Mehdi Mahdavikia

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Mehdi Mahdavikia (Persian: مهدی مهدوی کیا , born 24 July 1977 in Tehran, Iran) is a former Iranian football player^[1] who played for Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga. He was the captain of the Iranian national football team until being forced out of international play after protesting the government's election corruption and usually plays as a right winger or full-back. He is known for his crossing, speed and dribbling.

[edit] Club career

Mehdi first played for Persepolis club in his native Iran before moving to VfL Bochum in Germany. After Bochum's relegation, he signed for Bundesliga side Hamburg where he stayed for the next eight seasons.

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 Tehran F.C. in Asian games as help for the club. For the 2006–07 Bundesliga season he has moved back to his natural position of right wing, in support of Center Midfielder Rafael van der Vaart. He was awarded Hamburg Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004 by the fans, and also attained the envious title of the top assister of goals in the Bundesliga. However, compared to his previous season, he had a poor season in 2004–05 and was benched. In the 2005–06 season he has 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 Bundesliga heavyweights Schalke.

Mehdi Mahdavikia's strongest points are his vision, passing skills, fast paced runs, and set-pieces such as corners, spotkicks and free kicks.^{[disambiguation needed]} He is usually 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.

On 8 June 2007 he signed a 3-year contract with Eintracht Frankfurt.^[2] In his first season he had two bad injuries that forced him to miss many matches.

[edit] Club career statistics

Last update: 13 May 2008

[edit] International career

Having been awarded the Asian Young Footballer of the Year award in 1997, Mehdi Mahdavikia was considered Iran's best player in the 1998 FIFA World Cup 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 Asian Football Confederation. 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 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 and Yahya Golmohammadi 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 versus Syria.

Mahdavikia has reportedly been forced to "retire" from football^[1] 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.^[3] He was forced to retire from Team Melli after 13 years and playing in 2 World Cups (1998, 2006), 4 Asian Cups (1996, 2000, 2004, 2007), 1 Asian Games tournament (1998), 4 World Cup qualifying campaigns (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010), 3 Asian Cup qualifying campaigns (2000, 2004, 2007) and one AFC/OFC Cup.

[edit] International goals

Since 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification

#	Date	Venue	Stadium	Opponent	Result	Competition	Goal(s)
1	15 October 2008	Tehran, Iran	Azadi	Korea DPR	2-1(Iran)	2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification	9' (header)

[edit] Awards and Honours

[edit] Individual

• HSV Player of the Year: 2002–03 and 2003–04
• Asian Footballer of the Year: 2003
• Chosen as the best offensive winger of the Bundesliga in the 2002–03 season by Kicker
• Asian Young Footballer of the Year: 1997
• Bank Melli F.C Golden Boot award: 1995

[edit] Team

With the Iran national football team

• FIFA World Cup
  • Appearances and Goals: 1998 (1), 2006

• AFC Asian Cup
  • Appearances: 1996 (Third place), 2000 (Quarter Finals), 2004 (Third Place), 2007 (Quarter Finals)

• AFC/OFC Cup Challenge:1
  • 2003

With Hamburger SV

• German League Cup: 2003
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2005

With Persepolis F.C.

• Iranian Premier League champion: 1995–1996, 1996–1997, 1998–1999

[edit] Personal life

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 while being in his native Iran, thus practising bigamy. He himself has stated that he made a "big mistake", was "lured into a trap" and ended the affair after a short while. As of May 2006, Mahdavikia plans to prosecute Samira for slander.^[4]

Mahdavikia's brother, Hadi currently plays for Homa F.C. and his nephew, Mostafa plays for Fajr Sepasi.

[edit] Famous matches

Mehdi's most prolific club match was Hamburger SV's match against Juventus 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. 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 in World Cup 1998 that saw him score Iran's second and winning goal, as his best ever.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official Website (German)
• RSSSF archive of Mehdi Mahdavikia's international appearances
• Mehdi Mahdavikia at TeamMelli.com
• Mehdi Mahdavikia at Football Database

v • d • e Iran squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Abedzadeh • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Sadavi • 4 Khakpour • 5 Peyrovani • 6 Bagheri • 7 Mansourian • 8 Dinmohammadi • 9 Estili • 10 Daei • 11 Azizi • 12 Nakisa • 13 Latifi • 14 Mohammadkhani • 15 Ostad‑Asadi • 16 Shahroudi • 17 Zarincheh • 18 Hamedani • 19 Seraj • 20 Pashazadeh • 21 Minavand • 22 Broumand • Coach: Talebi

v • d • e Iran squad – 2004 AFC Asian Cup Third Place 1 Mirzapour • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Amirabadi • 4 Golmohammadi • 5 Rezaei • 6 Nekounam • 7 Kavianpour • 8 Karimi • 10 Daei • 12 Roudbarian • 13 Kaebi • 14 Borhani • 15 Taghipour • 16 Enayati • 17 Mobali • 18 Badavi • 19 Kameli • 20 Nosrati • 21 Rahmati • 26 Alavi • 27 Zare • 29 Majidi • Coach: Ivanković

v • d • e Iran squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Mirzapour • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Bakhtiarizadeh • 4 Golmohammadi • 5 Rezaei • 6 Nekounam • 7 Zandi • 8 Karimi • 9 Hashemian • 10 Daei • 11 Khatibi • 12 Roudbarian • 13 Kaebi • 14 Teymourian • 15 Borhani • 16 Enayati • 17 Kazemian • 18 Navidkia • 19 Sadeghi • 20 Nosrati • 21 Madanchi • 22 Talebloo • 23 Shojaei • Coach: Ivanković

v • d • e Iran squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1 Roudbarian • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Sadeghi • 4 Teymourian • 5 Rezaei • 6 Nekounam • 7 Zandi • 8 Karimi • 9 Hashemian • 10 Khatibi • 11 Madanchi • 12 Hosseini • 13 Kaebi • 14 Mobali • 15 Aghili • 16 Enayati • 17 Kazemian • 18 Rajabzadeh • 19 Sadeghi • 20 Nosrati • 22 Talebloo • 24 Shojaei • 30 Rahmati • Coach: Ghalenoei