Iranian striker Ghoochannejad moves to professional Cypriot club APOEL FC

Iranian professional footballer Reza Ghoochannejad, who previously played for the Dutch club Heerenveen and the Iran men’s national football team as a striker, has joined professional Cypriot football club APOEL FC.

The 30-year-old recently signed a contract with the team, which is the most popular and the most successful football squad in Cyprus, and will reportedly stay with it until 2020. The Iranian sportsman will don number 88 shirt.

No information about the value of the deal was immediately available.

Late last month, Ghoochannejad, nicknamed Gucci, unexpectedly announced his retirement from international duty.

Even though Gucci was called into Iran's 2018 FIFA World Cup squad by Portuguese head coach Carlos Queiroz, he did not play any minutes in Team Melli’s three group stage matches against Morocco, Spain and Portugal.

“To wear Iran jersey was a dream which came true for me but I think it’s time to bid farewell to Team Melli. I would also like to thank all my coaches and teammates for helping me grow as a player in the previous six years and wish them all the best,” Ghoochannejad wrote on his Instagram account.

He won 44 caps for the Iran men’s national football team and scored 16 goals.

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