Reza Ghoochannejhad

Reza Ghoochannejhad

Ghoochannejhad in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Reza Ghoochannejhad Nournia
Date of birth	(1987-09-20) 20 September 1987
Place of birth	Mashhad, Iran
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Striker, Winger
Club information
Current team	Charlton Athletic
Number	16
Youth career
	LAC Frisia 1883
	Cambuur
1998–2005	Heerenveen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2009	Heerenveen	2	(0)
2006–2007	→ Go Ahead Eagles (loan)	13	(4)
2009	→ Emmen (loan)	12	(1)
2009–2010	Go Ahead Eagles	10	(6)
2010–2011	Cambuur	37	(15)
2011–2013	Sint-Truiden	31	(18)
2013–2014	Standard Liège	10	(4)
2014–	Charlton Athletic	33	(3)
2014–2015	→ Al-Kuwait (loan)	10	(11)
2015	→ Al-Wakrah (loan)	9	(2)
National team‡
2003	Netherlands U16	1	(0)
2003–2004	Netherlands U17	4	(0)
2005	Netherlands U18	1	(0)
2006–2007	Netherlands U19	3	(1)
2012–	Iran	28	(13)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:23, 13 February 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 November 2015

Reza Ghoochannejhad Nournia (Persian: رضا قوچان‌نژاد‎‎, born 20 September 1987), is an Iranian footballer who plays for Charlton Athletic and the Iranian national team as a forward, having previously played for Dutch national youth teams.

Ghoochannejhad represented Iran at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Early life

Ghoochannejhad was born in Mashhad, Iran and emigrated to the Netherlands when he was only 4 years old, being musically talented as a violinist.^[1]

Club career

Heerenveen

Ghoochannejhad spent twelve years in the Eredivisie side Heerenveen's academy, rising through the ranks at Leeuwarden clubs LAC Frisia 1883 and Cambuur, before making his senior Heerenveen debut against AZ Alkmaar in 2006.^[1][2]

In the summer of 2009, Ghoochannejhad folded his contract with Heerenveen due to his focus on his academic studies at the Vrije University of Amsterdam, studying jurisprudence and political theory.^[1] After meeting Marc Overmars, he convinced Ghoochannejhad to sign for the Go Ahead Eagles.^[1][2]

Cambuur

In his first game for Cambuur, on 22 January 2010 against BV Veendam, he scored his first goal after nine seconds for his new team, tying Johan Cruyff's record for the fastest goal in the Netherlands.^[1][3][4] During his time at Cambuur, he also played as a winger. On 14 February 2011, Ghoochannejhad scored a hat trick against FC Emmen.^[5]

Sint-Truiden

In June 2011, Ghoochannejhad transferred to Sint-Truiden,^[6] scoring his first goal in the Belgian Pro League against Club Brugge.^[7]

Standard Liège

On 31 August 2012, Sint-Truiden came to an agreement with Standard Liège. Ghoochannejhad joined Standard Liège in January 2013 after signing a three-and-a-half-year deal, while scoring 10 goals in 12 matches in the half-season he remained with Sint-Truiden.^[8] The following season, he represented Liège in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League.^[9]

Charlton Athletic

On 30 January 2014, Ghoochannejhad joined Championship side Charlton Athletic on a two-and-a-half-year deal, becoming the second Iranian after Karim Bagheri to play for the Addicks.^[10][11] On 1 February, he made his first appearance for Charlton in a 2–1 defeat away to Wigan Athletic, where he played the full 90 minutes and hit the bar with a shot on goal in the first half.^[12] He made his FA Cup debut in a 2–1 fifth round win at Sheffield Wednesday on 24 February.^[13] He scored his first goal on 1 April in a 1–0 league win at Leeds United.^[14]

Al-Kuwait (loan)

On 6 August 2014, Ghoochannejhad joined Al-Kuwait on a season-long loan deal.^[15] On 15 August, he made his debut as a substitute against Qadsia SC in the Kuwait Super Cup. On 26 August, he scored his first goal in the 2014 AFC Cup against Persipura Jayapura.^[16] He scored his first league goal for the club on 30 August in a 1–1 draw against Al Jahra. On 12 September, he scored 4 goals in an 8–1 win over Al-Sahel.^[17][18] He then scored a hat trick in 14 minutes in another game for Al-Kuwait.^[19] Ghoochannejhad scored 11 goals in 10 league matches with the club.

Al-Wakrah (loan)

In February 2015, Ghoochannejhad signed a four-month loan deal with Qatar Stars League club Al-Wakrah. He scored his first goal on 27 February 2015 against Umm Salal.^[20] Al-Wakrah escaped relegation on the last day and Ghoochannejhad's loan deal expired at the end of the season.

Return to Charlton

In the summer of 2015, Ghoochannejhad announced he would be returning to Charlton Athletic for the 2015–16 season. He scored his first goal of the season in a 4–1 League Cup victory against League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge.^[21] Reza scored his first league goal of the season on 7 November 2015 in a 3–1 win against Sheffield Wednesday.

International career

Ghoochannejhad represented the Netherlands from 2003 to 2007, having played for the Netherlands national under-19 football team.^[4] After being invited to the Iranian national team by coach Carlos Queiroz, he made his senior national team debut on 16 October 2012 in Iran's 1–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier victory against South Korea,^[22] while scoring his first two goals in his third international cap against Lebanon in a 5–0 Asian Cup qualifier win.^[23] On 4 June 2013, Ghoochannejhad scored the lone goal in a World Cup qualifier against Qatar.^[24] Days later, he scored against Lebanon in a 4–0 win.^[25] He scored the winning goal again in the next match, a 1–0 win against South Korea.^[26] This led to Iran's qualification at the top of their group for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.^[27]

His goal-scoring streak continued, scoring in each of the Asian Cup qualifying matches against Thailand and Lebanon to secure Iran's spot in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup as well as becoming the top scorer of the qualifiers and bringing his tally to six goals in six consecutive competitive international matches.^[28] Ghoochannejhad scored on 5 March 2014 against Guinea in a friendly to bring his record to seven goals in seven matches with a total of nine goals in eleven matches.^[29]

On 1 June 2014, Ghoochannejhad was called into Iran's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad by Carlos Queiroz.^[30] On 25 June 2014, he scored Iran's only goal of the tournament in the 3–1 defeat against Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[31][32] He became the first ever Charlton Athletic player to score at a FIFA World Cup.^[33]

On 30 December 2014, Ghoochannejhad was called into Iran's 2015 AFC Asian Cup squad.^[34] He scored the only goal in the team's final group stage match against the United Arab Emirates, ensuring Team Melli qualified from Group C in first place.^[35] In the quarter-final match against Iraq, Ghoochannejhad scored Iran's third equalizer in the 119th minute as they drew 3–3 at Canberra Stadium and were eventually defeated 7–6 in a penalty shootout.^[36]

Career statistics

Ghoochannejhad playing for Iran in a match against Montenegro, 26 May 2014

As of 22 December 2015^[37]

International goals

Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.^[38]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Min.	Result	Competition
1.	6 February 2013	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	Lebanon	1–0	26'	5–0	2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2.				4–0	62'
3.	4 June 2013	Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar	Qatar	1–0	66'	1–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.	11 June 2013	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	Lebanon	3–0	46'	4–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.	18 June 2013	Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium, Ulsan, South Korea	South Korea	1–0	60'	1–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.	15 October 2013	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	Thailand	2–0	70'	2–1	2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
7.	15 November 2013	Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Thailand	2–0	42'	3–0	2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
8.	19 November 2013	Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon	Lebanon	4–0	65'	4–1	2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
9.	5 March 2014	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	Guinea	1–2	55'	1–2	Friendly
10.	8 June 2014	CT Joaquim Grava, São Paulo, Brazil	Trinidad and Tobago	2–0	54'	2–0	Friendly
11.	25 June 2014	Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1–2	82'	1–3	2014 FIFA World Cup
12.	19 January 2015	Brisbane Stadium, Brisbane, Australia	United Arab Emirates	1–0	90+1'	1–0	2015 AFC Asian Cup
13.	23 January 2015	Canberra Stadium, Canberra, Australia	Iraq	3–3	119'	3–3	2015 AFC Asian Cup

See also

• Iranians in the Netherlands

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Reza Ghoochannejhad.

• Voetbal International profile
• Reza Ghoochannejhad – UEFA competition record

Iran squads 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