Hossein Kaebi ( fa, حسین کعبی, born September 23, 1985) is a former

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian professional football player who last played for Sepidrood and Perspolis among other clubs in

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

Club career

Kaebi started his football in Esteghlal Ahvaz F.C. youth academy, before moving to Foolad. It was in this club that

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n coach

Vinko Begović Vinko Begović (born October 2, 1948) is a Croatian football manager and former player. Managerial career He has previously served as head coach of several clubs namely Foolad, Pirouzi (now named Persepolis) and Pegah Gilan of Iran, and Al-W ...

quickly discovered him and soon he was in the first team line-up despite his tender young age. He was selected for the U17 team that played in the

AFC U-17 Championship 2000 The 2000 AFC U-16 Championship was the 9th AFC U-16 Championship, which was held between 3 and 17 September 2000 in Vietnam. Oman defeated Iran in the final round. Qualification *Group 1 : *Group 2 : *Group 3 : *Group 4 : *Group 5 : *Group 6 ...

. He was also selected for the national team soon after the Asian Championship. Kaebi started getting attention from European clubs at an early age and went on a 3-week trial at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

in 2003. He was part of the Team that won the

Iran's Premier Football League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

on 2004 with Foolad for first time. Kaebi disappointed many when he signed for UAE club

Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country * Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir ** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf ** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates * The Emirat ...

. Kaebi signed a contract with

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 ...

on 25 February 2007 on a 6-month deal. On 5 July 2007, he signed a two-year deal with

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

for an undisclosed fee, making his debut as a substitute in a 4–1 win over

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

on 25 August. Kaebi used a translator to speak for him during his time at

as he could not speak English. He was relegated to the reserve squad following the sacking of

Martin Allen Martin James Allen (born 14 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player. He played more than 100 games as a midfielder for both Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and ...

on 29 August. Kaebi revealed on 19 September that he was settling in well with the club and was eager to show his talent to the fans. But on 15 October, he told the

Leicester Mercury The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its ...

that he was frustrated at being left in the reserve squad. This left many Iranian fans to question the club's decision to leave an international footballer out of the first team setup. Kaebi later declared to

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

that if his "time on the bench continues then" he would consider leaving Leicester. He finally made his long-awaited start on 11 December in a 3–1 defeat to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

on 11 December 2007. He was however transfer listed by then-manager

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League ...

on 23 December, eight days after featuring in a 2–0 defeat to

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

, his last ever appearance for the club. He was released by mutual consent on 4 February 2008, after he failed to secure a move from Leicester when the January transfer window closed.

Return to Iran

He was returned 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 ...

after he failed to make an impact at

. He won the

for the second time under

Afshin Ghotbi Afshin Ghotbi ( fa, افشین قطبی, born 8 February 1964 in Tehran) is an Iranian-American football coach who works as head coach of Vancouver FC in the Canadian Premier League. Early life Afshin Ghotbi was born in Tehran. He is the son ...

. Despite the offer from

he decided to move to

Saipa F.C. Saipa Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال سايپا, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Saipa'') is a football club from Tehran, Iran. The team is owned by SAIPA, an Iranian automobile manufacturer. The team has never had a large fanbase, despite so ...

He said he wanted to experience new team and he could not continue playing for

but he never said why. Many others believed that he moved to

for a better offer. After 2 seasons he settled in one club and played in Asian Champions League also played 26 games in 2008–9 season for

Saipa SAIPA ( fa, سایپا, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'') was established in 1965 as with 75% Iranian ownersh ...

.Then he joined Steel Azin and spent two seasons before joining Rah Ahan in 2011 where he joined his beloved coach

Ali Daei Ali Daei ( fa, ; born 21 March 1969) is an Iranian football manager and former player. A striker, he was the captain of the Iranian national team between 2000 and 2006 and played in the German Bundesliga for Arminia Bielefeld, Bayern Munich ...

where they fall apart after Kaebi failed to attend few training sessions on time and he decided to leave and move to Sanat Naft in January 2013 where he stayed for half a season and 6 months before joining

Esteghlal Khuzestan Esteghlal Khuzestan Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال استقلال خوزستان, ''Bašgâh-e Futbâl-e Esteqlâl-e Xuzestân''), commonly known as Esteghlal Khuzestan, is an Iranian football club based in Ahvaz, Iran. The club c ...

for 2013–14 season. After a short stint at Sepidrood, he announced his retirement from football in December 2018.

Club career statistics

* Assist Goals

International career

Kaebi won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

having just turned 17, scoring his first international goal against Cameroon League XI on 15 August 2003, although the match was not considered an official international. He scored his first official goal for Iran against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the 2003 AFC/OFC Cup Challenge . In 2004, he was named amongst

World Soccer Magazine ''World Soccer'' is an English-language football magazine, published by Kelsey Media. The magazine was established in 1960 and is the oldest continually published football magazine in the United Kingdom. It specialises in the international fo ...

's Top 10 most promising players. He was in Iran squad for 2004 Asian Cup which finished third and he also won the

2004 West Asian Football Federation Championship The 2004 West Asian Football Federation Championship took part in Iranian Capital of Tehran. Iran won the final against Syria 4–1. The 6 entrants were Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan. The finals took place between 17 and 25 Ju ...

in Tehran. Kaebi was in the Iran squad for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, appearing in all three matches of the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

. His most memorable performance came against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, where he was able to ''clamp down'' both

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

and

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (association football), winger for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, Real ...

. He was also included in the squad for the

2007 Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its hi ...

, making just one appearance against China, which ended in a 2–2 draw.China 2–2 Iran: Nekounam seals fightback
, ESPN 15 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-29. He was called to

Team Melli ) ''(the national team)' other nicknames'' , Badge = Flag_of_Iran.svg , Badge_size = 190px , Association = Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran , FIFA Trigramme = IRN , FIFA Rank ...

for

2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (O ...

matches. He also performed in the

2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification The 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification saw various countries take part to determine 10 spots to the final tournament in Qatar under the new qualification system set by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Six other teams also qualified for th ...

for

. In 2009, he made a mistake against Qatar in a friendly, which Iran lost in the last minute and Kaebi was dropped for the rest of the games and was used as a substitute for a while.

International caps

International goals

:''Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

Iran Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

Winner: 2 **2004/05 with Foolad **2007/08 with

International

;Iran * AFC/OFC Cup Challenge winner: ** 2003 *

WAFF Championship The West Asian Football Federation Championship (), or simply WAFF Championship, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), the ...

winner: **2004 * Asian Cup **Third Place: *** 2004 *

AFC U-16 Championship The AFC U-17 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC U-16 Championship and AFC U-17 Championship, is a football competition, organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held once every two years for Asian under-17 teams that also serves as a q ...

**Runner-up: ***

;Iran U23 *

Asian Games Gold Medal 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 ...

: 2002

References

Footnotes

General references

External links

*
Hossein Kaebi
at PersianLeague.com * * *
Hossein Kaebi
at metafootball
Hossein Kaebi
at Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaebi, Hossein 1985 births Living people People from Ahvaz Iranian footballers Association football midfielders Association football fullbacks Foolad F.C. players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Persepolis F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Emirates Club players Expatriate footballers in Qatar Steel Azin F.C. players Rah Ahan Tehran F.C. players Saipa F.C. players Al Sadd SC players Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C. players Sepidrood Rasht S.C. players English Football League players Iranian expatriate footballers Iran international footballers Iranian Arab sportspeople Asian Games gold medalists for Iran Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Persian Gulf Pro League players Azadegan League players Qatar Stars League players UAE Pro League players Sportspeople from Khuzestan province 21st-century Iranian people