Iran is among Asia’s heavy hitters when it comes to international soccer. They produce talented players, one of which plays for Bayer Leverkusen. This 2022 FIFA World Cup Player Spotlight: Sardar Azmoun focuses on one of the nation’s best players. Nitrobetting highlights his playing style and what makes him among the highly anticipated forwards of the tournament.

2022 FIFA World Cup Player Spotlight: Sardar Azmoun

A successful professional career in Russia

Azmoun started his professional career in Russia, playing for Rubin Kazan for three seasons, including a two-year loan at Rostov in between. He eventually took his talents to the Rostov-based club where he spent a season before heading back to Rubin Kazan between 2017 and 2019. It took a while before the top-tier Russian team Zenit Saint Petersburg noticed his talent. This led to his signing in 2019, where he scored 52 goals in three seasons and 79 appearances.

After a lengthy spell in the Russian Premier League, Azmoun announced that he signed a pre-contract to join Bayer Leverkusen in January 2022. As of this writing, he appeared in ten games for the club and dished out two assists in 299 minutes on the pitch.

Scoring machine

The forward has been dubbed ‘The Iranian Messi’, but his tall six-foot-one frame is more suggestive of Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski. His 62 goals and 23 assist in 104 games for Zenit across several competitions holds their ground–that’s an average of 0.8 goals per game and a ratio that can go toe to toe with the Polish striker. The Gonbad-e Kavus-born player is also a +15,000 sleeper to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup top goalscorer award.

The 27-year-old is proficient with both feet and a significant threat in the air. He has the vision, passing range, and worth ethic to provide clinical passes and score goals. Furthermore, Sardar can drop deep to give more passing options and link up plays, introducing others into the attack.

Lifting Iran’s World Cup hopes

It’s been almost a decade since the talented player joined the Iranian national soccer team. Qatar marks his second World Cup appearance since first featuring in the 2018 edition. The forward has already recorded 40 goals in 63 appearances for his home country and we expect a more mature stepping into the stage this time.

Azmoun has been one of Russian soccer’s top goalscorers for several years. There’s reason to believe that he can do this for his home country. With plenty of European competition exposure and matches against the highest-level players, he can give Team Melli the spark it needs to overcome the +1,100 odds to win Group B.

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