He was called Mr. Goal: Ali Daei is a living monument of Iranian football

With the goals against Sweden in the September cycle of the League of Nations, Cristiano Ronaldo reached the 100th and 101st goals in the jersey of the Portuguese national team. He became the first European to surpass the magical mark of one hundred goals in the national team jersey, but not the only footballer in the world who can boast of that fact. There is only one man ahead of him, who was called Mr. Goal, and who even today, 13 years after his retirement, enjoys the status of a walking monument of Iranian football. This is Ali Daei.

Daei scored 1993 goals in 2006 matches for Iran from 149 to 109 and is the absolute record holder in that category. In his club career, he hit the net 280 times in just over 112 games. Like many players, he spent part of his career in Europe. He played in Arminia from Bielefeld, Bayern Munich and Hertha. What Maradona is to Argentina and Pele is to Brazil, Daei is to Iran. A legend.

He changed clubs often, and the first in his career was the Iranian Esteglal. He spent a total of five years there - sometimes in the younger categories, sometimes in the senior team. Then came short episodes in Taksirani and Tegarat, and then an invitation to the Iranian national team. He made his debut for "Team Melli" against Pakistan in 1993. That year he scored seven goals for the national team, a performance that would have been better had it not been for a call-up to the army and service in the Iranian Air Force.

After completing his military service, he continued his career in Persepolis in 1994. Along with Esteghlal, Persepolis is Iran's biggest club, and their rivalry is one of the biggest in football.

Along with the games in Persepolis, he shone in the jersey of Iran. He scored 22 goals in 18 matches for the national team in 1996. He had his best games at the Asian Football Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Iran reached the semi-finals where they were eliminated by Saudi Arabia, with Daei scoring eight goals. In the duel against South Korea, he shook the net four times, and at the end of the year he was second in the selection for the best football player in Asia. In front of him was another Iranian - Kodad Azizi.

Thanks to the good games in that tournament, Daei left Iran for the first time and continued his career in Qatar's Al Sadd, but stayed for only half a year. Together with his national team colleague, Karim Bageri, in the summer of 1997 he went to Europe, to Arminia, Germany.

It was a great year for Daei, and it was crowned by Iran's placement at the World Cup in France. The team played 125:1 in the barrage against Australia in the first match at home in front of more than 1 people, and in the rematch in Melbourne, "Team Melli" came two goals behind with goals from Bageri and Azizi and - due to more goals scored away from home ( 2:2) - qualified for the World Championship. For the first time in 20 years, this country qualified for the final tournament of the best national teams in the world.

Daei, Bageri, Azizi and company in France played in a group with FR Yugoslavia, USA and Germany. In the first match of the tournament, after a lot of torture and poor play, Yugoslavia celebrated with a goal by Sinisa Mihajlović from a free kick, and in the next round, in a historic match, Iran defeated the USA. It was the "mother of all matches", as the meeting between the two national teams was called, and with the goals of Estili and Mahdavikia, Iran celebrated (2:1) and recorded its first victory ever at the World Cup. In the third round, the adventure ended with a defeat against Germany (2:0).

Daei did not score a goal in France, and after the end of the championship, he transferred his career to Bayern Munich. As usual, he didn't stay long there either. Just one season. With the Bavarians, he won the Bundesliga in 1999, and from the bench he watched the epic final of the Champions League in Barcelona, ​​in which the Munich club was defeated by Manchester United after a turnaround. That year, he was named the best Asian football player.

After Bayern, he went to Hertha and stayed there for three years, from where he arrived at Al Shabaab in 2002. And while he could not boast of notable games in the jersey of the Berlin club, he continued to shake the nets in the jersey of Iran. The previous record holder for the number of goals for a national team was Ferenc Puskas. The Hungarian scored 84 times in the "light cavalry" jersey, and Daei got the chance to equal his record in November 2003.

Iran welcomed North Korea in the qualifiers for the Asian Football Cup. It was the 52nd minute when Daei shook the net and Puskaš arrived. But then Iran fans threw firecrackers onto the field, and one of them hit a visiting player. North Korean football players left the field and refused to return, so the match was registered in favor of Iran with an official score of 3:0, and Daei's goal was disallowed.

He had to chase the record again. The next match Iran played a few days later was against Lebanon and this time the goal, scored by Daei, counted. He tied the record of Puskas, and in the next match against the same rival, he overtook the legendary Hungarian. With 85 goals, he became the player with the most goals in the national team jersey.

He scored his 2004th jubilee goal in the national jersey against Laos in XNUMX. Two years later, he rocked the net for the last time. It was against Costa Rica in a friendly match in preparation for the World Cup in Germany. At the World Cup, Iran did not get past the group that included Mexico, Angola and Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo and the team, and Daei ended his representative adventure.

0,99 goals per match in the national team jersey was scored by the legendary Galloping Major, Ferenc Puskas, who scored 85 goals in 84 matches in the Hungarian national team jersey, which is the best average ever. Ali Daei averaged 0,73 goals per match for Iran, while Ronaldo scored 0,6 for Portugal.

His record will almost certainly be broken. Cristiano Ronaldo has no intention of ending his national team career anytime soon, especially considering that he is so close to breaking another record. And the Portuguese loves to break records and to have his name first in a category.

The best national team scorers of all time

1. ALI DAEI (Iran) 109 goals

2. CRISTIANO RONALDO (Portugal) 101

3. MOKHTAR DAKARI (Malaysia) 86

4. FERENC PUSKAS (Hungary) 84

5. GODFRI CHITALU (Zambia) 79

6. HUSEIN SAED (Iraq) 78

7. PELE (Brazil) 77

8. KUNISHIGE KAMAMOTO (Japan) 75

9. BASHAR ABDULAH (Kuwait) 75

10. SUNIL CHATRI (India) 72