Rahman Rezaei ( fa, رحمان رضايی, born 20 February 1975) is an Iranian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player. A

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he also represented the

Iran national team Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Club career

He was originally discovered by Iranian manager, Nasser Hejazi. Rezaei played for Zob Ahan in

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

for five seasons. After impressive performances for the club and the national team, he was transferred to Perugia for €150,000 and then to

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

. Rahman Rezaei is currently the most successful Asian defender in Europe. In the 2003/2004 season, he helped Messina gain promotion to Serie A. He had been one of Messina's most consistently used players with 36 appearances in their 2004–05 mid-table finish. After steadily playing for his club for three seasons, at the end of August 2006 Rezaei signed with another Serie A club, Livorno. He has won numerous plaudits in Italy and has been dubbed "The Flying Carpet". In addition, his fans in Messina have named him the "Secretary of Defense". In January 2006, he acquired Italian citizenship through his marriage to an Italian-Iranian Helia Hashemi. In July 2008, an Iranian newspaper reported Iranian giants Persepolis were holding talks with Rezaei. However, in mid-July, Afshin Ghotbi was re-appointed manager of Persepolis and cut the talks with Rezaei, stating that the club were not looking for a centre-back player at that moment in time. On 10 August 2009, Rezaei signed a one-year, $700 thousand contract with Qatari side Al Ahli SC. In 2010, he signed with Shahin Bushehr. A half-year later he joined Paykan. He announced his retirement from football on 4 July 2012.

Club career statistics

International career

Rahman Rezaei made his first appearance for Iran in July 2001 against

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

. He has been the most consistent defender for the team ever since. In European football, Rahman Rezaei is considered a solid defender well inclined to launch devastating counterattacks. However his role is different in the Iranian national football team, where he is a straight defensive centre back. He was formerly a forward, but has proved to be an indispensable defensive stalwart for an Iranian side considered top-heavy in attacking players. He was among the key players for Iran in

World Cup 2006 The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, 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 ...

, but he did not perform as well as everyone had hoped. He received some criticism following a couple mistakes which led to goals being scored against the team. On 6 April 2007 Rezaei stated he will retire from international football after the

2007 Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its hi ...

., but in another interview in December 2007 he expressed his intention to return to the national team. Rezaei was given his #5 jersey and was selected for Team Melli's

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

Qualification matches.

International goals

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

Director of football

:''after time of playing he was director sport and coach in some clubs.''

Honours

Individual

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 cont ...

All-Star Team: 2007

Personal life

Rezaei is married to translator Helia Hashemian, a woman of Iranian origin who was born in

Assisi Assisi (, also , ; from la, Asisium) is a town and ''comune'' of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius, born aroun ...

, Perugia.

References

External links

*
Rahman's profile on Official Website of A.S. Livorno Calcio

Rahman Rezaei
a
PersianLeague.com

a
TeamMelli.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rezaei, Rahman 1975 births Living people People from Nur, Iran Iranian footballers Iran international footballers Iranian expatriate footballers Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Association football central defenders Nassaji Mazandaran players Rah Ahan players Zob Ahan Esfahan F.C. players A.C. Perugia Calcio players A.C.R. Messina players U.S. Livorno 1915 players Persepolis F.C. players Al Ahli SC (Doha) players Shahin Bushehr F.C. players Paykan F.C. players Azadegan League players Serie A players Serie B players Persian Gulf Pro League players Qatar Stars League players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Qatar Sportspeople from Mazandaran province Persian Gulf Pro League managers