Eskandarian, Andranik

Andranik Eskandarian (آندرانیک اسکندریان) is a former Iranian left or full back who played in Iran and the United States. Born in December of 1951 in Tehran, he was known as “barbed wire” due to the difficulty opponents had in passing him. His first soccer success came with a championship in a regional competition with his high school in 1966. His solid performances led to a tryout and ultimate contract with second division team Poolad in 1968. He would play for Poolad for two years before transferring to the Armenian club Ararat which given his Armenian background seemed inevitable.

Having spent a couple of years with Ararat, Eskandarian received his big break when Tehran giants Taj (currently Esteghlal) swooped in and signed him. With Taj Eskandarian won the Iranian league in 1975 and finished in second place in 1974. He also won the Hazfi Cup in 1977. He would ultimately represent them in 184 matches while working a side job as a mechanical draftsman.

Following the 1978 World Cup, Eskandarian, along with fellow Iranian Danaeifard, would play on a world all-star XI against the New York Cosmos. Subsequently both would transfer to American clubs in the North American Soccer League. The Cosmos were monitoring Argentina defender Alberto Tarantini who had just claimed the World Cup with his native country but their interest soon shifted on Eskandarian who impressed the game with his defensive skills that struck the Cosmos board. 

The Iranian defender was invited by the Cosmos to feature for them in another exhibition match, this time against Boca Juniors. He put up an impressive display where he also registered an assist on a Giorgio Chinaglia goal and that proved enough for the American side to hand the Iranian star a contract which after some evaluation time, the latter accepted wholeheartedly. Wearing the Cosmos shirt 142 times, Eskandarian was part of three championship-winning teams; 1978, 1980 and 1982.

Following the collapse of the NASL, Eskandarian continued his career indoor with the Cosmos for the 1984-85 season. He briefly played indoor in the 1986-87 season with the New York Express and the 1989-90 season with the New Jersey Arrows before finally hanging up his boots.

In a four year span Eskandarian would represent Iran 29 times.  He began his career in 1975 playing in Iran’s successful qualifying campaign to qualify to the 1976 Olympics. He played a prominent role in Iran’s 1976 Asian Championship, playing in every game while securing a clean sheet throughout the tournament en route to a gold medal. The following month he would also play all of Iran’s games in the Olympics culminating in a quarterfinal elimination at the hands of the Soviet Union.

Eskandarian continued as an integral part of Iran’s defense in the qualifying campaign for the 1978 World Cup. He would make the final roster for the World Cup and take part in Iran’s first two matches against the Netherlands and Scotland. He infamously scored an own goal against Scotland in an eventual 1-1 tie but was otherwise praised for his defensive work and man marking. Eskandarian had been told to man-mark Kenny Dalglish, a job he undertook so effectively Dalglish was substituted. Regarding the own goal he would later comment, "There was a long ball and here comes Joe Jordan. My goalie said, 'Leave it'. Mr. Jordan pushed me into the goalie. I ended up scoring. I blame the ref." After Dalglish was taken off he stuck to Jordan like glue. "I was half the size of him and kept beating him in the air!" he remembers. "He was really pissed." Due to an accumulation of yellow cards he was suspended for the final group game against Peru.

Following the World Cup and after his transfer to the Cosmos, perhaps part due to the travel involved and part because of the turbulent state of Iranian soccer after the revolution, he was never recalled to the national team.

Following his retirement Eskandarian can be found six days a week at his soccer shop in Hackensack, NJ surrounded by soccer jerseys, cleats, balls and numerous articles and pictures from his playing days.