Khodadad Azizi (; born 22 June 1971) is an Iranian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who played as a striker.

Early life

He lived in the Piranshahr neighborhood of

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...

. As a child, he played soccer with mismatched pair of shoes and at the age of 11, he worked as a construction worker with his brother to support himself. In high school, he was expelled from Haj Taqi Agha Bozorg High School for insulting the sports teacher. Then, with the help of his brother Jahangir Zendedel (the manager of the Abu Muslim club), he enrolled in Amir Kabir High School.

Club career

After playing for a few clubs in Iran and following his performance in Asia, he moved to Germany in 1997 to play for 1. FC Köln. Azizi, along with his Iranian national teammates Ali Daei and

Karim Bagheri Karim Bagheri (; born 20 February 1974) is an Iranian professional association football, football coach and former midfielder who most notably played for the Iran national football team, Iranian national team and Persian Gulf Pro League club Pers ...

, were among the first Iranians to enter the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. Having played for three seasons in 1. FC Köln, he signed a contract with

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

-based club

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

, became the second Iranian player to play in the United States'

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. In 2001, Khodadad Azizi was transferred to the United Arab Emirates club Al Nasr, before returning to Iran and joining Pas Tehran. In 2005, he signed for Admira Wacker in the

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

. He returned to Iran soon after and signed for lower division club, Oghab. His stay there was not very lengthy as he signed for Rah Ahan in late 2005. After the 2005–06 season, Azizi retired from club and international football. He finished his international career with 47 caps and 11 goals. Following his retirement, Azizi was employed by his hometown club, Aboomoslem, as club chairman advisor. Azizi also co-owns a sports clothing label called ''Majid'' with financial backing from Abdol Majid Saedifar who put a $400,000 into the company. In September 2011, Khabaronline.ir reported Azizi to be the owner of Siah Jamegaan of Khorasaan, a spin-off of F.C. Aboomoslem.

International career

Azizi represented

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

at the 1996 Asian Cup,

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

, and the 2000 Asian Cup. He was named Asian Player of the Year in 1996, as well as the Asian Cup Most Valuable Player in the 1996 Asian Cup. Azizi is best remembered for scoring the equaliser against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the second leg World Cup qualifier in November 1997, sending Iran into France 98.

Coaching career

In December 2006, Azizi was appointed the manager of Aboomoslem, a

based football club that he had started his career with in the early 1990s. He was replaced by Parviz Mazloumi in October 2007. He was head coach of Payam Khorasan and Esteghlal Ahvaz for a short time. In 2011, he was appointed as head coach of Aboomoslem for a second time but parted company with the club on 1 June 2012.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

1. FC Köln * 2. Bundesliga: 1999–2000 Pas * Iran Pro League: 2003–04 Individual * AFC Player of the Year:

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

Most Valuable Player:

* MLS All-Star:

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

* MasterCard Asian/Oceanian Team of the 20th Century: 1998

References

External links

Khodadad Azizi
a
TeamMelli.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azizi, Khodadad 1971 births Living people Iranian men's footballers Iran men's international footballers Iranian expatriate men's footballers Iranian football managers Men's association football forwards F.C. Aboomoslem players Persepolis F.C. players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players Bahman F.C. players 1. FC Köln players Admira Wacker players Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) players San Jose Earthquakes players PAS Tehran F.C. players Rah Ahan Tehran F.C. players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Asian Footballer of the Year winners Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars UAE Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Iranian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Iranian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Sportspeople from Razavi Khorasan province