A World Cup is the perfect stage for players to put themselves in the shop window and on Saturday, Iran’s Fulham forward Ashkan Dejagah did just that.
The 27-year-old, who suffered Premier League relegation at Craven Cottage last season, played a prominent role in a fantastic Iranian display which saw the Persians come within minutes of holding Argentina and their array of stars to a creditable draw.
Leo Messi’s wonderful stoppage time winner was enough to send Alex Sabella’s side through to the last 16 but Iran’s dream is still alive.
If they beat Bosnia on Wednesday they will stand a chance of joining the South Americans.
Dejagah is desperate to return home from Brazil and not be a Championship player though.
The former Wolfsburg forward wants to remain in the Premier League and if he carries on where he left on Saturday, the offers will start rolling in.
“I don’t know what will happen next season. I still have a contract at Fulham and have liked it there but it is a hard situation,” he said. “Of course, I want to play in the Premier League but I will focus on here and then we will see what happens.
“It’s hard to put into words what was going through my mind when Messi scored. Of course, he is one of the best players in the world and that is what the best players do – change a result in one second.
“I hope we have showed the world that Iran can play football. We still have a chance to go through and who would have thought our World Cup would last longer than England and Spain.”
The whole of Argentina breathed a massive sigh of relief when Messi scored in stoppage time to notch a crucial second goal of the tournament.
But it sparked a fresh row between the former head of the Argentina FA Julio Grondona and Diego Marardona.
Grondona accused the Argentine legend, who he sacked as national coach, of being a ‘jinx’ because Messi’s late strike only happened when he had left the Estadio Mineirao.
“The bad luck charm left the stadium and we won,” Grondona said Maradona hit back and called him “a poor stupid fool” before gesturing to him on national TV.
