Ali Daei - Soccer Player
Born: 21 March 1969 in Ardebil
Claim to Fame: One of the greatest strikers in Asian Soccer history. Captain of the Iranian National Team Melli
Honors: Most Valuable Player and top scorer of the 1994 Asian World Cup preliminary finals (4 goals, Doha/Qatar); top scorer of the 1996 Asian Cup (8 goals, UAE); named the world's top scorer in official international competitions by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), scored 20 goals in competitive matches for Iran in 1996. Top goal scorer of the Iranian National Team in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995.
Daei ventured out of Iran for the first time when he signed on with Germany's Bundesliga. From 1997 to 1998 he played for Arminia Bielefeld. In 1998 he moved to Bayern Munich, where his reported salary skyrocketed to a cool 4 million DM. Daei, who was handpicked for the German team by legendary football player Franz Beckenbauer, was regarded as a world-class center-forward. After a successful career and much fame and fanfare followings in Germany, Daei decided to move to Hertha BSC. This occured before the end of his three year contract with Bayern but was after the team had won the 1999 Bundesliga. Daei played in the Champions League with Hertha Berlin and gained the title of best scorer in the league with 3 goals.