Ali Daei

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This article is about the Iranian footballer. For the footballer from Senegal, see Ali Dia.

Ali Daei

Daei in 2016

Personal information

Full name Ali Daei

Date of birth 21 March 1969 (age 48)

Place of birth Ardabil, Iran

Height 1.92 m (6 ft 3 12 in)

Playing position Centre forward

Club information
Current team Naft Tehran (manager)

Youth career

19831988 Esteghlal Ardabil

Senior career*

Years Team Apps (Gls)

19881989 Esteghlal Ardabil 17 (8)

19891990 Taxirani 13 (4)

19901994 Bank Tejarat 46 (23)

19941996 Persepolis 38 (28)

19961997 Al-Sadd 16 (10)

19971998 Arminia Bielefeld 25 (7)

19981999 Bayern Munich 23 (6)

19992002 Hertha BSC 59 (6)

20022003 Al Shabab 25 (11)

20032004 Persepolis 28 (16)

20042006 Saba Battery 51 (23)

20062007 Saipa 26 (10)

Total 287 (112)

National team

2002 Iran U23 3 (3)

 19932006 Iran 149 (109)

Teams managed

20062008 Saipa

20082009 Iran

20092011 Persepolis

20112013 Rah Ahan

20132014 Persepolis

20152016 Saba Qom

2016 Naft Tehran

Honours[show]

Awards Order of Courage (3rd class)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league
only.

Ali Daei OCI (Persian: ) helpinfo(, pronounced [ li dji]; born 21 March 1969) is
an Iranian former footballer and current coach and businessman. Daei currently manages Persian
Gulf Pro League club Naft Tehran. He is the former captain of the Iran national football team, having
played for clubs such as Bayern Munich and Hertha BSC, and is the world's all-time leading
goalscorer in men's international matches. From June 2007 until 2013, Daei was a member of
the FIFA Football Committee.[1][2] He graduated from Sharif University of Technology in the field
of Metallurgical Engineering.[3] Daei also holds Daei Sport Company as its CEO.

Contents
[hide]

1Club career
o 1.1Early years
o 1.2Move to Europe
o 1.3Return to Asia
2International career
3Playing career statistics
o 3.1Club career statistics
o 3.2National team statistics
o 3.3International goals
 3.3.1Century of international goals
4Coaching career
o 4.1Saipa
o 4.2Iran national football team
o 4.3Persepolis
o 4.4Rah Ahan
o 4.5Return to Persepolis
o 4.6Saba Qom
o 4.7Naft Tehran
o 4.8Coaching career statistics
5Honours
o 5.1Club
o 5.2International
o 5.3Manager
o 5.4Individual
5.4.1Player
5.4.2Manager
6Beyond football
o 6.1Personal character
o 6.2Personal life
o 6.3Accident
o 6.4Autobiography
7References
8External links

Club career[edit]
Early years[edit]
Daei was born in Ardabil, Iran and is an Iranian Azerbaijani.[4][5][6][7][8] 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[edit]
After playing for a couple of minor league teams, Taxirani and Bank Tejarat, in 1994 Daei joined one
of country's premier squads, Persepolis 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.
Daei became the first Asian player to feature in a UEFA Champions League match. Yet at Bayern he
found himself low in the pecking order. This coupled with the Iranian national team's scheduling,
Daei had found very little time for playing. Daei was unhappy with his position in the club and
decided to make a move to Hertha BSC before the end of his three-year contract, when Bayern won
the championship title in the 1999 Bundesliga. He scored his first and second goal in the UEFA
Champions League on 22 September 1999 in group stage match against Chelsea won by Hertha
with 21. His famous match against Chelsea gained him a lot of recognition.[citation needed] Yet even at
Hertha he was not a hugely important player, 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[edit]
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 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. 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. Daei moved from Persepolis to Saba Battery on a free transfer for a modest
contract of around $300,000.
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 his
contract would not be renewed. Despite rumours of retirement, he signed for another industry-linked
club from Tehran, Saipa, on 1 August 2006.[9]
On 6 March 2007, Ali Daei was fined $2000 and suspended for four 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.[10]
On 28 May 2007, after Saipa won the 200607 Persian Gulf Cup in a match vs Mes Kerman, Daei
announced his retirement from playing club football and that he would concentrate on his coaching
career.[11]

International career[edit]
Daei was called up to join Team Melli on 6 June 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.
Despite criticism, Daei played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup; the criticisms, however, were more so
toward his fitness and the inability for younger players to play a part in the World Cup. 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.[12][13]