Mehrzad Madanchi Ardekani (; born 12 October 1983) is an Iranian former

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 ...

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who last played for Fajr Sepasi.

Club career

The attacker started his playing career in Homa Shiraz club which plays in the lower Iranian divisions. After playing impressively at the lower division Shiraz club, he earned a transfer to Fajr Sepasi, one of the top two clubs of Shiraz (the other being Bargh Shiraz). He was immediately seen as a big talent and continued to play well in the 2004/2005 season. The speedy left winger saw his performances be rewarded with a transfer to the most popular club in Iran,

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 ...

, in July 2005. In the 2005/2006 season at Persepolis Madanchi grew to become a first team player. He played some good matches on the left wing during the season, due to his great speed and dribbling. His main problem however was his crossing ability, which many agreed could be greatly improved. At the end of the season Persepolis coach Arie Haan took Madanchi away from the left wing and put him in as a striker, with topscorer Javad Kazemian as his partner. This position worked immediately, as in three matches in the Hazfi Cup Madanchi scored seven goals, a hattrick against Abu Muslem and two doubles against Malavan and Nozhan. In the 2006/2007 season at Persepolis Madanchi was put in the striker position by head coach Mustafa Denizli. This really helped out Persepolis because Madanchi was able to score 10 goals and make 5 assists in the League and was announced the best player of the 2006/2007 IPL season called the Persian Gulf Cup. On 10 July 2007 Madanchi signed a one-year deal with U.A.E's club Al-Shaab for a fee of $500,000. During the 2007/2008 season at Al-Shaab, Madanchi played in the Striker position for the entire season which resulted in him scoring 17 goals in three different competitions. He scored 14 goals in the UAE League, while scoring two goals in the Arab Champions League and one goal in the UAE Cup. Although, 8 of his 17 goals were scored from the penalty spot. After the season Madanchi was named the Foreign Player of the Season 2007/08 of the UAE League. On 31 May 2008 Madanchi signed a one-year deal with Al-Nasr Sports Club in the UAE League in a contract is thought to be worth over $1.5 million. He moved to Al-Ahli in summer 2009 where he played in 2009 FIFA Club World Cup and also

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 ...

. He joined Steel Azin in 2010 and stayed there for a season where he had an unsuccessful season because of the injuries he had and after the relegation of the team he moved to Al Shaab but again because of the injuries he had his contract was canceled halfway through the season. On 16 July 2012 he joined

with a three-year contract.Madanchi joins Persepolis
After spending one season at the club and not gaining much of playing time, his contract was terminated and he joined Fajr Sepasi.

Club career statistics

* Assist Goals

International career

Madanchi was selected for the Iranian Olympic team during the qualifiers for the Olympic Games 2004. Although Iran failed to qualify for the tournament, Madanchi, at the time only 18, was one of the stars of the young team. His good performance during the qualifiers led to him being called up to the full

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and he made his debut in August 2003 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 ...

. His most impressive international match was Iran's

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 against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

in March 2006, in which he scored two of Iran's four goals. He also scored one goal against

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

in a World Cup warmup friendly. He was selected for Iran's final World Cup 2006 squad as one of the 23 players. In July 2007 and for the Asian Championships Madanchi was called for Team Melli once again. He has been called up for Team Melli for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying. He also featured and scored in 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.''

International Matches

, 20 August 2003, friendly match #

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, 18 December 2004, friendly match #

, 22 February 2006, 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers #

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

, 1 March 2006, friendly match #

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, 28 May 2006, friendly match #

, 31 May 2006, friendly match #

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, 11 June 2006,

2006 Fifa World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, 17 June 2006,

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

, 21 June 2006,

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, 8 August 2006, friendly match #

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 ...

, 16 August 2006, 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers #

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, 2 September 2006, 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers #

, 6 September 2006, 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers #

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, 4 October 2006, friendly match #

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, 24 March 2007, friendly match #

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, 28 June 2007, friendly match #

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, 2 July 2007, friendly match #

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 ...

, 11 July 2007,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, 15 July 2007,

# Korea Republic, 22 July 2007,

, 10 January 2008, friendly match #

, 30 January 2008, friendly match #

, 6 February 2008, World Cup Qualifiers #

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 ...

, 22 March 2008, friendly match #

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, 26 March 2008, World Cup Qualifiers #

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, 27 August 2008, friendly match #

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, 6 September 2008, World Cup Qualifiers #

, 19 November 2008, World Cup Qualifiers #

, 28 March 2009, World Cup Qualifiers #

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, 1 April 2009, friendly match #

, 1 June 2009, friendly match # Korea DPR, 6 June 2009, World Cup Qualifiers #

, 12 August 2009, friendly match

International appearances and goals

:World Cup 3 (0) :World Cup qualification 6 (0) :Asian Cup 3 (0) :Asian Cup qualification 4 (2) :Friendly 17 (4)

Honours

Club

* Hazfi Cup: **Runner up: *** 2002–03 with Fajr Sepasi *** 2005–06 with Persepolis *** 2012–13 with Persepolis

International

* AFC/OFC Cup Challenge: **Winner: ***2003 with Iran

Individual

* UAE League: **Foreigner Player of the year: ***2007–08 with Al-Shaab

References

External links

*
Mehrzad Madanchi
a
TeamMelli.comMehrzad Madanchi's Al-Shaab goals
a
YouTube.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madanchi, Mehrzad Iranian men's footballers Iran men's international footballers Men's association football wingers Persian Gulf Pro League players Fajr Sepasi Shiraz F.C. players Persepolis F.C. players Al-Shaab CSC players Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) players Shabab Al Ahli Club players UAE Pro League players Steel Azin F.C. players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Iranian expatriate men's footballers 1985 births Living people Footballers from Shiraz 21st-century Iranian sportsmen