From Bilbao in the Iberian Peninsula to the western Iranian province of Khuzestan, Spanish winger Ibai Gomez made a surprising decision, and after more than half a year of idleness, he chose to move to West Asia, joining iranian league team Khuzestan Steel, with more than 200 La Liga games and knocking on the top two goals of the Western Super League, he also became the second Spanish foreign aid in the history of the Iranian league.
Of course, Gomez and Khuzestan Steel signed only a short contract until the end of June, this season's Persian Gulf Professional League (Iran's top league) will end on June 20, and Khuzestan Steel currently has 32 points, temporarily ranked 6th in the standings, 9 points behind the AFC Champions League region and 19 points ahead of the relegation zone. Of course, the team may also hope to launch an impact on the top three of the league by bringing in strong reinforcements.
With a history of 51 years, the team has been playing in Iran's top flight for 14 consecutive seasons, winning the league in 2013-14, and last season they won the Iranian domestic cup. The reason why Gomez chose to join this team has a very big relationship with the team's head coach, because the team's 41-year-old head coach Nekonan is not only a legendary Iranian star (playing 151 games for the Iranian national team), but also a Spanish general, who has played for La Liga team Osasuna for 7 seasons and began to coach Khuzestan Steel in 2019.
Nekonan vs. Villa
Although Ibai Gomez, who plays as a winger, is not a la Liga star, he has also played in 226 La Liga games for Athletic Bilbao and Alaves, contributing 28 goals and 29 assists, including 3 real Madrid and two barcelona, and in the third round of the 2016-17 season, it was his winning goal that allowed Alaves to beat Barca 2-1 and take 3 points from the Camp Nou.
Gomez will be the second Spanish foreign player to play in the Iranian league after A Coruña, Velva and Alaves veteran Manu Fernandez played for Sazi Mechanics for half a season, making 16 appearances, conceding 24 goals and keeping three clean sheets. As for our Chinese Super League, there have also been several Spanish foreign aides such as Ruben Suarez, Soriano, Mario Suarez, Ruben Castro and Vieira. Interestingly, Vieira's La Liga goal-scoring stats are also 57, which is also 28 goals and 29 assists.
Manu-Fernandez
Vieira