Ferydoon Zandi

Ferydoon Zandi (born 26 April 1979) is an Iranian retired professional footballer.

Ferydoon Zandi
Zandi in Saipa training in 2015
Personal information
Full name Fereydon Zandi[1]
Date of birth (1979-04-26) 26 April 1979
Place of birth Emden, West Germany
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1985–1988 Blau-Weiß Borssum
1988–1992 SV Meppen
1992–1993 Werder Bremen
1993–1995 TuS Esens
1995–1998 SV Meppen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2000 SV Meppen 60 (15)
2000–2001 SC Freiburg II 25 (7)
2000–2002 SC Freiburg 10 (0)
2002–2004 VfB Lübeck 54 (20)
2004–2006 1. FC Kaiserslautern 45 (6)
2006 TuS Koblenz 8 (0)
2007 Apollon Limassol 10 (2)
2008 Olympiakos Nicosia 10 (4)
2008–2009 Alki Larnaca 23 (12)
2009–2011 Steel Azin 41 (2)
2011–2012 Esteghlal 29 (4)
2012–2014 Al Ahli 3 (0)
Total 318 (72)
International career
2001 Germany U21 5 (0)
2005–2009 Iran 29[2] (5)
Managerial career
2016–2020 St. Pauli II (assistant)
2020–2022 Dynamo Dresden (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

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

Germany

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 Lübeck. 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 Lübeck, 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

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 București, Rapid București 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

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

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

Dynamo Dresden

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

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

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Total Ref.
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
SV Meppen 1998–99 Regionalliga 29500–295 [11][12]
1999–00 311020–3310 [11][12]
Total 601520–6215 –
SC Freiburg II 2000–01 Oberliga 19700–197
2001–02 6000–60
Total 25700–257 –
SC Freiburg 2000–01 Bundesliga 7020–90 [12]
2001–02 3010–40 [12]
Total 10030–130 –
VfB Lübeck 2002–03 2. Bundesliga 25610–266 [12]
2003–04 291453–3417 [12]
Total 542063–6023 –
1. FC Kaiserslautern 2004–05 Bundesliga 26623–289 [12]
2005–06 19031–221 [12]
Total 45654–5010 –
TuS Koblenz 2006–072. Bundesliga 8000–80 [12]
Apollon Limassol 2006–07 Cypriot First Division 102–102 [11]
Olympiakos Nicosia 2007–08 Cypriot First Division 104–104 [11]
Alki Larnaca 2008–09 Cypriot First Division 2312–2312 [11]
Steel Azin 2009–10Persian Gulf Pro League 19110–201
2010–11 22131–252
Total 41241–453 –
Esteghlal 2011–12 Persian Gulf Pro League 2144081335
2012–1380000080
Total 2944081425 –
Al Ahli 2012–13 Second Division 0000–00
2013–14 Stars League 3000–30 [13]
Total 3000–30 –
Career total 318722488135081 –

International
Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zandi goal.
List of international goals scored by Ferydoon Zandi
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
128 May 2005Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran Azerbaijan1–02–1Friendly
215 July 2007Bukit Jalil Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia China1–22–22007 AFC Asian Cup
37 June 2008Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates1–01–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
431 August 2009Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain Bahrain1–22–4Friendly
52–3

Honours

Esteghlal

References
  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. Ferydoon Zandi at National-Football-Teams.com
  3. "Ferydoon Zandi, aproape de un transfer în Giuleşti". rapidfans.ro. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
  4. Archived 5 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Archived 25 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "وب سایت رسمی باشگاه استقلال". Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  7. "Full-strength Iran for Qatar friendly". PersianLeague.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
  8. Ahmadov, Ahmad (28 May 2012). "Ferydoon Zandi bids farewell to Iran football team". Tehran Times. Iran. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  9. "Dynamo Dresden beurlaubt Alexander Schmidt". dynamo-dresden.de (in German). 1 March 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  10. "Ferydoon Zandi slightly injured in accident". fck.de (in German). Archived from the original on 29 August 2005.
  11. "Ferydoon Zandi". National Football Teams. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  12. "Ferydoon Zandi " Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  13. "F. Zandi". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
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