Iraj Danaeifard ( fa, ايرج دانايی فرد, 11 March 1951 – 12 December 2018) was an Iranian
football player who played most of his career for
Taj (currently Esteghlal) and also the
Iran national football team
) ''(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 ...
.
Club career
Danaeifard became involved in football at a young age. His father,
Ali Danaeifard was one of the founders of
Taj SC
Esteghlal Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال استقلال, ''Bâšgâh-è Futbâl-è Esteqlâl''), commonly known as Esteghlal ( fa, استقلال, meaning 'The Independence'), is an Iranian football club based in capital Tehran t ...
football club. He became famous in Iran while playing for the club, winning the Iranian league in
1971. He also played for
Oghab F.C.
Oghab Tehran Football Club (, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e 'Qab Tehran'') is an Iranian football team based in Tehran, Iran. They currently compete in the Tehran Province league and it is owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force.
History
Establi ...
and
Pas F.C., where he won the Iranian
Takht Jamshid in
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
. In 1977, he returned to Taj.
[
In 1980, he moved to the United States and started playing for the NASL team, the Tulsa Roughnecks. He remained in the club until 1984 when the league folded, and retired from football soon thereafter.
]
International career
Danaeifard was invited to the national team
A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.
The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...
for the first time in 1977 and helped the team qualify for 1978 World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June.
The Cup was won by t ...
. He played well in the tournament and many still remember his goal against Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, which was Iran's first goal ever at a World Cup. After the Asian Cup in Kuwait in 1980 and reaching the third place he retired from international football with 17 caps and 3 goals for his country.[
]
Death
Danaeifard died on 12 December 2018 of liver failure.
Career statistics
International goals
References
External links
National Team Statistics
Interview with Irankicks.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Danaeifard, Iraj
1951 births
2018 deaths
Esteghlal F.C. players
1978 FIFA World Cup players
1980 AFC Asian Cup players
Iranian expatriate footballers
Iranian footballers
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players
Iran international footballers
Sportspeople from Tehran
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
Iranian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Association football midfielders
Deaths from liver failure
20th-century Iranian people