Reza Ahadi (, November 30, 1962 – January 17, 2016) was an Iranian footballer who 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 ...

for the

Iran national team 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 ...

and

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. ...

's Esteghlal. He died following an internal infection and liver problems at the age of 53.

Playing career

Ahadi played for Iranian club Esteghlal FC for most of his career. He was among the first Iranian players to pursue a career in European football as he joined

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 ...

’s

Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße. The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 1955. The latt ...

in 1986 where he scored a goal in his eight appearances. He was a member of the

Iran national football 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 ...

from 1982–1984. The former Esteghlal captain was called up 13 times to the national team and scored twice. He was the manager of a handful of teams such as

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 ...

Paykan The Paykan ( meaning ''Arrow'') is the first Iranian-made car produced by Iran Khodro, between 1967 and 2005. The car, formerly called "Iran National", is a licensed version of the British Rootes Arrow (Hillman Hunter) and was very popular i ...

Kowsar The YJ-7 () is a Chinese subsonic anti-ship missile. It is manufactured by the Third Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).Gormley et al.: page 18 The export version of the YJ-7 is the C-701.Gormley et al.: page ...

and

Payam Mashhad Payam Toos Khorasan Football Club (, ''Bashgah-e Futbal-e Peyam Tus Xerasan'') is an Iranian football club based in Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan. They compete in the 2nd Division. The club is more commonly known as Payam Mashhad when it was based ...

during his short coaching career. He had introduced a number of Iranian players, including

Vahid Talebloo Vahid Talebloo (; born 26 May 1982 in Tehran, Iran) is a retired Iranian Goalkeeper (association football), football goalkeeper. Club career He began receiving media attention when he was able to save Ali Daei's spot kick in an Iran's Premier ...

Khosro Heydari Khosro Heydari (, born September 14, 1983) is a retired Iranian association football, football player who mostly played as a Defender (association football), defender for Esteghlal F.C., Esteghlal. Club career After his excellent performances fo ...

and

Andranik Teymourian Andranik "Ando" Timotian-Samarani, commonly known as Andranik Teymourian (; , born 6 March 1983) is a former Iranian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is notably the first Christian to captain the Iran national team. From ...

to professional soccer.

Achievements

*4th Place 1989 Kuwait Peace & Friendship Tournament with

*Winner 1990 Iranian Football League with

Esteghlal FC Esteghlal Football Club (استقلال), commonly known as Esteghlal (meaning 'The Independence'), is the oldest Iranian professional football club based in Tehran that competes in the Persian Gulf Pro League. The club was founded in 1945 as 'T ...

References

External links

* * * 1962 births 2016 deaths Iranian men's footballers Iran men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Iranian expatriate men's footballers Esteghlal F.C. players Rot-Weiss Essen players 2. Bundesliga players Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany 1984 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers from Tehran 20th-century Iranian sportsmen Iranian expatriate sportspeople in Germany {{Iran-footy-midfielder-stub