Ahmadzadeh: Iran are aiming for the semis

Thanks to the extensive experience he has acquired since then, he will be hoping to lead his troops all the way to the semi-finals of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Bahamas 2017.

Now 30-years-old, Ahmadzadeh began playing the game during his childhood in the coastal town of Rudsar. Capped for the first time by his country in 2006, he is now a mainstay of the national team, having appeared in five Beach Soccer World Cups to date.

• Iran’s Mohammed Ahmadzadeh set to contest his sixth FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
• Ahmadzadeh scored a hat-trick in his first ever world finals match
• In his last appearance in the competition, Iran were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Tahiti

The scorer of 17 goals in as many games on the big stage, he admitted to being “astonished” at that figure, as he explained in an interview with FIFA.com: “It makes me want to kick on and shine at the next World Cup and to score even more goals. I’ve got the experience to make that happen.”

Recalling his happiest world finals memory to date, he said: “Tahiti (2013) was the tournament I’ve enjoyed the most so far. We reached the last eight for the very first time and I had a big part to play in that success.”

Ahmadzadeh has seen enough and learned enough along the way to gauge how far Iran have come in recent times: “We were just amateurs 11 years ago. But in the last five years professional players have come into the Iran team and we’ve played a lot of games against other top-level national sides.

“When we went to Tahiti, we lacked experience and our only thought was to get past the group phase. We went on to reach the quarter-finals, though. And in the Bahamas, we’ll be giving our all to make the last four.”