- Ashkan Dejagah
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Ashkan Dejagah
Dejagah playing for VfL Wolfsburg; 24 August 2008Personal information Full name Seyyed Ashkan Dejagah[1] Date of birth 5 July 1986 Place of birth Tehran, Iran Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) Playing position Winger / Attacking midfielder Club information Current club VfL Wolfsburg Number 24 Youth career Reinickendorfer Füchse 1999–2000 Tennis Borussia Berlin 2000–2004 Hertha BSC Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2004–2007 Hertha BSC II 56 (21) 2004–2007 Hertha BSC 26 (1) 2007– VfL Wolfsburg 113 (17) National team‡ 2001–2003 Germany U-17 10 (4) 2003–2004 Germany U-18 4 (2) 2004 Germany U-19 11 (3) 2004–2005 Germany U-20 5 (2) 2005–2009 Germany U-21 20 (4) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:29, 5 November 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 00:47, 22 September 2011 (UTC)Ashkan Dejagah (Persian: اشكان دژآگه, born 5 July 1986 in Tehran) is an Iranian-German footballer who Currently plays for VfL Wolfsburg, usually as a striker or a winger. He has recently been invited to Iran national team. He has represented Germany at youth levels.
Contents
Club career
Dejagah made his pro debut against VfL Bochum in the opening match of 2004–05, playing the last five minutes in a 2–2 home draw, in his only first team appearance that year, thus becoming the youngest player to ever play for the club since it was founded in 1892. In his three years at Hertha, he also played in the regional league, being the team's top scorer in 2005–06, with twelve goals in 23 appearances. Hertha's manager Falko Götz showed continuous faith in him by gradually giving the youngster playing time in the Bundesliga, as well as three UEFA Cup showdowns in 2005–06, playing the following season in the Intertoto Cup against FC Moscow. In 2007 he joined Wolfsburg. In his first season at Wolfsburg he showed himself as a talent with scoring eight goals and in second season he was a regular part of the Bundesliga winner team. In the 2009–10 season, after selection of Armin Veh as club manager he missed his place in starting line up and he could not return to starting team under Steve McClaren. With the return of Felix Magath he found his form and in the 2011–12 season, he showed himself as a key player with scoring two and assisting three goals in seven matches.[2]
International career
In 2004, upon being called up to the German U-19 team, Dejagah managed to score seven goals in 15 international games, including two against the Netherlands after his team was down 2–0. In 2005, he was invited to play for Germany's U-21, and was given the coveted number 10 shirt.
It had been suggested that Dejagah might play for Iran at international level rather than Germany, but he claimed to have never really considered it an option.[3] Having played for Germany at the age of 21, he was originally no longer eligible to play for Iran,[4] however, FIFA rule changes in July 2009 mean that he can now play for Iran.[5] In late December, Iran's coach Afshin Ghotbi approached Dejagah in regards to playing for Iran at the upcoming 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, but his playing for Iran is on hold as he wanted to pursue first team with his club Wolfsburg instead.[6] On 21 September 2011, he was invited to the Iran national team by Carlos Queiroz.[7] A minor injury as well as unclear military status kept him out of the 23 man squad for the World Cup qualifier against Bahrain.
Controversy
In October 2007, Dejagah refused to play an under-21 international match of Germany against Israel, citing “very personal reasons” and saying “everybody knows I am half Iranian”. Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and Ronald Pofalla, General Secretary of the Christian Democratic Union, demanded that Dejagah be excluded from Germany's national team.[8] Dejagah confirmed in a Stern interview, that he only made that choice because of his family and not because of political, antisemitic or racist reasons.[9] After a personal meeting with Theo Zwanziger, the president of the German Football Association, and national technical director Matthias Sammer, he convinced both of his personal reasons and was not excluded from Germany's national team.[10]
Club career statistics
- As of 5 November 2011
Club performance League Cup Continental Total Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Germany League DFB-Pokal Europe Total 2004–05 Hertha BSC Bundesliga 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0 2005–06 3 0 0 0 3 0 6 0 2006–07 22 1 2 0 1 0 25 1 2007–08 VfL Wolfsburg 31 8 5 1 — — 36 9 2008–09 27 3 4 1 7 0 38 4 2009–10 24 1 1 0 8 0 33 1 2010–11 23 3 0 0 — — 23 3 2011–12 8 2 1 0 — — 9 2 Total Germany 139 18 13 2 19 0 171[11] 20 Honours
Club
- Bundesliga: 2008–09
International
Trivia
- Dejagah has two tattoos on his right wrist one saying Ashkan in Persian and another saying Tehran in English, where he was born. He also has on his left wrist Berlin, where he was raised.
References
- ^ Lamprecht, Roberto (21 February 2007). "Hertha-Star eine Nacht in der Zelle" (in German). bild.de. http://www.bild.de/BTO/sport/bundesliga/2007/02/21/hertha-unfall/dejagah-knast-auto.html. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
- ^ "Dejagah, Ashkan" (in German). kicker.de. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/1-bundesliga/2011-12/vfl-wolfsburg-24/31104/spieler_ashkan-dejagah.html. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
- ^ "Interview mit Ashkan Dejagah 'Das habe ich für meine Familie getan'" (in German). Stern. 24 October 2007. http://www.stern.de/sport-motor/fussball/:Interview-Ashkan-Dejagah-Das/600121.html. Retrieved 24 October 2007.
- ^ "FIFA statutes". FIFA. 2006. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/federation/statutes_08_2006_en_pdf_52.pdf. Retrieved 24 October 2007.
- ^ "FIFA removes age limit on players switching nations". Reuters. 3 June 2009. http://football.uk.reuters.com/world/news/L3177353.php. Retrieved 3 September 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "FIFA approves Dejagah switch from Germany to Iran". footballindia.com. 16 December 2010. http://www.footballindia.com/news/FIFA_approves_Dejagah_switch_from_Germany_to_Iran/news-2010-december-news_20101216_596/news_article.aspx. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ^ "اعلام لیست اولیه کی روش برای بازی با بحرین / اشکان دژاگه به تیم ملی دعوت شد !" (in Persian). goal.com. 21 September 2011. http://www.goal.com/iran/news/1825/%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86/2011/09/21/2676096/%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%87-%DA%A9%DB%8C-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B4-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%AD%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%A7%D8%B4%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AF%DA%98%D8%A7%DA%AF%D9%87-%D8%A8%D9%87. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ^ "Der Fall Ashkan Dejagah wird zu einem Politikum" (in German). Welt. 9 October 2007. http://www.welt.de/sport/article1247193/Zentralrat_der_Juden_fordert_Dejagah-Ausschluss.html. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
- ^ "Das habe ich für meine Familie getan" (in German). Stern. 14 October 2007. http://www.stern.de/sport-motor/fussball/:Interview-Ashkan-Dejagah-Das/600121.html. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
- ^ "Ashkan Dejagah weiterhin U 21-Nationalspieler" (in German). German Football Association. 16 October 2007. http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=500014&no_cache=1&tx_dfbnews_pi1%5B&showUid%5D=12483&cHash=a1d35b0166. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
- ^ "Ashkan Dejagah". worldfootball.net. http://www.worldfootball.net/spieler_profil/ashkan-dejagah/2/. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
External links
- Ashkan Dejagah at fussballdaten.de (German)
Germany squad – 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Winners (1st Title) VfL Wolfsburg – current squad 1 Benaglio · 2 Ochs · 4 Schäfer · 5 Koo · 6 Hleb · 7 Josué · 8 Kahlenberg · 9 Lakić · 10 Hitzlsperger · 11 Salihamidžić · 12 Lenz · 13 Hasebe · 14 Ciğerci · 15 Träsch (c) · 16 Kyrgiakos · 17 Madlung · 18 Mandžukić · 19 Jönsson · 21 Scheidhauer · 22 Klich · 23 Russ · 24 Dejagah · 25 Chris · 26 Čale · 29 Polák · 30 Orozco · 31 Knoche · 33 Helmes · 35 Hitz · 36 Thölke · 39 Schulze · 40 Polter · Manager: Magath
Categories:- 1986 births
- Living people
- German people of Iranian descent
- German footballers
- Iranian footballers
- Iranian expatriate footballers
- Reinickendorfer Füchse players
- Hertha BSC players
- Hertha BSC II players
- VfL Wolfsburg players
- Germany under-21 international footballers
- Fußball-Bundesliga players
- People from Tehran
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