Moharram Navidkia (, born 1 November 1982 in

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

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 ...

) is an Iranian retired

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 last coached Mes Rafsanjan in Persian Gulf Pro League. He played for the club for 18 years and was its captain. He usually played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. During his career, he dealt with consecutive injuries, which made him unable to regain his top form. As an international player, he was the former captain of the Iran under-23 team and collected 25 caps for the senior team of

, before bidding his farewell in December 2009. His brother, Rasoul Navidkia is also a professional footballer who plays in Sepahan.

Early years

His original last name was Ghara Gozlu which he changed later to Navidkia. He is an ethnic Azeri originally from Marand, East Azerbaijan.

Club career

He began his career at Sepahan in 1998. From 1998 to 2002 he played as the

defensive midfielder 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. ...

, while from 2002 and by the suggestion of Farhad Kazemi his playing post has been changed to

attacking midfielder 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. ...

. He managed to attract attention during the 2002–03 Iran Premier League season while playing for a team many at first thought to be average, but they won the championship title at the end. He was selected the best player of IPL for the 2003–04 season and was considered one of the best Iranian players despite his young age. Due to his potential talent, young age, and impressive performances, he was transferred to

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 ...

even though he was injured at the time of the signing. He was not able to recover his old form, and went back to Sepahan in 2006 on loan. After the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, Navidkia signed a contract with Sepahan again. He had difficulties with the injuries during his career in Sepahan and finally in the 2009–10 season he had his most stable season after a few years. He retired from football on 17 October 2016, after playing 16 years at Sepahan.

Club career statistics

*Last Update: 11 May 2019 * Assist Goals

International career

He was first selected to the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

during the West Asian Football Federation tournament in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, which was held in

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 ...

. He made his debut for Iran against

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

in August 2002. His biggest achievement was winning the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

of the 2002

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 ...

with Iran U-23 in

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

, where he continued his impressive display during the games. He played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification for Team Melli. Having been selected among Iran's reserve men for the 2006 World Cup, he was called up to join the team in Germany to replace injured Sattar Zare. He bid his farewell to national team in December 2009. In May 2011, he was called up to Iran national team by Carlos Queiroz, but he rejected the offer due to his "several injuries and surgeries" which makes him unable to play for both national team and club.

International goals

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

Managerial record

Awards and honours

Player

;Sepahan * Iran Pro League (5): 2002–03, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2014–15 * Hazfi Cup (4): 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2012–13 *

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 ...

Runner-up:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

;Iran U-23 *

;Iran * WAFF Bronze medal:

;Individual * Football Iran News & Events Player of the season: 2002–03, 2012–13 * Iranian Footballer of the Year: 2003, 2013

Manager

;Sepahan * Persian Gulf Pro League: Runner-up 2020–21 ;Mes Rafsanjan * Hazfi Cup: Runner-up 2023–24

References

External links

Moharram Navidkia
a
TeamMelli.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Navidkia, Moharram 1982 births Living people Iranian men's footballers Iran men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders People from Isfahan Sepahan S.C. footballers VfL Bochum players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Persian Gulf Pro League players Azadegan League players 2. Bundesliga players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Iranian expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Isfahan Asian Games gold medalists for Iran Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Persian Gulf Pro League managers 21st-century Iranian sportsmen