Here's What Every Football Fan Should Know About Ali Daei, The Only Player To Score Over 100 International Goals

As a football fan if you were ever asked who had the most international goals, well the name Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo might come to mind. Or if you believed in the golden era then the likes of Pele and Maradona might raise their heads. But no, in fact the man who has the most goals for his country, does not belong to South America or Europe.

In fact he's from Asia, the Middle East to be more precise, from the land of Iran.

Shocked right? Do not be. His name is Ali Daei. The man has 109 goals for Iran in 149 appearances between 1993 and 2006. In fact at the moment he is the only person in the world to score 100 goals in international football. Cristiano Ronaldo will join him soon as the Portugal star has 99 to his name. Nonetheless, he owns the century club at the moment and that is a big deal.

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So who is Ali? Born in Iran, he took on football at an early age. He was with his first major club Bank Tejarat for 4 years and scored 49 times in 75 appearances. Ali in 1998 became the first Asian to play in the Champions League when he represented Bayern Munich. But he did not enjoy playing there and was with them for just one season. He scored 6 goals in 23 games during that period.

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He joined Hertha as a result. But while his club career saw him change many sides, he was very consistent for his national team. His debut came vs Pakistan on home soil. Ali was also the top scorer of the final Asian round of 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifications with 4 goals in 5 matches. Now that is something.

When he played in the FIFA World Cup in 2006, he was criticised for being too old. But Ali stopped playing football a year later completely. He managed the Saipa and the national side along with Persepolis and Rah Ahan. He had a prolific career as a manager once his playing days were over.

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Ali sadly is not known about by many football fans. Perhaps it is because he played for a country not known to create waves outside Asia. Be as it may, the fact that he scored over 100 goals at international level shows his skill as a player. By his own right he is a football legend. Maybe he will never be accepted in the same league as the greats, but he is in a league of his own. Ronaldo will join him soon, will even go past him, but Ali is the one who breached the century mark first.