Qanbari, Khajavi join Persepolis Women
Iranian international duo Zahra Qanbari and Zahra Khajavi have joined Persepolis for the second half of the Kowsar Premier League.
Both players had signed with Ista Alborz for the start of the new domestic top-flight campaign, helping their team to third place in the table with 17 points from nine games – 10 points behind defending champions Bam Khatoon and seven behind Golgohar Sirjan.
Newly-promoted Persepolis sits seventh in the 10-team table with 11 points, having managed only three wins in nine outings. The club will hope the addition of the two star players turns its fortunes around.
An established midfielder, the 33-year-old Qanbari is also capable of playing as a winger or striker. She won the Iranian league title on three occasions with Khatoon and helped the club reach the AFC Women’s Champions League quarterfinals last season.
Widely regarded as Iran’s best goalkeeper, Khajavi has been the national team’s first choice in recent years, though she missed Iran’s trip to Tashkent for a pair of friendly matches against Uzbekistan earlier this month.
The 26-year-old keeper holds the record for the most consecutive clean sheets in Iranian league history, having not conceded a goal for 10 successive games – a total of 953 minutes – during the 2019-20 season.