Ali Karimi

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Mohammad Ali Karimi Pashaki (Persian: محمد علی کریمی, born on 8 November 1978) is an Iranian professional footballer, who plays as a midfielder. He currently plays for the Iran Pro League's Perspolis. He was the Asian Player of the Year in 2004. He is often referred to as the "Asian Maradona" and is believed to be one of Asia's greatest players. He is the vice-captain of Iran national football team.

[edit] 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.He finished Third Twice with Persepolis F.C. in Asian Club Championship. 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 Asia and his ball skills are amongst the best in the world. His skills are often compared to those of Diego Maradona and therefore received the title of Asian Maradona from world newspapers.

[edit] 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 with regards to Karimi's physical aptitude and fan feelings that his transfer was nothing but a marketing ploy, Karimi did not waste any time in proving his critics wrong. On August 14, 2005, Karimi made his starting debut for Bayern when Felix Magath put him 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. Karimi then built on his success by scoring on his first UEFA Champions League appearance against Rapid Vienna on November 22, 2005.

As his play and form improved, Karimi was rewarded with more regular starts as well as more playing time as a regular substitute, not a small feat with a midfield featuring Michael Ballack, Sebastian Deisler, Martin Demichelis, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Hasan Salihamidzic, Owen Hargreaves, Mehmet Scholl and Ze Roberto. Due to his finesse, playmaking skills and versatility, he was seen as a great asset by the club and following his 25th appearance, his contract was extended by another year. Unfortunately, soon after, on March 4, 2006 in the game against Hamburg, Karimi severely injured his thigh which sidelined him for 6 weeks. The injury coming so close to the World Cup, clearly effected Karimi, as he was unfit and ineffective throughout the tournament.

The departure of Michael Ballack for Chelsea before the start of 2006/2007 season, created an opportunity to allow Karimi to compete for a regular starting position; however, the injury he had received in 2006, made him inactive throughout the preseason. His lack of form that followed, then prevented him from playing in the first game of the Ligapokal against Schalke 04, but he was given the opportunity to start the next Ligapokal game against Werder Bremen. During the first half of 2006/2007 season, Karimi continued to compete for a starting role with Bayern; however, he was not able to impress Magath, who then reduced Karimi's caps in the Bundesliga and Champions League. In the meantime, Bayern's poor performance throughout the season, resulted in the replacement of Felix Magath by Ottmar Hitzfeld at the end of January 2007. Under Hitfeld, it was clear that Bayern wished to pursue other options, and Karimi would not be re-signed. As Karimi's contract with Bayern drew close to expiration, there were only a handful of offers for him and most of these were from smaller clubs (including bids from Red Bull Salzburg, which he turned down twice) or clubs such as Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli, Karimi's former club. There were also rumors that Wolfsburg , Galatasaray SK and other European clubs would pursue him in the offseason; however, these rumors proved to be untrue. On May 20, 2007 Bayern Munich announced Karimi would be leaving the club, though his new club was not yet known.

[edit] Qatar SC

On July 3, 2007, Karimi announced that he had signed a two-year deal with Qatar Sports Club. Karimi was 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.^[3]

After Karimi's first season with Qatar SC, many questioned his future with the club, despite his impressive on field performances. His future with Qatar seems in more doubt with the 2004 Asian Player of the Year receiving many offers from Saudi Arabian, UAE, Iranian and Australian clubs.

[edit] Al-Sailiya

On July 10, 2008, Karimi agreed to play the remainder of his 2 year contract for Al-Sailiya worth around £4.7 million.

[edit] Persepolis

According to Persepolis officials, "The Reds" have paid $350,000 to Qatar’s Olympic Committee to sign Karimi on a season-long loan. Karimi’s reported monthly salary is in the region of $8,000 a month.

[edit] Club career statistics

Last Update: 26 October 2008

[edit] Persepolis Statistics

Season	Team	Country	Division	Apps	Goals
1998-99	Persepolis	Iran	1	13	3
1999-00	Persepolis	Iran	1	15	3
2000-01	Persepolis	Iran	1	15	5
2008-09	Persepolis	Iran	1	6	5

[edit] International career

Karimi made his debute for Iran national football team in October 1998 in a match against Kuwait. That 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. Iran finished third in the overall tournament, behind Japan and China. Due to his strong performance during this tournament, Karimi was given the prestigious Asian Player of the Year award, joining 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 of the Portugal game, and did not play in the 1-1 draw against Angola. Some argue that this was due to his protest to being substituted in the prior match, but Branko Ivankovic (Iran's manager at the time) and other members of the coaching staff have stated that Karimi was asked to go in as a substitute which he refused. He also played in 2007 Asian Cup but did not perform as good as before.He also won the 2004 West Asian Football Federation Championship with Team Melli. As of January 2008, he has 105 caps (2nd highest) and has scored 35 goals (3rd highest) for Team Melli.

In May 2008, Karimi was banned from playing in the national team after he made numerous criticsms towards the IRIFF in the Ardebil training ground,^[4] but has been reinstated in the national squad after intervention from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini^[5].

In October 2008, Karimi retired from Team Melli. This decision has upset many Iranian football fans.

[edit] Awards and honours

[edit] Country

• FIFA World Cup
  • Appearances and Goals: 2006 (0)

• AFC Asian Cup
  • Appearances and goals: 2004 (Third Place) (5), 2007 (Quarter final)

• Asian Games
  • 1998

• AFC/OFC Cup Challenge:1
  • 2003

• West Asian Football Federation Championship
  • 2004

[edit] Club

• Iranian championship: 2
  • 1998/99, Persepolis
  • 1999/00, Persepolis

• German championship: 1
  • 2005/06, Bayern Munich

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

• German Cup: 1
  • 2005/06, Bayern Munich

• Iranian Cup: 1
  • 1999/00, Persepolis

[edit] Individual

• Asian Footballer of the Year, 2004

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• German website
• Ali Karimi at TeamMelli.com
• RSSSF archive of Ali Karimi's international appearances

v • d • e 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