Andranik Teymourian

Andranik Teymourian

Personal information
Full name	Andranik Timotian-Samarani[1]
Date of birth	(1983-03-06) 6 March 1983 (age 29)
Place of birth	Tehran, Iran
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Esteghlal
Number	14
Youth career
1998–2000	Ararat Tehran
2000–2002	Esteghlal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2004	Oghab
2004–2006	Aboumoslem	44	(3)
2006–2008	Bolton Wanderers	20	(2)
2008–2010	Fulham	1	(0)
2009	→ Barnsley (loan)	11	(0)
2010–2011	Tractor Sazi	21	(1)
2011–	Esteghlal	14	(1)
National team‡
2005	Iran B	6	(0)
2005–	Iran	65	(8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:06, 17 December 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13:53, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

Andranik Timotian-Samarani (Persian: آندرانيک تيموريان‎, Armenian: Անդրանիկ Թէյմուրեան, born 6 March 1983), more commonly known as Andranik "Ando" Teymourian is an Armenian Iranian footballer. He usually plays as a defensive midfielder, but can also play as a side midfielder. He is notably the only Christian footballer in the Iranian national team.^[2]

Club career

Early career

Andranik was born in Tehran, Iran to ethnic Armenian parents. Teymourian started with Oghab F.C. in Iran's Azadegan League, and continued his professional career playing for F.C. Aboomoslem in the Iranian Premier League. In the 2005–06 season, Andranik made 26 appearances for F.C. Aboomoslem and scored one goal.

Bolton Wanderers

In late August 2006 he signed a two-year deal with FA Premier League club Bolton Wanderers, for an undisclosed fee, after being granted a work permit.^[3] He scored his first two goals for Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup third round in a 4–0 win over Doncaster Rovers on January 6, 2007, in only his third appearance.^[4] Andranik then went on to make his full Premier League debut against Fulham on February 11, 2007. He then made a number of impressive substitute appearances and became a firm favourite at the Reebok Stadium.^{[citation needed]} His first two league goals came during a man-of-the-match performance against local rivals Wigan Athletic on 7 April 2007.^[5][6]

Fulham

On 12 June 2008, Andranik signed a two-year contract with Fulham.^[7] He made his Fulham debut against Arsenal, in which he helped secure a 1–0 victory.^[8] On 2 February 2009 he went on loan to Barnsley until the end of the season.^[9] He later stated that he wanted to stay with Fulham for the 2009–10 season. On the 1 July 2010 Fulham announced that Andranik had been released from his contract with Fulham.^[10]

In July 2010, Teymourian was named in Blackburn Rovers' team to face Southport FC in a pre-season friendly.^[11]

On the 22 July 2010 Teymourian began talks with Sheffield United F.C. after turning down a tour with Blackburn Rovers across Australia. Blades coach Gary Speed is believed to have recommended Teymourian to Blades boss Kevin Blackwell as Speed and Teymourian played together at Bolton Wanderers.^[12] However Teymourian began talks with Blackburn Rovers about a deal to stay with the Premier League club possibly on a short-term deal.^[13] However, the move broke down as he was denied a work permit.

Tractor Sazi

On September 19, 2010 Teymourian had returned to Iran to join Tabriz-based club Tractor Sazi, the move marked the end of his career in England.^[14]

Esteghlal

It was confirmed in mid-July 2011 that Teymourian had signed a contract with Tehran and IPL club Esteghlal. He made his debut for club against Sepahan. On 9 November 2011 he was named as one of the 10 finalists for the Asian Player of the year.^[15]

International career

He has played for Iran's national football teams at every single youth level, before being drafted into the senior side. The midfielder played for Iran national under-23 football team in last year’s Islamic Solidarity Games where his prompting from midfield helped the young team to a third-place.

He was a member of the Iranian national team during 2006 World Cup. Pictures of an emotionally and physically drained Teymourian at the end of Iran's last game of the 2006 World Cup have begun to take the shape of Iranian football's most notable photograph from the event. Teymourian dropped to the grass and began sobbing while trainers attended to him. He has started to be recognized as a national hero in Iran because of the passion he showed for his country in the 2006 World Cup. He played in 2007 AFC Asian Cup Qualification and played in all the games in 2007 Asian Cup. He played in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification for Iran. He also played in 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification and 2010 West Asian Football Federation Championship. He has played in two of Iran's three Group D games in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup missing one due to a virus. Andranik captained Iran for the first time against the UAE.

International goals

Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	22 February 2006	Azadi Stadium, Tehran	Chinese Taipei	1–0	4–0	2007 ACQ
2	18 July 2007	Bukit Jalil Stadium, Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	2–0	2–0	2007 Asian Cup
3	12 August 2009	Asim Ferhatovic, Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3–2	3–2	Friendly
4	18 November 2009	Azadi Stadium, Tehran	Macedonia	1–0	1–1	Friendly
5	3 September 2010	Zhengzhou Hanghai Stadium	China PR	1–0	2–0	Friendly
6	28 September 2010	Amman International Stadium	Oman	2-2	2-2	2010 WAFF
7	2 September 2011	Azadi Stadium, Tehran	Indonesia	3–0	3–0	2014 WCQ
8	11 October 2011	Azadi Stadium, Tehran	Bahrain	4–0	6–0	2014 WCQ

Club career statistics

Last Update 30 December 2011

Personal life

Andranik's elder brother Serjik Teymourian, was also a football player and played for 1. FSV Mainz 05 as a defensive midfielder.

Honours

Club

• Hazfi Cup
  • Winner:1
    • 2011/12 with Esteghlal
  • Runner up:1
    • 2004/05 with Aboomoslem

National

• Islamic Solidarity Games :
  • Third Place 2005

References

External links

• Andranik Teymourian career stats at Soccerbase
• Andranik Teymourian at National-Football-Teams.com
• Andranik Teymourian at TeamMelli.com
• ESPN Profile
• Soccerway Profile

v t e 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

v t e Iran squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1 Roudbarian 2 Mahdavikia 3 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 Sadeghi 20 Nosrati 22 Talebloo 24 Shojaei 30 Rahmati Coach: Ghalenoei

v t e Iran squad – 2011 AFC Asian Cup 1 Rahmati 2 Heidari 3 Talebi 4 Hosseini 5 Aghili 6 Nekounam 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