5/17/2006
Afshin Afshar, lastkick.com

In a country where athletes are admired, adored, loved, and raised to the stature of folk heroes, Ali Daei stands alongside legends. The only difference is that the ending to his sporting tale is still being written.

The Team Melli captain was born on March 21, 1969 in the ancient north-western town of Ardabil. At nineteen he played for a local club where he began to show glimpses of things to come. He then moved to Tehran in order to attend one of Iran’s most credible universities, and eventually completed his studies with a Bachelor of Engineering in Materials Science.

While playing for two minor league teams in Tehran, he attracted a lot of attention with his tenacity and uncanny finishing touches. From 1990 to 1993 Daei finished as the top scorer in the Iranian league. Finally in 1994 he got his big break when Tehran giants Perspolis came knocking on his door.

The stage was set for Daei and Iran to shine in the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, but tragedy struck during the opening match against Bahrain. Daei was stretched off the field with several broken ribs and fingers after a mid-air collusion with the Bahraini goalkeeper. His injuries sidelined him for over six months. But he recovered and came back with a storm finishing as the league’s top scorer in 1995.

He became the first Iranian to make a move to the Bundesliga, when he signed with Arminia Bielefeld in 1997. Then he was signed by Bayern Munich. His famous four million deutschemark transfer was a record high for an Asian player at that time.

Daei was not happy with the sporadic playing time he was getting at Bayern, so he made a move to Herta Berlin with whom he became the first Asian player to ever play in the UEFA Champions League when Herta qualified in 2000. He was Herta’s top scorer in Europe that year with three goals, two against Chelsea and one against AC Milan. This also made him the first Asian to score as many goals in the tournament.

After Herta, he moved to UAE’s Al Shabbab, back to Perspolis, and then to Saba Battery where he now plays.

Through his entire career Daei never let his club career interfere with his national team duties. Some argue that this may have cost him at club level, but his fans recognized the sacrifices he made and loved him even more for it.

Fast forwarding to 2006, Daei has accumulated 109 goals in 145 official international matches, making him international football’s all time goal getter.

Along the way he was recognized as the world’s top scorer in 1996 and 2004 by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) having scored 22 and 17 goals respectively.

Daei has said that he will retire from international football after this summer’s World Cup. Perhaps the world’s all time top scorer can write a nice ending to his shining career by helping his beloved Team Melli move past the group stage, and add to his already impressive total.

A few of Daei’s other individual honors are:

• Most Valuable Player and top scorer in Asian qualifications for World Cup 1994, final round.
• Top scorer of Asian Cup 1996
• Asian Player of the Year in 1999.
• World's third top goal scorer in 2000 with 20 goals.
• Top goal scorer of the Iran Professional League in season 2003-04 with 16 goals.