Iranian footballer
Ferydoon Zandi
(born 26 April 1979) is an Iranian retired professional
footballer
.
Early life
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Zandi was born in the city of
Emden
, in northern Germany, to an Iranian father and a German mother. He speaks
German
and
Persian
. He started playing football at an early age when his talent shone through his playing for a number of youth clubs in and near his hometown.
Club career
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Germany
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Zandi was called up for the
Germany under-17 national football team
and played for
SV Meppen
before being signed by
SC Freiburg
. There, he failed to establish himself as a starter and was traded to the
2. Bundesliga
club
VfB Lubeck
. After struggling again initially, Zandi broke through and established himself as one of the most dangerous and versatile attackers of the league. He regularly was one of the top scorers and assist givers.
After enjoying two successful seasons in Lubeck, he was signed by
1. FC Kaiserslautern
in 2004 and given the number 10.
In the
2005?06 season
, in which 1. FCK fell to the end of the table, he lost his position as a starting playmaker, was benched for a longer period of time, and had periods when he failed to be nominated as a bench player at all. Trainer
Wolfgang Wolf
refused to play him in the second half of the season, and after the relegation of the club, Zandi was confirmed to be cut from the squad. Also,
Amir Ghalenoei
, the new manager of
Iran national team
, did not invite Ferydoon to the Iranian squad for the
AFC Asian Cup
qualification games.
In September 2006, he signed a one-year contract with 2. Bundesliga club
TuS Koblenz
, which he left in January 2007 due to the limited number of appearance he made.
Cyprus
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On 2 January 2007, Zandi signed a contract till the end of the
2006?07 season
with
Apollon Limassol
of
Cyprus
.
After his return from the
2007 AFC Asian Cup
he was linked with moves to
Steaua Bucure?ti
,
Rapid Bucure?ti
and
Birmingham City
.
[3]
On 18 January 2008, he joined
Olympiakos Nicosia
.
On 24 March 2009, Zandi signed
Alki Larnaca
for a one-year contract where he became the top scorer.
Iran
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Zandi joined the Iranian side
Steel Azin
in 2009 and stayed there for two seasons.
After the relegation of
Steel Azin
he left the club and in August 2011 he joined to
Esteghlal
[4]
but he started season with an injury.
[5]
On 22 October 2011, he made his debut for Esteghlal and made an assist against
Zob Ahan Esfahan F.C.
[6]
He won the
Hazfi Cup
in his first season.
Having been released by Esteghlal on 29 September 2012 Zandi joined the Qatari side
Al Ahli
. On 5 November 2015, he announced his retirement.
International career
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Raised in Germany, Zandi did not initially have the permission to play for his ancestral Iran as he did not have Iranian citizenship. However, the
Iranian Football Federation
obtained permission for him to play for them, and Zandi began to compete on the
Iran national team
in the second round of
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
against Bahrain. After the qualifications he did not compete again on the team until being invited again for the
2007 AFC Asian Cup
.
He was recalled to the national squad in March 2007 for a friendly against
Qatar
,
[7]
included in the
Asian Cup
squad, and was featured for Iran in the friendly match against
Mexico
in June 2007. On 15 July 2007, Zandi scored from a free kick for Iran in their 2?2 draw versus
China
in the Asian Cup.
Zandi also played for Iran in the
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
where after the departure of
Ali Daei
he was not invited for around a year and was invited again by
Afshin Ghotbi
for a couple of performances but was dropped again. He was invited again after around 18 months by
Carlos Queiroz
for a friendly in May 2012 against
Albania
where before the match On 28 May 2012, Zandi announced his retirement from International football.
[8]
Coaching career
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Dynamo Dresden
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After signing as assistant coach of
2. Bundesliga
club
Dynamo Dresden
in 2020, he was named head coach in March 2022 after
Alexander Schmidt
was sacked, but was replaced just two days later without managing a match.
[9]
Traffic accident
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In 2005, Zandi was victim of a heavy traffic accident on a highway. When another car swerved to the left directly in front of him, Zandi had to evade and crashed into a lorry of the
US Army
. The lorry took heavy damage, and Zandi's car was utterly wrecked. Zandi made it out with minor injuries only.
[10]
Career statistics
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Club
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International
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- Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zandi goal.
Honours
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Esteghlal
References
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External links
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