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Born in Ardabil, Iran, he played for his home team Esteghlal Ardabil when he was 19, missing out an a chance to play in the J. League due to military service. Although tactically speaking, Daei is not the greatest of all Iranian footballers, his fame is attributed mostly to his goal scoring. Due to Iran's tournament schedule, he has played very few matches for his clubs, yet he has managed to score frequently. He is one of the greatest strikers in the history of football and is ranked first in most goals in international matches. He is considered to be the finest striker in the history of the Asian game. In the 1998 World Cup Qualifying round, he was top on the charts scoring 38 goals in 56 matches. Including his famous 4 goal haul against South Korea and 8 goals against Maldives . His experience with world-class FC's opened the way for other Asian players such as Hidetoshi Nakata and Mehdi Mahdavikia. 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.
After playing for minor league teams: Taxirani and Bank Tejarat, Daei joined one of the country's premier squads, Persepolis ( Pirouzi). As Arminia Bielefeld joined the Bundesliga they signed a contract with Daei and his teammate Karim Bagheri. Many other Persepolis players made contracts with several different foreign clubs at the same time, yet Daei proved to be a very successful franchise. Daei was hand picked for the Bayern MunichBayern Munich ( German: FC Bayern Munchen is a German football club. Founded in 1900, it is based in Munich. It currently plays in the Olympic Stadium, but will move to a new ground, Allianz Arena, in 2005. The club is the most famous and successful in Ge club by legendary footballer Franz BeckenbauerFranz Beckenbauer (born September 11, 1945) is a famous German football player, coach and manager, nicknamed der Kaiser ("the emperor"), Franz (English Francis being a name of Austrian emperors. He was born in Munich and started playing football with SC M, president of the club, who rated him as a world-class centre-forward (although he usually plays as striker). 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 HashemianVahid Hashemian (nickname: The Helicopter) is an iranian football player born in 1976. He is a forward and has played in: Fath Club Teheran (1993 95) Pas Club Teheran (1995 99) Hamburger SV (1999 2001) VfL Bochum (2001 2004) Bayern Munichen (2004-). who became the second Iranian to join the prestigous German club in 20042004 is a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 2004 calendar), and has also been designated the: International Year of Rice International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition Elections are to be held in 73 co.
Daei became the first Asian player to feature in a UEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League is an annual international inter-club football competition between Europe's most successful clubs, regarded as the most prestigious club trophy in the sport. History Originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or simply match. Yet with Bayern's 15 international players and the Iranian national team's poor 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, 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 BerlinHertha BSC Berlin is a football club based in Berlin, Germany. The club was formed in 1904 and currently plays in 1. Bundesliga. The team's colors are blue and white. They won two pre-Bundesliga German championships, in 1930 and 1931. German football club before the end of his three year contract after Bayern won the 1999 BundesligaThe Bundesliga (plural: -ligen) (translation: federal league is the name for the premier league of any sport in Austria and Germany. Used on its own, Bundesliga usually refers to Germany's highest football league. The Bundesligen are, in Germany and Austr. He played in the Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League is an annual international inter-club football competition between Europe's most successful clubs, regarded as the most prestigious club trophy in the sport. History Originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or simply with Hertha Berlin becoming the teams best scorer in the league with 3 goals. His famous match against ChelseaChelsea Football Club (also known as the Blues previously also known as the Pensioners , founded in 1905, is a Premier League football team that plays at Stamford Bridge football ground in west London. Despite the club's name, it is not based in the Chels gained him a lot of recognition, yet even in Hertha he was not the talk of the town, since he was only amongst one of the squad's many successful franchises, who were to fulfill Hertha's Bundesliga and Champions League dreams.
At the same time he was very successful in international competition scoring in practically every game and making new records. He played in many World Teams in friendly continental games. Yet Daei was still unable to maintain a stable position in the squads 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, Glasgow 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, Pirouzi. Daei moved from Pirouzi to Saba Battery on a free tranfer for a modest conract of around 300,000 American dollars.
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. In his native Iran, Daei has been seen as a role model for a sport with a terrible reputation, when many prominent footballers are accused of criminal offences or are involved with prostitutes, Daei has always brought about a good image of himself. Today Daei owns his own football jersey manufacturing company, making jerseys for Iranian Premiership clubs, 2nd Division clubs world-wide and for the national team. He has made very significant charitable donations and has made appearances in charitable football matches world-wide (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 Madeline Albright, and has regularly been seen working with the organisation.
Today Ali Daei has 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 (among men; he trails women's leader Mia Hamm by over 50 goals). 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.
Other Honours (individual) : Most Valuable Player and top scorer of the 1994 Asian World Cup preliminary finals (4 goals, Doha/Qatar); top scorer of the 1996 Asian Cup (8 goals, UAE); 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. Top goalscorer of the Iranian national league in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995.
Teams (in order):
Famous Daei Matches: