Homayoun Behzadi (20 June 1942 – 22 January 2016) was an Iranian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and coach. He usually played as a striker.

Early life

He was born on 4 January 1942 in

Khorramabad Khorramabad ( fa, خرم‌آباد, Khorramâbâd ), alternatively romanized as Khorramābād, Khoramabad, Khurramabad, Khorram Abad, or Khur Ramābād, is a city and the capital of Lorestan Province, Iran. At the time of the 2016 census, its po ...

, Lorestan Province. Behzadi first broke into the Shahin side when he was only 16 years old. He played for Shahin until 1966, when due to financial problems Shahin FC dissolved. He is graduated in

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...

Playing career

Club career

In 1967, he changed to

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

. In spring 1968, he changed to

Peykan The Paykan ( fa, پيکان meaning ''Arrow'') is the first Iranian-made car produced by Iran Khodro (formerly called "Iran National") between 1967 and 2005. The car was very popular in Iran from its introduction until its discontinuation. I ...

. There he won the Tehran Championship in 1968 before changing to

in 1969. There he won the

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

league in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

as well as in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

International career

In 1966 he won the silver medal of the

Asian Games in Thailand Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

. He won the Asian Nations Cup with Iran in 1968 – when he scored 4 goals in 4 matches, also the equalizer in the final match, which led to 2–1 victory against Israel (and to become one of the tournament's top scorer). He also won the Asian Nations Cup with Iran in

Coaching career

Before his starting his coaching career, he trained

in the absence of manager Alan Rogers, when he was part of the team. After he retired in 1975, he became caretaker head coach of the club after resignation of Rogers. He starts a project in Persepolis that held in next years to decrease the age of the first team squad. His first match as the Persepolis match was a friendly against

Malavan Malavan Bandar Anzali Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال ملوان بندر انزلى, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Milâvan Bendâr Anzeli'') is an Iranian football club based in Bandar-e Anzali, Iran. It currently won Iran's second foot ...

which won 3–1. His first official match was a loss to Rah Ahan. After that, Persepolis won and drew twice, then faced to the rivals, Taj (now Esteghlal) in Tehran derby. He lost the match 3–1, but after the match he claimed that Taj players drugs before the match. It was later rejected. He was banned for two months and was replaced with Buyuk Vatankhah. After he was sacked as Persepolis head coach, he was manager of Shahbaz B team for more than ten years.

After retirement

Membership in Persepolis Hall of Fame

He was named as one of the members of

Persepolis F.C. Persepolis Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال پرسپولیس, Bâšgâh-e Futbâl-e Perspolis) is an Iranian professional football club based in Tehran, that competes in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Persepolis was founded in 1 ...

Hall of Fame and the club thanked him for his great performance during his senior career at Persepolis. The club gave him a statue of his face and named him as one of the twelve great players of Persepolis in the 1970s.

Illness and death

He suffered a heart attack and was transferred to

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

hospital in April 2013. After two days, he was transferred to Day hospital and his personal doctor announced that his general health is good. He was released on 12 May 2013. On 22 January 2016, Behzadi died in his home at the age of 74.

Honours

Club

;Shahin *

Tehran Football League The Iranian football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for football clubs in Iran. Structure The current structure has been in place since 2001. The Persian Gulf Pro League (PGL) is the highest level of club football in Iran. ...

**Winner (7): 1958–59, 1959–60, 1964–65, 1965–66 **Runner-Up (6): 1961–62, 1962–63 *

Tehran Hazfi Cup The Iranian football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for football clubs in Iran. Structure The current structure has been in place since 2001. The Persian Gulf Pro League (PGL) is the highest level of club football in Iran. ...

**Winner (1): 1962–63 ;Paykan *

**Winner (1): 1969–70 ;Persepolis *

Iranian Football League The Iranian football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for football clubs in Iran. Structure The current structure has been in place since 2001. The Persian Gulf Pro League (PGL) is the highest level of club football in Iran. I ...

**Winners (2): 1971–72 1973–74 **Runners-Up (1): 1974–75

International

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

**Winner (2): 1968,

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

**Runner-Up (1): 1966

Individual

Top goalscorer: 1968 * Persepolis Hall of Fame: 2013 * Asian Football Hall of Fame: 2014

References

External links

Homayoun Behzadi
a
TeamMelli.comInterview with Homayoun Behzadi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Behzadi, Homayoun 1942 births 2016 deaths Iranian footballers Iranian football managers Shahin FC players Persepolis F.C. players People from Khorramabad Iran international footballers 1968 AFC Asian Cup players AFC Asian Cup-winning players Persepolis F.C. managers Asian Games silver medalists for Iran 1972 AFC Asian Cup players Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1966 Asian Games Association football forwards Medalists at the 1966 Asian Games