Ashkan Dejagah
 Dejagah playing for VfL Wolfsburg; 24 August 2008 |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ashkan Dejagah[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 5 July 1986 | ||
| Place of birth | Tehran, Iran | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Winger / Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | VfL Wolfsburg | ||
| Number | 24 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Reinickendorfer Füchse | |||
| 1999–2000 | Tennis Borussia Berlin | ||
| 2000–2004 | Hertha BSC | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004–2007 | Hertha BSC II | 56 | (21) |
| 2004–2007 | Hertha BSC | 26 | (1) |
| 2007– | VfL Wolfsburg | 120 | (17) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2001–2003 | Germany U-17 | 10 | (4) |
| 2003–2004 | Germany U-18 | 4 | (2) |
| 2004 | Germany U-19 | 11 | (3) |
| 2004–2005 | Germany U-20 | 5 | (2) |
| 2005–2009 | Germany U-21 | 20 | (4) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:20, 29 January 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Ashkan Dejagah (Persian: اشكان دژآگه, born 5 July 1986 in Tehran) is an Iranian-German footballer who plays for VfL Wolfsburg, usually as a Attacking midfielder or a winger. He has represented Germany at youth levels.
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[edit] Club career
Dejagah made his pro debut against VfL Bochum in the opening match of 2004–05, playing the last five minutes in a 2–2 home draw, in his only first team appearance that year, thus becoming the youngest player to ever play for the club since it was founded in 1892. In his three years at Hertha, he also played in the regional league, being the team's top scorer in 2005–06, with twelve goals in 23 appearances. Hertha's manager Falko Götz showed continuous faith in him by gradually giving the youngster playing time in the Bundesliga, as well as three UEFA Cup showdowns in 2005–06, playing the following season in the Intertoto Cup against FC Moscow. In 2007 he joined Wolfsburg. In his first season at Wolfsburg he showed himself as a talent with scoring eight goals and in second season he was a regular part of the Bundesliga winner team. In the 2009–10 season, after selection of Armin Veh as club manager he missed his place in starting line up and he could not return to starting team under Steve McClaren. With the return of Felix Magath he found his form and in the 2011–12 season, he showed himself as a key player with scoring and assisting several goals for his club.[2]
[edit] International career
In 2004, upon being called up to the German U-19 team, Dejagah managed to score seven goals in 15 international games, including two against the Netherlands after his team was down 2–0. In 2005, he was invited to play for Germany's U-21, and was given the coveted number 10 shirt.
It had been suggested that Dejagah might play for Iran at international level rather than Germany, but he claimed to have never really considered it an option.[3] Having played for Germany at the age of 21, he was originally no longer eligible to play for Iran,[4] however, FIFA rule changes in July 2009 mean that he can now play for Iran.[5] In late December, Iran's coach Afshin Ghotbi approached Dejagah in regards to playing for Iran at the upcoming 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, but his playing for Iran is on hold as he wanted to pursue first team with his club Wolfsburg instead.[6] On 21 September 2011, he was invited to the Iran national team by Carlos Queiroz.[7] A minor injury as well as unclear military status kept him out of the 23 man squad for the World Cup qualifier against Bahrain. On 15 February 2012, Dejagah was again called up for the Iranian squad.[8]
[edit] Controversy
In October 2007, Dejagah refused to play an under-21 international match of Germany against Israel, citing “very personal reasons” and saying “everybody knows I am half Iranian”. Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and Ronald Pofalla, General Secretary of the Christian Democratic Union, demanded that Dejagah be excluded from Germany's national team.[9] Dejagah confirmed in a Stern interview, that he only made that choice because of his family and not because of political, antisemitic or racist reasons.[10] After a personal meeting with Theo Zwanziger, the president of the German Football Association, and national technical director Matthias Sammer, he convinced both of his personal reasons and was not excluded from Germany's national team.[11]
[edit] Club career statistics
- As of 28 January 2012
| Club performance | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Germany | League | DFB-Pokal | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 2004–05 | Hertha BSC | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2006–07 | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 1 | ||
| 2007–08 | VfL Wolfsburg | 31 | 8 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 36 | 9 | |
| 2008–09 | 27 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 38 | 4 | ||
| 2009–10 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 33 | 1 | ||
| 2010–11 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 3 | ||
| 2011–12 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 2 | ||
| Total | Germany | 146 | 18 | 13 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 178[12] | 20 | |
[edit] Honours
[edit] Club
[edit] International
[edit] Trivia
- Dejagah has two tattoos on his right wrist one saying Ashkan in Persian and another saying Tehran in English, where he was born. He also has on his left wrist Berlin, where he was raised.
[edit] References
- ^ Lamprecht, Roberto (21 February 2007). "Hertha-Star eine Nacht in der Zelle" (in German). bild.de. http://www.bild.de/BTO/sport/bundesliga/2007/02/21/hertha-unfall/dejagah-knast-auto.html. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
- ^ "Dejagah, Ashkan" (in German). kicker.de. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/1-bundesliga/2011-12/vfl-wolfsburg-24/31104/spieler_ashkan-dejagah.html. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
- ^ "Interview mit Ashkan Dejagah 'Das habe ich für meine Familie getan'" (in German). Stern. 24 October 2007. http://www.stern.de/sport-motor/fussball/:Interview-Ashkan-Dejagah-Das/600121.html. Retrieved 24 October 2007.
- ^ "FIFA statutes". FIFA. 2006. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/federation/statutes_08_2006_en_pdf_52.pdf. Retrieved 24 October 2007.
- ^ "FIFA removes age limit on players switching nations". Reuters. 3 June 2009. http://football.uk.reuters.com/world/news/L3177353.php. Retrieved 3 September 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "FIFA approves Dejagah switch from Germany to Iran". footballindia.com. 16 December 2010. http://www.footballindia.com/news/FIFA_approves_Dejagah_switch_from_Germany_to_Iran/news-2010-december-news_20101216_596/news_article.aspx. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ^ "اعلام لیست اولیه کی روش برای بازی با بحرین / اشکان دژاگه به تیم ملی دعوت شد !" (in Persian). goal.com. 21 September 2011. http://www.goal.com/iran/news/1825/%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86/2011/09/21/2676096/%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%87-%DA%A9%DB%8C-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B4-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%AD%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%A7%D8%B4%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AF%DA%98%D8%A7%DA%AF%D9%87-%D8%A8%D9%87. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ^ "27 بازيکن به تيم ملي فوتبال دعوت شدند" (in Persian). varzesh3.com. 17 February 2012. http://www.varzesh3.com/news.do?itemid=68298&title=27_%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%8A%DA%A9%D9%86_%D8%A8%D9%87_%D8%AA%D9%8A%D9%85_%D9%85%D9%84%D9%8A_%D9%81%D9%88%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84_%D8%AF%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AA_%D8%B4%D8%AF%D9%86%D8%AF. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
- ^ "Der Fall Ashkan Dejagah wird zu einem Politikum" (in German). Welt. 9 October 2007. http://www.welt.de/sport/article1247193/Zentralrat_der_Juden_fordert_Dejagah-Ausschluss.html. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
- ^ "Das habe ich für meine Familie getan" (in German). Stern. 14 October 2007. http://www.stern.de/sport-motor/fussball/:Interview-Ashkan-Dejagah-Das/600121.html. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
- ^ "Ashkan Dejagah weiterhin U 21-Nationalspieler" (in German). German Football Association. 16 October 2007. http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=500014&no_cache=1&tx_dfbnews_pi1%5B&showUid%5D=12483&cHash=a1d35b0166. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
- ^ "Ashkan Dejagah". worldfootball.net. http://www.worldfootball.net/spieler_profil/ashkan-dejagah/2/. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
[edit] External links
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Wikinews has related news: Wolfsburg player draws criticism for withdrawal from squad |
- Ashkan Dejagah at fussballdaten.de (German)
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