Ali Daei: The Iranian Lion King and a goalscoring giant

• Ali Daei was the all-time top scorer with 109 goals in 149 appearances for IR Iran, before Cristiano Ronaldo broke his record

• The Iranian icon became the first male player to score 100 goals in international football

• The forward is the first Asian player ever to feature in a UEFA Champions League match

Shilarze Saha Roy On November 13, 2003, Iran’s Ali Daei thought he had equalled Hungary’s Ferenc Puskas’ record of 84 goals after scoring a penalty against Korea DPR in an AFC Asian Cup qualifier at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran. However, his celebrations were cut short when a firecracker, thrown onto the pitch by an Iranian fan, injured North Korean player So Hyok Chol, prompting the entire team to walk off in protest. The referee abandoned the match subsequently, with IR Iran handed an automatic 3-0 win. Despite the result going in favour of his team, Ali Daei’s record-equalling goal was chalked off. Ali Daei, though, would surpass Puskas’ feat a fortnight later. A couple of goals in the home and away fixtures against Lebanon in Asian Cup qualifiers would see the Iranian legend match and then break the Hungarian's 47-year-old record, thereby elevating him to the top of the all-time scorers’ list in international matches.

Almost a year later on November 17, 2004, Daei would become the first male player to score 100 goals in international football when the versatile striker found the net four times against Laos in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. Eventually, Ali Daei, nicknamed the ‘Shariar’ (King in Persian), would finish his 13-year career from 1993-2006 with a remarkable tally of 109 goals, a record that would only be broken by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021. “I am honoured that this remarkable achievement will belong to Ronaldo — great champion of football and caring humanist who inspires and impacts lives throughout the world,” Daei would post on Instagram. Interestingly, Daei and Ronaldo had crossed paths only once before in a 2006 FIFA World Cup match between IR Iran and Portugal at the Waldstadion, currently known as the Deutsche Bank Park, in Frankfurt. Daei was an unused substitute while the young Ronaldo scored his 12th international goal when he converted an 80th-minute penalty. The Iranian icon would retire from international football just days later but, by then, he would have already written his name into football folklore. At 6ft 3in, Daei was known for his aerial ability and heading accuracy - although he was as skillful on the ground as he was in-flight. He had a striker’s instinct and his ability to take great positions inside the box made him one of the most prolific goalscorers in the history of the sport.

Born to Iranian Azeri parents in Ardabil, Daei’s father didn’t want him to pursue football until he finished high school. Consequently, he would only begin his club career at 19 with Esteghlal Ardabil after gaining a metallurgical engineering degree. But, it was during his four-year stint with Bank Tejarat that the forward would make an impact and earn a national team call-up. The moustachioed youngster would soon break into the collective national conscience by scoring seven goals in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 1993 before compulsory military service would mean that he missed footballing action for three years. However, Ali Daei returned even hungrier. He scored 22 international goals in 1996 and become IR Iran’s all-time leading scorer. Nontheless, one of the best displays of his career would come in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup quarter-final against Korea Republic when he scored four goals in 22 minutes. Daei’s prolific form would continue in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign — he scored nine goals in 17 matches — and it would help IR Iran qualify for their first World Cup in 20 years - and their second-ever.

Daei’s club career was less glittering than his international spell but he still cornered a number of records. The forward became the first Asian player ever to feature in a UEFA Champions League match; he became the first from the continent to find the net in the competition, scoring twice against Chelsea in the group stage match on September 21, 1999, while representing Hertha Berlin. The Iranian icon also won the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich in 1998-99. But, he struggled to get playing time at the Bavarian club — he was an unused substitute in the 1999 UEFA Champions League final when Manchester United launched a famous late comeback to beat Bayern 2-1 — and eventually moved out. In the same year, Ali Daei was crowned the Asian Footballer of the Year. Today, Daei has managed Iran’s national team and several Iranian clubs, including Persepolis, and remains a huge superstar in his country.