Iran: Third World Cup participation - thanks to Bundesliga stars

The difference in age between Ali Daei and Ali Karimi is about ten years. But in their home country they both share the same popularity. They are the undisputed stars of Iranian football. With nine goals in the qualifiers, the 36-year-old captain Ali Daei made a decisive contribution to help Iran qualify for the World Cup finals for the third time since 1978 and 1998. Many consider midfield director Ali Karimi the first Iranian footballer to be capable of making his name as a world star. That’s one of the reasons why German Bundesliga club Bayern Munich contracted the 26-year-old this summer.

Here you can find information about the star of the team ...

When the Korean referee Jong Chul Kwon blew the whistle late in the evening of June 8, to end Iran’s qualifying match against Bahrain and sealing the 1-0 victory brought about by Mohammad Nosrati’s 47th minute headed goal, the joy of the 80,000 fans in the gigantic Azadi Stadium in Tehran knew no bounds. Their team had just booked air tickets to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

Forgotten was the terrible tragedy of 10 ten weeks previously at the same site, when a mass panic broke out among the then 110,000 spectators leaving the stadium after the 2-1 victory over Japan, resulting in six people being trampled to death and more than 40 injured, some seriously. After that the total capacity was limited to 80,000. Also forgotten was the sporting drama of 2001, when the team narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, losing to Ireland (0-2 and 1-0).

This time the qualification by the team coached by Croatian Branko Ivankovic, 51, was much smoother. They suffered just two defeats in twelve matches recording a goal tally of 29-7. Iran lost 1-0 to Jordan at home in the first group stage and 2-1 to Japan in the meaningless final match. They won nine matches and recorded one draw. The strong Bundesliga players in the national Iranian colours had a decisive share in that success: Vahid Hashemian (29, Hannover 96), Ali Karimi (26, Bayern Munich), Mehdi Mahdavikia (28, Hamburger SV), German-Iranian Ferydoon Zandi (26, 1. FC Kaiserslautern) and 22-year-old talent Moharram Navidkia (VfL Bochum) earn their money with German professional clubs. “I am very content with the players from Germany. Their Bundesliga experience is important because it helps us to win”, national coach Ivankovic says.

Ali Daei may well be counted among them. The Iranian team captain is an exceptionally gifted goalscorer (the world’s best in 1996 and 2004), a successful businessman with his own sportswear collection (Daei Sportswear) and the player who made Iranian football acceptable in Germany. Together with his fellow-countryman Karim Bagheri he signed on with Arminia Bielefeld in 1997, then moved to Bayern Munich for 2.5 million Euro one year later, and the following year to Hertha BSC Berlin. He scored 19 goals in 107 Bundesliga matches. The 36-year-old, now playing with Saba Battery back in Iran, was the best goalscorer in the Asian World Cup qualification with nine goals and became the first player in the world to score more than 100 international goals when he contributed four to the 7-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Laos on November 17, 2004. Since then he has improved his record to 104 goals in 140 international matches. He thus left second-placed Hungarian Ferenc Puskas (84) far behind. In comparison, the most successful German international is Gerd Mueller with 65 international goals.

“Oldie” Ali Daei owes his fourth football life not least to the new star of Iranian football, Mohammed Ali Karimi. The attacking midfielder is not only a brilliant passer, but was the best goalscorer at the 2004 Asian Championship in China, when his team narrowly missed reaching the final in a semi-final penalty shoot-out against the host team, and was elected Asia’s “Footballer of the Year” that same year. A good reason for German record champions Bayern Munich to sign the 26-year-old. Particularly as he was on the market with no set transfer fee demand from Al Ahli in Dubai. Karimi decided against AS Monaco, because “FC Bayern simply plays in another league”. He can shoot with both feet, is an excellent dribbler, has a precise shot and is a very versatile attacker. A type of player loved by Bayern coach Felix Magath. In addition, 32 goals in 92 international matches speak for Karimi. His expressed aim for the 2006 World Cup is “to at least get further than the first round” and “to offer something to the many Iranians who live in Germany”.

The 1968, 1972 and 1976 Asian champions have never got further than the first round at their two previous World Cups. The Iran Football Federation (IRIFF), founded in 1920, took part in the World Cup qualification for the first time in 1972-1973, four years later the team qualified for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, where they recorded two defeats against the Netherlands (0-3) and Peru (1-4) and a 1-1 draw against Scotland. Their World Cup debut was followed by a long phase of sporting isolation, due to the political changes in the country ending in a “State of Allah” after the Islamic revolution by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979.

It took until 1998 in France for Iran to make their comeback to the big football stage. Though they lost 1-0 to Yugoslavia and 2-0 to Germany, they achieved their first ever win in a World Cup match against the USA. Forward Mehdi Mahdavikia, today playing with Hamburger SV, was among the Iranian scorers. Since then, the FIFA World Rankings (as of August 2005) lists Iran in 15th position as the best Asian team, even better than Japan and South Korea. But what matters for national coach Ivankovic are the long-term prospects: “I am hoping that I can hand over to the next Iranian coach a team built around the younger generation. We have five players in the team younger than 23, and eleven U-23 players in the current squad. The country has many talented players, and I believe some are capable of becoming stars if they are given the chance. I think we are on the right road”.