Rahman Rezaei

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Rahman Rezaei
Personal information
Full name	Rahman Rezaei
Date of birth	February 20, 1975 (1975-02-20) (age 33)
Place of birth	Noor City of Mazandaran, Iran
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Centre Back
Club information
Current club	Livorno
Number	18
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998-2001 2001-2003 2003-2006 2006-	Zob Ahan Perugia Messina Livorno	038 (5) 107 (2) 021 (1)
National team2
2001-2007	Iran	56 (3)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 May 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 22 July 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Rahman Rezaei (Persian: رحمان رضايی , born February 20, 1975 in Noor City of Mazandaran) is an Iranian football player who plays for Livorno in the Serie A, and is a former member of the Iran national football team. He usually plays in the centre back position.

[edit] Club career

He was originally discovered by Iranian manager, Nasser Hejazi. Rezaei played for F.C. Zob Ahan in Isfahan for three seasons. After impressive performances for the club and the national team, he was transferred to Perugia and then to Messina.

Rahman Rezaei is currently the most successful Asian defender in Europe.^[1] In the 2003/2004 season, he helped Messina gain promotion to Serie A.^[2] He had been one of Messina's most consistently used players with 36 appearances in their 2004-05 mid-table finish.^[1] After steadily playing for his club for three seasons, at the end of August 2006 Rezaei signed with another Serie A club, Livorno.

He has won numerous plaudits in Italy and has been dubbed "The Flying Carpet".^[2] In addition, his fans in Messina have named him the "Secretary of Defense".^[2]In January 2006, he acquired Italian citizenship through his marriage to an Italian-Iranian woman.^[2]

In January 2008 Rahman's agent stated that Torino is interested in Rezaei and there may be a future move.

[edit] Club career statistics

Last update: 20 May 2008

Season	Team	Country	Division	Apps	Goals
98/99	Zob Ahan	Iran	1	??	??
99/00	Zob Ahan	Iran	1	38	64
00/01	Zob Ahan	Iran	1	??	2
01/02	Perugia	Italy	1	25	2
02/03	Perugia	Italy	1	13	3
03/04	Messina	Italy	2	37	2
04/05	Messina	Italy	1	36	0
05/06	Messina	Italy	1	34	0
06/07	Livorno	Italy	1	16	1
07/08	Livorno	Italy	1	5	0

[edit] International career

Rahman Rezaei made his first appearance for Iran in July 2001 against Bosnia. He has been the most consistent defender for the team ever since.^{[citation needed]}

In European football, Rahman Rezaei is considered a solid defender well inclined to launch devastating counter attacks. However his role is different in the Iranian national football team, where he is a straight defensive centre back. He was formerly a forward, but has proved to be an indispensable defensive stalwart for an Iranian side considered top-heavy in attacking players.

He was among the key players for Iran in World Cup 2006, but he did not perform as well as everyone had hoped. He received some criticism following a couple mistakes which led to goals being scored against the team.^{[citation needed]}

On April 6, 2007 Rezaei stated he will retire from international football after the 2007 Asian Cup.^[3][4], but in another interview in December 2007 he expressed his intention to return to the national team.^[5] Rezaei has been given his #5 jersey and has been selected in Team Melli's 2010 World Cup Qualification matches.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• (Italian) Rahman's profile on Official Website of A.S. Livorno Calcio
• Rahman Rezaei at TeamMelli.com

v • d • e 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 Kaebi • 14 Teymourian • 15 Borhani • 16 Enayati • 17 Kazemian • 18 Navidkia • 19 Sadeqi • 20 Nosrati • 21 Madanchi • 22 Talebloo • 23 Shojaei • Coach: Ivanković