Ali Daei

[smanhoobi]

Ali Daei, above and beyond the ordinary!
By NADER JAHANFARD

Born on March 21, 1969 in Ardabil, Iran, Ali Daei is, without hesitation, the most prolific striker in the history of Asian football. He is an accomplished athlete, proficient businessman and above all an educated sports celebrity.
Daei obtained his engineering degree in Metallurgy from Tehran's Sharif University. His sports career started in Ardabil at the age 19 when he played for Esteghlal of Ardabil. Missing out to play for J. League of Japan due to military service, Daei then moved to Tehran to join Taxirani FC, Tejarat Bank FC and the ever-popular Asian side Persepolis of Tehran.

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Many other Persepolis players signed contracts with several different foreign clubs at the same time, yet Daei proved to be very successful franchise. Daei moved to the Qatari side Al Saad and shortly after he was traded to Arminia Bielefeld in German Bundesliga.

Ali Daei then made a famous four million Deutschemark move from Arminia Bielefeld to the six time European champions Byern Munich, which was a record for Asian players at the time. He was hand picked for the Bundesliga giants Byern Munich by the legendary footballer Franz Beckenbauer, president of the club, who rated him as a world-class center forward.

The Iranian international star became the first Asian player to feature in a UEFA Champions League match. He won a Bundesliga championship with Byern Munich in 1999 and made his final European move to another Bundesliga great, Hertha Berlin.

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In Hertha Berlin Daei played in the Championship league and became their best goal getter with three goals in his pocket.

Who could forget his most famous matches against the powerful English club Chelsea and the mighty Italian A.C. Milan in which he scored three goals that earned him the prestigious Asian Player of the Year award in 1999. At the same time Daei was very successful in international competitions scoring practically in every game and making new records.

In November of 2004 Ali Daei finally passed the legendary Brazilian footballer Pele (77 goals) and Hungarian notorious striker Ferenc Puskas (84 goals) to become the only man in the history of International goals to pass the century mark!



The following month, FIFA (World football's governing body) awarded Daei in a ceremony arranged to laude football stars in Zurich Switzerland for his great achievement.



Few days later in Iran the managing director of Iran's postal company made an announcement to have Ali Daei's stamps in circulation and Daei joined an elite group of super athletes in Iran to have his own stamp.

Ali Daei finally decided to come back to his native Iran and once more played for Persepolis FC of Tehran. He played a year for the “Reds” and won the golden boot award the same year at age 35 before moving to Saba Battery FC of Tehran.

Daei also served his country twice in the world cups (1998, France and 2006 in Germany as the captain). He currently plays and manages Saipa FC of Tehran.

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Apart from his great sportsmanship on the pitch, Daei ran many charitable organizations and used a great deal of his own money in support of the less fortunate. Daei contributed so much to the Bam community after a massive earthquake hit Iranian ancient city on December 26th 2003.

In his native Iran, Daei has been seen as a role model and has touched many lives with his class and finesse. In September 2001 the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) appointed Ali Daei, the captain of the Iran's national soccer team, the goodwill harbinger of Iranian Global Movement for Children and Juniors (GMCJ). During a ceremony held by UNICEF representative in Iran, Daei received the license for his new position.

Daei later appeared in a UNICEF commercial with another super star David Beckham and former secretary of state, Madeline Albright. Daei has been regularly working with UNICEF organization ever since. He owns and operates several businesses including his own football jersey manufacturing company, making jersey for Iranian premiership clubs, second division clubs worldwide and for the national team.

Now Daei has joined the exclusive circles of players with a Century of caps and he continues to be a great example for not only Iranian youth, but also the younger generation of football lovers all over the globe. Daei will lead Iranian national football team to its third World Cup appearance in Germany this summer.

There is no doubt that Iran is full of great thinkers, who have the capacity to do the obligation, but Daei is now in every Iranian's heart and a great nation calls him a hero!



With many thanks to
FIFA.com
AFC (Asian Football Confederation)
WorldHistory.com
IRNA.com
Iranmania.com


Nader Jahanfard is the Senor Editor of www.footballmedia.net

[Alborz]

Truely a great player, its just a shame that he didn't make the most of some of his oppertunities....

[Rostam92]

He is truly one if not the best player iran has created
im sure that Iran must be proud of him

[VivaITALIA]

My idol of the century.

[vahid is back]

You never know what you are missing until you do not have it all.

[naderjan]

Soheil jan to khodaei!

[Afshin]

I think my 2 cents on Daei's retirement is relevant to this thread:

Daei’s contribution to Iran football as the legend retires

www.footballmedia.net Afshin Dastafshan: For over a decade Ali Daei has been an icon in Iranian football breaking records, settings new standards and setting examples for fellow Iranian players to follow. A true gentleman and a professional sportsman Daei made continued progress in his field through unrivalled determination, persistence and sheer hard work coupled with nationalistic feelings that put the acclaimed natural or gifted players around him to shame.

AFC player of the year 1999 Ali Daei is the world's all-time leading goal-scorer in international matches with 109 goals scored for Iran. From the outset Daei set his aims high; the first breakthrough in his club career came when he joined Tehran giants Persepolis FC in 1994. This was followed by Daei’s astounding Team Melli performances in Asian Cup 1996 finals where he caught the eyes of German Bundesliga clubs. Daei’s signing by Arminia Bielefeld in 1997 was a major breakthrough not just for Daei but also for Iranian football, Daei paved the way for more Iranian players to move to Germany, his success at Bielefeld earned him a one year deal with German giants Bayern Munich in 1998, Daei’s professionalism and contributions to Bayern was to lead to the signing of two more Iranians Vahid Hashemian and Ali Karimi in later years. More success was to follow when Daei moved to Hertha Berlin in 1999 and took UEFA Champions League by storm. Daei became the first Iranian to score in UEFA Champions League with goals against Turkey’s champions Galatasaray, English giants Chelsea (Daei scored a double) before scoring against Italian giants AC Millan on Italian soil (and a fantastic goal too), Alex Fergusson’s Manchester Utd will testify to the difficulty of scoring against AC Millan on Italian soil.

Daei played a significant role in Iran’s world cup 98 qualifiers and final, Daei remains the most visionary player I have seen in Iranian football, while Iran’s 2-2 draw against Australia in Melbourne (1997) will be remembered for Azizi’s goal I cannot help remembering Azizi’s goal because for Daei’s assist that put Azizi in a scoring position, while Iran’s win over USA in world cup 98 finals was dominated by political rivalry and two fantastic goals by Estili and Mahdavikia I tend to think of Daei’s assist from deep inside the Iranian half that put Mahdavikia in excellent position to make a run for the US goal. Daei was not just a deadly striker but he was a prolific playmaker at the same time. Where Daei was closely marked by two or three defenders he always created space for his team mates to score.

Daei faced the tough challenge of taking over as Team Melli captain from the legendary Ahmadreza Abedzadeh, now that is a tough act to follow. Australians and Americans will remember Abedzadeh well (perhaps even better than the Iranians do), after Abedzadeh’s departure Team Melli needed a leader on the pitch, Daei once again rose to the challenge and performed the captaincy role as well as Abedzadeh did. Daei’s presence was a re-assurance and a morale booster to the team, his height and strength was a frustrating menace to the opposition, almost one year on since Daei’s departure from Team Melli Iran continue to struggle in replacing him, the vacuum left by Daei continues to weaken Iran’s attack today.

Despite his contributions to Iran football Daei faced relentless criticism from the fans and media alike. Some suggested Daei should retire from Team Melli before Asian Cup 2004 finals, but Daei played a crucial role for Iran in that tournament; whilst Iran’s opponents particularly South Korea planned to nullify Daei the striker using two or three defenders to mark him Daei was used tactfully as a decoy and playmaker in the tournament with rewarding results. The difficulty in finding a replacement player for Daei was a major factor for using him in world cup 2006 finals, whilst Daei’s below average performance in Germany 2006 cannot be denied using Daei as a scapegoat for Iran’s failure in the world cup was a bitter pill to swallow! The culprits and opportunities from all sectors focused on debating the 37 year old Daei’s presence in the team whilst the incompetent corrupt management in charge of Iran Football did what they do best and mismanaged Iran’s world cup campaign from the word go.

Last but not least, I find it interesting that the football federation of a country that sees herself as the most passionate footballing nation in Asia failed to recognise Daei’s contribution to their football in the form of setting up a Daei testimonial match between Iran and a top European or South American team! It was interesting to see Mahmoud fekri being offered a sending off ceremony at half time in his last Team Melli appearance late last year but not even a handshake for Daei.

Daei went on to coach and play for Saipa FC after world cup 2006, his team won the Persian Gulf League (formerly Iran Pro League) this week on May 28th with Daei scoring ten goals in the process. Daei has emphasised his interest in coaching and will probably be the head coach of PGL’s newly crowned champions Saipa. Best wishes to Daei and Saipa in the Asian Champions League next season.

[bahram.abi]

khosham nemiyad azash.