A former professional footballer, football manager as well as a businessman from Iran is known for Ali Daei. He has contributed his time to playing football since his childhood. He was captain of the Iran national football team and played for clubs such as Bayern Munich and Hertha BSC. His playing position was a striker. Concerning his international career, he was named the world’s top scorer in official international competitions by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), having scored 20 goals in competitive matches for Iran in 1996, including his famous 4 goal haul against South Korea in Asian Cup 1996. On 17 November 2004, he scored four goals against Laos in a World Cup qualifier, giving him 102 goals and making him the first male player to score 100 goals in international play. Not only this but he is also the world’s all-time leading goalscorer in the history of men’s international football with 109 goals scored for Iran, an achievement listed in Guinness World Records. Regarding his managerial career, he has been the coach for the club such as Saipa, Persepolis, Rah Ahan, Saba Qom, Naft Tehran and more. Moreover, he is currently the owner and CEO of Daei Sport.
Cristiano Ronaldo surpasses 100 international goals, just eight short of Ali Daei’s record
Cristiano Ronaldo has set his sights on Ali Daei’s record of 109 international goals following a double in Portugal’s 2-1 Nations League win away to Sweden that saw him reach 101 goals for his country since his debut in 2004. Having missed Portugal’s Nations League opener against Croatia on Saturday with a toe injury, Cristiano wasted no time on his return, scoring a first-half free-kick and adding a second from open play in the 72nd minute to close in on Iranian Daei’s record. Cristiano Ronaldo will break Ali Daei’s record eventually- but for now, Iran’s king still rules. This is how he made it to No.1. By the end of his career, the man nicknamed ‘Mr Goal’ had scored 109 times in 149 matches for Iran. At the time, it put him 25 goals ahead of any other player in history. He signed for Persepolis and returned to the Iran squad in 1996, scoring 22 international goals in the calendar year. Already, it made him Iran’s all-time leading marksman; Gholam Hossein Mazloumi previously held the record, with just 19. Daei bagged four in a game against Nepal and five against Sri Lanka in qualifying for the Asian Cup, but his greatest display came at the tournament itself, where he struck four in just 23 minutes against South Korea. As Ronaldo edges closer, though, Daei’s record will soon be gone. “I’m so proud for as long as it lasts,” he said. “But records are meant to be broken. I’m happy such a great player will surpass me because I consider Ronaldo among the top three players ever.”
Source: @ronaldo
Everything You Need To Know About Cristiano Ronaldo Biography
Famous For
- Being a former professional footballer, football manager, and businessman.
- For his heading accuracy and ability in the air.
- Being the owner and CEO of Daei Sport.
What is the Birthplace of Ali Daei?
Ali Daei was born on 21st March 1969, in Ardabil, Iran. He is an Iranian by nationality and his ethnicity is multiracial. His horoscope is Aries and his religion is Islam. He was born to Abolfazl Daei. He also has a sibling, a brother named Mohammed Daei. As per his education, he was graduated from the Sharif University of Technology in Materials Engineering. He also has a B.Sc. degree. As of 2020, he celebrated his 51st birthday.
How was the Football career of Ali Daei?
- Initially, Daei began his football career by playing for his hometown club, Esteghlal Ardabil. At that time, he was only 19.
- After that, he joined the next club, Taxirani F.C. in Tehran.
- Playing for a season, he joined another Tehran-based club, Bank Tejarat F.C. where he played for four years scoring 49 goals in 75 games.
- He then joined one of the country’s premier squads, Persepolis in 1994.
- He became the first Asian player ever to feature in a UEFA Champions League match.
- He scored his first and second goal in the UEFA Champions League on 21st September 1999 in a group stage match against Chelsea, won by Hertha 2-1.
- He joined the UAE league at 34 years of age, signing a contract with Al-Shabab as a free agent.
- And then, he joined his old team in Tehran, Persepolis.
- After that, he moved from Persepolis to Saba Battery on a free transfer for a modest contract of around $300,000.
- Playing for two years, he made 23 goals winning the Hazfi Cup and participating in the Asian Champions League.
- He was fined $2000 and suspended for four games by the Iranian Football Federation on 6th March 2007 as he delivered a head-butt to the face of Sheys Rezaei.
- Later, he announced his retirement from playing football so that he would concentrate on his coaching career in the year 2007.
International Career of Ali Daei
- Regarding his international career, Daei was was called up to join Team Melli on 6th June 1993 in an ECO Cup tournament held in Tehran, where he made his debut for Iran against Pakistan.
- He was named the top scorer of the final Asian round of 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifications with 4 goals in 5 matches.
- He also played the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Moreover,
- As per his coaching career, Daei was in charge as the head coach of the Iran students national team in the 2007 Summer Universiade.
- Additionally, he was the technical manager of the Islamic Azad University team in 2009 World Interuniversity Games.
Source: @fourfourtwo
How was the Managerial Career of Ali Daei?
Saipa
- After Saipa’s coach, Werner Lorant left, he was appointed as the interim manager of Saipa on 8th October 2006 and was also announced as the full-time manager.
- The club, Saipa also became the Persian Gulf Cup champions in Daei’s first season at the helm.
- He also leads Saipa to an Asian Champions League quarterfinal birth before leaving to take over as the full-time manager of the Iranian national football team.
Iran national football team
- IRIFF officially appointed him as Team Melli’s new head coach on 2nd March 2008.
- But he refused to leave his current coaching job at Saipa F.C., therefore taking on dual managerial careers until after Saipa had entered the Asian Champion League quarterfinals, after which he left Saipa by mutual consent.
- He also guided Iran to a respectable 16-6-3 mark, his third loss on 28th March 2009 to a Saudi Arabian team that was down 1-0 to Iran in Tehran proved to be the final straw.
- After the loss in the 2010 World Cup Qualifier, he was fired as head coach after the match.
Persepolis
- On 28th December 2009, he was chosen as the coach of Persepolis.
- At the end of the 2009-2010 Season, Persepolis finished fourth in the league but they became Hazfi Cup champions.
- Persepolis finished fourth in the league of 2010-2011 season and was eliminated in the group stage of the 2011 AFC Champions League but at the end of the season, Persepolis won the 2010-2011 Hazfi Cup after defeating rivals Sepahan, Foolad, and Malavan.
- On 20th June 2011, the Technical Committee of Perspolis re-appointed him as Persepolis’s head coach but he resigned on 21 June.
- Under the management of him, Persepolis won back to back trophies for the first time in 13 seasons.
Rah Ahan
- He then signed a one-year contract as head coach of Rah Ahan on 14th July 2011.
- In his first season as Rah Ahan’s head coach, he led the club to the 11th position.
- He also used many young players such as Mojtaba Shiri and Omid Alishah in the 2012-2013 season due to which Rah Ahan finished the season in the 8th place which was the clubs’ best finish in the league.
- His contract was terminated on 20th May 2013, making ways for him to become head coach of Persepolis.
Return to Persepolis
- He returned to Persepolis and signed a three-year contract to become head coach of Persepolis after a long negotiation on 20th May 2013.
- He officially began his work with Persepolis on 1st June 2013.
- He was sacked on 10th September 2014 after a poor start of the 2014-2015 season.
Saba Qom
- He became head coach of Saba Qom, signing a two-year contract on 1st July 2015.
- He finished ninth and seventh in the Persian Gulf Pro League in the two seasons with Saba and left the team before the start of 2016-2017.
Naft Tehran
- Ali Daei then became manager of Naft Tehran on 5th July 2016 with signing a two-year contract, replacing Alireza Mansourian.
- He also led Naft to the Hazfi Cup title but left the club at the end of the season.
Return to Saipa
- After a long duration, he became manager of Saipa on 14th May 2017, a club that he started his coaching career in 2006 and led them to the league title in 2007.
Source: @tasnimnews
Awards and Achievements of Ali Daei
Club
Persepolis
- Iranian Football League: 1995-1996
Bayern Munich
- Bundesliga: 1998-99
- DFB-Ligapokal: 1998-99
Saba Battery
- Hazfi Cup: 2004-05
- Super Cup: 2005
Saipa
International
- Iran U23 (Wild card)
- Asian Games Gold Medal: 2002
Iran
- Asian Games Gold Medal: 1998
- AFC/OFC Cup Challenge: 2003
- WAFF Championship: 2004
Manager
Saipa
Iran
Persepolis
- Hazfi Cup: 2009-10, 2010-11
Naft Tehran
Individual
Player
- AFC Asian Player of the Month: August 1997
- AFC Asian Footballer of the Year: 1999
- IFFHS World’s Top international Goalscorer of All Time: 109 goals
- IFFHS World’s Top international Goalscorer of the Year: 2000 (20 goals)
- Order of Courage: 2005
- Asian Football Hall of Fame: 2014
- IFFHS Legends: 2016
- AFC Asian Cup Fans’ All-Time Best XI: 2018
Manager
- Iranian Manager of the Year: 2006
Who is Ali Daei married to?
Source: @pinterest
Ali Daei is a married man. He was married to his beautiful wife, Mona Farokhazari in the year 2005. The duo is also blessed with two daughters named Noura and Deniz Daei. They both are very happy in their married life. His sexual orientation is straight and he is not gay. They are having a blissful life sharing lots of love with each other and they are very less likely to get a divorce.
How much is Ali Daei’s Net Worth?
Ali Daei is a former professional footballer, football manager, and businessman who has accumulated a large amount of money. As of 2020, the net worth of Ali Daei is estimated to have $110 Million as per the sources whereas it has not been verified yet. Without a doubt, he is making a considerable amount of salary from his football career. He owns his own football jersey manufacturing company called Daei Sport’s Wears & Equipment, making sportswear for Iran sporting clubs in various fields and league clubs worldwide. He also appeared in a UNICEF commercial with David Beckham and Madeleine Albright and has regularly been seen working with the organization. Furthermore, his spouse, Mona has her own jewelry shop business. His major source of earning comes from his business career as well as from his football career. As of today, he is living a luxurious lifestyle.
How tall is Ali Daei?
Ali Daei is a very handsome person with a charming personality. He has a well-maintained body. He stands tall at the height of 1.92 m with a balanced bodyweight of 88 Kg. His hair color is black and his eye color is dark brown. His body build is average. Overall, he has got a healthy body with perfect body measurement.
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