A relatively unknown American playing “the beautiful game” in Europe is Californian Kahveh Zahiroleslam who has had a solid first season with Belgian Pro League side Sint-Truiden. Now, he and the team have their sights set on a European place as the league heads into the playoffs.
Born and raised in the the city of Saratoga, in Silicon Valley, the dual national headed to the East Coast where he played for the Yale Bulldogs, scoring 13 times in the 28 games during his freshman season. Four times during that season, he was selected Rookie of the Week in the Ivy League and capped that off by being named to the All-Ivy League Second Team.
Instead of returning for his sophomore year, Zahiroleslam signed on with Chicago FC United, who play in USL League Two. From there, he jumped at the chance to sign a professional contract in Belgium.
When asked how he managed to make this big jump, the American-Iranian said, “I had good people in my corner who put my name out there.”
“I got to trial with Sint-Truiden and they liked me enough to offer me a contract. I’m so grateful to them and just happy to be able to return the favor on the pitch.”
Though not one of the top five in Europe, it is still a very competitive and aggressive league.
“Belgium is a great place for younger players to develop and move into bigger leagues in Europe. Players also get noticed by national teams, so I’m very happy with where I am.”
When asked if USMNT coach Greg Berhalter knows about him, the Californian replied with a grin, “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him.” However, he insists that currently, “I’m taking it one day at a time, focusing on my football and just letting my football do the talking.”
The Belgian Play-offs will get underway this weekend and the Limburg side will be competing in Play-off Group Two, along with Gent, Mechelen, Standard Liege (Marlon Fossey), Westerlo (Bryan Reynolds, Griffin Yow), and Leuven.
Zahiroleslam is confident and believes that his team can go all the way.
“(Our ambition is) to win it, of course. I think there’s something like four points between us and eighth place, so it’s about narrowing that gap. There’s a UEFA Europa Conference League spot up for grabs for us, so why not go for that?
“We know we can win it. We believe in ourselves and we believe in our philosophy of football,” he continued. “It’s not the prettiest play-offs group but we’re a young team and as many games as we can get is great for us. The more games the better.”
Each of the six teams will start their play-offs by having their total regular points cut in half before they play each other both home and away as they look to steal a European place during next season. The big question for the American however is, will he still be playing for the Canaries come August?
“I’m on a one-year contract (which ends in the summer),” he said, “so we’ll see what happens.”
The American has been noticed in his first European season where the 21-year-old has contributed five goals to the cause in 18 games. Expect more goals during the playoffs and the 6’4″ striker continuing his European adventure.
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | D | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 24 | |
| 2 | Mechelen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 23 | |
| 3 | Sint-Truiden | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 20 | |
| 4 | Standard Liège | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 17 | |
| 5 | Westerlo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 15 | |
| 6 | OH Leuven | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 15 |
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