Mehdi Mahdavikia

When Mahdavikia came on as a substitute in the 32nd minute, Pious gave his shirt to Mahdavikia, in a remarkable replay after seventeen years that Pious did so in Mahdavikia's first match for Persepolis.

The match was won by A.C. Milan XI 3–1 with Mahdavikia assisting the only goal.

Mehdi Mahdavikia (born 24 July 1977) is an Iranian professional football coach and former player usually played as a right winger or right back.

He is currently under contract by Hamburger SV as a youth coach, and also manages his own youth academy, FC KIA.

He won the Asian Young Footballer of the Year award in 1997 as well as the Asian Footballer of the Year award in 2003.

He was known for his crossing, speed and dribbling.

Mahdavikia first played for Persepolis in his native Iran before moving to VfL Bochum in Germany.

After Bochum's relegation, he signed for Bundesliga side Hamburg where he stayed for the next eight seasons.

Having been awarded the Asian Young Footballer of the Year award in 1997, Mahdavikia was considered Iran's best player in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and was named in the list from which the team of the tournament was chosen.

Hamburger Morgenpost estimated market value of Mahdavikia in 1999 as DM6.5 million.

His initial position for HSV was right fullback, from which he was known for his attacking runs, as he has previous experience as a right winger and at times has played as a striker.

He also played some matches for Pas in Asian games as help for the club.

Under coach Frank Pagelsdorf Mahdavikia used to play wide striker.

He was awarded Hamburg Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004 by the fans, and also attained the title of the top assister of goals in the Bundesliga.

In 2003, Die Welt wrote that Mahdavikia is worth €8–10 million.

In 2003, he was awarded Asian Player of the Year by the Asian Football Confederation.

However, compared to his previous season, he had a poor season in 2004–05 and was benched.

In the 2005–06 season he gained his old form back and was able to regain his spot as a starter, being influential in many of Hamburg's victories, such as scoring the winning goal against then Bundesliga heavyweights Schalke.

Mahdavikia's strongest points were his vision, passing skills, fast-paced runs (his nickname in Iran is "The Rocket"), and set-pieces such as corners, spotkicks and free kicks.

He usually was the right-footed alternative to Van der Vaart's well known left foot.

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.

His nickname in Hamburg is The Carpet (der Teppich) for his ability to "magically glide past" his opponents like the enchanted carpet.

During his playing career, Mahdavikia internationally represented Iranian national team, which he captained from 2006 to 2009, and currently is the fourth most capped player of all-time.

He played for Iranian clubs Bank Melli, Persepolis, Steel Azin and Damash Gilan, as well as German clubs VfL Bochum, Hamburger SV and Eintracht Frankfurt, spending 12 consecutive seasons in Bundesliga.

For the 2006–07 Bundesliga season he moved back to his natural position of right wing, in support of Central Midfielder Rafael van der Vaart.

On 8 June 2007, Mahdavikia signed a three-year contract with Eintracht Frankfurt.

In his first season, he had two bad injuries that forced him to miss many matches.

In the second season he was mostly benched and not used in many matches which showed that the club did not want him anymore.

After 255 Games (26 goals, 55 assists) in the Bundesliga for HSV, Bochum and Eintracht Frankfurt, left Germany to sign for Steel Azin in January 2010.

On 4 July 2011, Mahdavikia signed a contract with Amir Abedini, President of the Damash Gilan to join to the club for one year but he was joined to his beloved club, Persepolis in mid-season to play for club in his last year of playing football.

He extended his contract with Persepolis for another season on 19 June 2012.

On 15 May 2013, Mahdavikia was appointed as AFC Grassroots Ambassador.

On 2 March 2013, Mahdavikia announced that he would retire at the end of the 2012–13 season.

Persepolis also announced that Mahdavikia's farewell match would be in a pre-season friendly match against A.C. Milan in June 2013, played in the Azadi Stadium, but it was later announced that Mahdavikia's last match would be against his former side, Hamburger SV in June 2013 in the same stadium.

Mahdavikia confirmed on 14 March 2013 that he ended his active football career.

He played his last match as a football player in the 2013 Hazfi Cup Final, coming on extra time as a substitute.

On 28 November 2013, he played a farewell match at Azadi Stadium between Persepolis XI and A.C. Milan XI.

Participants in the match included former teams' legends like Hamid Derakhshan, Mohammad Panjali, Farshad Pious, Karim Bagheri, Hamid Estili, Nasser Mohammadkhani, Pejman Jamshidi, Edmond Bezik which played for Persepolis and Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Daniele Massaro, Gennaro Gattuso and Alberigo Evani for A.C. Milan.

Persepolis were managed by the club's most successful manager Ali Parvin.

Mahdavikia currently represents Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in the Football Advisory Panel of International Football Association Board (IFAB), joining the body in 2019.