‘Homeless and broke’ Beiranvand finds fame stopping Ronaldo’s penalty
MOSCOW: Alireza Beiranvand saved Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty on Monday evening but that stop — the first time Portugal have missed a spot kick at a World Cup — is the peak of an incredible life story.
Beiranvand grew up as part of a nomad family in Sarab-e Yas, Lorenstan, Iran. He played football with his friends around helping his family out with shepherding their sheep.
He went on to join the local team at the age of 12 and impressed after moving between the sticks but his father Morteza was opposed to him pursuing football as a career.
“He even tore my clothes and gloves and I played with bare hands several times,” Beiranvand told The Guardian ahead of the World Cup.
Beiranvand realised the only solution was to leave home and ran away to capital Tehran with the hope of finding a club there. At first, he played for a local team that charged him around £30 (RM150) to train there.
The issue was, Beiranvand had nowhere to sleep and did not really have the money either.
Instead, he gathered with other poor migrants in the area at the Azadi Tower. He slept at the club one night before eventually being handed a lifeline.
Coach Hossein Feiz stopped charging him and arranged for him to be put up at a teammate’s house for two weeks.
From there, he worked in a dressmaking factory owned by another teammate’s father and then worked in a car wash.
Beiranvand was snapped up by Naft-e-Tehran. While there, he was allowed to live in a prayer room initially, but was eventually told he had to leave.
Another odd job came along — in a pizza shop — although that did not last long. His coach came in to buy a pizza and Beiranvand, embarrassed, did not want to serve him. The owner forced him to and then he left a few days after.
His last temporary profession was a role as a street cleaner, which included sweeping Tehran's Laleh Park alone.
Naft eventually sacked him because he picked up an injury while he was training with another team in order to keep up his fitness.
He tried out at Homa but their manager would not give him a contract. Eventually he was given a respite by being offered another chance at Naft.
Beiranvand broke through there, earned a place in the Iran Under 23s and eventually the first-team. He might be out of Russia following Iran's 1-1 draw with Portugal, but he has still managed to achieve everything he set out to do and more.
Which is why, when he stared down Ronaldo, he was one of the calmest men in the stadium. After all, he's faced a lot.