Nima Nakisa (; born May 1, 1975, in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

) is an Iranian football executive and 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 ...

goalkeeper, who is currently the executive director of Zob Ahan sport club.

Club career

Nakisa first entered the limelight in Iranian football when he played for

Persepolis FC Persepolis Football Club () is an Iranian professional association football, football club based in Tehran that competes in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Persepolis F.C. is the football club of the multisport club, multisport Persepolis Athl ...

. Following World Cup 1998, Nakisa was transferred to

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n Side

KS Flamurtari Vlorë Flamurtari Football Club is an Albanian professional football club based in Vlorë, Albania. The club plays in the Kategoria Superiore, which is the first tier of football in the country. Founded in 1923, the club is one of the oldest in Alba ...

, but left very soon after to AO Kavalas. He had a tough time there, and moved back to Iran the season after. He went back to Persepolis but due to his rivalry with Abedzadeh, Nakisa decided to leave the club for

Pas Tehran Pas Tehran Football Club (, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Pas Tehran'') was an Iranian football club based in Tehran, Iran. Pas F.C. was the football club of the multisport Pas Cultural and Sports Club. The club has a long and rich history and has alwa ...

. He played there until August 2006, when he quit after having an argument with

officials. There was speculation linking him to

Esteghlal Ahvaz Esteghlal Ahvaz Football Club (, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Esteqlâl Ahvaz''), commonly known as Esteghlal Ahvaz, was an Iranian football club based in Ahvaz, Khuzestan, that competed in the khuzestan province league The club was founded in 1948 as Taj ...

, but after the signing of

Ebrahim Mirzapour Ebrahim Mirzapour (; born 1978) is a retired Iranian football goalkeeper, who played most of his career for Foolad F.C . Club career Foolad He started his professional IPL career, playing for Foolad, and was a member of the team until August 2 ...

, Nakisa was no longer needed. Due to this he missed the IPL transfer deadline and was forced to sign with a lower league team, on September 4, 2006, it was announced that Nima Nakisa had officially signed a one-year contract with

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 ...

outfit Esteghlal Jonub Dezful. On July 23, 2007, Nakisa signed with IPL club Esteghlal Ahvaz F.C., the club he was destined to sign with for the 2006/07 season on a one-year deal, however in his first game he had to be subbed out due to injury. His injury has set him back and is thought he will never be able to play again. Nima Nakisa officially retired from professional football shortly after to pursue a singing career.

International career

Nakisa made his first appearance for the

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 ...

in a friendly versus

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

on November 13, 1996. Nakisa was playing for

at the time. Because of an injury to Iran's number one goalkeeper,

Ahmadreza Abedzadeh Ahmadreza Abedzadeh (, born 25 May 1966) is an Iranian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Esteghlal, Sepahan, Persepolis and the Iranian national team. He made 73 appearances for Iran, and played for his country at the ...

, Nakisa started all of Iran's games in Asia Cup 1996, performing quite well despite his lack of experience. He was called up again to the national team for

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 ...

. Once again Abedzadeh was injured and Nakisa started in his place for the first game versus

Yugoslavia national football team The Yugoslavia national football team; ; ; represented Yugoslavia in international association football. Although the team mainly represented the pre-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the post-war SFR Yugoslavia, various iterations of the state ...

. Nakisa was extremely nervous, and his mistake allowed

Siniša Mihajlović Siniša Mihajlović ( sr-Cyrl, Синиша Михајловић, ; 20 February 1969 – 16 December 2022) was a Serbian football manager and professional footballer who played as a defender. Mihajlović had an illustrious playing career, winni ...

to score on a free kick. Iran lost the game 1–0. Nakisa did not start the other two games and his only other international appearances after that were at the Thailand Asian Games in 1998. He was called up to the national team again by Iran's next manager

Branko Ivanković Branko Ivanković (; born 28 February 1954) is a Croatian association football, football manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently the head coach of the China national football team ...

, but did not play.

Honours

Club

;Persepolis *

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 ...

: 1995–96 ;Pas *

: 2003–04

National

;Iran * Asian Games Gold Medal:

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 ...

Personal life

Nakisa has a background in music. He is able to play the piano, and also released a music album in 2005.

References

External links

Nima Nakisa
a
TeamMelli.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakisa, Nima 1975 births Living people Iranian men's footballers 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players Men's association football goalkeepers Expatriate men's footballers in Albania Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Iran men's international footballers Iranian expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Tehran Payam Khorasan F.C. players Asian Games gold medalists for Iran Persepolis F.C. players Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games 21st-century Iranian male singers Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Greece