Rasoul Paki Khatibi (; born 22 September 1978) is an Iranian

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 who is the president of the

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

team Paykan. He is the younger brother of Hossein Khatibi, who is also a football manager and former professional footballer.

Club career

Khatibi began his professional football career, playing for his hometown club,

Tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

, following the footsteps of his brother, Hossein Khatibi. He was able to impress people, and after scoring many goals for his club, he was transferred to Pas Tehran. He continued to play well, giving himself a chance to join

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 ...

in the

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 ...

along with fellow Iranian internationals

Mehdi Mahdavikia Mehdi Mahdavikia (; born 24 July 1977) is an Iranian professional association football, football coach and former player usually played as a winger (association football), right winger or right back. He was at Hamburger SV as a youth coach, and ...

and

Vahid Hashemian Vahid Hashemian Korbekandi (; born 21 July 1976) is an Iranian football coach and former player. He subsequently worked as assistant coach to Dragan Skočić at Iran national team during his tenure. He played as a forward, spending most of his ...

. While playing in

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 ...

, he only had a couple of appearances, and was not able to make good use of this opportunity. He soon returned to Iran, back to his old club, Pas Tehran. He then briefly played for Esteghlal in the

Asian Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious cl ...

before signing for

Sepahan Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club (, ''Bâšgâh-e Farhangi-Varzeši-ye Fulâd-e Mobârake-ye Sepâhân''), commonly known as Sepahan, is an Iranian sports club based in Isfahan. It is best known for their football section that play in the P ...

. Sepahan was able to win the IPL championship in

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 ...

and Khatibi started showing his good form again. In the 2005–06 season, he was able to score ten goals, completing his impressive record in Sepahan with 32 goals in three seasons. His tally would have been higher if not for his poor chances to goals ratio. In June 2006, he signed a two-year contract with United Arab Emirates club

Sharjah FC Sharjah Football Club () is an Emirati professional football club based in Sharjah that competes in the UAE Pro League. Their home stadium is the Sharjah Stadium. Founded in 1966, Sharjah is considered to be one of the pioneers of complaining s ...

, after rejecting an offer from Spanish second division side

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

. In 2007, Khatibi signed a new contract with

Emirates Club Emirates Club () is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. They play in the UAE Pro League after being promoted from the UAE First Division League. They play their home game ...

for $700,000 to join his Iranian teammate Reza Enayati. The contract had a clause which stated that if a European club offered Khatibi a contract, then the existing contract with Emirates Club would be canceled. He then joined Gostaresh Foulad as player-manager. He announced his retirement on 5 August 2013.

International career

Khatibi represented Iran internationally at various age levels. He was a constant member of the Iran Olympic team during his time in Tractor Sazi and Pas, but despite the talent on the team, they were never successful. He gained his first international cap on 15 February 1999 versus

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. His appearances for the national team have been inconsistent, but due to his good form in the 2005–06 season he was called up to the main squad which headed to Germany for World Cup 2006. He has 24

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and five goals for the national team.

Coaching career

After joined Machine Sazi in summer 2011, he becomes player-manager of Machine Sazi Tabriz on 1 July 2011 to lead the team in

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 ...

. After spending one season at Machine Sazi and led them to the third rank and lost the promotion play-off on goal difference, he becomes head coach of another Tabrizi based team, Gostaresh Foolad and led the club to promotion to the

Iran Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

. He renewed his contract for another three seasons on 13 May 2013 but resigned on 26 December 2013 after a run of unsuccessful results. On 31 May 2014, Khatibi was appointed as new manager of

, replaced

Toni Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name used in several European countries as well as among individuals with ancestry from these countries outside Europe. In Spanish language, Spanish, Italian language, Italian, Croatian language, Croatian an ...

.Official: Khatibi, new head coach of Tractor Sazi
He signed a three-year contract with the club. However, he was sacked on 8 February 2015 after a run of poor results.

Career statistics

Club

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a player

Pas *

runner-up: 1997–98 Esteghlal *

runner-up: 1999–00 *

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (, ) formerly known as Pahlavi Cup () is an Iranian knockout football competition held annually by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian Football League, Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, h ...

: 1999–00 Sepahan *

: 2003–04, 2005–06 Gostaresh *

runner-up: 2009–10

As a manager

Gostaresh *

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 ...

: 2012–13 Tractor *

Shohada Cup Shohada (, plural form of ''shahid'' 'martyr') may refer to: Places *Shohada, Fars, or Eshkaft, Iran *Shohada, Lorestan, or Gari Babakhan, Iran *Shohada, Yazd, Iran Other uses *Shohada Mosque, in Tabriz, Iran *Al Shohada Mosque (Sanaa), Yemen *Sh ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Machine Sazi *

runner-up (promotion): 2015–16 Aluminium Arak *

runner-up (promotion): 2019–20

Individual

Manager of the Season: 2015–16

References

External links

Rasoul Khatibi
a
TeamMelli.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khatibi, Rasoul 1978 births Living people Footballers from Tabriz Iranian men's footballers Iran men's international footballers Men's association football forwards PAS Tehran F.C. players Hamburger SV players Esteghlal F.C. players Sepahan S.C. footballers Sharjah FC players Emirates Club players Al Dhafra FC players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Gostaresh Foulad F.C. players Machine Sazi F.C. players Tractor S.C. players Asian Games gold medalists for Iran Tractor S.C. managers Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Azadegan League players Persian Gulf Pro League players UAE Pro League players Bundesliga players Iranian expatriate men's footballers Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Iranian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Iranian football managers Persian Gulf Pro League managers Aluminium Arak F.C. managers