Andranik Timotian-Samarani, commonly known as Andranik "Ando" Teymourian (Armenian: Անդրանիկ Թէյմուրեան; Persian: آندرانيک تیموریان,) is an Iranian footballer who is currently a free agent. He usually plays as a defensive midfielder, but can also play as a wide midfielder. He is notably the first Christian to captain the Iranian national team.
From 2006 to the end of 2010, he played for three clubs in England, including Bolton and Fulham in the Premier League and Barnsley in the Football League Championship.
Teymourian played his first match for Iran in 2005, and has featured in their squads for the 2006 and 2014 World Cups, and also the 2007, 2011 and 2015 Asian Cups.
Teymourian has played for Iran's national football teams at the youth level, before being selected to take part with the senior side. He was a member of the national team during the 2006 World Cup. Pictures of an emotionally and physically drained Teymourian at the end of Iran's last game of the 2006 World Cup have begun to take the shape of Iranian football's most notable photograph from the event. Teymourian dropped to the grass and began sobbing while trainers attended to him. He has started to be recognized as a national hero in Iran because of the passion he showed for his country in the 2006 World Cup. He played in the 2007 and 2011 Asian Cups, as well as the WAFF Championships. The midfielder cemented his spot as a starter next to Javad Nekounam, leading Iran to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.
