Khodadad Azizi ( fa, خداداد عزیزی; born 22 June 1971) is an Iranian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player who played as a striker.

Club career

After playing for a few clubs in Iran and following his performance in Asia, he moved to Germany in 1997 to play for 1. FC Köln. Azizi, along with his Iranian national teammates

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 ...

and

Karim Bagheri Karim Bagheri ( fa, ; born 20 February 1974) is an Iranian professional football coach and former player. He played over half of his professional career for Persepolis in the Persian Gulf Pro League. He is an assistant coach for Persepolis and t ...

, were among the first Iranians to enter the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

. Having played for three seasons in 1. FC Köln, he signed a contract with

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

-based club

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

, became the second Iranian player to play in the United States'

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. In 2001, Khodadad Azizi was transferred to the United Arab Emirates club Al Nasr, before returning to Iran and joining

Pas Tehran Pas Tehran Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال پاس تهران, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Pas Tehran'') was an Iranian football club based in Tehran, Iran. Pas F.C. was the football club of the multisport Pas Cultural and Sports Club. T ...

. In 2005, he signed for Admira Wacker in the

Austrian Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...

. He returned to Iran soon after and signed for lower division club,

Oghab The Iranian Oghab ( fa, عقاب, meaning "Eagle") sometimes spelled as Akab and Okab missile is an unguided 230 mm (9 in) artillery rocket with a range of 34–45 km (20–28 mi). It is spin-stabilized in flight but has a prov ...

. His stay there was not very lengthy as he signed for

Rah Ahan Rah Ahan Sports Club ( fa, باشگاه ورزشی راه‌آهن, ''Bashgah-e Vârzeshi-ye Rahâhen''), commonly known as Rah Ahan Football Club, is an Iranian professional football club based in Tehran. They currently play in the Azadegan Leagu ...

in late 2005. After the 2005–06 season, Azizi retired from club and international football. He finished his international career with 47

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and 11 goals. Following his retirement, Azizi was employed by his hometown club, Aboomoslem, as club chairman advisor. Azizi also co-owns a sports clothing label called ''Majid'' with financial backing from Abdol Majid Saedifar who put a $400,000 into the company. In September 2011, Khabaronline.ir reported Azizi to be the owner of Siah Jamegaan of Khorasaan, a spin-off of F.C. Aboomoslem.

International career

Azizi represented

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 ...

at the

1996 Asian Cup The 1996 AFC Asian Cup was the 11th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in the United Arab Emirates between 4 and 21 Decem ...

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

, and the

2000 Asian Cup The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Lebanon between 12 and 29 October 2000. Japan ...

. He was named Asian Player of the Year in 1996, as well as the Asian Cup Most Valuable Player in the

. Azizi is best remembered for scoring the equaliser against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the second leg World Cup qualifier in November 1997, sending Iran into France 98.

Coaching career

In December 2006, Azizi was appointed the manager of Aboomoslem, a

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

based football club that he had started his career with in the early 1990s. He was replaced by

Parviz Mazloumi Parviz Mazloomi ( fa, پرویز مظلومی, born 16 September 1954) is a former Iranian footballer who is the team manager of the Esteghlal. He played for Esteghlal and Tractor Sazi in the 1970s and 1980s. He also managed many clubs such as ...

in October 2007. He was head coach of

Payam Khorasan , ''Sibez Pushan Xerasan'') Birch Gray Wolves ( fa, گرگ های خاکستری توس, ''Gârgahay-e Xakâstri Tus'') , shortname = , founded = 1976 , dissolved = , ground = Samen StadiumMashhadIran , capacity = 35,000 , owner ...

and

Esteghlal Ahvaz Esteghlal Ahvaz Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال استقلال اهواز, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Esteqlâl Ahvaz''), commonly known as Esteghlal Ahvaz, was an Iranian football club based in Ahvaz, Khuzestan, that competed in the khu ...

for a short time. In 2011, he was appointed as head coach of Aboomoslem for a second time but parted company with the club on 1 June 2012.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Azizi goal.''

Honours

Persepolis *

Asian Club Championship The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

: third place 1996–97 1. FC Köln * 2. Bundesliga: 1999–2000 Pas *

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 ...

: 2003–04 Individual * AFC Player of the Year:

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

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 ...

Most Valuable Player:

References

External links

Khodadad Azizi
a
TeamMelli.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azizi, Khodadad 1971 births Living people Iranian footballers Iran international footballers Iranian expatriate footballers Iranian football managers Association football forwards F.C. Aboomoslem players Persepolis F.C. players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players Bahman players 1. FC Köln players FC Admira Wacker Mödling players Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) players San Jose Earthquakes players Pas players Rah Ahan players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Asian Footballer of the Year winners Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars UAE Pro League players Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in Austria Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Iranian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Iranian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Austria