Alireza Beiranvand

Tehran Times - Iran international goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand has been named the Asian FIFA World Cup Hero.

In a poll conducted by the-afc.com, 68 percent of participants voted the Iranian goalkeeper.

Beiranvand beat Japanese legendary midfielder Keisuke Honda who earned 24 percent.

Australian Tim Cahill, Sami Al Jaber from Saudi Arabia and Korean Park Ji-sung were the other candidates.

The winner was chosen by a panel of experts combined with the results of the public vote.

Beiranvand was Iran’s star at the 2018 FIFA World Cup group stage, where he saved Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty and kept his country’s hopes alive in Portugal match.

The Persepolis shot-stopper shone as Iran edged past Morocco 1-0 in their opener and he then produced another string of excellent saves in a narrow 1-0 loss to Spain, when only a fortuitous Diego Costa goal got the better of the big custodian.

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