Iran pulled a great performance during World Cup 2018. They didn’t manage to go to knock out stage but no one expected them to compete on that level too. The group had two clear winners: Spain and Portugal. Iran proved them wrong. Firstly, they won against Marocco, then lost against Spain but after a very good game.

The last game against Portugal was a great performance with many twists, 2 penalties and the excellent opportunity for Iran in the 94th minute to bring a dream come true but Iranian striker placed the ball inches away from the net.

It was also the first time where most people heard about Alireza Beiranvand, Iranian goalkeeper who saved Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty. Then his life story emerged and he became a worldwide and overnight sensation.

Alireza was born in Sarab-e Yas, Lorestan and part of the nomad multi-children family. He was the oldest of all sons so he helped father with work. He was mostly shepherding and because he was a kid, in his free time, he did two things: football and Dal Paran. Dal Paran was a game where you had to throw the stones long distance.

After the family settled for good in Sarab-e Yas, Alireza started playing regular football with a local club. Although he started at a different position he quickly demonstrated skills at the goal and was an obvious choice as a goalkeeper. He also liked playing as the goalie and became famous for his strong and long throws (did Dal Paran help?).

His father strongly opposed his involvement in football. He didn’t believe that one can become a regular professional and have a stable income from it so he tore his son’s sports clothes and threw away his gloves. That was too much for Alireza, who decided to flee home and move to Tehran in search of a bigger club.

Then he had a bit of luck — Hossein Feiz, who he randomly met in the bus, offered him to play in the local club. The issue was that Beiranvand had neither place to sleep nor any money with him. He slept a few days in the area where all poor, homeless immigrants stayed, Azadi Tower, the popular place for people in his situation.

When he started training for good in Naft-e-Tehran one of his colleagues offered him a place to stay for two weeks. After that time Beiranvand managed to find a job in the clothing factory and used it as a place to stay overnight and sleep too.

Next months were very tough, he had to change the job a few times working in a pizza restaurant and then as janitor cleaning streets and parks at night. The problem was jobs were not stable and didn’t provide enough support for a permanent apartment rental. He was moving from place to place and also his night job affected his training. He was simply too tired. Adding insult to injury his Naft manager saw him training with another club once and simply got rid of him. A big mistake and a life lesson for Alireza.

Beiranvand moved to train with Homa but they were hesitating to sign with him as manager kept him on trial as not good enough for a permanent contract. When his dream was dying, Naft called him back and offered to return to the club.

This time he used it well! He was so great that he was quickly selected to Iran’s under-23 and later got selected to the first team. He started on the bench in 2015 (he was part of AFC Asian Cup 2015 but as the second choice, he spent entire tournament on the bench) but soon he became a first and regular goalkeeper until today.

His World Cup 2018 penalty against Ronaldo will be remembered as it proved to the world that determination and a little luck can bring miracles. Today he is playing at AFC Asian Cup and Iran is aiming for the first win in over 43 years.