The match-ups looked scary on paper but Mansour Ebrahimzadeh’s team one-by-one stunned Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Bunyodkor, Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad, defending Asian champions Pohang Steelers and most recently Saudi giants Al Hilal.
Zobahan not only held the best defensive record of all the Asian Champions League semi finalists, conceding just five goals in ten games but they are also unbeaten in the knockout stages of the competition.
On the domestic scene momentum is on their side and they are league leaders. Ebrahimzadeh’s team have a reputation for uncompromising defending, boasting the Iran Pro League's best defensive record three seasons in a row.
Zobahan's consistency and team improvement over the past few years is a result of exemplary club management, relatively stable coaching and more importantly an iconic youth development at all levels of the club.
The Esfahan-based team, unlike their domestic counterparts, don't feel the need to revamp their management every season and seldom rely on big-name stars for success.
Instead, they are heavily invested in their very own youth academy players; promoting talent with a determination and hunger for success on the pitch week-in, week-out.
To an extent, Zobahan is so distinguished from all other Iranian teams that pundits don't believe the club’s success story will create any momentum for Iranian football. Ebrahimzadeh’s side have built their success on a plan that no other Iranian team has ever attempted to replicate.
It is a matter of days before Zob Ahan meet Seognam in the Asian Champions League final, where they produced another fairytale performance and win the trophy for the first time in their history.
Will it have any impact on other Iranian clubs and the national team? Most likely not. Zobahan's strategy on and off the pitch was there for other sides to learn from but no-one bothered to follow it in Iran.
Even with a piece of continental silverware added to their trophy cabinet, the club will remain the exception rather than the rule and their success story will be read as a fairytale in the years to come, rather than a blueprint for the future success of Iranian sides.
By: Niloofar Momeni