Khodadad Azizi

Khodadad Azizi
Personal information
Full nameKhodadad Azizi
Date of birth22 June 1971
Place of birthMashhad, Iran
Height1.69 m (5 ft 6 12 in)
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current team
Shahrdari Tabriz (manager)
Youth career
1983–1988Aboomoslem
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1988–1993Aboomoslem
1993–1995Fath Tehran
1995–1997Bahman
1996–1997Persepolis (loan)0(0)
1997–20001. FC Köln50(10)
2000San Jose Earthquakes20(3)
2001Al-Nasr(2)
2001–2005Pas82(23)
2005Admira Wacker0(0)
2005–2006Oghab
2006Rah Ahan10[1](2)
National team
1992–2006Iran47(11)
Teams managed
2006–2007Aboomoslem
2008Payam Khorasan
2009Esteghlal Ahvaz
2011–2012Aboomoslem
2015–Shahrdari Tabriz
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Khodadad Azizi (Persian: خداداد عزیزی, born 22 June 1971) is an Iranian retired professional football striker and a current coach.

Club career

After playing for a few clubs in Iran and following his performance in Asia, he moved to Germany in 1997 to play for 1. FC Köln. Azizi, along with his Iranian national team-mates Ali Daei and Karim Bagheri, were among the first Iranians to enter German Bundesliga.

Having played for three seasons in 1. FC Köln, he signed a contract with California-based club San Jose Earthquakes. In 2001, Khodadad Azizi was transferred to the UAE club, Al Nasr, before returning to Iran and joining Pas Tehran.

In 2005, he signed for Admira Wacker in the Austrian Bundesliga. He returned to Iran soon after and signed for lower division club, Oghab. His stay there was not very lengthy as he signed for Rah Ahan in late 2005.

Retirement

After the 2005–06 season, Azizi retired from club and international football. He finished his international career with 47 caps and 11 goals. Following his retirement, Azizi was employed by his hometown club, Aboomoslem, as club chairman advisor.[2] Azizi also co-owns a sports clothing label called Majid with financial backing from Abdol Majid Saedifar who put a $400,000 into the company. In September 2011, Khabaronline.ir reported Azizi to be the owner of Siah Jamegaan of Khorasaan, a spin-off of F.C. Aboomoslem.[3]

Club career statistics

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Iran League Hazfi Cup Asia Total
1989–90AboumoslemQods League
1990–91Azadegan League
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94Pas
1994–95
1995–96Bahman
1996–97
1996–97Persepolis----4444
Germany League DFB-Pokal Europe Total
1997–981. FC KölnBundesliga20510--215
1998–992. Bundesliga27410--284
1999–003100--31
USA League Open Cup North America Total
2000San JoseMLS20320--223
United Arab Emirates League President's Cup Asia Total
2000–01Al-NasrUAE Football League2
Iran League Hazfi Cup Asia Total
2001–02PasPersian Gulf Cup?8--
2002–03?4--
2003–04?9--
2004–05172
Austria League Cup Continental Total
2004–05Admira WackerBundesliga0000--00
Iran League Hazfi Cup Asia Total
2005–06OghabAzadegan League--
Rah AhanPersian Gulf Cup102--
Total Germany 501020--5210
USA 20320--223
Career total

International career

Azizi represented Iran at the 1996 Asian Cup, 1998 FIFA World Cup, and the 2000 Asian Cup. He was named Asian Player of the Year in 1996, as well as the Asian Cup Most Valuable Player in the 1996 Asian Cup.

Azizi is best remembered for scoring the equaliser against Australia in the second leg World Cup qualifier in November 1997, sending Iran into France 98.

Coaching career

In December 2006, Azizi was appointed the manager of Aboomoslem, a Mashhad based football club that he had started his career with in the early 90's. He was replaced by Parviz Mazloumi in October 2007. He was head coach of Payam Khorasan and Esteghlal Ahvaz for a short time. In 2011, he was appointed as head coach of Aboomoslem for a second time but parted company with the club on 1 June 2012.

References

  1. "Event /مصاحبه با فوتبالیست محبوب ایران: خداداد عزیزی" (in Persian). www.irani.at. Retrieved 11 July 2006.
  2. قلعه نويى مربى شجاعى است – عزيزى: به فكر يك مربى خارجى هم باشيم (in Persian). Iran Varzeshi Newspaper. Archived from the original on 21 July 2006. Retrieved 18 July 2006.
  3. پرسپولیس تیم خداداد را برد (in Persian). khabaronline.ir. 1 September 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2013.

External links