Khodadad Azizi

Khodadad Azizi (Persian: خداداد عزیزی‎, born 22 June 1971) is an Iranian retired professional football striker and coach.

Khodadad Azizi
Azizi in 2019
Personal information
Full name Khodadad Azizi
Date of birth (1971-06-22) 22 June 1971
Place of birth Mashhad, Iran[1]
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1983–1988 Aboomoslem
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1993 Aboomoslem
1993–1995 Fath Tehran
1995–1997 Bahman
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 10[2] (2)
National team
1992–2004 Iran 47 (11)
Teams managed
2006–2007 Aboomoslem
2008 Payam Khorasan
2009 Esteghlal Ahvaz
2011–2012 Aboomoslem
2015 Shahrdari Tabriz
2016–2017 Siah Jamegan
2018 Sepidrood Rasht
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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 German 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 UAE 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.

Retirement

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.

International goals
Iran score listed first, score column indicates score after each Azizi goal.[6]
NoDateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1. 11 December 1996Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai, UAE? Saudi Arabia3–03–01996 AFC Asian Cup
2. 16 December 1996? South Korea2–26–2
3. 21 April 1997Sahand, Tabriz, Iran? Kenya1–03–0Friendly
4. 2 June 1997Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus, Syria? Maldives5–017–01998 FIFA World Cup Qualifier (First round)
5. 6–0
6. 9 June 1997Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran? Kyrgyzstan1–03–1
7. 3–1
8. 11 June 1997Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran? Maldives9–09–0
9. 16 November 1997Larkin Stadium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia? Japan1–12–31998 FIFA World Cup Qualifier (Play-off)
10. 22 November 1997Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran? Australia1–11–11998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC–OFC play-off)
11 29 November 1997Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia?2–22–2

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
Club performance League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Iran League Hazfi Cup Asia Total
1996–97Persepolis–––4444
Germany League DFB-Pokal Europe Total
1997–981. FC KölnBundesliga20510–215
1998–992. Bundesliga27410–284
1999–003100–31
USA League Open Cup North America Total
2000San JoseMLS20320–223
United Arab Emirates League President's Cup Asia Total
2000–01Al-NasrUAE Pro-League102
Iran League Hazfi Cup Asia Total
2001–02PasPersian Gulf Pro League198–
2002–03214–
2003–04259–
2004–05172
Austria League Cup Continental Total
2004–05Admira WackerBundesliga0000–00
Iran League Hazfi Cup Asia Total
2005–06OghabAzadegan League–
Rah AhanPersian Gulf Pro League102–
Total Iran
Germany 501020–5210
USA 20320–223
UAE 102
Austria 0000–00
Career total

References
  1. http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/details/31153
  2. "Event /مصاحبه با فوتبالیست محبوب ایران: خداداد عزیزی" (in Persian). www.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.
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