Pious, Farshad

Farshad Pious (فرشاد پیوس) was a forward in the 80s and 90s. He was the top goal scorer in practically every team and league that he represented. Many (including club and national team coach Ali Parvin) considered his lethal finishing instincts on par with Gerd Muller. While he would be invisible for stretches of a match, however, he single handedly rescued Persepolis and Iran from many tight situations with his moments of brilliance by popping up in the right place at the right time.

He started his career in 1980 with Rah Ahan before moving to Shahin. He then transferred to Nirooyeh Havaei. While playing for these clubs he almost averaged a goal per game. He would then in 1985 move to Tehran giants Persepolis where he would spend the bulk of his career. He won three straight Tehran League Championships and one National Cup to go along with three individual top scorer titles. Following the 1988 Asian Championship in Qatar, Qatari club Al Ahli took an interest in him and during his one year stay there, his club finished second while he ended as the league’s top scorer. He then returned to Persepolis to win two more Tehran League Championships, one National Cup and two more top scorer titles. By virtue of winning the National Cup, Persepolis competed in the Asian Cup Winners Cup, ultimately winning it. En route to this championship, Pious set a record of scoring 7 goals in a 9-0 win against Panjab of Pakistan. With the establishment of a National League, Pious would add two national titles and two more top scorer titles to his resume before retiring in 1997.

Pious’s national team career covered a ten-year period beginning in 1984. He was one of the last players cut from the 1984 Asian Championship roster but represented Iran and scored in the 1986 Asian Games where Iran was eliminated by hosts South Korea in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks. Following disagreements with the coaching staff. he was one of the players who resigned from the team, however, he was brought back into the fold for the 1988 Asian Championship where he emerged as Iran’s top scorer and won a bronze medal. His presence in Qatar made him unavailable for the first half of Iran’s World Cup qualifiers, but in the remaining 3 games Pious scored just as many times, acting as captain in the final 2 following the suspension of a number of national team players. Pious also represented Iran at the 1990 Asian Games in China where he was nicknamed Asia’s rattle snake. Once again he was the team’s top scorer (with 4 goals) which was coupled with a gold medal. In the 1992 Asian Championship he only scored once and Iran was eliminated after a controversial match with hosts Japan which resulted in a long suspension and his absence from the 1994 World Cup qualifiers. His last action with the national team was the 1994 Asian Games. Pious would score his last goal for Iran in a 4-0 win against Yemen although it would prove to be too little, too late and Iran would be eliminated in group play.

Pious faced two lengthy suspensions throughout his career. The first was following the 1992 Asian Championship in which he was mistaken for Kermani Moghaddam during an assault on the referee and although the replays clearly exonerated him the AFC upheld his one-year suspension from all club and country matches. Following the 1995 Tehran derby and the brawling and field invasion that ensued, Pious was faced with another six-month suspension.

Pious scored 20 goals in 35 caps for Iran. On the club level he scored 212 goals in 277 games, including three times in the Tehran derby. He retired by being substituted off during the 1997 Tehran derby. Following his retirement he began coaching domestically.