Soroush Rafiei ( fa, سروش رفیعی) is an Iranian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays for

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

club

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

and the Iran national team.

Club career

Fajr Sepasi

He started his career with Fajr Sepasi and helped them to promote to the

2011–12 Persian Gulf Cup The 2011–12 Persian Gulf Cup (also known as Iran Pro League) was the 29th season of Iran's Football League and 11th as Iran Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Sepahan were the defending champions. The season featured 15 teams from ...

Foolad

Rafiei, 28, was a member of

Foolad Foolad Khuzestan Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال فولاد خوزستان, ''Bāshgāh-e Futbāl-e Fulād-e Khuzestān'') is an Iranian football club, based in Ahwaz, Khuzestan that plays in Persian Gulf Pro League. Foolad F.C. w ...

football team from 2011 to 2017 and helped the Ahvaz-based football team win Iran Professional League (IPL) title in 2014.

Tractor

In the summer of 2015 Rafiei signed a two–year contract with

Tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most comm ...

to spend his conscription period at the club. In 2016, Rafiei has been linked with a move to Greek professional football club,

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelf ...

in the next transfer window. Also, Persian giants

and

Esteghlal Tehran Esteghlal Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال استقلال, ''Bâšgâh-è Futbâl-è Esteqlâl''), commonly known as Esteghlal ( fa, استقلال, meaning 'The Independence'), is an Iranian football club based in capital Tehran t ...

showed interest in him.

Persepolis

On 9 January 2017, Rafiei signed a 6-month contract with

club

. He was given the number 7, which had previously been retired in honor of club legend

Ali Parvin Ali Parvin ( fa, علی پروين ; born 25 September 1946) is a retired Iranian football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the most prominent Iranian footballers. During his career, he has been associated mainly with Persepolis, p ...

. He scored a goal against Esteghlal in 84th Tehran Derby. Rafiee returned to Persepolis for 2018–19 but due to fifa ban, he loaned to Foolad till winter.

Al-Khor

Before June 2017, news and rumours linked Rafiei with a move to

Al Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club ( ar, نادي السد الرياضي, lit=Dam Sports Club) is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd (Qatar), Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It is best known for its association football team, whic ...

. But before start of 2017–18 season, Rafiee joined the Qatari

Al-Khor Al Khor ( ar, الخور; also spelled ''Al Khawr''), officially Al Khor and Al Thakhira, is a municipality in coastal northeastern Qatar. Al Khor City, the municipal seat, is located in the northeast coast of Qatar, around from the capital, ...

football team for one year, and wore number 7 in the team. At the end of the season, Al-Khor picked up an alternate player for Rafiei and did not renew his contract with the club. He considered playing in Iran's football league more difficult than playing in Qatar.

Return to Persepolis

On 8 July 2018, Rafiei joined Persepolis on a new 18-month deal.

Return to Foolad

On 24 July 2018, Rafiei joined Foolad on a new 6-month deal.

Shahr Khodro

On August 2019, Rafiei joined Shahr Khodro on a two-year deal.

Sepahan

On 13 January 2020, Rafiei joined

Sepahan S.C. Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club ( fa, باشگاه فرهنگی ورزشی فولاد مبارکه سپاهان اصفهان, ''Bâšgâh-è Varzeši-ye Fulâd-è Mobârake-ye Sepâhân''), commonly known as Sepahan S.C., are an Iranian spor ...

on a 18-month deal. In Sepahan, he played a key role in the middle of the field. He had a high number of assists for Sepahan.

Return to Persepolis

On 15 June 2022, Rafiei joined Persian Gulf Pro League side Persepolis on a new two-year deal. This was his third contract with Persepolis.

Career statistics

Club

International career

Iran training before Uzbek match 139507102021111108814754

He was called up to the

Iran national football team ) ''(the national team)' other nicknames'' , Badge = Flag_of_Iran.svg , Badge_size = 190px , Association = Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran , FIFA Trigramme = IRN , FIFA Rank ...

in October 2014 by

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football coach who currently is the head coach of the Iran national team. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirate ...

. He made his debut in a match against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

on 18 November 2014. He was called into Iran's

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015. The tournament was ...

squad on 30 December 2014 by

. In May 2018 he was named in Iran's preliminary squad for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

but did not make the final 23.

Style of play

Rafiei is a technical playmaker. In Iranian sports media, he has been mentioned as "a midfielder who dribbles as cool as ever and his playing is just enough".

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

manager and former player,

Gabriel Calderón Gabriel Humberto Calderón (born 7 February 1960) is an Argentinian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of UAE Pro League side, Khor Fakkan Club. Calderón played in several teams including Argentine Ra ...

criticized his style of play due to "lack of speed" in his game plan.

Personal life

Soroush Rafiei was born in

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 ...

, Iran and started playing football in his hometown. He has announced that he has been a fan of Persepolis since he was a child.

Honours

;Foolad *

(1): 2013–14 ;Persepolis *

(2): 2016–17, 2018–19 *

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (Jām-e Hazfi; ) is the Iranian football knockout cup competition, run by the Iranian Football Federation. The Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, hence the winner of Hazfi Cup represented Iran in the Asian Club ...

(1): 2018–19 *

Iranian Super Cup The Iranian Super Cup ( Persian: سوپر جام ایران, ''Super Jam-e 'Iran'') is an Iranian association football trophy awarded to the winner of a match between the Persian Gulf Pro League's season champion and the winner of the Hazfi Cup. I ...

(1):

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 ...

Individual

Team of the Year (3) : 2013–14 , 2015–16 , 2016-17

References

External links

Soroush Rafiei
a
PersianLeague.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rafiei, Soroush 1990 births Living people People from Shiraz Fajr Sepasi players Foolad FC players Iranian footballers Iran international footballers Association football midfielders 2015 AFC Asian Cup players Tractor S.C. players Al-Khor SC players Iranian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Qatar Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Persian Gulf Pro League players Qatar Stars League players Persepolis F.C. players Sportspeople from Fars province