Mehdi Mahdavikia ( fa, ; born 24 July 1977) is an Iranian professional

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 usually played as a

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He is currently under contract by

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

as a youth coach, and also manages his own youth academy, FC KIA. Mahdavikia currently represents

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...

(AFC) in the Football Advisory Panel of

International Football Association Board The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is the body that determines the Laws of the Game of association football. IFAB was founded in 1886 to agree standardised Laws for international competition, and has since acted as the "guardia ...

(IFAB), joining the body in 2019. On 15 May 2013, Mahdavikia was appointed as AFC Grassroots Ambassador. During his playing career, Mahdavikia internationally represented Iranian national team, which he captained from 2006 to 2009, and currently is the fourth most capped player of all-time. He played for Iranian clubs Bank Melli,

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 ...

Steel Azin Steel Azin Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال استيل آذین, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Estil Âzin'') was an Iranian football club based in Tehran, Iran. The club was owned by Hossein Hedayati, owner of Steel Azin Iranian Holding Co ...

and

Damash Gilan Sport Club Damash Gilan ( fa, باشگاه ورزشی داماش گیلان, ''Bashgah-e Vârzeshi-ye Damash Gilân''), commonly known as Damash Gilan, also spelled Damash Guilan, is an Iranian football club based in Rasht, Gilan, that competes ...

, as well as German clubs

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seas ...

and

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

, spending 12 consecutive seasons in

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 ...

. He won the

Asian Young Footballer of the Year The Asian Young Footballer of the Year award, officially known as the AFC Youth Player of the Year award, is presented to the best young football player in Asia. It has been awarded by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) since 1995. It is usually ...

award in 1997 as well as the

Asian Footballer of the Year The Asian Footballer of the Year is an annual prize awarded to the best Asian player in a calendar year, organized by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). History The origin of ...

award in 2003. He was known for his crossing, speed and dribbling.

Club career

Early career

Mahdavikia first played for

in his native Iran before moving to

in Germany. After Bochum's relegation, he signed for Bundesliga side

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

where he stayed for the next eight seasons.

Hamburger SV

Hamburger Morgenpost The ''Hamburger Morgenpost'' (Hamburg Morning Post) (also known as Mopo) is a daily German newspaper published in Hamburg in tabloid format. As of 2006 the ''Hamburger Morgenpost'' was the second-largest newspaper in Hamburg after '' Bild Zeitu ...

'' estimated market value of Mahdavikia in 1999 as DM6.5 million. His initial position for HSV was right fullback, from which he was known for his attacking runs, as he has previous experience as a right winger and at times has played as a striker. He also played some matches for Pas in Asian games as help for the club. Under coach

Frank Pagelsdorf Frank Pagelsdorf (born 5 February 1958 in Hanover) is a German football manager and former player. Coaching career He was manager of Hamburger SV from 1997 to 2001. He has also had a brief time as manager in UAE The United Arab Emirates ...

Mahdavikia used to play wide striker. For the 2006–07 Bundesliga season he moved back to his natural position of right wing, in support of Central Midfielder

Rafael van der Vaart Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart (born 11 February 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and is currently the assistant manager of Danish 2nd Division club Esbjerg fB. Van der Vaart began his c ...

. He was awarded Hamburg Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004 by the fans, and also attained the title of the top assister of goals in the

. In 2003, ''

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

'' wrote that Mahdavikia is worth €8–10 million. However, compared to his previous season, he had a poor season in 2004–05 and was benched. In the 2005–06 season he gained his old form back and was able to regain his spot as a starter, being influential in many of Hamburg's victories, such as scoring the winning goal against then Bundesliga heavyweights

Schalke Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rh ...

. Mahdavikia's strongest points were his vision, passing skills, fast-paced runs (his nickname in Iran is "The Rocket"), and set-pieces such as corners, spotkicks and free kicks. He usually was the right-footed alternative to Van der Vaart's well known left foot. Apart from being a total professional on the pitch, he is also known as a perfect gentleman off the pitch, always finding the time for fans and reporters to answer questions or sign autographs. His nickname in Hamburg is ''The Carpet'' (der Teppich) for his ability to "magically glide past" his opponents like the enchanted carpet.

Eintracht Frankfurt

On 8 June 2007, Mahdavikia signed a three-year contract with

. In his first season, he had two bad injuries that forced him to miss many matches. In the second season he was mostly benched and not used in many matches which showed that the club did not want him anymore. After 255 Games (26 goals, 55 assists) in the Bundesliga for HSV, Bochum and Eintracht Frankfurt, left Germany to sign for

in January 2010.

Return to Iran

On 4 July 2011, Mahdavikia signed a contract with

Amir Abedini Amir Abedini ( fa, امیر عابدینی; born Hassan Abedini on 13 December 1949) is an Iranian politician, football club chairman, former professional footballer and member of the City Council of Tehran. Political career During 1980s, he he ...

, President of the

to join to the club for one year but he was joined to his beloved club,

in mid-season to play for club in his last year of playing football. He extended his contract with

for another season on 19 June 2012.

Retirement

Persepolis Sepahan, Hazfi Cup Final - Mehdi Mahdavikia

On 2 March 2013, Mahdavikia announced that he would retire at the end of the 2012–13 season. Persepolis also announced that Mahdavikia's farewell match would be in a pre-season friendly match against

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

in June 2013, played in the

Azadi Stadium The Azadi Stadium ( fa, ورزشگاه آزادی Varzešgâh''-è Âzâdi''), opened as the Aryamehr Stadium ( fa, ورزشگاه آریامهر Varzešgâh-è ''Âryâmehr''), is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium wa ...

, but it was later announced that Mahdavikia's last match would be against his former side,

in June 2013 in the same stadium. Mahdavikia confirmed on 14 March 2013 that he ended his active football career. He played his last match as a football player in the 2013 Hazfi Cup Final, coming on extra time as a substitute. On 28 November 2013, he played a farewell match at

between Persepolis XI and

XI. Participants in the match included former teams' legends like

Hamid Derakhshan Hamid Reza Derakhshan ( fa, حمید درخشان; born 23 January 1959) is an Iranian former professional football player and now manager who last managed Saipa in Azadegan League. Derakhshan played as a midfielder for a number of clubs, mos ...

Mohammad Panjali Seyed Mohammad Panjali Qomi ( fa, سید محمد پنجعلی قمی; born July 26, 1955 in Tehran, Iran) is a retired Iranian footballer and a football coach. He played for Bargh Tehran, Fath Tehran, Aboomoslem, Persepolis FC, Al-Gharafa ...

Farshad Pious Farshad Pious ( fa, فرشاد پیوس; born 12 January 1962) is an Iranian retired footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in Iran, most notably Persepolis, as well as the Iran national team. He is regarded as one of the best p ...

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 ...

Hamid Estili Hamid Reza Estili ( fa, حميد استيلی; born 1 April 1967) is an Iranian association football, football coach and former player. Estili was a member of the Iran national football team, Iran national team and is mostly remembered for his m ...

Nasser Mohammadkhani Naser Mohammadkhani ( fa, ناصر محمدخانی, born 7 September 1957) is a retired Iranian football striker. He also worked as a coach for Tehran's Persepolis club. Honours Club ;Persepolis *Asian Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1990–91 **Runn ...

Pejman Jamshidi Pejman Jamshidi ( fa, پژمان جمشیدی; born September 1, 1977) is an Iranian actor and former footballer. His performances in the films ''The Misunderstanding'' (2018), ''Shishlik'' (2021) and ''Grassland (film), Grassland'' (2022), ''My ...

Edmond Bezik Edmond Bezik ( fa, ادموند بزيک; hy, Էդմունդ Բազիկյան, born 12 August 1975 in Tehran, Iran) is a retired Armenian-Iranian footballer and coach. He played for Persepolis, Sepahan and Ararat Tehran and was a member of Ira ...

which played for Persepolis and

Franco Baresi Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining t ...

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of a ...

Daniele Massaro Daniele Emilio Massaro (; born 23 May 1961) is an Italian former footballer who played as a forward. He is mainly remembered for his highly successful career with AC Milan during the late 1980s and 1990s, under managers Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio C ...

Gennaro Gattuso Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, who currently serves as manager of La Liga club Valencia. He was born in Corigliano (Calabria). As a player, he mainly played in the cent ...

and

Alberigo Evani Alberico Evani (; born 1 January 1963), sometimes misspelled as Alberigo Evani, is an Italian football manager and former player, who was deployed as a midfielder. He started his club career with Milan, where he spent the majority of his playin ...

for A.C. Milan. Persepolis were managed by the club's most successful manager

Ali Parvin Ali Parvin ( fa, علی پروين ; born 25 September 1946) is a retired Iranian football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the most prominent Iranian footballers. During his career, he has been associated mainly with Persepolis, pla ...

. When Mahdavikia came on as a substitute in the 32nd minute, Pious gave his shirt to Mahdavikia, in a remarkable replay after seventeen years that Pious did so in Mahdavikia's first match for Persepolis. The match was won by A.C. Milan XI 3–1 with Mahdavikia assisting the only goal.

International career

Having been awarded the

award in 1997, Mahdavikia was considered Iran's best player in the

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 was named in the list from which the team of the tournament was chosen. In 2003, he was awarded Asian Player of the Year by the

. He was also the top assister in the 2004 Asian Cup, exhibiting stunning form to steer Iran's attack to superb attacking football. He played in four Asian Cups (1996, 2000, 2004, 2007) and two World Cups (1998, 2006). Mahdavikia was one of the influential players that played in Iran's crucial 1–0 victory over

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup held in Germany. Following the FIFA World Cup in Germany, 2006, Mahdavikia was expected to assume the role of Captain in the Iranian national side, replacing

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

Yahya Golmohammadi Yahya Golmohammadi ( fa, يحيى گل محمدى, born 19 March 1971) also knowend as YaYa is an Iranian former footballer and coach who is currently managing the Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis. He is one of only eight Iranians to sco ...

who had publicly announced their intention to retire after the tournament. Mahdavikia was given the captain's band on 16 August 2006 in an Asian Cup

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

versus

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. Mahdavikia has reportedly been forced to "retire" from international football after wearing a green bracelet in the final World Cup 2010 qualification match against the Republic of Korea. The green bracelet was a sign of support for those protesting the highly contested Iranian presidential election. He was forced to retire from

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 ...

after 13 years and playing in two World Cups (1998, 2006), four Asian Cups (1996, 2000, 2004, 2007), one Asian Games tournament (1998), four World Cup qualifying campaigns (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010), three Asian Cup qualifying campaigns (2000, 2004, 2007) and one AFC/OFC Cup.

Managerial career

Mahdavikia was the manager of the Iranian youth teams. In 2015, he founded the

KIA Football Academy The KIA Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال کیا) is an Iranian youth football academy that was established by Mehdi Mahdavikia in 2015 in southeastern Tehran. German magazine ''11 Freunde 11 Freunde (German for ''11 friends'') is ...

with

Ali Doustimehr Ali Doustimehr ( fa, علی دوستی‌مهر, born 23 July 1965) is an Iranian football coach. He has been the head coach of Iran national under-19 football team participating in 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria and is the coach for the 201 ...

. He currently has a role as a youth coach with

. In May 2019, Mahdavikia obtained

UEFA A Licence UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are is ...

and plans to enter

DFB DFB may refer to: * Deerfield Beach, Florida, a city * Decafluorobutane, a fluorocarbon gas * Dem Franchize Boyz, former hip hop group, Atlanta, Georgia * Dfb, Köppen climate classification for Humid continental climate * Distributed-feedback ...

's ''Fußballlehrer'' course.

Famous matches

Mahdavikia's most prolific club match was

's match against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in the Champions League. He was the impetus that rallied Hamburg back after being down 3–1 by scoring once, assisting one and winning a penalty for Hamburg that saw Hamburg take a 4–3 lead; Juve managed to equalise with an Inzaghi penalty. Another famous game in the HSV shirt came in week 30 of the 2002–03 season. Mahdavikia scored one and assisted another two goals in Hamburg's 4–0 win over 1. FC Nuremberg. Kicker gave him a much rare perfect note of 1.0. Mehdi's greatest national team match, arguably, was against South Korea in the 2004 Asia Cup where he assisted three goals in Iran's 4–3 win. Many also point to his dynamic game against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

World Cup 1998 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 th ...

that saw him score Iran's second and winning goal, as his best ever. Another excellent match where he scored two great goals was against China in the qualification round for the 1998 World Cup when he was just 20 years old.

Personal life

Mahdavikia played several sports as a youngster and was exceptionally talented at

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

, even being named captain of Iran's under 14 team. Mahdavikia is married to Sepideh and has a daughter, Asal. In April 2006, Mahdavikia caused a stir when it came out he married a second wife named, Samira Samii, while being in his native Iran in December 2005, thus practising

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

. He himself stated that he made a "big mistake", and they divorced after a short while. Mahdavikia's younger brother,

Hadi Hadi or Hady ( ar, هادي) is an Arabic masculine given name and surname. Al-Hadi is one of the 99 names of God in Islam meaning ''guide'' (from the Arabic triconsonantal root ; also present in hidayah). Given name Hadi * Hadi Saei (born 1976), ...

played for Homa F.C. and

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 ...

, and now is the head coach of

. Mahdavikia's nephew Mostafa is also a football player in Iran.

Career statistics

Club

International

*1.Excluding a friendly match against Ghana U-23 that is not considered a full international. :''Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mahdavikia goal.''

Honours

Persepolis *

Azadegan League The Azadegan League ( fa, ليگ آزادگان, ''Lig-e Âzâdegân''), also known as League 1 ( fa, لیگ یک, ''Lig-e Yek''), is the second highest division of professional football in Iran. It was the top-level football league in Iran from ...

: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99 Hamburger SV *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Iran *

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 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

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 ...

third place:

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 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

AFC–OFC Challenge Cup The AFC–OFC Challenge Cup was a football tournament, set up as the successor of the discontinued Afro-Asian Cup of Nations. It was a biannual event, with Oceania represented by the winners of the OFC Nations Cup and Asia alternately by the wi ...

: 2003 Individual *AFC Goal of the Month: September 1997 * AFC Youth Player of the Year: 1997 *

top assist provider: 2002–03 * AFC Player of the Year: 2003 * Asian Cup All-Star Team:

All-time Team: 2012 * AFC Asian Cup Fans' All-time Best XI: 2018 *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Asian Men's Team of All Time: 2021

References

External links

*
RSSSF archive of Mehdi Mahdavikia's international appearances

Profile
at TeamMelli.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahdavikia, Mehdi Iranian footballers Iran international footballers Persepolis F.C. players Association football wingers VfL Bochum players Hamburger SV players Expatriate footballers in Germany Bundesliga players Persian Gulf Pro League players Iranian expatriate footballers Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Germany FIFA Century Club Eintracht Frankfurt players Steel Azin F.C. players Damash Gilan players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players People from Tehran 1977 births Living people Asian Games gold medalists for Iran Asian Footballer of the Year winners Asian Young Footballer of the Year winners Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Hamburger SV II players Hamburger SV non-playing staff Iranian football managers