Masoud Shojaei

Masoud Shojaei

Shojaei training with Iran in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Masoud Soleimani Shojaei
Date of birth	(1984-06-09) 9 June 1984
Place of birth	Shiraz, Iran
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Panionios
Number	77
Youth career
1999–2000	Sanat Naft
2000–2002	Saipa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2003	Sanat Naft	12	(1)
2003–2006	Saipa	60	(5)
2006–2008	Al-Sharjah	40	(12)
2008–2013	Osasuna	101	(8)
2013–2014	Las Palmas	29	(5)
2014–2015	Al-Shahania	24	(5)
2015–2016	Al-Gharafa	25	(4)
2016–	Panionios	8	(2)
National team‡
2005	Iran B	6	(0)
2004–	Iran	68	(8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 November 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10 November 2016

Masoud Soleimani Shojaei (Persian: مسعود سلیمانی شجاعی‎‎; born 9 June 1984) is an Iranian professional footballer who plays for Greek club Panionios FC. Mainly an attacking midfielder, he can also play as a winger or forward.

After playing in his country for two clubs and with Al-Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, he went on to spend several seasons in Spain with Osasuna, appearing in 112 official games.

An Iranian international since 2004, Shojaei represented his country in two World Cups and three Asian Cups.

Club career

Early years

Shojaei was born in Shiraz, and lived most of his life in Abadan and Tehran.^[1] He started his career with Sanat Naft F.C. before moving to Saipa F.C. of Karaj in the Iran Pro League; having signed at the age of 19, he went on to play three seasons with the latter.

After the 2006 World Cup, Shojaei moved to the United Arab Emirates and signed for Al Sharjah SC. He scored his first goal for the club in the League on 3 October, against Al-Emarat.

Osasuna

On 23 June 2008, after previous attempts from VfL Wolfsburg in Germany and Italy's S.S.C. Napoli, Shojaei signed with Spanish side CA Osasuna for three years, teaming up with compatriot Javad Nekounam. The deal included a €6 million buyout clause for the first 18 months of his contract, being reduced to €3.5 million for the remainder of his stay.^[2]

Shojaei made his La Liga debut on 31 August 2008, playing 32 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against Villarreal CF.^[3] During his first two seasons he appeared almost always as a substitute, as the Navarrese managed to maintain its division status; the player remained a regular even after the coaching change at the club, as José Ángel Ziganda was replaced by José Antonio Camacho.^[4][5]

Shojaei – who was addressed by his first name during his spell in Spain – appeared regularly again for Osasuna in the 2010–11 campaign, but also spent one month at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup with his national team. In late May he renewed his contract with the club for another two seasons, also having the option of an annual renewal of his link.^[6]

Shojaei spent the entire 2011–12 on the sidelines, due to injury.^[7] On 25 February 2013, in only his fourth appearance since returning, he scored a stunning goal to help Osasuna win it 2–0 at Levante UD.^[8][9]

Despite a solid start to his spell, Shojaei was eventually released in June 2013.^[10] Shortly after he was linked with a move to fellow league club Real Valladolid,^[11] but nothing came of it.

Las Palmas

On 3 September 2013 Shojaei moved clubs but stayed in Spain, joining Segunda División side UD Las Palmas on a one-year contract.^[12] He found the net in his debut, in a 3–1 away success over CE Sabadell FC for the campaign's Copa del Rey.^[13]

Shojaei scored twice and provided an assist in the first half of the league fixture against the same opponent on 15 March 2014, in an eventual 5–0 home win.^[14]

Late career

After the 2014 World Cup, Shojaei turned down an offer from Real Zaragoza and moved to Al-Shahania Sports Club in the Qatar Stars League.^[15] On 22 July 2016, he joined Superleague Greece side Panionios F.C. on a one-year contract.^[16]

International career

Shojaei playing for Iran in May 2014

Whilst at Saipa, Shojaei earned a place in Iranian national under-23 team, catching the eye of full side coach Branko Ivanković. He was first called up to play for the latter in November 2004, for a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Laos – it was the only cap he would win until the training camp prior to the finals in Germany, held in Switzerland; he was included in the final squad but only appeared once in the tournament, replacing injured Mohammad Nosrati in the early minutes of the 1–1 draw against Angola.^[17]

Shojaei began appearing more regularly in the 2010 World Cup qualification stages, scoring in a 1–1 draw against South Korea in the final game. However, Team Melli did not qualify for the tournament in South Africa.^[18] Iran did manage to reach the 2014 World Cup, with Shojaei as a regular starter in the qualifiers.^[19]

On 1 June 2014, Shojaei was included in Carlos Queiroz's list for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.^[20] He appeared as a substitute in the team's opening draw with Nigeria,^[21] and was selected in the starting line-up for the following group matches against Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina.^[22][23]

On 30 December 2014, Shojaei was called into Iran's 2015 AFC Asian Cup squad.^[24] He scored the nation's second goal in its opening 2–0 defeat of Bahrain, in Melbourne.^[25]

International goals

As of 7 June 2016 (Iran score listed first, score column indicates score after each Shojaei goal)^[26]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	28 March 2009	Azadi, Tehran, Iran	18	Saudi Arabia	1–0	1–2	2010 World Cup qualification
2	17 June 2009	World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea	22	South Korea	1–0	1–1	2010 World Cup qualification
3	12 August 2009	Asim Ferhatović Hase, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina	23	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1–2	3–2	Friendly
4	7 September 2010	World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea	29	South Korea	1–0	1–0	Friendly
5	26 March 2013	Al-Sadaqua Walsalam, Kuwait City, Kuwait	41	Kuwait	1–0	1–1	2015 Asian Cup qualification
6	11 January 2015	Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne, Australia	56	Bahrain	2–0	2–0	2015 AFC Asian Cup
7	17 November 2015	National Football Stadium, Tamuning, Guam	64	Guam	4–0	6–0	2018 World Cup qualification / 2019 Asian Cup qualification
8	7 June 2016	Azadi, Tehran, Iran	65	Kyrgyzstan	1–0	6–0	Friendly

Personal life

Shojaei has six siblings, and two of his brothers are also involved in football.

Club statistics

As of 1 October 2016^[27]

Honours

Country

• Islamic Solidarity Games: Third Place 2005

See also

• List of current Iranian expatriate footballers

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Masoud Shojaei.

• Masoud Shojaei profile at BDFutbol
• TeamMelli official profile
• Masoud Shojaei at National-Football-Teams.com
• Masoud Shojaei – FIFA competition record

Iran squads
Iran squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Mirzapour 2 Mahdavikia 3 Bakhtiarizadeh 4 Golmohammadi 5 Rezaei 6 Nekounam 7 Zandi 8 Karimi 9 Hashemian 10 Daei (c) 11 Khatibi 12 Roudbarian 13 Kaebi 14 Teymourian 15 Borhani 16 Enayati 17 Kazemian 18 Navidkia 19 Sadeghi 20 Nosrati 21 Madanchi 22 Talebloo 23 Shojaei Coach: Ivanković Iran squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1 Roudbarian 2 Mahdavikia(c) 3 A. Sadeghi 4 Teymourian 5 Rezaei 6 Nekounam 7 Zandi 8 Karimi 9 Hashemian 10 Khatibi 11 Madanchi 12 Hosseini 13 Kaebi 14 Mobali 15 Aghili 16 Enayati 17 Kazemian 18 Rajabzadeh 19 E. Sadeghi 20 Nosrati 22 Talebloo 24 Shojaei 30 Rahmati Coach: Ghalenoei Iran squad – 2011 AFC Asian Cup 1 Rahmati 2 Heydari 3 Talebi 4 Hosseini 5 Aghili 6 Nekounam (c) 7 Rezaei 8 Shojaei 9 Khalatbari 10 Ansarifard 11 Hajsafi 12 Mirzapour 13 Bengar 14 Teymourian 15 Hadadifar 16 Norouzi 17 M. Nouri 18 P. Nouri 19 Gholami 20 Nosrati 21 Afshin 22 Gordan 23 Mobali Coach: Ghotbi Iran squad – 2014 FIFA World Cup 1 Ahmadi 2 Heydari 3 Hajsafi 4 Hosseini 5 Sadeghi 6 Nekounam (c) 7 Shojaei 8 R. Haghighi 9 Jahanbakhsh 10 Ansarifard 11 Haddadifar 12 A. Haghighi 13 Mahini 14 Teymourian 15 Montazeri 16 Ghoochannejhad 17 Alenemeh 18 Rahmani 19 Beikzadeh 20 Beitashour 21 Dejagah 22 Davari 23 Pooladi Coach: Queiroz Iran squad – 2015 AFC Asian Cup 1 Haghighi 2 Heydari 3 Hajsafi 4 Hosseini 5 Sadeghi 6 Nekounam (c) 7 Shojaei 8 Pouraliganji 9 Ebrahimi 10 Ansarifard 11 Ghafouri 12 Forouzan 13 Amiri 14 Teymourian 15 Rezaeian 16 Ghoochannejhad 17 Rafiei 18 Jahanbakhsh 19 Khanzadeh 20 Azmoun 21 Dejagah 22 Beiranvand 23 Pooladi Coach: Queiroz