Javad Nekounam
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Nekounam with Iran in 2014
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Javad Nekounam | |||||||||||
| Date of birth | 7 September 1980 | |||||||||||
| Place of birth | Rey, Iran | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||
| Playing position | Midfielder | |||||||||||
| Club information | ||||||||||||
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Current team
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Iran (assistant) | |||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||
| Naft Tehran | ||||||||||||
| Pas | ||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||
| 1998–2005 | Pas | 179 | (45) | |||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Al-Wahda | 11 | (3) | |||||||||
| 2006 | Al-Sharjah | 11 | (5) | |||||||||
| 2006–2012 | Osasuna | 149 | (24) | |||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Esteghlal | 44 | (8) | |||||||||
| 2014 | Al-Kuwait | 11 | (1) | |||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Osasuna | 22 | (5) | |||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Saipa | 15 | (3) | |||||||||
| 2016 | Al-Arabi | 11 | (1) | |||||||||
| Total | 453 | (95) | ||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||
| 1998–2000 | Iran U20 | |||||||||||
| 1999–2002 | Iran U23 | 10 | (2) | |||||||||
| 2000–2015 | Iran | 151 | (39) | |||||||||
| Teams managed | ||||||||||||
| 2016– | Iran (assistant) | |||||||||||
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Honours
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| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Javad Nekounam (Persian: جواد نکونام; born 7 September 1980) is an Iranian retired footballer who played as a central midfielder, and the current assistant coach of Iran.
He spent most of his professional career with Pas and Spain's Osasuna, appearing in 197 official games and scoring 31 goals during his two spells with the latter and also being team captain. He also competed in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar, during 18 seasons overall.
Nicknamed Neku, and widely regarded as one of Asia's greatest footballers, Nekounam represented the Iran national team 151 times, playing several major tournaments including two World Cups and four Asian Cups.
Nekounam was born in Rey. Having played for Pas Tehran F.C. for several years, appearing in the AFC Champions League with the team, he signed a five-month contract with Al-Wahda F.C. in the United Arab Emirates for US$1 million, in 2005.
In January 2006, Nekounam joined Al Sharjah SC, although some European clubs such as 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Tottenham Hotspur had previously shown interest in him.
After his performance at the 2006 World Cup Nekounam was linked to the likes of Hertha BSC of the Bundesliga and Ligue 1's Olympique Lyonnais, but he eventually joined CA Osasuna on a two-year contract, with an option to a third year and a €5 million minimum release-fee clause on his contract – he thus became the first Iranian player to be signed by a Spanish club. On 22 February 2007, he scored in the 120th minute of the match against FC Girondins de Bordeaux for the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup to help to a 1–0 home win and aggregate score, and after a particularly successful first season began to attract interest from other European sides, notably Scotland's Rangers who had a £1 million pound offer rejected.
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