Rahman Rezaei

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Rahman Rezaei
Rezaei in 2020
Personal information
Full name Rahman Rezaei[1]
Date of birth (1975-02-20) 20 February 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth Noor, Mazandaran, Iran
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
1991–1995 Nassaji Mazandaran
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1996 Bargh Tehran
1996 Rah Ahan
1996–2001 Zob Ahan
2001–2003 Perugia 38 (5)
2003–2006 Messina 107 (2)
2006–2008 Livorno 21 (1)
2008–2009 Persepolis 13 (0)
2009–2010 Al Ahli 9 (1)
2010–2011 Shahin Bushehr 6 (0)
2011–2012 Paykan
International career
2001–2009 Iran 54 (3)
Managerial career
2013–2014 Paykan (youth)
2014–2015 Rah Ahan (youth)
2016–2017 Tractor Sazi (assistant)
2018–2019 Bargh Jadid
2019–2020 Rayka Babol
2020–2021 Zob Ahan
2023– Iran (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rahman Rezaei (Persian: رحمان رضايی, born 20 February 1975) is an Iranian football coach and former player. A centre-back, he also represented the Iran national team.

Club career[edit]

He was originally discovered by Iranian manager, Nasser Hejazi. Rezaei played for Zob Ahan in Isfahan for five seasons. After impressive performances for the club and the national team, he was transferred to Perugia for €150,000[2] and then to Messina.

Rahman Rezaei is currently the most successful Asian defender in Europe.[3] In the 2003/2004 season, he helped Messina gain promotion to Serie A.[4] He had been one of Messina's most consistently used players with 36 appearances in their 2004–05 mid-table finish.[3] After steadily playing for his club for three seasons, at the end of August 2006 Rezaei signed with another Serie A club, Livorno.

He has won numerous plaudits in Italy and has been dubbed "The Flying Carpet".[4] In addition, his fans in Messina have named him the "Secretary of Defense".[4] In January 2006, he acquired Italian citizenship through his marriage to an Italian-Iranian Helia Hashemi.[4]

In July 2008, an Iranian newspaper reported Iranian giants Persepolis were holding talks with Rezaei. However, in mid-July, Afshin Ghotbi was re-appointed manager of Persepolis and cut the talks with Rezaei, stating that the club were not looking for a centre-back player at that moment in time.

On 10 August 2009, Rezaei signed a one-year, $700 thousand contract with Qatari side Al Ahli SC.[5] In 2010, he signed with Shahin Bushehr. A half-year later he joined Paykan. He announced his retirement from football on 4 July 2012.

Club career statistics[edit]

As of 18 May 2019
Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Iran League Hazfi Cup Asia Total
1996–97 Zob Ahan Azadegan League –
1997–98 –
1998–99 22 7 –
1999–00 –
2000–01 29 2 –
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
2001–02 Perugia Serie A 25 2 1 0 – 26 2
2002–03 13 3 1 0 0 0 14 3
2003–04 Messina Serie B 37 2 0 0 – 37 2
2004–05 Serie A 36 0 1 0 – 37 0
2005–06 34 0 0 0 – 34 0
2006–07 0 0 2 0 – 2 0
Livorno 16 1 1 0 3 0 20 1
2007–08 5 0 0 0 – 5 0
Iran League Hazfi Cup Asia Total
2008–09 Persepolis Persian Gulf Pro League 13 0 3 0 4 0 20 0
Qatar League Emir of Qatar Cup Asia Total
2009–10 Al Ahli SC Qatar Stars League 9 1 –
Iran League Hazfi Cup Asia Total
2010–11 Shahin Persian Gulf Pro League 6 0 0 0 – 6 0
Paykan 13 1 0 0 – 13 1
2011–12 Azadegan League –
Total Iran 4 0
Total Italy 166 8 6 0 3 0 175 8
Total Qatar 9 1 –
Career total 7 0

International career[edit]

Rahman Rezaei made his first appearance for Iran in July 2001 against Bosnia. He has been the most consistent defender for the team ever since.

In European football, Rahman Rezaei is considered a solid defender well inclined to launch devastating counterattacks. However his role is different in the Iranian national football team, where he is a straight defensive centre back. He was formerly a forward, but has proved to be an indispensable defensive stalwart for an Iranian side considered top-heavy in attacking players.

He was among the key players for Iran in World Cup 2006, but he did not perform as well as everyone had hoped. He received some criticism following a couple mistakes which led to goals being scored against the team.

On 6 April 2007 Rezaei stated he will retire from international football after the 2007 Asian Cup.,[6][7] but in another interview in December 2007 he expressed his intention to return to the national team.[8] Rezaei was given his #5 jersey and was selected for Team Melli's 2010 World Cup Qualification matches.[9]

Iran national team
Year Apps Goals
2001 16 0
2002 3 1
2003 5 0
2004 10 0
2005 6 1
2006 8 1
2007 6 0
Total 54 3

International goals[edit]

Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 30 May 2002 Sabah Al Salem Stadium, Kuwait City  Kuwait 2–1 3–1 Friendly
2 3 June 2005 Azadi Stadium, Tehran  North Korea 1–0 1–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
3 28 May 2006 Azadi Stadium, Tehran  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2–2 5–2 Friendly

Director of football[edit]

after time of playing he was director sport and coach in some clubs.
# season club position
1 2011–2012 Paykan F.C. Director of football
2 2012–2013 Persepolis F.C. Director of football
3 2020 Zob Ahan F.C. Director of football

Honours[edit]

Individual[edit]

Personal life[edit]

Rezaei is married to translator Helia Hashemian, a woman of Iranian origin who was born in Assisi, Perugia.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Iran" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ Imparato Gaetano. "Perugia: il mondo in una stanza". Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b "GlobeandMail.com: Soccer – Rahman Rezaei". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d "ESPNsoccernet: Rahman Rezaei". ESPN. Retrieved 30 July 2007.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ پس از جام ملت‌ها از تيم ملي خداحافظي مي‌كنم (in Persian). ISNA. Archived from the original on 9 May 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  7. ^ رحمان رضايي رسما از تيم ملي فوتبال خداحافظي كرد (in Persian). ISNA. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  8. ^ "Rahman Rezaei: I intend to return to the national team". IranSportsPress. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
  9. ^ Rahman Rezaei at National-Football-Teams.com
  10. ^ "Porte aperte e tolleranza Largo all' Iran".

External links[edit]

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