Rahman Rezaei ( fa, رحمان رضايی, born 20 February 1975) is an Iranian football coach and former player. A centre-back, he also represented the Iran national team.

Club career

He was originally discovered by Iranian manager, Nasser Hejazi. Rezaei played for Zob Ahan in Isfahan for five seasons. After impressive performances for the club and the national team, he was transferred to

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

for €150,000 and then to Messina. Rahman Rezaei is currently the most successful Asian defender in Europe. In the 2003/2004 season, he helped Messina gain promotion to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

. He had been one of Messina's most consistently used players with 36 appearances in their 2004–05 mid-table finish. After steadily playing for his club for three seasons, at the end of August 2006 Rezaei signed with another Serie A club, Livorno. He has won numerous plaudits in Italy and has been dubbed "The Flying Carpet". In addition, his fans in Messina have named him the "Secretary of Defense". In January 2006, he acquired Italian citizenship through his marriage to an Italian-Iranian Helia Hashemi. In July 2008, an Iranian newspaper reported Iranian giants

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 ...

were holding talks with Rezaei. However, in mid-July,

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 ...

was re-appointed manager of Persepolis and cut the talks with Rezaei, stating that the club were not looking for a centre-back player at that moment in time. On 10 August 2009, Rezaei signed a one-year, $700 thousand contract with Qatari side Al Ahli SC. In 2010, he signed with

Shahin Bushehr Shahin Lian Shahrdari Bushehr Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال شاهین شهرداری بوشهر, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Shahin Shiherdari-ye Bushiher'') is an Iranian football club based in Bushehr, Iran. They are one of the most ...

. A half-year later he joined

Paykan The Paykan ( fa, پيکان meaning ''Arrow'') is the first Iranian-made car produced by Iran Khodro (formerly called "Iran National") between 1967 and 2005. The car was very popular in Iran from its introduction until its discontinuation. I ...

. He announced his retirement from football on 4 July 2012.

Club career statistics

International career

Rahman Rezaei made his first appearance for

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 ...

in July 2001 against Bosnia. He has been the most consistent defender for the team ever since. In European football, Rahman Rezaei is considered a solid defender well inclined to launch devastating counterattacks. However his role is different in the

Iranian 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 ...

, where he is a straight defensive centre back. He was formerly a forward, but has proved to be an indispensable defensive stalwart for an Iranian side considered top-heavy in attacking players. He was among the key players for Iran in World Cup 2006, but he did not perform as well as everyone had hoped. He received some criticism following a couple mistakes which led to goals being scored against the team. On 6 April 2007 Rezaei stated he will retire from international football after 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 ...

., but in another interview in December 2007 he expressed his intention to return to the national team. Rezaei was given his #5 jersey and was selected for Team Melli's

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

Qualification matches.

International goals

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

Director of football

:''after time of playing he was director sport and coach in some clubs.''

Honours

Individual

* Asian Cup All-Star Team: 2007

Personal life

Rezaei is married to translator Helia Hashemian, a woman of Iranian origin who was born in Assisi,

References

External links

*
Rahman's profile on Official Website of A.S. Livorno Calcio

Rahman Rezaei
a
PersianLeague.com

a
TeamMelli.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rezaei, Rahman 1975 births Living people People from Nur, Iran Iranian footballers Iran international footballers Iranian expatriate footballers Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Association football central defenders Nassaji Mazandaran players Rah Ahan players Zob Ahan Esfahan F.C. players A.C. Perugia Calcio players A.C.R. Messina players U.S. Livorno 1915 players Persepolis F.C. players Al Ahli SC (Doha) players Shahin Bushehr F.C. players Paykan F.C. players Azadegan League players Serie A players Serie B players Persian Gulf Pro League players Qatar Stars League players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Qatar Sportspeople from Mazandaran province Persian Gulf Pro League managers