In the last few years of Iranian football, a few promising talents emerged from the land that has abundant talented young kids. Amongst this group, a unique skilled player who seemed to possess a multiple of skills made the headlines and the media was quick to declare the emergence of the next Ali Karimi and even the Iranian Maradona.
A star is born
His name is Payam Sadeghian, and to be plainly truthful, the kid had talent, plenty of it, in fact.
From the youth teams in Zob Ahan until he ended up in Persepolis, Sadeghian consistently showed his skills, his courage, passion and zest. He can dribble all right but also has a venomous shoot. His dead ball skills are second to none. There isn’t much that Sadeghian cannot excel in while on the pitch. For such talent, Sadeghian was selected for every national team age group that existed, from the U14 in 2005 all the way to the senior Team Melli in 2012.
But the kid had one major shortfall. With the praises bestowed upon him, left , right and center, he developed an unwelcome ego and lack of discipline bordering delinquency. Time and again, on and off the field, Sadeghian was involved in unruly, disruptive and troublemaking scenes. He had several disputes with coaches and managers.
NAVAD V show interview
In an interview with TV Show Navad, Ferdowsipour asked him about this side of his “ugly” football and why does he seem to be in the news for the wrong reasons? Payam Sadeghian’s answer was evident of a young man is living in denial and has no real clue how his misbehavior is slowly destroying what looks like a promising career , regardless to his inherit and undeniable talents . Sadeghian accused some people of exaggeration and said that he is not the evil person that some of his enemies portray him! Obviously, Payam Sadeghian believed that he is doing fine and there is no sense in addressing his character or behavior.
However, the biggest failure in Sadeghian case is the fact that his club managers and coaches have failed to truly address his trouble case and deal with it by providing the proper solution. His poor disciplinary record was even defended by some of his peers. Even Ali Daei, who always portrays himself as a strict disciplinarian and law abiding person, miserably failed in tackling Sadeghian while he was the head coach of Persepolis. Daei is famous for being very quick in finding faults in others!
Daei was sacked , then Derakhshan came and gone and now one Branko Ivankovic , a household name in Iranian football, has taken the helm at the most popular club in Asia. Ivankovic, a disciplinarian but one of the most approachable and likable characters, has had enough of Payam Sadeghian only few weeks of working with him. The Croat head coach of Persepolis announced that he will not allow Sadeghian in his team. Asked if Sadeghian will be in Persepolis team next year, he simply said “NO.”
Bleak future
Payam Sadeghian is a regretful case of a young footballer failure. Of course, there is a long road to recovery if he wishes, but the signs are there to assume that he has not repented. It is a personal failure and the responsibility is upon his own shoulder. He went astray and off-course somewhere along the line regardless to the reasons. It is also another failure for Iranian football management which consistently fails to handle indiscipline players. This Persepolis team alone has half a dozen players or more in the same category, but Sadeghian is the most regrettable because the kid has talents that might never materialize and blossom the way it deserves to.
One think is taken for granted. Carlos Queiroz has no time for such delinquency. The chances of Sadeghian ever making one of Queiroz squads is quite remote knowing the Portuguese coach strict requirement by his player for disciplinary compliance.