| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Behrang Safari | ||
| Date of birth | February 9, 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Tehran, Iran | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Left back Left winger |
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| Club information | |||
| Current club | Anderlecht | ||
| Number | 20 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–2001 | Lunds SK | ||
| 2001–2004 | Malmö FF | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004–2008 | Malmö FF | 59 | (2) |
| 2008–2011 | Basel | 94 | (1) |
| 2011– | Anderlecht | 4 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2008– | Sweden | 21 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 May 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Behrang Safari (Persian: بهرنگ صفری; Persian pronunciation: [behræng sæfæriː]; born 9 February 1985) is an Iranian-born Swedish international footballer who plays as a defender for Anderlecht in the Belgian Pro League.
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He came to Sweden as a two-year-old from Tehran, Iran with his family. They settled in the small town Höganäs, and later moved to Lund when he was five.
Safari came through the ranks at Malmö FF and played his first game in Allsvenskan in July 2004 when he came on as a substitute. He won the Allsvenskan in his first season and the following season he became a first-team regular.
On 15 June 2008, Malmö announced that Safari has been sold to FC Basel in Switzerland.[1] This was confirmed one day later by FCB Online.[2] He made his Basel debut on 23 July 2008 in a 1–0 win over Grasshopper-Club Zürich at St. Jakob-Park. He played his first European game in a Basel shirt on 30 July 2008 in a 1–1 Champions League Qualifying match draw against IFK Göteborg at Ullevi. He scored his first goal for Basel in the 4–0 home win against BSC Young Boys on 7 February 2010. This was to remain his sole league goal for the club. Safari won the Double with Basel in 2010 and the Swiss national championship again in 2011. He played 94 league games for Basel during his three year contract.
On 30 May 2011 he signed a contract for the Belgian club Anderlecht.
Safari was called up to the Swedish national team for their friendly match tour in January 2008.[3] He played in all of the matches, which were a 1–0 win over Costa Rica, a 2–0 defeat to the United States, and a 0–0 draw with Turkey. During his debut game against Costa Rica, Safari set up the only goal of the game with a cross to Samuel Holmén, who volleyed the ball into the back of the net.
Sweden played the Netherlands away in Amsterdam on 12 October 2010 in a Euro 2012 qualifying match at the Amsterdam Arena. With Sweden trailing 1–0, Safari made a horrible mistake with a failed throw-in; he threw the ball backwards into the middle of the field, where it was picked up by Dutch player Wesley Sneijder, who advanced towards the Swedish goal and put Ibrahim Afellay free with the goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson. Afellay scored easily, making the score 2–0 in favour of the Dutch. Sweden didn't recover from this and the final score was a 4–1 defeat. Safari was substituted for Oscar Wendt during half-time due to his mistake.
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