Mehdi Ghaedi #10

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Soon after Ghaedi joined Esteghlal in July 2017 he became one of the youngest players in the history of Iran’s Pro League, but it quickly became clear that his path to the top was not going to be smooth: the following January, driving at high speed, his car veered off the road and crashed, causing the death of a friend and sending him to intensive care. Since then a combination of injuries and off-field issues have limited the international appearances of a player known by the nickname Bashu, after a famous Iranian film character. Ghaedi is 1.66m tall, for which his childhood friend and occasional Iran international Mohammad Mohebi has the following explanation: “If I’m not mistaken, we were 12 or 13 years old playing at youth level,” he remembered. “I played a through ball to him, he went one-on-one, dribbled the goalkeeper, but the keeper fouled him by hitting his ankle. That’s when Mehdi broke his ankle, and it affected his growth. That’s why he stopped growing and remained short.” Despite this, Ghaedi remains a winger capable of changing games on his day with his combination of technique and explosive pace.

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