Mehdi Mahdavikia (; born 24 July 1977) is an Iranian professional

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 usually played as a

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He was at

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

as a youth coach, and also managed his own youth academy, FC KIA. He is currently head coach of Al Jazeera Al Hamra F.C. in UAE League 2. Mahdavikia currently represents

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 ( ...

(AFC) in the Football Advisory Panel of

International Football Association Board The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an international self-regulatory body of association football that is known for determining the Laws of the Game, the regulations for the gameplay of football. It was founded in 1886 in or ...

(IFAB), joining the body in 2019. On 15 May 2013, Mahdavikia was appointed as AFC Grassroots Ambassador. During his playing career, Mahdavikia internationally represented

Iranian national team The Iran national football team (), recognised as IR Iran by FIFA since 2018, represents Iran in men's international senior Association football, football and is governed by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI). At the cont ...

, which he captained from 2006 to 2009, and currently is the fourth most capped player of all-time. He played for Iranian clubs

Bank Melli Bank Melli Iran (BMI; ) is the first national and commercial retail bank of Iran. It was the List of companies of Iran, largest Iranian company in terms of annual income with a revenue of 364 657 billion Iranian rial, rials in 2016. It is th ...

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 ...

Steel Azin Steel Azin Football Club (, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Estil Âzin'') was an Iranian football club based in Tehran, Iran. The club was owned by Hossein Hedayati, owner of Steel Azin Iranian Holding Co. Steel Azin club also had a volleyball team, spo ...

and

Damash Gilan Sport Club Damash Guilan (, ''Bashgah-e Vârzeshi-ye Damash Guilân''), commonly known as Damash Guilan sc, also spelled Damash Guilan, is an Iranian football club based in Rasht, Guilan, that competes in the Azadegan League. The club was founde ...

, as well as German clubs

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

and

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

, spending 12 consecutive seasons in

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 ...

. He won the

Asian Young Footballer of the Year The Asian Young Footballer of the Year award, officially known as the AFC Youth Player of the Year award, is presented to the best young football player in Asia. It has been awarded by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) since 1995. It is usually ...

award in 1997 as well as the Asian Footballer of the Year award in 2003. He was known for his crossing, speed and dribbling.

Club career

Early career

Mahdavikia first played for

in his native Iran before moving to

in Germany. After Bochum's relegation, he signed for Bundesliga side

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

where he stayed for the next eight seasons.

Hamburger SV

Hamburger Morgenpost The ''Hamburger Morgenpost'' (Hamburg Morning Post) (also known as Mopo) is a daily German newspaper published in Hamburg in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. As of 2006 the ''Hamburger Morgenpost'' was the second-largest newspaper in H ...

'' estimated market value of Mahdavikia in 1999 as DM6.5 million. 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 in Asian games as help for the club. Under coach Frank Pagelsdorf Mahdavikia used to play wide striker. For the 2006–07 Bundesliga season he moved back to his natural position of right wing, in support of Central Midfielder

Rafael van der Vaart Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart (; born 11 February 1983) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Van der Vaart began his career at AFC Ajax, Ajax's Ajax Youth Academy, youth academ ...

. He was awarded Hamburg Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004 by the fans, and also attained the title of the top assister of goals in the

. In 2003, ''

Die Welt (, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...

'' wrote that Mahdavikia is worth €8–10 million. However, compared to his previous season, he had a poor season in 2004–05 and was benched. In the 2005–06 season he 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 then Bundesliga heavyweights

Schalke Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a Professionalism in association football, professional sports club from the Gelsenkirchen-Schalke, Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, N ...

. Mahdavikia's strongest points were his vision, passing skills, fast-paced runs (his nickname in Iran is "The Rocket"), and set-pieces such as corners, spotkicks and free kicks. He usually was 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.

Eintracht Frankfurt

On 8 June 2007, Mahdavikia signed a three-year contract with

. In his first season, he had two bad injuries that forced him to miss many matches. In the second season he was mostly benched and not used in many matches which showed that the club did not want him anymore. After 255 Games (26 goals, 55 assists) in the Bundesliga for HSV, Bochum and Eintracht Frankfurt, left Germany to sign for

in January 2010.

Return to Iran

On 4 July 2011, Mahdavikia signed a contract with

Amir Abedini Amir Abedini (; born Hassan Abedini on 13 December 1949) is an Iranian politician, football club chairman, former professional footballer and member of the City Council of Tehran. Political career During 1980s, he held office as governor of th ...

, President of the

to join to the club for one year but he was joined to his beloved club,

in mid-season to play for club in his last year of playing football. He extended his contract with

for another season on 19 June 2012.

Retirement

On 2 March 2013, Mahdavikia announced that he would retire at the end of the 2012–13 season. Persepolis also announced that Mahdavikia's farewell match would be in a pre-season friendly match against

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

in June 2013, played in the

Azadi Stadium The Azadi Stadium (, ), opened as the Aryamehr Stadium (), is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium was designed by Abdol Aziz Mirza Farman-Farmaian Architects and Associates (AFFA) with other parts of the sports comple ...

, but it was later announced that Mahdavikia's last match would be against his former side,

in June 2013 in the same stadium. Mahdavikia confirmed on 14 March 2013 that he ended his active football career. He played his last match as a football player in the 2013 Hazfi Cup Final, coming on extra time as a substitute. On 28 November 2013, he played a farewell match at

between Persepolis XI and

XI. Participants in the match included former teams' legends like

Hamid Derakhshan Hamid Reza Derakhshan (; born 23 January 1959) is an Iranian former professional football player and now manager who last managed Saipa in Azadegan League. Derakhshan played as a midfielder for a number of clubs, most notably Persepolis, as wel ...

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Farshad Pious Farshad Pious (; born 12 January 1962) is an Iranian retired association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward for a number of clubs in Iran, most notably Persepolis F.C., Persepolis, as well as the Iran na ...

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 ...

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Nasser Mohammadkhani Nasser Mohammadkhani (, born 7 September 1957) is a retired Iranian footballer. He was a striker during his playing days. He also worked as a coach for Tehran's Persepolis Club. Honours Club ;Persepolis *Asian Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1990–91 ...

Pejman Jamshidi Pejman Jamshidi (; born September 11, 1977) is an Iranian actor and former footballer. His performances in the films ''The Misunderstanding'' (2018), '' Shishlik'' (2021), ''Grassland'' (2022), and ''A Relic of the South'' (2023) have earned him ...

, Edmond Bezik which played for Persepolis and

Franco Baresi Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining th ...

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian football executive and former professional footballer who played as a left-back or as a centre-back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greates ...

Daniele Massaro Daniele Emilio Massaro (; born 23 May 1961) is an Italian former footballer who played as a forward. Throughout his career, Massaro played for several Italian clubs, including Monza, Fiorentina, AC Milan, and Roma, before ending his career in J ...

Gennaro Gattuso Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italians, Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is currently the Manager (association football), head coach of the Italy na ...

and

Alberigo Evani Alberico Evani (; born 1 January 1963), sometimes misspelled as Alberigo Evani, is an Italian football manager and former player, who was deployed as a midfielder. He started his club career with AC Milan, where he spent the majority of his play ...

for A.C. Milan. Persepolis were managed by the club's most successful manager

Ali Parvin Ali Parvin (; born 25 September 1947) is a retired Iranian association football, football player and coach. He is among the most prominent Iran, Iranian footballers. He played for the Iran national football team. During his career, he played as ...

. When Mahdavikia came on as a substitute in the 32nd minute, Pious gave his shirt to Mahdavikia, in a remarkable replay after seventeen years that Pious did so in Mahdavikia's first match for Persepolis. The match was won by A.C. Milan XI 3–1 with Mahdavikia assisting the only goal.

International career

Having been awarded the

award in 1997, Mahdavikia was considered Iran's best player in the

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 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

. He was also the top assister in the

2004 Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. The defending champio ...

, 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 Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

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 Ali Daei ( ; born 21 March 1969) is an Iranian Association football, football manager and former professional footballer. A Striker (association football), striker, he was the captain (association football), captain of the Iran national footbal ...

and

Yahya Golmohammadi Yahya Golmohammadi (; born 19 March 1971) is an Iranian association football, football coach and a former player who coaches Persian Gulf Pro League club Foolad F.C., Foolad. He is one of only eleven Iranians to score in a FIFA World Cup, World ...

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 The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the contin ...

qualifier versus

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. Mahdavikia has reportedly been forced to "retire" from international football 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. He was forced to retire from

Team Melli The Iran national football team (), recognised as IR Iran by FIFA since 2018, represents Iran in men's international senior football and is governed by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI). At the continental level, Iran ha ...

after 13 years and playing in two World Cups (1998, 2006), four Asian Cups (1996, 2000, 2004, 2007), one Asian Games tournament (1998), four World Cup qualifying campaigns (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010), three Asian Cup qualifying campaigns (2000, 2004, 2007) and one AFC/OFC Cup.

Managerial career

Mahdavikia was the manager of the Iranian youth teams. In 2015, he founded the KIA Football Academy with

Ali Doustimehr Ali Doustimehr (, born 23 July 1965) is an Iranian football coach. He has been the head coach of Iran national under-19 football team participating in 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria and is the coach for the 2010 AFC U-19 Championship. In 201 ...

. He currently has a role as a youth coach with

. In May 2019, Mahdavikia obtained

UEFA A Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of manager (association football), managers/ coach (sport), coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for association football, football in Europe mandates several licences, e ...

and plans to enter

DFB DFB may refer to: Music * Dem Franchize Boyz, an Atlanta hip hop group * Dysfunctional Family BBQ, a New York festival Sport * DFB-Pokal, a football cup competition in Germany Organisations * Furka Steam Railway (), Switzerland * German Footbal ...

's ''Fußballlehrer'' course.

Famous matches

Mahdavikia's most prolific club match was

's match against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

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. Another famous game in the HSV shirt came in week 30 of the 2002–03 season. Mahdavikia scored one and assisted another two goals in Hamburg's 4–0 win over 1. FC Nuremberg. Kicker gave him a much rare perfect note of 1.0. 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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

World Cup 1998 The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

that saw him score Iran's second and winning goal, as his best ever. Another excellent match where he scored two great goals was against China in the qualification round for the 1998 World Cup when he was just 20 years old.

Personal life

Mahdavikia played several sports as a youngster and was exceptionally talented at

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

, even being named captain of Iran's under 14 team. 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 Samii, while being in his native Iran in December 2005, thus practising

bigamy In a culture where only monogamous relationships are legally recognized, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their mar ...

. He himself stated that he made a "big mistake", and they divorced after a short while. Mahdavikia's younger brother,

Hadi Hadi or Hady () is an Arabic masculine given name and surname. Al-Hadi is one of the 99 names of God in Islam meaning ''guide'' (from the Arabic triconsonantal root ; also present in hidayah). Given name Hadi * Hadi Saei (born 1976), Iranian taek ...

played for Homa F.C. and

Persepolis F.C. Persepolis Football Club () is an Iranian professional football club based in Tehran that competes in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Persepolis F.C. is the football club of the multisport Persepolis Athletic and Cultural Club. The club was ...

, and now is the head coach of KIA Football Academy. Mahdavikia's nephew Mostafa is also a football player in Iran.

Career statistics

Club

International

*1.Excluding a friendly match against Ghana U-23 that is not considered a full international. :''Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mahdavikia goal.''

Honours

Persepolis *

Azadegan League The Azadegan League (, ''Lig-e Âzâdegân''), also known as League 1 (, ''Lig-e Yek''), is the second highest division of professional football in Iran. It was the top-level football league in Iran from its foundation in 1991 until 2001, when t ...

: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99 Hamburger SV *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German association football, football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five t ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Iran *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

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 ...

third place:

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 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

AFC–OFC Challenge Cup The AFC–OFC Challenge Cup was a football tournament, set up as the successor of the discontinued Afro-Asian Cup of Nations. It was a biannual event, with Oceania represented by the winners of the OFC Nations Cup and Asia Asia ( , ...

: 2003 Individual *AFC Goal of the Month: September 1997 * AFC Youth Player of the Year: 1997 *

top assist provider: 2002–03 * AFC Player of the Year: 2003 *

All-Star Team:

All-time Team: 2012 * AFC Asian Cup Fans' All-time Best XI: 2018 *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Asian Men's Team of All Time: 2021 * AFC Asian Cup All-time XI: 2023

References

External links

*
RSSSF archive of Mehdi Mahdavikia's international appearances

Profile
at TeamMelli.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahdavikia, Mehdi Iranian men's footballers Iran men's international footballers Persepolis F.C. players Men's association football wingers VfL Bochum players Hamburger SV players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Persian Gulf Pro League players Iranian expatriate men's footballers Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Germany FIFA Men's Century Club Eintracht Frankfurt players Steel Azin F.C. players S.C. Damash Gilan players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers from Tehran 1977 births Living people Asian Games gold medalists for Iran Asian Footballer of the Year winners Asian Young Footballer of the Year winners Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Hamburger SV II players Hamburger SV non-playing staff Iranian football managers