# 2016–17 Zob Ahan F.C. season

The 2016–17 season was Zob Ahan Football Club's 16th season in the Iran Pro League, and their 21st consecutive season in the top division of Iranian football. They also competed in the Hazfi Cup and AFC Champions League, and had their 46nd year in existence as a football club.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 15 May 2017.
| Out for Injuries | Released – Retired |
| No. | Name | Position (s) | Since | Date of Birth (Age) | Signed From | Ends | Games | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 12 | Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri | GK | 2014 | (1989-05-18)May 18, 1989 (aged 27) | Foolad | 2018 | 103 | 0 |
| 22 | Hamid Erfani | GK | 2016 | (1988-03-21)March 21, 1988 (aged 29) | Giti Pasand | 2016 | 2 | 0 |
| 40 | Peyman Salmani | GK | 2012 | (1994-04-18)April 18, 1994 (aged 23) | (Youth system) | 2016 | 1 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 2 | Mohammad Nejad Mehdi | DF | 2015 | (1992-10-20)October 20, 1992 (aged 24) | Padideh | 2018 | 65 | 1 |
| 3 | Vahid Mohammadzadeh | DF | 2016 | (1989-05-16)May 16, 1989 (aged 27) | Saipa | 2018 | 48 | 2 |
| 33 | Mohammad Sattari | RB | 2016 | (1993-09-30)September 30, 1993 (aged 23) | Malavan | 2018 | 12 | 0 |
| 18 | Ali Hamam | RB | 2014 | (1986-08-25)August 25, 1986 (aged 30) | Nejmeh | 2018 | 101 | 3 |
| 19 | Mehrdad Ghanbari | RB | 2014 | (1989-11-22)November 22, 1989 (aged 27) | Padideh | 2017 | 61 | 3 |
| 20 | Hojjat Haghverdi | DF | 2014 | (1993-02-03)February 3, 1993 (aged 24) | Aboumoslem | 2017 | 34 | 0 |
| 24 | Mehran Derakhshan Mehr | DF | 2015 | (1998-08-10)August 10, 1998 (aged 18) | (Youth system) | 2018 | 27 | 1 |
| 26 | Nima Taheri | DF | 2016 | (1996-11-05)November 5, 1996 (aged 20) | (Youth system) | 2018 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Kianoush Eghbali | DF | 2015 | (1996-04-06)April 6, 1996 (aged 21) | (Youth system) | 2018 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 6 | Mehdi Mehdipour | MF | 2014 | (1994-02-18)February 18, 1994 (aged 23) | (Youth system) Rah Ahan | 2019 | 95 | 2 |
| 7 | Mohammad Reza Hosseini | RM | 2015 | (1989-09-15)September 15, 1989 (aged 27) | Fajr Sepasi | 2018 | 61 | 5 |
| 8 | Ghasem Hadadifar | MF | 2003 | (1983-07-12)July 12, 1983 (aged 33) | (Youth system) | 2016 | 323 | 18 |
| 9 | Rabih Ataya | RM, Left winger | 2017 | (1989-07-16)July 16, 1989 (aged 28) | Al-Ansar | 2018 | 13 | 0 |
| 10 | Ehsan Pahlavan | LM | 2013 | (1993-07-25)July 25, 1993 (aged 23) | Gostaresh Foulad | 2019 | 116 | 13 |
| 11 | Morteza Tabrizi | RM, ST | 2013 | (1991-01-06)January 6, 1991 (aged 26) | Pas Hamedan | 2017 | 138 | 34 |
| 14 | Reza Shekari | AM | 2015 | (1998-05-31)May 31, 1998 (aged 18) | Moghavemat Tehran | 2018 | 21 | 2 |
| 17 | Mohammadreza Abbasi | LM | 2014 | (1996-07-27)July 27, 1996 (aged 20) | (Youth system) | 2018 | 41 | 3 |
| 23 | Danial Esmaeilifar | RM, RB | 2014 | (1993-02-26)February 26, 1993 (aged 24) | Payam Sanat | 2018 | 89 | 6 |
| 35 | Kamran Momeni | MF | 2015 | (1995-12-01)December 1, 1995 (aged 21) | (Youth system) | 2018 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| 27 | Jerry Bengtson | ST | 2016 | (1987-04-08)April 8, 1987 (aged 30) | Persepolis | 2017 | 37 | 12 |
| 30 | Mehdi Rajabzadeh | SS | 2012 | (1978-06-21) June 21, 1978 (age 46) | Fajr Sepasi | 2017 | 328 | 103 |
| 70 | Yaser Feyzi | ST | 2016 | (1992-04-05)April 5, 1992 (aged 25) | Oxin Alborz | 2017 | 25 | 2 |

### Iran Pro League squad

As of 19 January 2016
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | DF | IRN | Mohammad Nejad Mehdi |
| 3 | DF | IRN | Vahid Mohammadzadeh |
| 6 | MF | IRN | Mehdi Mehdipour |
| 7 | FW | IRN | Mohammad Reza Hosseini |
| 8 | MF | IRN | Ghasem Hadadifar (Captain) |
| 9 | FW | LBN | Rabih Ataya |
| 10 | MF | IRN | Ehsan Pahlevan |
| 11 | FW | IRN | Morteza Tabrizi |
| 12 | GK | IRN | Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri |
| 14 | MF | IRN | Reza Shekari $^{U21}$ |
| 17 | FW | IRN | Mohammadreza Abbasi $^{U21}$ |
| 18 | DF | LBN | Ali Hamam |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | DF | IRN | Mehrdad Ghanbari |
| 20 | DF | IRN | Hojjat Haghverdi |
| 22 | GK | IRN | Hamid Erfani |
| 23 | MF | IRN | Danial Esmaeilifar |
| 24 | MF | IRN | Mehran Derakhshan Mehr $^{U21}$ |
| 26 | DF | IRN | Nima Taheri $^{U21}$ |
| 27 | FW | HON | Jerry Bengtson |
| 30 | FW | IRN | Mehdi Rajabzadeh (Vice captain) |
| 35 | MF | IRN | Kamran Momeni $^{U23}$ |
| 36 | DF | IRN | Kianoush Eghbali $^{U23}$ |
| 40 | GK | IRN | Peyman Salmani $^{U23}$ |
| 70 | FW | IRN | Yaser Feyzi |

## Transfers

Confirmed transfers 2016–17

### Summer

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | IRN | Yaser Feyzi (from Oxin Alborz) |
| — | GK | IRN | Hamid Erfani (from Giti Pasand) |
| — | MF | IRN | Mohammad Sattari (from Malavan) |
| — | FW | HON | Jerry Bengtson (from Persepolis) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | IRN | Mohammad Bagher Sadeghi (to Saba Qom) |
| 3 | DF | LBN | Walid Ismail (End of Contract) |
| 4 | DF | IRN | Hadi Mohammadi (to Tractor Sazi) |
| 7 | FW | IRN | Masoud Hassanzadeh (to Saipa) |
| 9 | FW | IRN | Kaveh Rezaei (to Esteghlal) |
| 17 | FW | BRA | Marco Aurélio Iubel (Mutual consent) |
| 21 | DF | IRN | Saeb Mohebi (to Rah Ahan) |
| 33 | GK | IRN | Mohammad Amin Bahrami (to Tractor Sazi) |
| 61 | DF | IRN | Hashem Beikzadeh (to Saba Qom) |
| 77 | MF | IRN | Ahmad Amir Kamdar (to Machine Sazi) |
| — | MF | IRN | Sina Ashouri (to Tractor Sazi, previously on loan) |

### Winter

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | LBN | Rabih Ataya (from Al Ansar) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | Started round | Current position / round | Final position / round | First match | Last match |
| Persian Gulf Pro League | — | — | 4th | 29 July 2016 | 13 May 2017 |
| AFC Champions League | Group stage | — | Group stage | 23 February 2016 | 25 May 2017 |
| Hazfi Cup | Round of 32 | — | Semi Final | 11 September 2016 | 29 May 2017 |
Updated to match played 15 May 2016 Source: Competitions

### Iran Pro League
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Esteghlal | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 45 | 27 | +18 | 57 | Qualification for the 2018 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Tractor Sazi | 30 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 38 | 24 | +14 | 56 | Qualification for the 2018 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Zob Ahan | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 39 | 30 | +9 | 46 | Qualification for the 2018 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs |
| 5 | Sepahan | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 45 | |
| 6 | Paykan | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 39 | 38 | +1 | 44 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 15 May 2017. Source: Ipl Stats

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | L | D | W | D | D | L | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | D | W | D | L | L | L | L | D | D | D | W | W | D | W |
| Position | 13 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss

### AFC Champions League
#### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Al-Ain | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Al-Ahli | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 11 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Zob Ahan | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 7 | |
| 4 | Bunyodkor | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 | −7 | 3 | |

### Hazfi Cup
#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss

##### Quarter-final
#### Semi-final (1/2 Final – Last 4)
### Final
## Statistics
### Appearances

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Pro League | Pro League | AFC Champions League | AFC Champions League | Hazfi Cup | Hazfi Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 2 | DF | IRN | Mohammad Nejad Mehdi | 26 | 1 | 20+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | IRN | Vahid Mohammadzadeh | 13 | 1 | 5+1 | 0 | 6+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | IRN | Mehdi Mehdipour | 38 | 3 | 18+7 | 2 | 8+0 | 0 | 4+1 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | IRN | Mohammad Reza Hosseini | 40 | 4 | 21+7 | 4 | 6+0 | 0 | 6+0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | IRN | Ghasem Hadadifar | 36 | 0 | 23+1 | 0 | 8+0 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | LBN | Rabih Ataya | 34 | 8 | 16+8 | 6 | 7+0 | 2 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | IRN | Ehsan Pahlevan | 40 | 7 | 25+4 | 4 | 8+0 | 3 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | IRN | Morteza Tabrizi | 40 | 10 | 20+7 | 7 | 7+1 | 1 | 3+2 | 2 |
| 12 | GK | IRN | Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri | 39 | 0 | 27+0 | 0 | 8+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | IRN | Reza Shekari | 13 | 1 | 0+11 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 |
| 17 | MF | IRN | Mohammadreza Abbasi | 15 | 0 | 3+6 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | LBN | Ali Hamam | 34 | 1 | 23+0 | 1 | 6+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | IRN | Mehrdad Ghanbari | 11 | 1 | 5+3 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | IRN | Hojjat Haghverdi | 14 | 0 | 10+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | IRN | Hamid Erfani | 4 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | IRN | Danial Esmaeilifar | 36 | 2 | 18+7 | 1 | 2+5 | 1 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | IRN | Mehran Derakhshan Mehr | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | IRN | Nima Taheri | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | HON | Jerry Bengtson | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 30 | FW | IRN | Mehdi Rajabzadeh | 41 | 8 | 26+4 | 5 | 6+0 | 2 | 5+0 | 1 |
| 35 | MF | IRN | Kamran Momeni | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 36 | MF | IRN | Kianoush Eghbali | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 40 | GK | IRN | Peyman Salmani | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 70 | FW | IRN | Yaser Feyzi | 13 | 1 | 5+2 | 1 | 0+6 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |

### Top scorers

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.
    Last updated on 30 May 2016
| Ranking | Position | Name | Pro League | Champions League | Hazfi Cup | Total |
| 1 | MF | Morteza Tabrizi | 7 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | FW | Kaveh Rezaei | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | FW | Mehdi Rajabzadeh | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | FW | Masoud Hassanzadeh | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | MF | Ehsan Pahlavan | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | MF | Mehdi Mehdipour | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | MF | Danial Esmaeilifar | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Friendlies and pre-season goals are not recognized as competitive match goals.

### Disciplinary record

Includes all competitive matches. Players with 1 card or more included only.
    Last updated on 30 May 2016
| | | | | 2015–16 Iran Pro League | 2015–16 Iran Pro League | 2015–16 Iran Pro League | AFC Champions League | AFC Champions League | AFC Champions League | Hazfi Cup | Hazfi Cup | Hazfi Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| Position | Nation | Number | Name | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | | 4 | Hadi Mohammadi | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | | 8 | Ghasem Haddadifar | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | | 12 | Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | | 18 | Ali Hamam | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | | 11 | Morteza Tabrizi | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | | 3 | Walid Ismail | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | | 13 | Mohammad Reza Hosseini | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | | 7 | Masoud Hassanzadeh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | | 16 | Mehdi Mehdipour | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | | 61 | Hashem Beikzadeh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | | 23 | Danial Esmaeilifar | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | | 9 | Kaveh Rezaei | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | | 5 | Akbar Sadeghi | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | | 77 | Ahmad Amir Kamdar | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | | 15 | Ehsan Pahlavan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | | 20 | Hojjat Haghverdi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | | 2 | Mohammad Nejad Mehdi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | | 17 | Marco Aurélio Iubel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | | 33 | Vahid Mohammadzadeh | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | | 25 | Mohammadreza Abbasi | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |

### Goals conceded

* Updated on 30 May 2016
| Position | Nation | Number | Name | Pro League | Champions League | Hazfi Cup | Total | Clean Sheets |
| GK | | 1 | Mohammad Bagher Sadeghi | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| GK | | 12 | Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri | 27 | 8 | 4 | 39 | 20 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 30 | 8 | 5 | 43 | 20 |

### Own goals

* Updated on 5 January 2016
| Position | Nation | Number | Name | Pro League | Champions League | Hazfi Cup | Total |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Club
### Coaching staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Yahya Golmohammadi |
| Assistant coach | Mojtaba Hosseini |
| Assistant coach | Hassan Esteki |
| Goalkeeping coach | Davoud Fanaei |
| Fitness coach | Behzad Noshadi |
| Physiotherapist | Abbas Moradi |
| Performance analyst | Reza Nasr Esfahani |
| Analyzer | Mohammad Askari |
| Doctor | Dr. Amir Hossein Sharifianpour |
| Logistics | Mahmoud Mehruyan |
| Team director | Ali Shojaei |

### Other information

| Chairman | Saeed Azari |
| Ground (capacity and dimensions) | Foolad Shahr Stadium (20,000 / ) |
Updated to match played 4 January 2016 Source: