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Ali Daei. Photo by, Fars Media Corporation-

Top10 Interesting Facts about Ali Daei

Ali Daei was a former football striker and is currently an Iranian football manager. He was born in Ardabil, Iran on the 21st of March 1969. 

With a whooping height of 1.93 m, Ali was well known for netting the ball into his opponent’s goalpost due to his impeccable heading accuracy and ability to juggle the ball in the air. 

The Iranian held the record as the top international goal-scorer with a tally of 109 goals but this record was later broken by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021.

Daei is considered as one of the Asian football players inducted in the Asian Football Hall of Fame. 

1. Ali Daei graduated from Sharif University of Technology

Sharif University Logo. Photo by, Mr.iman.s-

Most of the football players cut short their educational aspect so as to duly focus on their football careers. But this was not the case with Ali, for he managed to reach up to university level. 

Ali graduated from Sharif University of Technology, an Iran public university widely considered as the nation’s leading institution for Science, Technology, engineering and Mathematics. 

He successfully graduated with a degree in Materials Engineering, a course that teaches the various aspects of making useful items. 

2. Ali Daei kicked off his football career at the age of 19

Daei (left) in action against Laos in an international game, 2004. Photo by, Mehr News Agency-

You probably thought that the Iranian started off his football career at a tender age, but that’s not the case. 

He started playing at the age of 19 with his hometown club Esteghlal Ardabi. Turns out the talent was in him for he later on moved to two different clubs based in Iran. These two clubs were Taxirani F.C and Bank Terajat. 

It is at  Bank Terajat where he stayed for four years, securing 49 goals in the 75 games he played for the club. 

3. Ali Daei prolific play in Iran facilitated his move to European football

Daei coaching Persepolis in a match against Naft Tehran, 23 August 2013. Photo by, Tasnim News Agency-

After the four years in Bank Terajat, he was moved to Perspepolis, whereby he showed much talent especially in the Asian Cup in 1996.

In 1996, he later on moved to Al Sadd and took part in the 1996-1997 season. Arminia Bielefeld agents were on the radar scouting players and sending feedbacks to their team. 

Ali played for only one season before  getting the call up to play for Armina Bielefeld. He alongside Iranian national teammate Karim Bagheri were signed up into the German team. 

4. Ali Dael was the first Asian player to feature in an UEFA Champions league match

This was made possible when he made a move to Hertha BSC from Bayern Munich. Hertha believed that the player would make an impact that would lead them to win the Champions league and Bundesliga title. 

He scored his first and second goal in 1999 in a group stage match against the blues, Chelsea. Hertha BSC went on to win 2-1. He also managed to score in a 1-1 draw against A.C Milan at an away match. 

It  is safe to say that Ali Daei was the first Asian to score in the famous UEFA Champions league match. 

5. Ali Daei believes in the worship of Allah

The football manager is a Shia Muslim who put Allah first in everything that he did. He strictly follows in the teachings inscribed in the Quran. 

An instance where he chose to exercise the Muslim beliefs was when he was playing for Bayern Munich.

He refused to hold a glass of beer for an Erdinger advertisement(a beer manufacturing company) because consumption of alcoholic beverages are greatly forbidden in his religion

6.Ali Daei has ever been involved in a car accident

This tragic event occurred in his life on 17th March 2012 while he was driving back to Tehran from Isfahan, alongside his brother. 

He was then rushed to a hospital near Kashan. Luckily, his internal organs were intact and there was no sign of any internal bleeding. He was later on transferred to Laleh hospital in Tehran. 

Quick recovery wishes were all over Iran at that time with the Asian Football Confederation giving him full support at that point of his trying time. The President of FIFA also wished him a quick recovery in his twitter page. 

7.Ali Daei was once attacked  by two thieves 

During the time Covid 19 was at peak, Ali Daei was confronted and attacked by two thieves in 2020, who did not seem to care about the status of the legend. 

They tried to steal his gold necklace at Tehran. Investigations were instantly done by the law enforcers and in a few days time, the two culprits were taken into custody and arrested for their misdoing. 

8. Ali Daei is also known to be an entrepreneur 

Daei’s central shopping store. Photo by, Nimafade-

Apart from being a former player and a manager, Ali Daei has business skills up his sleeves. He owns his own football jersey manufacturing company namely Daei Sports Wear and Equipment.

The company’s logo can be seen in various football teams in Iran  as it is trusted to make quality jerseys and apparels. The company is also responsible for making the Iran National football team jerseys 

9. Ali Daei has contributed to various charitable and goodwill functions 

Daei with his daughter. Photo by, Tasnim News Agency-

Daei is well known as a kind individual as he has made appearances in charity football matches. He has also made important and valuable charitable donations to different walks of life. 

UNICEF noted his charitable efforts and featured in their commercial alongside Madeleine Albright and David Beckham. Ali Daei has been seen working with UNICEF in different scenarios in making the world a better place. 

He also made a debut on 18 July 2007 in “90 Minutes for Mandela”, a match held in honor of the great Nelson Mandela. The match was between the Africa XI and the Rest of the World XI, whereby Ali played for only 10 minutes. 

10. Ali Daei was called to play for his National Team in 1993

Daei made his debut for Team Melli on 6 June 1993. His first international game was an ECO Cup match between Iran and Pakistan. 

 He continued his national team appearances and was named the top scorer of the final Asian round of 1994  FIFA World Cup  qualifications with four goals in five matches. 

Due to his football prowess of scoring for his national team, Daei became the first male footballer with 100 international goals on 17 November 2004. 

Ali Daei will be remembered among Asian’s greatest player of all time.  Ali shows that age is just but a number and one’s age doesn’t fully determine if his/her dreams can be achieved or not.