Mohammadpour: Mirjalili is the world’s best beach soccer keeper
After helping Iran edge Mauritania in their curtain-raiser, he was magnificent in a 5-1 reverse of Paraguay. His performance inside the Paradise Arena included two stunning saves and a trademark wonder goal.
“He’s the best goalkeeper in the world,” his international team-mate Movahed Mohammadpour said of the Iranian keeper to FIFA.
“He’s outstanding. We also have a very strong defence, we don’t allow opponents many chances, but when we do he always comes up with big saves.
“Then he’s the best with his feet. He’s really good at setting up plays and scoring goals. We have power plays when he’s on the pitch. He has a great understanding with the rest of the players. We link up really well. He’s a huge asset for Iran.”
“I thank Movahed for saying that,” said Mirjalili. “It’s not for me to say if I’m the best. I train really hard. I do three sessions per day. I’m always trying to improve.
“I have to thank my team-mates for being able to score goals. They have confidence in me, and that enables me to try things, to attempt passes, to go for goal. Their movement is good, they get in good positions for me, free up space for me.”
“We don’t care who is standing in front of us: we will go toe to toe with anyone,” added Mohammadpour, who finished as the top assister at the last global finals.
“We only have one target at this tournament: to become champions. Nothing else. That’s our only target.”
Mirjalili added: “The Iranian people have their fingers crossed for us. We will fight for our country, for our flag, for our people.”