Mehdi Mahdavikia

Mehdi Mahdavikia (مهدی
مهدوی‌ک&
#1740;ا in Persian language|Persian) (born
July 24, 1977) is a soccer player and part of the
Iran national football team.

He currently plays for SV Hamburg in Germany,
having been signed for that club in 2000. He
previously played for the Persepolis FC|Perspolis
club in his native Iran and VfL Bochum in Germany.
His current position is right winger and at times
plays striker. In 2003, he was awarded Asian
Player of the Year by the Asian Football
Confederation. He was awarded Hamburg Player of
the Year in 2003 and 2004 by the fans. However, he
had a poor time in the 2004-2005 season and was
beched. This season he has gained his old form
back and was able to regain his spot as a starter.
He was considered Iran's best player in the
Wc|1998 and was named in the list from which the
team of the tournament was chosen.

Mehdi Mahdavikia's strongest points are his
vision, passing skills, fast paced runs, and
set-pieces such as corners, spotkicks and free
kicks. Apart from being a total professional on
the pitch he is also known as a perfect gentleman
off the pitch always finding the time for fans and
reporters to answer questions or sign autographs.

Mahdavikia was one of the influential players that
played in Iran's crucial 1-0 victory over Bahrain
national football team|Bahrain to qualify for the
upcoming Wc|2006 held in Germany.