Zahra Khajavi (; born 8 February 1999) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for the

Kowsar Women Football League The Kowsar Women Football League (, ''Lig-e Kâuser-e Banuan-e Futbal-e Iran'') is a Women's association football, women's Association football, football league, run by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. At the top of the Iranian ...

club Bam Khatoon and the Iran women's national team. She is considered as one of the best Iranian goalkeepers of all time. On 27 December 2019, Khajavi broke the

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

record of Iranian football by not conceding a goal for 953 minutes. She, along with Alireza Biranvand, are known as the record holders of the longest hand throws in Iranian football.

Early life

Zahra Khajavi was born on 8 February 1999 in a Persian family in

Nahavand Nahavand () is a city in the Central District of Nahavand County, Hamadan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is south of the city of Hamadan, west of Malayer and northwest of Borujerd. Inhabited ...

. She was a multi-sport athlete growing up and began playing football at an early age. She even played

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

and

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

professionally at early age. She started her professional football playing in

Hamedan province Hamadan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Hamadan. In the Zagros Mountains, the province covers an area of 19,546 km2. History Hamadan province is one of the most ancient parts of Iran an ...

football academy as a defender. At this time, she was known for her speed and pass ability. While playing in Oshtorankuh Azna team, due to the lack of forwards in their team, she went to the field as a forward and managed to score the fastest goal in the history of Iranian women's football in the 30th second of the match. She had the support of her family for her professional activity as a football player.

Personal life

Khajavi usually talks to her mother about football and her professional career. She said herself, for marriage, she "prefers to choose someone who plays sports and football so that they understand each other's conditions more". She usually mentioned the "power of women" in football.

Club career

Bam Khatoon

Khajavi joined Bam Khatoon F.C. in 2020. She played a key role in the team's victories and was one of the most important players of her team. Some of her reactions in international competitions for her team were noticed by Iranian sports media. There has not been good media coverage for Iranian women's football in these years.

International career

Iran

Khajavi is considered an important goalkeeper for the

Iranian national football team The Iran national football team (), recognised as IR Iran by FIFA since 2018, represents Iran in men's international senior Association football, football and is governed by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI). At the cont ...

, who was able to help the team win with her good performance in many important matches. Khajavi was injured for some time and was not invited to the national team for a while. However, by being invited again, she was able to perform brilliantly and Khajavi was considered as the "Asian Eagle" by

Varzesh 3 IRIB Varzesh () is a national sports TV channel in Iran which was launched on July 18, 2012 and is the fifth Iranian television channel to broadcast in digital mode and the second one to broadcast in High Definition quality. This channel is curre ...

Style of play

Vochan Kurdistan WFC vs Shahrdari Bam WFC 2019-12-27 25

Khajavi is a "smart" and "flexible"

, and her ability to play with her feet, quick reflexes and proper positioning are her distinctive features.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khajavi, Zahra 1999 births Living people Iranian women's footballers Iran women's international footballers Women's association football goalkeepers People from Nahavand Sportspeople from Hamadan province 21st-century Iranian sportswomen