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| nationalyears = 1998-
| nationalyears = 1998-
| nationalteam = [[Iran national football team|Iran]]
| nationalteam = [[Iran national football team|Iran]]
| nationalcaps(goals) = 105 (35)
| nationalcaps(goals) = 106 (35)
| pcupdate = [[11 December]] [[2007]]
| pcupdate = [[11 December]] [[2007]]
| ntupdate = [[10 January]] [[2008]]
| ntupdate = [[30 January]] [[2008]]
}}
}}


Revision as of 22:14, 30 January 2008

Ali Karimi
Personal information
Full name Mohammad Ali Karimi Pashaki
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Qatar SC
Number 8
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 January 2008

Mohammad Ali Karimi Pashaki (Template:PerB, born on November 8, 1978 in Karaj, Iran) is an Iranian football player. He was the Asian Player of the Year in 2004. He currently plays for Qatar SC, having left German giants Bayern Munich. He is often referred to as the "Asian Maradona" and is believed to be one of Asia's greatest players. He is also the vice-captain of Iran national football team.

Club career

Ali Karimi started his career in Fath Football Club and experienced significant improvement during the time he was playing for Persepolis football club. His good performance for Persepolis and the national side against Asian powerhouses in the World Cup 2002 qualifications, lead to serious interest from the Spanish side, Atlético Madrid, among other European clubs. However, Karimi chose to play in the UAE instead, because according to him he wanted to stay close to Iran. He is arguably the best dribbler in Iran and his ball skills are amongst the best in the world. His skills are often compared to those of Maradona and therefore received the title of Asian Maradona from world newspapers.

Bayern Munich

On May 3, 2005, Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich's website announced that they signed a one year contract with Ali Karimi who becomes the third Iranian after Ali Daei and Vahid Hashemian to try his luck with Bayern.[1][2]

Despite initial skepticism, due to the overwhelming uncertainty regarding Karimi's physical aptitude and feelings that his transfer was nothing but a marketing gag, Karimi did not waste any time in proving his critics wrong. On August 14, 2005, for the first time, Felix Magath put Karimi on the starting line-up of a 5-2 victory against Bayer Leverkusen on the 2nd day of Bundesliga. Karimi's assist to Roy Makaay for Bayern's second goal followed by his first goal of Bundesliga capped a great performance that earned him a spot on Kicker 's team of the week.

In the following period, Karimi established himself as a regular in the Munich squad, not a small feat with a stacked midfield featuring Michael Ballack, Sebastian Deisler, Martin Demichelis, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Hasan Salihamidzic, Owen Hargreaves, Mehmet Scholl or Ze Roberto. With his finesse, his playmaking skills and his versatility, he is seen as a great asset. Karimi's contract with Bayern has been extended one more year because he has made his 25th appearance for the club. unfortunately, in that game against Hamburg, he injured his ankle, but was back in time for the World Cup. Karimi also scored on his first UEFA Champions League appearance against Rapid Vienna.

The injury he had received on his leg before the beginning of the 2006 season made him inactive throughout the preseason and prevented him to play in the first game in the Ligapokal against Schalke 04, but he was able to start the next Ligapokal game against Werder Bremen. During the first half of 2006/2007 season, Karimi was not able to impress Magath, and this caused Karimi to have limited caps in the Bundesliga and Champions League. As his contract with Bayern will expire after the season, there were some offers for him to leave for another club, including a bid from Red Bull Salzburg, which he has already denied. There were also reports that Wolfsburg , Galatasaray SK and one other European clubs has interest in him, as well as some other clubs including Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli, Karimi's former club.

At the end of January 2007, Ottmar Hitzfeld was announced as the new Bayern Munich coach, replacing Felix Magath. Karimi returned to the starting line up against Arminia Bielefeld and played the full game.[3]

On May 20, 2007 Bayern Munich announced Karimi would be leaving the club, though his new club was not yet known.

Qatar SC

On July 3 2007, Karimi announced that he had signed a two-year deal with Qatar Sports Club. Karimi is believed to have put pen to a contract worth around £3.2 million, with a clause allowing him to return to Europe at any time.[4]

Club career statistics

Last Update: 12 December 2007

Season Team Country Division Apps Goals Assists
98/99 Persepolis  Iran 1 12 1 ??
99/00 Persepolis  Iran 1 26 3 ??
00/01 Persepolis  Iran 1 22 5 ??
01/02 Al-Ahli  United Arab Emirates 1 14 8 ??
02/03 Al-Ahli  United Arab Emirates 1 13 9 ??
03/04 Al-Ahli  United Arab Emirates 1 16 27 ??
04/05 Al-Ahli  United Arab Emirates 1 7 10 ??
05/06 Bayern Munich  Germany 1 20 2 3
06/07 Bayern Munich  Germany 1 13 1 3
07/08 Qatar SC  Qatar 1 10 2 8

International career

He debuted for Iran national football team against Kuwait in October 1998. In the same year, he won the Gold Medal with Iran at the 1998 Asian Games. He was also one of Iran's main players in its 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.

Ali Karimi performed well at the 2004 Asian Cup, where he tied for most goals scored with five to his name. Iran placed third in the overall tournament, behind Japan and China. In 2004, Karimi was given the prestigious Asian Player of the Year award, like his fellow Iranians, Mehdi Mahdavikia in 2003, Ali Daei in 1999, and Khodadad Azizi in 1996.

He is generally regarded as one of the best players in Iran, along with the Frankfurt rocket, Mehdi Mahdavikia, and Javad Nekounam of Osasuna. He showcased his skills in the Iran-Germany friendly game for Bam victims held in Azadi Stadium in Tehran in October 2004.

Coming off a serious thigh injury, Karimi had a wretched World Cup finals at Germany 2006, with many commentators singling him out as one of the key players who had failed to perform in the tournament. Short on fitness and form, he was unable to exert much influence on proceedings as the Iranians lost 1-3 to Mexico and 0-2 to Portugal. He was substituted in the second half against the Portuguese and did not play against Angola. Some argue that this was due to his protest to being substituted in the prior match, but Branko and other members of the coaching staff have said that Karimi was asked to go in as a substitute which he refused. Against Angola, Iran came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw. This however was not able to save face for Team Melli and upon returning to Iran, the national football federation decided to part ways with coach Branko Ivankovic.

As of January 2008, he has 105 caps (2nd highest) and has scored 35 goals (3rd highest) for Team Melli.

Awards and honours

Country

Club

  • UAE Cup: 2
    • 2001/02, Al-Ahli
    • 2003/04, Al-Ahli

Individual

Notes

  1. ^ "Bayern swoop for Iran star Karimi". The official FC Bayern Munich website. Retrieved 2006-09-18.
  2. ^ "Iran star Karimi seals Bayern move". CNN. Retrieved 2006-09-18.
  3. ^ "Karimi plays 90 minutes in Bayern victory". PersianFootball. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
  4. ^ "Bundesliga - Karimi quits Bayern for Qatar". eurosport. Retrieved 2007-07-04.

External links

Preceded by Asian Footballer of the Year
2004 		Succeeded by
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