Athlete of the week
Iranian-born Dinamo handballer Saeid Heidarirad
Florin Orban, 29.11.2022, 01:45
It’s interesting to notice that as of late,
quite a few deserving athletes, born abroad, have settled in Romania. Many of them applied
for the Romania citizenship, which they were granted, then they competed, internationally,
for Romania. A telling example of that is the Russian-born Albert Saritov, an athlete who won bronze for Romania in the freestyle wrestling competition, at
the Rio Olympics, in 2016.
In September this year, two top-flight
handball players, signed up by title holders Dinamo Bucharest, were granted
Romanian citizenship: the Iranian Saeid Heidarirad și the
Croat Ante Kuduz. Both athletes have had noteworthy contributions to Dynamo’s
domestic and international feats. Now the path has been opened to both of them for a place in Romania’s international team.
This past Thursday,
in a Champions League fixture, Dinamo grabbed a 32 – 27 win against Wisla Plock. Goalkeeper Saeid Heidarirad had a most
significant contribution to Dinamo’s excellent run in the competition.
Heidarirad had five saves, just like Dinamo’s other goalie, the Algerian Khalifa Ghedbane. However, we need to add that Ghedbane’s average
save ratio stood at 18.5 %, while Saeid’s accounted for 50%. For his most remarkable
efficiency, crucial for Dynamo’s success against Wisla Plock, Radio Romania International
designated Saeid Heidarirad the Athlete of the week.
Saeid Heidarirad
was born on September 22, 1990, in the Iranian town of Selseleh. Heidarirad boasts 32 caps for Iran’s national
team. He has been playing for Dinamo for six years. Arguably one of Champions League’s
best goal keepers, Heidarirad turned down many offers from other countries,
opting for continuing to play in Romania. Now, with Dinamo, he stands real
chances to advance to the Champions League’s play-off stage, provided Dinamo
wins in the return leg against Wisla Plock this coming Thursday. Dinamo are
5th-placed in group A, while Wisla, 6th. The first six teams will be
making headway in the competition. (EN)
