Winner of the 2018 rising star award Moradi discusses his life in beach soccer and his big dreams for the future
Mohammad Moradi Farahabadi was born on 31 August 1996 in the city of Sari in northern Iran. Since then, he has risen through the world of beach soccer and his success peaked when he won the 2018 Intercontinental Cup in Dubai with the Iranian national selection.
Not only that, but at the Beach Soccer Stars award ceremony at the end of the event in Dubai, he was presented with the award for the Rising Star. Previous winners of the award include: Noel Ott (SUI), Be Martins (POR), Rodrigo (BRA) and Boris Nikonorov (RUS), and the prize clearly meant a lot to the then-22-year-old…
“Since I was named as the Rising Star, it has totally changed and inspired me.” He admits. “I have come so far in this sport and I want to go even further.”
Behind every great athlete there are always numerous support outlets and inspirations…
“Above all, I value the support of my family and the coaches who never pressured and always encouraged me to make it to the top.”
“My achievements were, first of all, thanks to God and the help of the guys from the national team that motivated me so much. Most importantly I was able to make my father happy with my achievements.”
Moradi now plays beach soccer professionally full-time, but what was life before beach soccer like? “I’ve always lived by the ocean. My parents work as costal lifeguards, but my beach soccer started, as it does for many players, on grass. I played when I was in high school and attended football clubs but I was farming and gardening for work.”
But soon, his talent and potential were recognised.
“There was a beach soccer team in our city and I used to go and watch the games and then one day I was offered the chance to attend a practice with a club. As I was interested in getting involved with beach soccer, I went along. My progress started from there when I was invited to play with the Iranian national team as a teenager.
This day was a turning point for me and I did my very best. Everyone started telling me that if I worked hard enough I could be the best in the world and that spurred me on to push myself even more.”
And how does the Iranian striker see the future of beach soccer and his role in the game?
“In my opinion, beach soccer has a lot of potential and is rapidly becoming recognized worldwide, especially in Iran. I feel honoured to have been trusted as an ambassador for beach soccer, and I don’t know how to repay this trust.
Beach soccer is my life and that I love the excitement that goes with it every day, and the only thing I can do is try to give 100% to inspire people and make the sport more popular in Iran and around the world.”
