Masoud Shojaei

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Personal information
Masoud Shojaei
Full name	Masoud Shojaei Soleimani
Date of birth	June 9, 1984 (age 22)
Place of birth	Shiraz, Iran
Playing position	Midfield
Club information
Current club	Sharjah FC
Number	9
Youth clubs
	Saipa FC
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
?-2003 2003-2006 2006-present	Sanat Naft FC Saipa FC Sharjah FC	(5) 7 (2)
National team²
2004-present	Iran	6 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 November 2006. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 24 March 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Masoud Shojaei Soleimani (Persian: مسعود شجاعی سليمانی‎ , born June 9, 1984 in Shiraz, Iran) is an Iranian football midfielder, currently playing for Sharjah FC in the UAE. He is also a member of Iran national football team.

1 International career
2 Club career
3 Personal life
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] International career

Having played for Saipa FC in the IPL with his quality in the midfield, he earned a place in Iran national under-23 football team, where his impressive performances caught the eyes of senior Team Melli coach, Branko Ivankovic. He was first called up to play for the national team in November 2004 for a World Cup qualifier against Laos. It was the only international cap he had won when coach Ivankovic called him up for the World Cup 2006 training camp in Switzerland. During the camp the coach was impressed by him and the youngster was selected among Iran's squad for the World Cup finals in Germany. However, Masoud Shojaei was kept on the bench during most of the three matches Iran played in the World Cup, but came in as a substitute in Iran's third game against Angola.

[edit] Club career

He started his career with Abadani club Sanat Naft FC, before moving to Saipa FC in the Iranian Professional League. He had three good seasons at Saipa FC with his outstanding dribbling skills. He was sometimes called The New Karimi, as his individual skills are very much like those of his fellow compatriot Ali Karimi.

Disappointingly for some, Shojaei signed with UAE outfit Sharjah FC, right after World Cup 2006.^[1] . He joined his fellow Iranian international Rasoul Khatibi, who had signed a two year contract with Sharjah FC. Shojaei is on a one year contract and is to be paid $1,200,000 for his stay.

He scored his first goal for Sharjah FC in the UAE League on October 3 against Al-Emarat.

[edit] Personal life

Masoud Shojaei was born in the southern city of Shiraz, but is in fact from the city of Abadan in Khuzestan province. The city itself is famous for always producing talented playmakers whose individual skills resemble those of the Brazilians.

He has six other siblings. Two of his brothers are also involved in football. His older brother plays for Vahdat FC, and his youngest brother plays for Saipa's youth team.

[edit] Notes

^ (Persian) مسعود شجاعي به تيم الشارجه امارات پيوست. ISNA. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.

[edit] External links

Masoud Shojaei at Fifa World Cup Official Site
Masoud Shojaei at TeamMelli.com
(Persian) Interview with Khanevadeye Sabz magazine

	Iran squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Mirzapour \| 2 Mahdavikia \| 3 Bakhtiarizadeh \| 4 Golmohammadi \| 5 Rezaei \| 6 Nekounam \| 7 Zandi \| 8 Karimi \| 9 Hashemian \| 10 Daei \| 11 Khatibi \| 12 Roudbarian \| 13 Ka'abi \| 14 Teymourian \| 15 Borhani \| 16 Enayati \| 17 Kazemian \| 18 Navidkia \| 19 Sadeqi \| 20 Nosrati \| 21 Madanchi \| 22 Talebloo \| 23 Shojaei \| Coach: Ivanković