Coaches
Iran : Hassam Habibi
Singapore:
Newspaper Article - Black P...
SURESH NAIR
No wonder they call him the “Black Pearl”. Abdolreza Barzegari (jersey No 8) gave a pearly performance to almost single-handedly tear the Singapore defence apart last night.
With his deceptive dribbles, the afro-haìred youngster, whose glossy
skills is as dark as a dungeon at midnight, was the most dangerous
player. He spearheaded most of Iran’s attacks from midfield. He created the space needed and penetrated deep into Singapore territory to wreak havoc.
He was a “live bomb” whenever in possession of the ball. Most admirable was his boldness to take on three, four or even five defenders in a row with his jinking runs, body feints and uncanny
acceleration.
He outpaced the entire field whenever with the ball.
Singapore skipper Samad Allapitchay’s yellow card offence on
him, seven minutes from full-time, showed how much the “Black
Pearl” tormented and teased him. There was no other way to stop
this speed demon.
Agreed, Abdolreza was over-individualistic at times and held on to the
ball too long. Yet there were hardly any qualms about his apparent selfishness from his team-mates or coach.
Skipper Ali Parvin was full of praise for this 22-year-old player:
“We let him go and show off his skills. It helped the team a lot
since he was able to crack any defence with his ball skills. Very
hard to mark him.”
Coach Hassan Habibi hailed Abdolreza as the “super-star of the final”
adding: “When we first came to Singapore I told everyone that he
will be the “Super Substitute” of the tournament since he was good
only in the second-half.
“But Abdõlreza proved all of us wrong. He gave matured performances right from the first game against North Korea and since
then, has been a regular"
Abdolreza scored Iran’s third goal last night. Just as he darted in from out of the blue to score a memorable goal against China on Feb 27, the “Black Pearl” swooped In like a hawk to send Fariba Behtash’s rebound off the right upright whistling into goal. There was no way Edmund Wee could stop It.
This goal made the “Black Pearl” the second best scorer In the tournament. It was only one short of his famed World Cup colleague
Faraki who has netted six goals.
It was certainly a creditable show by the" Black Pearl.» |