8/17/2007
Kaveh Mahjoob, lastkick.com

The seventh season of Iran’s Premier League, named Persian Gulf League (PGL), started with a bang and a boom. For over 14 months, Iran’s football has been suffering from international defeats at the world Cup, Asian Cup, Asian Games and different Asian age group championships. For over 14 months, Iran’s Football Federation (IFF) has not had a permanent president. The PGL provides an avenue to get the fans exited once more and get them involved. Several major changes happened during the off season:

The Bang – Perspolis battled the heat, the crowd (over 25,000) and the tough Sanat Naft in Abadan and came out victorious. For Ghotbi and Perspolis, defeating Sanat Naft on the road was a perfect scenario as Perspolis displayed enough fire power to score three goals in a 3 – 2 victory.

The Boom – Esteghlal met her sister club of Esteghlal of Ahvaz. These two teams share names but when they face each other, emotions run high. This time, Esteghlal of Tehran managed a 3 – 2 victory at home in front of 50,000 fans.

Last year’s champion Saipa with Coach Ali Daei started the season with a loss in Tehran. Sepahan, the other major contender won on the road.

Behind the Numbers

Almost 3 – Average # of goals per game in for the first week was 2.9. In week 1, defense and goalkeepers were taking it easy while offense was ruling. Three out of nine games produced five goals or more.

3 for 2 – Three players scored two goals each in their matches. They were Asghari for Rahahan, Rezapoor for Paykan and Zafarani for Shirin Faraz.

6 – Number of teams representing Tehran and surrounding region (Karaj). This means a team from Tehran, like Perspolis or Esteghlal, will play 22 out of their 34 matches at home.

6 – In the previous six seasons of Iran’s PGL, six different teams have won the crown.

10 – # of players from Brazil and Uruguay that play in Iran’s League.

14 – Number of months since IFF chief was fired and no one has yet been selected as the permanent boss for the football federation.

35 – Total number of foreign players at the beginning of this season. That is 8.5% of all players in the league.

45 – As the temperature in Celsius at the start of the Perspolis and Sanat Naft match in Abadan. For those who have lost their calculator, that is 113 degree in Fahrenheit.

From 5,000 to 9,000 with 10,000 – Pas of Hameden was the host. 9,000 fans watched the match live in a stadium with the capacity of 5,000. Another 10,000 fans were outside. That was a nice welcome to the former champion Pas that moved to Hamedan from Tehran in the off season.

35,000 OR 50,000 – According to IRNA News Agency, Over 50,000 fans showed up to see BLUEs play BLUEs when Esteghlal defeated Esteghlal of Ahvaz. A leading sports paper, Jahan-e-Football, reported 35,000 attended the match. How do we lose 15,000 fans in a ball game?

Kaveh Mahjoob can be contacted at Kaveh_Mahjoob@hotmail.com