Rashad Sadygov ( az, Rəşad Sadıqov; born 16 June 1982) is an Azerbaijani football manager and former player who manages

Zira FK Zira may refer to: Places * Zirə, Azerbaijan * Zira, Iran (disambiguation), places in Iran * Zira, Punjab, a town in Ferozepur district of Punjab, India Other uses * Zira (''The Lion King II''), a lioness and the antagonist in Disney's 1998 dir ...

. He played as a centre-back. Sadigov is the most capped player in the history of Azerbaijan national team with 111 games and captained the team since 2004 and he is widely recognized as one of the strongest players in the history of independent Azerbaijan, as he won the national league title six times and was selected as the footballer of the year six times. He played in

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

and

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

for

FK Qarabağ FK or fk may refer to: In arts and entertainment: * Flyer Killer, fictional automated robots in the ''Terminator'' film franchise. * Fox Kids, a former American children's television programming block. * Funky Kong, a video game character. Place ...

Early life

Sadigov began playing football during his school years at Vagif Pashayev-led Youth Football Sports School at the age of 10.День рождения капитана сборной Азербайджана Рашада Садыхова
He also spent time playing football for the clubs Sharur, the Air Force team, and Real Baku, all of which are based in Baku.

Club career

In 2000, Sadigov signed his first professional contract with PFK Turan Tovuz, but played only nine games. At that time, he also played for the Azerbaijan Under-21 football team. At the end of the 2000/01 season, the defender was transferred to PFC Neftchi. He played for

Foolad F.C. Foolad Khuzestan Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال فولاد خوزستان, ''Bāshgāh-e Futbāl-e Fulād-e Khuzestān'') is an Iranian football club, based in Ahwaz, Khuzestan that plays in Persian Gulf Pro League. Foolad F.C. ...

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 ...

in 2002. After his comeback to Neftchi, Rashad won the national championship and cup and succeeded in passing the first qualification round of the Champions League with the black-and-whites. He played 8 games in European cups for Neftchi (two in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

qualifying during the 2001–02 season, two in the

qualifying rounds in the 2004–05, and four appearances during the 2005–06 season of the same competition). He traveled to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

to play for

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fi ...

for the 2005–06 season. He was loaned back to Neftchi in January 2006. He played once at the start of 2006/07 season, but planned to go back with Neftchi, again. Sadigov failed to notice that the

Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan The Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA; az, Azərbaycan Futbol Federasiyaları Assosiasiyası, AFFA) is the governing body of football in Azerbaijan. Formed in 1992, it is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amate ...

had changed the deadline of the transfer window, so he changed to play basketball to keep his fitness. On 23 January 2009, Sadygov returned to the Turkish Süper Lig to join

Kocaelispor Kocaelispor is a Turkish football club based in İzmit. They were founded in 1966 and played in the top level between 1980–1988 and 1992–2003. Their best finish was in 1992–93 season, where they finished fourth. They have won the Turkish C ...

on a six-month contract after he was kicked out from PFC Neftchi by the head coach Hans-Jürgen Gede in December 2008. Rashad made his debut for Kocaelispor in their 4–0 victory over Hacettepe on 25 January 2009. In July 2009, Sadigov briefly returned to

to help them in

and scored a magnificent goal against Rosenborg BK. He also scored against

FC Honka FC Honka is a Finnish football club based in Espoo. It was founded in 1957 as Tapion Honka, and changed its name to FC Honka in 1975. The club currently play in the Finnish premier division (''Veikkausliiga''), having been promoted for the f ...

after delivering a powerful

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

. As a result, he signed a one-year contract with Karabakh, after the club's impressive performance in the

. In August 2010, he signed a 2-year contract with Turkish Super Lig outfit

Eskişehirspor Eskişehirspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in Eskişehir. Eskisehirspor has a total of six trophies, making them the sixth most trophies holders in Turkey. Founded in 1965, Eskişehirspor competed in the top division ...

. However, following a string of injuries, he failed to get a regular place in Eskişehirspor's defence, which caused him to seek a new club. After being heavily linked with a move back to

, Sadigov joined Qarabağ on 11 February 2011. He helped his team to qualify for

and

. He played 5 times in

group stages and one time in the

group stage. On 21 June 2020, Sadigov announced his retirement.

International career

Sadigov made his Azerbaijan debut on 6 October 2001, against Sweden during 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA). Sadigov was Azerbaijan's vice-captain under

Carlos Alberto Torres Carlos Alberto "Capita" Torres (17 July 1944 – 25 October 2016), also known as "O Capitão do Tri", was a Brazilian football player and manager who played as an attacking right-sided full-back or wing-back. A technically gifted defender w ...

, deputising in the absence of regular captain

Gurban Gurbanov Gurban Osman oghlu Gurbanov ( az, Qurban Osman oğlu Qurbanov; born 13 April 1972) is an Azerbaijani football manager and former player who manages FK Qarabagh. He played as a forward. Starting out with local club Kur in 1988, Gurbanov had a ...

, but following the retirement of Gurban Gurbanov from football, Sadygov was named as full-time captain in March 2004. Sadigov is the most capped Azerbaijani player of all time.

Managerial career

On 13 December 2017, Sadigov was appointed as manager of Azerbaijan U21. On 17 July 2020, Sadigov was announced as Zira's new manager on a three-year contract.

Personal life

In 2006, as a result of missing the registration deadline for the Azerbaijani football club side Neftchi Baku, Sadigov played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

for local club BK NTD. Sadigov was one of the favorite players among Kocaelispor supporters and nicknamed "

Terminator Terminator may refer to: Science and technology Genetics * Terminator (genetics), the end of a gene for transcription * Terminator technology, proposed methods for restricting the use of genetically modified plants by causing second generation s ...

" by local media. He also featured as one of the official faces for Azerbaijan Premier League promotion campaign in 2010.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

As player

Neftchi Baku * Azerbaijan Premier League: 2003–04, 2004–05 * Azerbaijan Cup: 2001–02, 2003–04 Kayserispor * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2006 Qarabağ *Azerbaijan Premier League: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 *Azerbaijan Cup: 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016–17 Individual * Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year: 2004, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2017

As manager

Zira * Azerbaijan Cup: 2021–22 runners-up

References

External links

Qarabağ FK profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sadygov, Rashad 1982 births Living people Footballers from Baku Association football defenders Azerbaijani footballers Azerbaijan youth international footballers Azerbaijan under-21 international footballers Azerbaijan international footballers Azerbaijani expatriate footballers Azerbaijani football managers Azerbaijan Premier League players Persian Gulf Pro League players Süper Lig players Turan-Tovuz IK players Neftçi PFK players Foolad FC players Kayserispor footballers Kocaelispor footballers Eskişehirspor footballers Qarabağ FK players Expatriate footballers in Turkey Azerbaijani expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Iran FIFA Century Club