Ali Daei
Iranian football legend and all-time Asian men's top international goal scorer.
Born on 21 March 1969, Ali Daei is a retired Iranian striker who also worked as a manager.[1] With 108 international goals, Daei held the global record for most goals by a male footballer until Cristiano Ronaldo surpassed that total in 2021.[2] Among Asian male footballers, Daei holds the record for the most international goals, with 108.[1]
Quick Facts
- Born
- 21 March 1969
- Birthplace
- Ardabil, Iran
- Height
- 1.89 m / 6 ft 2 in
- Position
- Centre forward
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Daei ended his international career with 109 goals, later downgraded to 108.[3] Daei's birthplace is Ardabil, in what was then Imperial Iran, and his family background is Iranian Azerbaijani.[4] He earned a BSc in Materials Engineering (Metallurgical) from Aryamehr University of Technology.[4] At age 19, Daei started his playing career with Esteghlal Ardabil, the club from his hometown.[5]
On 21 September 1999, during a group-stage encounter with Chelsea, Daei found the net for his first Champions League goal.[6][7] In 2001, UNICEF appointed Daei as a Goodwill Ambassador.[8] From 2007 until 2013, Daei sat on the FIFA Football Committee.[8] The Asian Football Hall of Fame welcomed Daei as an inductee in 2014.[8]
What the cited sources add
The 90min.com article states Daei won the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich in 1998/99 and was crowned Asian Footballer of the Year that same year.[9] The thesefootballtimes.co account reports Daei scored only three more goals in 287 league matches for his various clubs.[10] That source also notes Daei was named Asian Player of the Year for the only time in his career.[10] The BBC Sport report on the Chelsea match describes Daei capitalizing on "some awful defending" to score twice.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Ali Daei" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The all-time greatest Asian footballers - ranked", 90min.com, 3 March 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ali Daei" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The giants of the game", FIFA.com, 23 January 2009; "Ali Daei in Guinness World Records 2014 as best goalscorer" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ali Daei" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Flanagan, "Who is Ali Daei? The only man ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time global goalscorers list", fourfourtwo.com, 9 September 2020; Daei, "Iran's Ali Daei is world's top goal scorer; he is ahead of even Cristiano Ronaldo", The Siasat Daily, 12 February 2021; "Cristiano Ronaldo hails Ali Daei after setting new goalscoring record", the-AFC; "True champions are forever: Ronaldo thanks Daei after record goal", Daily Sabah, 24 June 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ali Daei" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Uddin, "Ali Daei: The Iranian icon set to be dethroned by Cristiano Ronaldo", Middle East Eye, 27 June 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ali Daei" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "علی دایی و مرحوم حجازی در تیم بانک تجارت", khabaronline.ir, 24 October 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ali Daei" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Chelsea crash in Berlin", BBC Sport, 21 September 1999; "Milan-Hertha", UEFA, 21 September 1999 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Chelsea crash in Berlin", BBC Sport, 21 September 1999. facts only, no text reused. news.bbc.co.uk
- Wikipedia, "Ali Daei" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "UNICEF appoints Daei GMCJ goodwill harbinger", IRNA, 1 September 2001; "FIFA Football Committee", fifa.com; fararu.com; "Kewell, Hong, Daei among AFC's first Hall of Fame inductees", Reuters, 21 November 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "The all-time greatest Asian footballers - ranked", 90min.com, 3 March 2021. facts only, no text reused. 90min.com
- Khaled, "Ali Daei: the Iran hero who bagged 109 international goals", thesefootballtimes.co, 25 June 2018. facts only, no text reused. thesefootballtimes.co
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Ali Daei (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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