Ali Daei

Ali Daei
Personal information
Full name	Ali Daei
Date of birth	March 21, 1969 (1969-03-21) (age 40)
Place of birth	Ardabil, Iran
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 3+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre forward
Club information
Current club	Iran (Manager)
Youth clubs
1983–1988	Esteghlal Ardabil
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1988–1989 1989–1990 1990–1994 1994–1996 1996–1997 1997–1998 1998–1999 1999–2002 2002–2003 2003–2004 2004–2006 2006–2007	Esteghlal Ardabil Taxirani Bank Tejarat Persepolis Al-Sadd Arminia Bielefeld Bayern Munich Hertha Berlin Al-Shabab Persepolis Saba Battery Saipa	00? 0(14) 038 0(23) 00? 0(10) 025 00(7) 023 00(6) 059 00(6) 025 0(11) 024 0(16) 051 0(23) 026 0(10)
National team
1993–2006	Iran	158 (109)
Teams managed
2006–2008 2008–	Saipa[1] Iran
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Ali Daei, (Persian: علی دایی, ʔæliː-je dɑːjiː, nicknamed Shahriar [ʃæhrijɑːr], meaning The king, born March 21, 1969 in Ardabil, Iran) is a retired Iranian football player who currently is head coach of the Iran national football team.^[2] He is a former captain of the Iran national football team, and is the world's all-time leading goalscorer in international matches. Daei as of June 2007 is also a member of the FIFA Football Committee.^[3]

Club career

Early years

Daei graduated from Sharif University of Technology in Materials Engineering (Metallurgical) with a B.Sc. degree. Born in Ardabil, he played for his hometown club, Esteghlal Ardabil, when he was 19. His next club was Taxirani F.C. in Tehran, where he played for one season, before joining another Tehrani club, Bank Tejarat FC. He stayed four years with Bank Tejarat, missing out on a chance to play in the J. League due to military service. Daei's fame is attributed mostly to his renowned goal scoring ability. He managed to score frequently for his clubs, although due to the league schedule at the time he did not play many matches per season. His impressive performance at his club finally got results.

Move to Europe

After playing for a couple of minor league teams, Taxirani and Bank Tejarat, in 1994 Daei joined one of country's premier squads, Persepolis F.C. Following his impressive performance in Asian Cup in 1996 as Arminia Bielefeld joined the Bundesliga, they signed a contract with Daei and his fellow Iranian national team-mate Karim Bagheri. Ali Daei spent one season in Bielefeld and proved to be a successful franchise. He was hand picked for the Bayern Munich club by legendary footballer Franz Beckenbauer, president of the club, who rated him as a world-class centre-forward. He made a famous four million deutschemark move from Arminia Bielefeld to the four-time European Cup winners, which was a record for Asian players at the time. Daei also opened the door for Vahid Hashemian and Ali Karimi who became the second and third Iranians to join the Bavarians (Bayern Munich).

Daei became the first Asian player to feature in a UEFA Champions League match. Yet with Bayern's 15 international players and the Iranian national team's scheduling, Daei had found very little time for playing. In Germany he was known to be a true gentleman, famous for the way he treated the fans. Daei would always sign autographs to Bayern fans and was often the centre of attention, as he was featured in OPEL car commercials. Amazingly, he usually did manage to score when given a chance to play. Still, Ali Daei was unhappy with his position in the club and decided to make a move to Hertha BSC Berlin before the end of his three year contract, when Bayern won the championship title in the 1999 Bundesliga. In 2000 he played in the Champions League with Hertha BSC Berlin, becoming the teams best scorer in the league with 3 goals. His famous match against Chelsea gained him a lot of recognition. Yet even at Hertha he was not the talk of the town, since he was only amongst one of the squad's many successful players, who were to fulfill Hertha's Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League dreams.

Return to Asia

At the same time he was very successful in international competition scoring in practically every game and making new records. Daei was playing in numerous continental friendlies against world class opposition, yet was still unable to maintain a stable position in his club's starting line-up. In the year 2001 he was not among the top scorers in the Asian Qualifying round and he did not manage to take the team into the World Cup as captain for the first time. After receiving offers from Rapid Vienna, Rangers, the J. League and a few English Premiership teams, he decided that he was no longer fit to play world-class football. He joined the UAE league at 34 years of age, signing a contract with Al-Shabab as a free agent. In 2003 Daei quit the UAE team and joined his old team in Tehran, Persepolis F.C. Daei moved from Persepolis to Saba Battery F.C. on a free transfer for a modest contract of around $300,000 dollars.

He spent two years at Saba Battery, scoring 23 goals, winning the Hazfi Cup and participating in the Asian Champions League. After World Cup 2006 and the arrival of Saba Battery's new manager, Farhad Kazemi, it was announced that he was no longer needed on the team and that his contract would not be renewed. Despite rumors of retirement he signed for another industry linked club from Tehran, Saipa F.C., on August 1, 2006.^[4]

On March 6, 2007, Ali Daei was fined $2000 and suspended for 4 games by the Iranian Football Federation after the incidents in a league game where he delivered a head-butt to the face of Sheys Rezaei, the young Persepolis defender.^[5] In an interview with the Iranian paper, Iran Varzeshi, Daei has criticized this decision and has threatened to take his case to FIFA head-quarters if the decision is upheld by the IFF.^[6]

On May 28, 2007 after Saipa won the Persian Gulf Cup (2006-2007) after a match. vs Mes Kerman F.C. Daei announced his retirement from playing club football, he intends to concentrate on his coaching career.^[7][8]

International career

Daei was called up to join Team Melli on June 6 ,1993 in an ECO Cup tournament held in Tehran, where he made his debut for Iran against Pakistan. He continued his national team appearances and was named the top scorer of the final Asian round of 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifications with 4 goals in 5 matches.

Daei was named the world's top scorer in official international competitions by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), having scored 20 goals in competitive matches for Iran in 1996, including his famous 4 goal haul against South Korea in Asian Cup 1996. By the end of the 1996 Asian Cup, he had scored 29 goals in 38 appearances for Iran. In the 1998 World Cup qualifying campaign, he was again on top of the charts, scoring 9 goals in 17 matches for Iran, reaching his impressive record of 38 goals in 52 appearances for his country. He is one of the most prolific strikers in the history of football and is now ranked first in most goals in international matches. His experience with world-class football opened the way for other Asian players such as Hidetoshi Nakata and Mehdi Mahdavikia.

Century of international goals

Ali Daei joined the exclusive circle of players with a century of caps. In a November 28, 2003 Asian Cup qualifier in Tehran against Lebanon, he scored his 85th international goal, elevating him past Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskás to top the all-time list of scorers in international matches. On November 17, 2004, he scored four goals against Laos in a World Cup qualifier, giving him 102 goals and making him the first male player to score 100 goals in international play. As of June 2006, he has 149 caps for Iran, ranked among the top 10 of world's most capped players.

Criticism and controversy

Daei continued to hold his place in Iran national team by playing for Iran in World Cup 2006 at the age of 37. Despite the numerous criticism from Iranian media calling for his retirement, Ali Daei has always defended his position in Team Melli and has rejected that he was too old to play for the team.^[9]

Coaching career

Saipa

On October 8, 2006, upon sudden leave of Saipa's German coach Werner Lorant, he was appointed as the interim coach of Saipa.^[10] He was later officially announced as the full-time head coach. On May 28, Saipa became the Persian Gulf Cup champions in Daei's first season at the helm. Going into his second season as manager Daei relinquished his playing duties for the defending champions and found himself on the sidelines full-time. The results of Saipa's 2007-2008 campaign were not nearly as successful as his team finished 11th in the 18 team Iran Pro League table. However Daei did lead Saipa to an Asian Champions League quarterfinal birth before leaving to take over as the full-time manager of the Iranian National Football Team.

Iran

On March 2, 2008 IRIFF officially appointed Ali Daei as Team Melli's new head coach.

Coaching controversy

Despite admitting that his appointment as manager of the Iranian national team was a "surprise",^[11] Daei refused to leave his current coaching job at Saipa F.C., therefore taking on dual managerial careers until after Saipa had entered the Asian Champion League quarterfinals. At this point Daei left the Karaj based club for full time duty with the national team.^[1]

Honours

Country

• FIFA World Cup
  • Appearances and Goals: 1998 (0), 2006 (0)

• AFC Asian Cup
  • Appearances and goals: 1996 (Third Place, 8 goals), 2000 (Quarterfinals, 3 goals) 2004 (Third Place, 3 goals)

Club

• UEFA Champions League: 1 (Runner up)
  • 1999, Bayern Munich
• German championship: 1
  • 1998/99, Bayern Munich

• Iranian championship: 2
  • 1995/96, Persepolis
  • 2006/07, Saipa

• German League Cup: 1
  • 1999, Bayern Munich

• Iranian Cup: 1
  • 2004/05, Saba Battery

• Iranian Super Cup:1
  • 2005

Individual

• 1994
  • Most Valuable Player and top scorer of the Asian qualifications for 1994 FIFA World Cup, final round (4 goals, Doha, Qatar)
• 1996
  • Top goalscorer of 1996 AFC Asian Cup (8 goals, UAE)
  • Named the world's top goal scorer in official international competitions by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), having scored 22 goals in competitive matches in 1996.^[12]
• 1998
  • Top goalscorer of 1998 Asian Games (9 goals, Bangkok, Thailand)
• 1999
  • Named Asian Footballer of the Year in 1999
• 2000
  • Named the world's third top goal scorer in official international competitions by the IFFHS, having scored 20 goals in 2000.^[13]
• 2002
  • Top goalscorer of the Asian qualifications for 2002 FIFA World Cup by scoring 10 goals in 10 games.
• 2004
  • Top goalscorer of the Iranian Premier League in the 2003/04 season. (Persepolis) (16 goals)
  • Named the world's top goal scorer in official international competitions by the IFFHS, having scored 17 goals in 2004.^[14]
• 2005
  • Top goalscorer of WAFF Championship 2005 (5 goals, Tehran, Iran)
• 2007
  • Ranked 26th in the list of the 100 greatest players of all time by Association of Football Statisticians, the only Asian player to be included in the list titled "Greatest Ever Footballers".^[15]

Coaching honours

• Iranian championship: 1
  • 2006/07, Saipa

• Football Iran News & Events
  • Manager of the year (2006/07), Saipa

• WAFF Championship: 1
  • 2008, Iran

Career statistics

Famous matches

• Iran vs. Korea Republic (1996 AFC Asian Cup) — Daei scored four times
• Iran vs. USA (1998 FIFA World Cup)
• Iran vs. Germany (1998 FIFA World Cup)
• Iran vs. Japan (1999)
• Hertha BSC Berlin vs. Chelsea (UEFA Champions League 1999-00) — Daei scored twice
• Hertha BSC Berlin vs. Milan (UEFA Champions League 1999-00) — Daei scored once
• Iran vs. Lebanon (2003) — Daei passes Puskás
• Iran vs. Laos (2004) — Daei scored 4 goals and his 100th international goal
• Saipa vs. Mes (2007) — Daei scored a goal in his last official match and lead Saipa to IPL championship as a player-manager

International Goals

Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition	Goals
1993-06-25	Tehran, Iran	Chinese Taipei	6-0	1994 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
1993-07-27	Damascus, Syria	Chinese Taipei	6-0	1994 FIFA World Cup Qualification	2
1993-10-18	Doha, Qatar	Japan	2-1	1994 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
1993-10-22	Doha, Qatar	Iraq	1-2	1994 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
1993-10-25	Doha, Qatar	Korea DPR	2-1	1994 FIFA World Cup Qualification	2
1996-05-30	Kuwait City, Kuwait	Kuwait	2-1	International Match	2
1996-06-10	Tehran, Iran	Nepal	8-0	1996 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	4
1996-06-12	Tehran, Iran	Sri Lanka	7-0	1996 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	5
1996-06-14	Tehran, Iran	Oman	2-0	1996 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	1
1996-06-19	Muscat, Oman	Nepal	4-0	1996 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	1
1996-06-21	Muscat, Oman	Oman	2-1	1996 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	1
1996-12-05	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Iraq	1-2	1996 AFC Asian Cup	1
1996-12-08	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Thailand	3-1	1996 AFC Asian Cup	1
1996-12-11	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Saudi Arabia	3-0	1996 AFC Asian Cup	1
1996-12-16	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Korea Republic	6-2	1996 AFC Asian Cup	4
1996-12-16	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Kuwait	(4)1-1(3)	1996 AFC Asian Cup	1
1997-06-02	Damascus, Syria	Maldives	17-0	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification	2
1997-06-04	Damascus, Syria	Kyrgyzstan	7-0	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
1997-06-04	Damascus, Syria	Syria	1-0	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
1997-06-04	Tehran, Iran	Maldives	9-0	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification	2
1997-10-03	Tehran, Iran	Qatar	3-0	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
1997-10-17	Tehran, Iran	China PR	4-1	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
1997-11-16	Johor Bahru, Malaysia	Japan	2-3	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
1998-12-05	Sisaket, Thailand	Laos	6-1	1998 Asian Games	2
1998-12-08	Bangkok, Thailand	Oman	2-4	1998 Asian Games	1
1998-12-10	Bangkok, Thailand	Tajikistan	5-0	1998 Asian Games	2
1998-12-12	Bangkok, Thailand	China PR	2-1	1998 Asian Games	1
1998-12-14	Bangkok, Thailand	Uzbekistan	4-0	1998 Asian Games	3
1999-06-04	Edmonton, Canada	Canada	1-0	Canada Cup	1
1999-09-08	Yokohama, Japan	Japan	1-1	International Match	1
2000-01-09	Oakland, United States	Mexico	1-2	International Match	1
2000-01-12	Los Angeles, United States	Ecuador	2-1	International Match	1
2000-03-31	Damascus, Syria	Maldives	8-0	2000 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	3
2000-04-02	Damascus, Syria	Syria	1-0	2000 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	1
2000-04-09	Tehran, Iran	Bahrain	3-0	2000 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	1
2000-04-13	Tehran, Iran	Maldives	3-0	2000 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	1
2000-06-07	Tehran, Iran	Egypt	(7)1-1(8)	LG Cup	1
2000-06-09	Tehran, Iran	FYR Macedonia	3-1	LG Cup	1
2000-06-09	Doha, Qatar	Qatar	2-1	International Match	2
2000-10-12	Beirut, Lebanon	Lebanon	4-0	2000 AFC Asian Cup	1
2000-10-15	Beirut, Lebanon	Thailand	1-1	2000 AFC Asian Cup	1
2000-10-18	Sidon, Lebanon	Iraq	1-0	2000 AFC Asian Cup	1
2000-11-24	Tabriz, Iran	Guam	19-0	2002 FIFA World Cup Qualification	4
2000-11-28	Tabriz, Iran	Tajikistan	2-0	2002 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
2001-01-19	Tehran, Iran	China PR	4-0	Ancient Civil. Cup	1
2001-08-08	Tehran, Iran	Oman	4-0	LG Cup	1
2001-08-10	Tehran, Iran	Bosnia and Herzegovina	5-2	LG Cup	2
2001-08-24	Tehran, Iran	Saudi Arabia	2-0	2002 FIFA World Cup Qualification	2
2001-09-07	Baghdad, Iraq	Iraq	2-1	2002 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
2001-09-28	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia	2-2	2002 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
2001-10-21	Manama, Bahrain	Bahrain	1-3	2002 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
2001-10-31	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	United Arab Emirates	3-0	2002 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
2002-08-21	Kiev, Ukraine	Ukraine	1-0	International Match	1
2002-09-19	Tabriz, Iran	Paraguay	(4)1-1(3)	LG Cup	1
2003-09-05	Tehran, Iran	Jordan	4-1	2004 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	1
2003-11-19	Beirut, Lebanon	Lebanon	3-0	2004 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	1
2003-11-28	Tehran, Iran	Lebanon	1-0	2004 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	1
2003-12-02	Kuwait City, Kuwait	Kuwait	1-3	International Match	1
2004-02-18	Tehran, Iran	Qatar	3-1	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
2004-03-31	Vientiane, Laos	Laos	7-0	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification	2
2004-06-17	Tehran, Iran	Lebanon	4-0	WAAF Tournament	3
2004-06-21	Tehran, Iran	Syria	7-1	WAAF Tournament	1
2004-06-25	Tehran, Iran	Syria	4-1	WAAF Tournament	1
2004-07-20	Chongqing, China	Thailand	3-0	2004 AFC Asian Cup	1
2004-08-06	Beijing, China	Bahrain	4-2	2004 AFC Asian Cup	2
2004-09-08	Amman, Jordan	Jordan	2-0	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
2004-11-17	Tehran, Iran	Laos	7-0	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification	4
2004-12-18	Tehran, Iran	Panama	1-0	International Match	1
2005-02-02	Tehran, Iran	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2-1	International Match	1
2005-08-17	Yokohama, Japan	Japan	1-2	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification	1
2005-08-24	Tehran, Iran	Libya	4-0	International Match	1
2005-11-13	Tehran, Iran	Togo	2-0	LG Cup	1
2006-02-22	Tehran, Iran	Chinese Taipei	4-0	2007 AFC Asian Cup Qualification	1
2006-03-01	Tehran, Iran	Costa Rica	3-2	International Match	1

Beyond football

Personal character

Asides from his great sportsmanship on the pitch, Daei ran many charitable organisations and used a great deal of his money in support of the less fortunate. Today Daei owns his own football jersey manufacturing company called Daei Sport's Wears & Equipments, making sportswear for Iran sporting clubs in various fields and league clubs worldwide. His company also made jerseys for the national team. He has made very significant charitable donations and has made appearances in charitable football matches worldwide (featuring in the World vs. Bosnia match with Roberto Baggio and other football legends). He also appeared in a UNICEF commercial with superstar David Beckham and Madeleine Albright, and has regularly been seen working with the organisation. He is also very famous for being a "gentleman", the name which was given to him even in Germany where he used to play, because of his moderate behaviour.

Daei featured on July 18, 2007 in 90 Minutes for Mandela, a match between the Africa XI and the Rest of World XI to celebrate the birthday of Nelson Mandela.^[16] Daei played approximately 70 minutes in the match which ended 3-3.

Personal life

Besides his footballing career, Ali Daei also owns Daei Sport's Wears & Equipments, his company provides clothing for several Iranian football clubs and previously for the Iran national football team. In 2005 he married a former classmate of his from Sharif University in a lavish ceremony in north of Tehran in which many of his fans were standing in the nearby streets to cheer him. Some of the photos of his wedding ceremony were later published without his permission that caused a controversy inside the country. He has funded a sports complex in his home city of Ardabil called the Ali Daei Sports Complex that opened in May 2008.

Autobiography

On April 7, 2008 Daei announced that he has begun writing an autobiography set to be released in March 2010 and that despite reflecting on "bitter and sweet memories" he stated he would "keep some of his secrets in his heart forever".^[17]

References

See also

• 90 Minutes for Mandela

External links

• Ali Daei at TeamMelli.com
• Daei Sport's Wears & Equipments Official website
• RSSSF archive of Ali Daei's century of international appearances and goals
• Video Archive of Ali Daei
• Ali Daei's News-Blog (In Persian)

Sporting positions
Preceded by Amir Ghalenoei	Iran national football team Manager 2008-	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Werner Lorant	Saipa manager October 8, 2006 –	Succeeded by Pierre Littbarski
Preceded by Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh	Iran captain 2000–2006	Succeeded by Yahya Golmohammadi

Iran squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Abedzadeh • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Sadavi • 4 Khakpour • 5 Peyrovani • 6 Bagheri • 7 Mansourian • 8 Dinmohammadi • 9 Estili • 10 Daei • 11 Azizi • 12 Nakisa • 13 Latifi • 14 Mohammadkhani • 15 Ostad‑Asadi • 16 Shahroudi • 17 Zarincheh • 18 Hamedani • 19 Seraj • 20 Pashazadeh • 21 Minavand • 22 Broumand • Coach: Talebi

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 Sadeghi • 20 Nosrati • 21 Madanchi • 22 Talebloo • 23 Shojaei • Coach: Ivanković