Januario vs. Junior Pernambucano: Difficult Test for Esteghlal Against Brazilian Genius! (Photos)

Sixteen years ago, Esteghlal's midfield faced a tough night against Juninho Pernambucano, one of the greatest set-piece takers in history.

According to Sport Se, Esteghlal had a brilliant start in the elite league in the new season and in its first match and by presenting a spectacular show, it passed the barrier of the strong and wealthy Al-Sad Qatar team with three goals. Now tonight they are facing Al Gharafa in the second game and they are looking to continue their good process in the new season. However, the history of the confrontation between these two teams in Asian competitions dates back to 16 years ago; Where Esteghlal, under the guidance of Abdul Samad Marfawi, was grouped with this Qatari club in the group stage in 1989.

The first match in Tehran ended with Esteghlal winning 0-3. But in the return match, the two teams faced each other in Qatar, and now we share some memorable pictures from that match. Interestingly, Juninho Pernambucano, the Brazilian star of Lyon club, was also in Al-Gharaqa's team at that time and played against Esteghlal players. During his sports career, Juninho often played in the French team Lyon and despite having many offers from big teams, the European chose to stay in the French league.

This player, who was part of the Brazil team in the 2006 World Cup, was a wonderful and skilled defender who delighted football fans with spectacular plays many times during his sports career. To check Juninho Pernambucano's free kick ability, just do a search to see what distances he has scored from.

But at the end of his sports career, like many great players in the world of football, he went to the Persian Gulf countries to earn more money. At that time, this Brazilian star was included in the Al-Gharafa team and played against Esteghlal as well. Interestingly, the only goal of this Qatari team was scored by Younes Mahmoud, a high-quality star of Iraqi football at that time.

A tall striker who won the 2007 Asian Cup with the Iraqi national team, and of course, during the confrontation with the Iranian national team in the 2015 World Cup, he managed to score both during the game and in the penalty shootout. But Seyed Mehdi Seyed Salehi, who was playing in Esteghlal at that time, scored the equalizing goal for his team in the second half and the match ended with the result 1-1. Esteghlal managed to advance from the group stage in the year, but they lost in the next stage and in a close match against Nasr of Saudi Arabia and had an early farewell to the Asian Champions League.