Khodadad Azizi

Khodadad Azizi (Persian: خداداد عزیزی; born 22 June 1971) is an Iranian football coach and former player who played as a striker.

Khodadad Azizi

Azizi in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Khodadad Azizi
Date of birth	(1971-06-22) 22 June 1971 (age 53)
Place of birth	Fariman[1],Iran
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1983–1988	Aboomoslem
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–1993	Aboomoslem
1993–1995	Fath Tehran
1995–1996	Bahman
1996–1997	Persepolis	4	(4)
1997–2000	1. FC Köln	50	(10)
2000	San Jose Earthquakes	20	(3)
2001	Al-Nasr	10	(2)
2001–2005	Pas	82	(23)
2005	Admira Wacker	0	(0)
2005–2006	Oghab
2006	Rah Ahan	11[2]	(2)
International career
1992–2004	Iran	45	(11)
Managerial career
2006–2007	Aboomoslem
2008	Payam Khorasan
2009	Esteghlal Ahvaz
2011–2012	Aboomoslem
2015	Shahrdari Tabriz
2016–2017	Siah Jamegan
2018	Sepidrood Rasht
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

After playing for a few clubs in Iran and following his performance in Asia, he moved to Germany in 1997 to play for 1. FC Köln. Azizi, along with his Iranian national teammates Ali Daei and Karim Bagheri, were among the first Iranians to enter the Bundesliga.

Having played for three seasons in 1. FC Köln, he signed a contract with California-based club San Jose Earthquakes, became the second Iranian player to play in the United States' Major League Soccer. In 2001, Khodadad Azizi was transferred to the United Arab Emirates club Al Nasr, before returning to Iran and joining Pas Tehran.

In 2005, he signed for Admira Wacker in the Austrian Bundesliga.^[3] He returned to Iran soon after and signed for lower division club, Oghab. His stay there was not very lengthy as he signed for Rah Ahan in late 2005.

After the 2005–06 season, Azizi retired from club and international football. He finished his international career with 47 caps and 11 goals. Following his retirement, Azizi was employed by his hometown club, Aboomoslem, as club chairman advisor.^[4] Azizi also co-owns a sports clothing label called Majid with financial backing from Abdol Majid Saedifar who put a $400,000 into the company. In September 2011, Khabaronline.ir reported Azizi to be the owner of Siah Jamegaan of Khorasaan, a spin-off of F.C. Aboomoslem.^[5]

International career

Azizi represented Iran at the 1996 Asian Cup, 1998 FIFA World Cup, and the 2000 Asian Cup. He was named Asian Player of the Year in 1996, as well as the Asian Cup Most Valuable Player in the 1996 Asian Cup.

Azizi is best remembered for scoring the equaliser against Australia in the second leg World Cup qualifier in November 1997, sending Iran into France 98.

Coaching career

In December 2006, Azizi was appointed the manager of Aboomoslem, a Mashhad based football club that he had started his career with in the early 1990s. He was replaced by Parviz Mazloumi in October 2007. He was head coach of Payam Khorasan and Esteghlal Ahvaz for a short time. In 2011, he was appointed as head coach of Aboomoslem for a second time but parted company with the club on 1 June 2012.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Persepolis	1996–97	–	–		–		4	4	4	4
1. FC Köln	1997–98	Bundesliga	20	5	1	0	–		21	5
	1998–99	2. Bundesliga	27	4	1	0	–		28	4
	1999–2000		3	1	0	0	–		3	1
	Total	50	10	2	0	–		52	10
San Jose	2000	MLS	20	3	2	0	–		22	3
Al-Nasr	2000–01	UAE Pro-League	10	2
Pas	2001–02	Persian Gulf Pro League	19	8			–
	2002–03		21	4			–
	2003–04		25	9			–
	2004–05		17	2
	Total	82	23
Admira Wacker	2004–05	Bundesliga	0	0	0	0	–		0	0
Oghab	2005–06	Azadegan League					–
Rah Ahan	2005–06	Persian Gulf Pro League	10	2			–
Career total

International

Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Azizi goal.

List of international goals scored by Khodadad Azizi^{[citation needed]}

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 December 1996	Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Saudi Arabia	3–0	3–0	1996 AFC Asian Cup
2	16 December 1996	Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	South Korea	2–2	6–2	1996 AFC Asian Cup
3	21 April 1997	Sahand, Tabriz, Iran	Kenya	1–0	3–0	Friendly
4	2 June 1997	Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus, Syria	Maldives	5–0	17–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
5				6–0
6	9 June 1997	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	Kyrgyzstan	1–0	3–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
7				3–1
8	11 June 1997	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	Maldives	9–0	9–0
9	16 November 1997	Larkin Stadium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia	Japan	1–1	2–3	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualifier (Play-off)
10	22 November 1997	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	Australia	1–1	1–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC–OFC play-off)
11	29 November 1997	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia	Australia	2–2	2–2	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC–OFC play-off)

Honours

1. FC Köln

• 2. Bundesliga: 1999–2000

Pas

• Iran Pro League: 2003–04

Individual

• AFC Player of the Year: 1996
• AFC Asian Cup Most Valuable Player: 1996
• MLS All-Star: 2000^[6]
• MasterCard Asian/Oceanian Team of the 20th Century: 1998^[7]

References

1. "Statistics: Iran [ Team Melli]". www.teammelli.com. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
2. "Event /مصاحبه با فوتبالیست محبوب ایران: خداداد عزیزی" (in Persian). irani.at. Retrieved 11 July 2006.
3. "阿齐兹与足协主席对骂 称其不知西瓜足球区别" (in Chinese). CCTV体育频道. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
4. قلعه نويى مربى شجاعى است – عزيزى: به فكر يك مربى خارجى هم باشيم (in Persian). Iran Varzeshi Newspaper. Archived from the original on 21 July 2006. Retrieved 18 July 2006.
5. پرسپولیس تیم خداداد را برد (in Persian). khabaronline.ir. 1 September 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2013.^{[permanent dead link]}
6. "2000 MLS All-Star Game". MLSsoccer.com. 29 July 2000. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
7. "Ramos, Balboa named to MasterCard CONCACAF 20th Century team". Soccer Times. 15 May 1998. Archived from the original on 21 February 1999. Retrieved 1 April 2020.

External links

• Khodadad Azizi at TeamMelli.com