performance in his last match with the team against Al Nassr and help Persepolis to reach the final, where the east champion was determined on 13 December. Khalilzadeh played a great role in winning three titles in the Iran Pro League and helped Persepolis to reach AFC Champions League final twice in three years.تیم رویایی مازنی‌های لیگ برتر نوزدهم
@shoja_khalilzadeh just doing his thing 🔥 #ACL
Since 2018, Khalilzadeh has been linked with a move to the

and the Chinese Super League. At the age of 31, before the start of the 2020–21 season, after not reaching an agreement to renew his contract, he moved to Qatar. Khalilzadeh was reportedly chosen as one of the candidates for the ''2020 Asian Footballer of the Year'' award before the award was confirmed to be cancelled in late December.

Al-Rayyan

On 25 October 2020, Al-Rayyan announced on the last day of the summer transfer window the signing of Khalilzadeh on a two-year contract a worth $700,000. It was his first career stop outside of his home country and became the second Iranian to play for Al-Rayyan since 1980s, after his former coach Ghasempour. Under the coach Aguirre, he played a central defender, and Mercado moved to the right-back in the following games. He scored his first goal with a side

volley Volley or Volly may refer to: People * Volly De Faut (1904–1973), American jazz reed player * Paul Volley (born 1971), English rugby union player Sports * Volley (association football), an air-borne strike in association football *In some rack ...

shot in a 2–1 victory against Qatar SC on 12 January 2021. The following week, Khalilzadeh scored his second goal with a counter-attack in a 3–0 win against Al-Wakrah. As a defender and deep-lying playmaker behind the midfield, he played 26 games and scored three goals. Al-Rayyan finished third in the league. In late October 2021, Khalilzadeh extended his contract with the club until 2023.

International career

Khalilzadeh was invited to

in 2012 by Carlos Queiroz. He made his debut for the ''Team Melli'' in a 6–1 victory against Tajikistan national team. After seven years of notable absence from the international side, during the time of Queiroz and Marc Wilmots, Khalilzadeh was call-up by new coach

Dragan Skočić Dragan Skočić (born 3 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Prior to his coaching career, Skočić started his playing career with the local club Rijeka and then abroad when he signed for Las Palmas in ...

in 2020 for a

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against Uzbekistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to help in a difficult situation, after the failure in the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 ...

and two consecutive defeats from Bahrain and Iraq in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

of qualifiers for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

. The ''Team Melli'' finished top of the group stage, where won all of his remaining four matches to qualify to

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will involve 24 national teams after expansion in 201 ...

and the final round of the World Cup.

Style of play

Regarded as one of the most reliable a defenders in the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

in high-pressure situations. He is known for his awareness, carrying the ball forward and also showed some impressive offensive ability. He is highly regarded by the fans and coaches for his on-the-pitch bravery. Khalilzadeh is the preferred defender for most coaches, especially the Croats Miroslav Blažević, Zlatko Kranjčar, Branko Ivanković and

Personal life

Khalilzadeh was born in the small village of Gālesh Kolā in

Bahnemir District Bahnemir District ( fa, بخش بهنمیر) is a district (bakhsh) in Babolsar County, Mazandaran Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 22,090, in 5,776 families. The District has one city: Bahnemir. The District has two rural d ...

, Babolsar County, Mazandaran Province, to a family working in agriculture and fish farming on the Caspian Sea.

Career statistics

Club

International

Shojae Khalilzadeh
at Team Melli :''Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.''

Honours

Persepolis Pars Jonoubi Jam 16 May 2019 Thursday 15

Sepahan * Persian Gulf Pro League: 2014–15 Persepolis * Persian Gulf Pro League (3): 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 * Hazfi Cup: 2018–19 * Iranian Super Cup (3):

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

runner-up:

Individual * AFC Champions League group stage Best Centre Defender: 2016, 2019According to Toyota Player of the Week (Stats Perform, OPTA, Voted by the fans), TheAFCCL and SofaScore. *

Best Centre Defender: 2018,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

*AFC Champions League Team of the Year:

West * Iran Pro League Best Centre Defender: 2018–19 *AFC Champions League Best Goal: 2019, 2020 West *AFC Champions League

OPTA Opta Sports, formerly Opta Sportsdata, is a British sports analytics company. Opta provides data for 30 sports in 70 countries, with clients ranging from leagues to broadcasters and betting websites. The company was founded in 1996, and acquired ...

Player of the Week: 2020 Semi-finals *AFC Champions League Top Passes:

(553 Passes as defender),

(598 Passes) *AFC Champions League group stage Top Long Passes:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

West (58 Passes)Successful – Overall Passes: 392 (10th Place), 2021 ACL – Stats
14 July 2021.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Khalilzadeh, Shojae 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Mazandaran province Iranian footballers Iran international footballers Association football defenders Mes Rafsanjan players Sanat Mes Kerman F.C. players Sepahan S.C. footballers Tractor S.C. players Persepolis F.C. players Al-Rayyan SC players Al Ahli SC (Doha) players Azadegan League players Persian Gulf Pro League players Qatar Stars League players Iranian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Qatar Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup players