TEHRANTIMES - Portuguese side Maritimo has terminated its contract with Iranian international goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi with just six months after signing a three-and-a-half-year contract with him.

The 28-year-old keeper joined Maritimo from Rubin Kazan in January 2016 to reuniting with his former coach Nelo Vingada.

Last season he made four appearances in the league and conceded five goals while in the League Cup final he had a poor performance in the 6-2 defeat against Benfica.

Haghighi expected to be Maritimo’s No. 1 keeper this season as he started all the pre-season matches for the team. The latest pre-season friendly against Las Palmas didn’t go well for Haghighi as he left out the starting line-up by the new head coach Paulo Cesar Gusmao.

Following the arrival of Brazilian keeper Eduardo Gottardi and Gusmao’s dissatisfaction with Haghighi’s performance, the club has terminated contract with the Iranian keeper by mutual consent.

Haghighi had loan spells at Sporting Covilha and Penafiel as well.

Haghighi, who is currently Iran national football team first choice keeper, has represented Iran at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.