Seyyed Jalal Hosseini (; born 3 February 1982), commonly known as Seyyed Jalal or Jalal Hosseini, is a former Iranian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of Iranian club

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

. He has been a member of Iran's under-23 side as a

wild card Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

player on two occasions, in the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...

, winning a bronze medal in 2006. Hosseini has represented Iran at the

2007 AFC 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 h ...

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the secon ...

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 201 ...

and the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

Early life and education

Hosseini was born on 3 February 1982 in

Bandar-e Anzali Bandar-e Anzali () is a city on the Caspian Sea in the Central District of Bandar-e Anzali County, Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of both the county and the district. History Anzali is an old city in ancient Iran, first s ...

Gilan Province Gilan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, in the northwest of the country and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Rasht. The province lies along the Caspian Sea, in Iran's Regions of Iran, Region 3, west of ...

. He majored in German Studies.

Club career

Saipa

Hosseini moved from

Malavan Malavan Bandar Anzali Football Club (, ''Bāšgāh-e Futbāl-e Malavān-e Bandar-e Anzali'') is an Iranian football club based in Bandar-e Anzali, Iran. It currently won Iran's second league, the Azadegan League and came back to Persian Gulf P ...

Saipa SAIPA (, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'' lit. ''Iranian Limited Company for the Production of Citroën Autom ...

in summer 2005. Before that he was link with a move to

but the move was cancelled. During the 2005–06 season, he was the most consistent player for his club, making 28 full appearances and scoring one goal. He continued his solid performance for Saipa during the 2006–07 season with 26 full appearances and one goal and also won the league. He also played in the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

matches for Saipa.

Sepahan

Hosseini signed for

Sepahan Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club (, ''Bâšgâh-e Farhangi-Varzeši-ye Fulâd-e Mobârake-ye Sepâhân''), commonly known as Sepahan, is an Iranian sports club based in Isfahan. It is best known for their football section that play in the P ...

in summer 2009 and became their regular player for the season. He won the

Persian Gulf Cup The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

for three times in a row with Sepahan. After three years and 94 league appearances, Hosseini left the club in 2012 as one of the league's most established centre-backs.

Persepolis

Hosseini signed a one-year contract with Tehran's reds until the end of 2012–13 Season. He extended his contract with

for one year in February 2013, keeping him in the team till 2014. He was regarded as the

Iran Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

's best defender. He was one of the main players in persepolis' second place league finish in 2014. Hosseini was named the best defender in the 2013–14 season.

Al-Ahli

On 17 July 2014, Hosseini joined

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

's Al-Ahli with signing a one-year contract. He left the club in May 2015.

Naft Tehran

Hosseini left Qatar and joined

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

runners–up

Naft Tehran Naft Tehran Football Club (, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Nuft Teheran'') was an Iranian association football, football club based in Tehran, Iran. They competed in the Persian Gulf Pro League. They were owned by the National Iranian Oil Company previousl ...

in the summer of 2015. With Hosseini Naft reached the quarter–finals of the

2015 AFC Champions League The 2015 AFC Champions League was the 34th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 13th under the current AFC Champions League title. Guangzhou Evergrande won the tourna ...

. Midway through the season, he and many Naft players and management had disputes with the board as they had not been paid. As a result of this he left the club before the 2016–17 season.

Persepolis

In spring of 2016, after days of negotiation, Hosseini announced he had signed with his former club

. Shortly after he was announced as the club captain for the 2016–17 season. He led Persepolis to a consecutive Persian Pro League in which he was an indisputable player and played a big role in team.

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...

website wrote Hosseini was a solid defender for Persepolis. On 25 June 2022, Hosseini confirmed his retirement from football as a player. He called the decision "difficult" but "right". At this time, with 9 league titles, he is considered the most honorable and unattainable Iranian player in this regard.

Varzesh 3 IRIB Varzesh () is a national sports TV channel in Iran which was launched on July 18, 2012 and is the fifth Iranian television channel to broadcast in digital mode and the second one to broadcast in High Definition quality. This channel is curre ...

, described his retirement as "start of the

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

in a coaching suit", hoping he will start coaching immediately.

International career

Jalal Hosseini before playing with Zob Ahan

Hosseini was a member of Iran U23 national team, participating in the

2006 Asian Games The 2006 Asian Games (), officially known as the XV Asiad or 15th Asian Games (, and commonly known as Doha 2006 (), were an Asian multi-sport event held in Doha, Qatar, from December 1 to 15, 2006, with 424 events in 39 sports featured in the ga ...

. He debuted for the senior national team in a friendly match against

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

in February 2007. Having joined ''Team Melli'' again in July 2007, he played in all four of Iran's matches and scored its first goal in its opening match at 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 ...

against

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

. He was called again for the

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

and

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

matches. He also played in

2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification The 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification saw various countries take part to determine 10 spots to the final tournament in Qatar under the new qualification system set by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Six other teams also qualified for th ...

for Iran and

2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification The 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification was a qualification process organized by the AFC to determine the participating teams for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. The 2015 AFC Asian Cup, hosted by Australia, featured 16 teams. In the initial scheme, ten pl ...

. He featured in West Asian Football Federation Championship 2010 and

2011 Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the secon ...

. On 1 June 2014, he was called into Iran's

squad by

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football manager. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Iran, Colombia, Egypt and Qatar, leading ...

. He was called into Iran's

squad on 30 December 2014 by Carlos Queiroz. In 2016, Hosseini was selected as one of the top 3 defenders in the world by France Football magazine in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. In May 2018 he was named in Iran's preliminary squad for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

but did not make the final 23. On 1 December 2018, Hosseini announced his retirement from international football.

Player profile

Style of play

Iran and Nigeria match at the FIFA World Cup 2014-06-12 13

Hosseini is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders in history of Iranian football. Also he is the most decorated player in

Iranian football league The Iranian football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for soccer, football clubs in Iran. Structure The current structure has been in place since 2001. The Iran's Premier Football League, Pro League is the highest level of cl ...

. His tactical awareness and athleticism, intelligent positioning, and aggressive playing style, led the team in defensive positions. High running rate, fighting and cutting power and excellent leadership are the features of Hosseini's style of play. He is also mentioned as a player who respected the legacy of the Persepolis club, that is, ethics in sports.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Saipa *

: 2006–07 Sepahan *

: 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2011–12 (3) Persepolis *

: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

(5) *

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (, ) formerly known as Pahlavi Cup () is an Iranian knockout football competition held annually by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian Football League, Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, h ...

: 2018–19 *

Iranian Super Cup The Iranian Super Cup (Persian language, Persian: سوپر جام ایران, ''Super Jam-e 'Iran'') is an Iranian association football trophy awarded to the winner of a match between the Persian Gulf Pro League's season champion and the winner of ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

(4) *

runner-up:

Iran U23 (

Wild card Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

) * Asian Games Bronze Medal:

Individual *

Defender of the Year (6) : 2006–07, 2007–08, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

Team of the Year : 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

Navad ''Navad'' (, meaning "ninety inutes) was one of the most popular Iranian, Persian language, weekly television programs broadcast by Channel 3 in Iran and hosted by Adel Ferdosipour. The program focused on the football matches played in the Persi ...

Player of the Month: November 2017, December 2017 *

OPTA Best XI:

* Iran's

Legend

References

External links

Jalal Hosseini
a
PersianLeague.comJalal Hosseini
a
TeamMelli.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hosseini, Jalal 1982 births Living people Iranian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Iran men's international footballers Azadegan League players Qatar Stars League players Malavan F.C. players Sepahan S.C. footballers Saipa F.C. players Persepolis F.C. players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players Asian Games bronze medalists for Iran Al Ahli SC (Doha) players Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games FIFA Men's Century Club Footballers from Bandar-e Anzali Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Persian Gulf Pro League players Iranian expatriate men's footballers Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Persepolis F.C. non-playing staff 21st-century Iranian sportsmen

Early life and education

Club career

Saipa

Sepahan

Persepolis

Al-Ahli

Naft Tehran

Persepolis

International career

Player profile

Style of play

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

See also

References

External links