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Mehdi Mahdavikia (Persian: مهدی مهدوی کیا , born 24 July 1977 in Tehran, Iran) is a Iranian football player who plays for Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga. He was the captain of the Iranian national football team until being forced out of international play after protesting the government's election corruption^[1] and usually plays as a right winger or full-back. He is known for his crossing, speed and dribbling.

Club career

Mehdi first played for Persepolis club in his native Iran before moving to VfL Bochum in Germany. After Bochum's relegation, he signed for Bundesliga side Hamburg where he stayed for the next eight seasons.

His initial position for HSV was right fullback, from which he was known for his attacking runs, as he has previous experience as a right winger and at times has played as a striker. He also played some matches for PAS Tehran F.C. in Asian games as help for the club. For the 2006–07 Bundesliga season he has moved back to his natural position of right wing, in support of Center Midfielder Rafael van der Vaart. He was awarded Hamburg Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004 by the fans, and also attained the envious title of the top assister of goals in the Bundesliga. However, compared to his previous season, he had a poor season in 2004–05 and was benched. In the 2005–06 season he has gained his old form back and was able to regain his spot as a starter, being influential in many of Hamburg's victories, such as scoring the winning goal against Bundesliga heavyweights Schalke.

Mehdi Mahdavikia's strongest points are his vision, passing skills, fast paced runs, and set-pieces such as corners, spotkicks and free kicks. He is usually the right-footed alternative to Van der Vaart's well known left foot. Apart from being a total professional on the pitch, he is also known as a perfect gentleman off the pitch, always finding the time for fans and reporters to answer questions or sign autographs. His nickname in Hamburg is The Carpet (der Teppich) for his ability to "magically glide past" his opponents like the enchanted carpet.

On 8 June 2007 he signed a 3-year contract with Eintracht Frankfurt.^[2] In his first season he had two bad injuries that forced him to miss many matches.In the second season he was mostly benched and not used in many matches which showed that the club did not want him anymore.

Club career statistics

Last update: 13 May 2008

International career

Having been awarded the Asian Young Footballer of the Year award in 1997, Mehdi Mahdavikia was considered Iran's best player in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and was named in the list from which the team of the tournament was chosen. In 2003, he was awarded Asian Player of the Year by the Asian Football Confederation. He was also the top assister in the 2004 Asian Cup, exhibiting stunning form to steer Iran's attack to superb attacking football. He played in four Asian Cups (1996, 2000, 2004, 2007) and two World Cups (1998, 2006).

Mahdavikia was one of the influential players that played in Iran's crucial 1-0 victory over Bahrain to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup held in Germany. Following the FIFA World Cup in Germany, 2006, Mahdavikia was expected to assume the role of Captain in the Iranian national side, replacing Ali Daei and Yahya Golmohammadi who had publicly announced their intention to retire after the tournament. Mahdavikia was given the captain's band on 16 August 2006 in an Asian Cup qualifier versus Syria.

Mahdavikia has reportedly been forced to "retire" from international football^[1] after wearing a green bracelet in the final World Cup 2010 qualification match against the Republic of Korea. The green bracelet was a sign of support for those protesting the highly contested Iranian presidential election.^[3] He was forced to retire from Team Melli after 13 years and playing in 2 World Cups (1998, 2006), 4 Asian Cups (1996, 2000, 2004, 2007), 1 Asian Games tournament (1998), 4 World Cup qualifying campaigns (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010), 3 Asian Cup qualifying campaigns (2000, 2004, 2007) and one AFC/OFC Cup.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	21 April 1997	Tehran,Iran	Kenya	3-0	Win	Friendly
2	2 June 1997	Damascus,Syria	Maldives	17-0	Win	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	11 June 1997	Tehran,Iran	Maldives	9-0	Win	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	13 September 1997	Dalian,China	China PR	4-2	Win	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	13 September 1997	Dalian,China	China PR	4-2	Win	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	31 January 1998	Hong Kong,Hong Kong	Chile	1-1	Draw	Friendly
7	21 June 1998	Lyon,France	United States	2-1	Win	1998 FIFA World Cup
8	16 January 2000	Pasadena,USA	United States	1-1	Draw	Friendly
9	31 March 2000	Aleppo,Syria	Maldives	8-0	Win	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
10	12 October 2001	Tehran, Iran	Iraq	2-1	Win	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
11	18 February 2004	Tehran, Iran	Qatar	3-1	Win	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
12	30 March 2005	Pyongyang, North Korea	Korea DPR	2-0	Win	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
13	15 October 2009	Tehran, Iran	Korea DPR	2-1	Win	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Awards and Honours

Individual

• HSV Player of the Year: 2002–03 and 2003–04
• Asian Footballer of the Year: 2003
• Chosen as the best offensive winger of the Bundesliga in the 2002–03 season by Kicker
• Asian Young Footballer of the Year: 1997
• Bank Melli F.C Golden Boot award: 1995

Team

With the Iran national football team

• FIFA World Cup
  • Appearances and Goals: 1998 (1), 2006

• AFC Asian Cup
  • Appearances: 1996 (Third place), 2000 (Quarter Finals), 2004 (Third Place), 2007 (Quarter Finals)

• AFC/OFC Cup Challenge:1
  • 2003

With Hamburger SV

• German League Cup: 2003
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2005

With Persepolis F.C.

• Iranian Premier League champion: 1995–1996, 1996–1997, 1998–1999

Personal life

Mahdavikia is married to Sepideh and has a daughter, Asal.

In April 2006, Mahdavikia caused a stir when it came out he married a second wife named Samira while being in his native Iran, thus practising bigamy. He himself has stated that he made a "big mistake", was "lured into a trap" and ended the affair after a short while. As of May 2006, Mahdavikia plans to prosecute Samira for slander.^[4]

Mahdavikia's brother, Hadi currently plays for Homa F.C. and his nephew, Mostafa plays for Fajr Sepasi.

Famous matches

Mehdi's most prolific club match was Hamburger SV's match against Juventus in the Champions League. He was the impetus that rallied Hamburg back after being down 3-1 by scoring once, assisting one and winning a penalty for Hamburg that saw Hamburg take a 4-3 lead; Juve managed to equalise with an Inzaghi penalty. Mehdi's greatest national team match, arguably, was against South Korea in the 2004 Asia Cup where he assisted three goals in Iran's 4-3 win. Many also point to his dynamic game against the United States in World Cup 1998 that saw him score Iran's second and winning goal, as his best ever.

See Also

Football for Hope

Notes

External links

• Official Website (German)
• Profile on Eintracht Frankfurt's Official Website (German)
• RSSSF archive of Mehdi Mahdavikia's international appearances
• Mehdi Mahdavikia at TeamMelli.com
• Mehdi Mahdavikia at Football Database

Iran squads Iran squad – 1996 AFC Asian Cup Third Place GK Abedzadeh • DF Saadavi • DF Ostad-Asadi • MF Bagheri • DF Peyrovani • MF Dinmohammadi • MF Mansourian • DF Moharrami  • MF Estili • FW Daei • FW Azizi • MF Mahdavikia • DF Khakpour • DF Falahatzadeh • FW Yousefi • MF Yazdani • MF Mousavi • GK Nakisa • MF Mirzaostovari • MF Minavand • Coach: Mayelikohan Iran squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Abedzadeh • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Sadavi • 4 Khakpour • 5 Peyrovani • 6 Bagheri • 7 Mansourian • 8 Dinmohammadi • 9 Estili • 10 Daei • 11 Azizi • 12 Nakisa • 13 Latifi • 14 Mohammadkhani • 15 Ostad‑Asadi • 16 Shahroudi • 17 Zarincheh • 18 Hamedani • 19 Seraj • 20 Pashazadeh • 21 Minavand • 22 Broumand • Coach: Talebi Iran squad – 1998 Asian Games 1 Nakisa • 2 Gholampour • 3 Babaei  • 4 Mohammadkhani  • 5 Zarrincheh  • 6 Khakpour  • 7 Navazi  • 8 Janmaleki  • 9 Hamedani  • 10 Karimi • 11 Yazdani  • 12 Fekri • 13 Mansourian  • 14 Mousavi • 15 Hashemian • 16 Mahdavikia • 17 Daei  • 18 Bagheri  • 19 Khatibi  • 20 Estili • Coach: Pourheidari Iran squad – 2000 AFC Asian Cup MF Mahdavikia • DF Hasheminasab • DF Bakhtiarizadeh • MF Bagheri • MF Kavianpour • MF Hamedani • MF Estili • FW Daei • FW Azizi • GK Broumand • MF Seyed Abbasi • DF Navazi • FW Halali • FW Hashemian • MF Emamifar • MF Yazdani • FW Karimi • DF Rahbarifar • GK Fanaei • GK Vaezi • MF Minavand • DF Mahdavi • Coach: Talebi Iran squad – 2004 AFC Asian Cup Third Place 1 Mirzapour • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Amirabadi • 4 Golmohammadi • 5 Rezaei • 6 Nekounam • 7 Kavianpour • 8 Karimi • 10 Daei • 12 Roudbarian • 13 Kaebi • 14 Borhani • 15 Taghipour • 16 Enayati • 17 Mobali • 18 Badavi • 19 Kameli • 20 Nosrati • 21 Rahmati • 26 Alavi • 27 Zare • 29 Majidi • Coach: Ivanković Iran squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Mirzapour • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Bakhtiarizadeh • 4 Golmohammadi • 5 Rezaei • 6 Nekounam • 7 Zandi • 8 Karimi • 9 Hashemian • 10 Daei • 11 Khatibi • 12 Roudbarian • 13 Kaebi • 14 Teymourian • 15 Borhani • 16 Enayati • 17 Kazemian • 18 Navidkia • 19 Sadeghi • 20 Nosrati • 21 Madanchi • 22 Talebloo • 23 Shojaei • Coach: Ivanković Iran squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1 Roudbarian • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Sadeghi • 4 Teymourian • 5 Rezaei • 6 Nekounam • 7 Zandi • 8 Karimi • 9 Hashemian • 10 Khatibi • 11 Madanchi • 12 Hosseini • 13 Kaebi • 14 Mobali • 15 Aghili • 16 Enayati • 17 Kazemian • 18 Rajabzadeh • 19 Sadeghi • 20 Nosrati • 22 Talebloo • 24 Shojaei • 30 Rahmati • Coach: Ghalenoei