Khodadad Azizi

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

Early life He lived in the Piranshahr neighborhood of Mashhad. As a child, he played soccer with mismatched pair of shoes and at the age of 11, he worked as a construction worker with his brother to support himself. In high school, he was expelled from Haj Taqi Agha Bozorg High School for insulting the sports teacher. Then, with the help of his brother Jahangir Zendedel (the manager of the Abu Muslim club), he enrolled in Amir Kabir High School.

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. 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. 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.

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

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

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 MasterCard Asian/Oceanian Team of the 20th Century: 1998