Ali Karimi

Mohammad-Ali Karimi Pashaki (Persian:  born on 8 November 1978) better known as Ali Karimi is an Iranian football player, who currently plays for Tractor Sazi in Iran's Premier Football League and played for 15 years for the Iranian national team. He was awarded the Asian Footballer of the Year in 2004 and made the second place in 2012 at the age of 34. He is capable of playing on the wings, as an attacking midfielder or as a deep-lying forward. He is known for ball skill and dribbling runs. He is often referred to as the Asian Maradona and is believed to be one of Asia's greatest players.

Karimi began his career with Fath Tehran youth club and joined Persepolis in 1998. Internationally, Karimi has been capped 127 times since making his debut in October 1998, and has scored 38 goals. He has participated in five major tournaments including 1998 Asian Games, 2000, 2004, and 2007 Asian Cups and 2006 FIFA World Cup.


Persepolis

In 1998, Karimi joined Persepolis football club, which won the domestic double in 1999 and the championship again in 2000. He attended a trial with Perugia Calcio, but the transfer was aborted when Perugia deemed the transfer fee too high.
 There was also reportedly an offer from Spain's Atlético Madrid who were willing to pay Karimi $5 million in a six-year contract,[citation needed] but Karimi remained at Al Ahli because he wanted to stay close to home