Ali Karimi - International Career

International Career

Karimi made his debut for Iran national football team in October 1998 in a match against Kuwait. That same year, he won the Gold Medal with Iran at the 1998 Asian Games. Karimi scored one of Iran's two goals in the final against Kuwait.

He was also one of Iran's main players in its 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. In 2001, after losing to Bahrain and drawing with Thailand, Iran finished second in their qualifying group and had to play a home-and-away play-off with the Republic of Ireland for a spot at the 2002 World Cup. Karimi started as an attacking midfielder in the first game in Dublin, and used his acceleration on the break and his dribbling to attack Ireland's defence. However, he was also off target on a number of occasions, and Iran lost the match 2–0. They won the return leg 1–0 but missed out on the final.

At the 2004 Asian Cup, Karimi scored five goals that made him joint top scorer. Iran finished third in the overall tournament, behind Japan and China. In the quarter final, Karimi scored a hat trick in Iran's 4–3 win over South Korea. His first two goals were headers and the third a finish on a low cross from Mehdi Mahdavikia. Karimi was given the prestigious Asian Player of the Year award in 2004, joining his fellow Iranians, Mahdavikia in 2003, Ali Daei in 1999, and Khodadad Azizi in 1996. He also won the 2004 West Asian Football Federation Championship with Team Melli.

His performance in the Iran-Germany friendly game for Bam victims held in Azadi Stadium in Tehran in October 2004 was said to be the reason behind Bayern's interest in the player.

Coming off a serious ankle injury, Karimi had a poor World Cup finals at Germany 2006. He was unable to exert much influence on proceedings as the Iranians lost 1–3 to Mexico and 0–2 to Portugal. He was substituted in the 65th minute of the Portugal game and kicked the team's sports bags by the dugout. Iran's then manager Branko Ivankovic said he may drop Karimi in the upcoming game due to disciplinary reasons. Karimi did not play in the 1–1 draw against Angola, but Ivankovic attributed Karimi's omission to his refusal to play because of an injury.

Karimi played in the 2007 Asian Cup.

In May 2008, Karimi was banned from playing in the national team after he made criticisms towards the IRIFF in the Ardebil training ground, but has been reinstated in the national squad after intervention from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

In October 2008, Karimi retired from Team Melli. Ali Daei, the then Iran football coach, said Karimi will never be called up again. In February 2009, Karimi announced that he was ready again to serve his country, if he was to be picked by Team Melli coach, Afshin Ghotbi.

He played in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification for Team Melli and on 10 June 2009 Karimi scored in a 1–0 victory over U.A.E. to keep Iran's 2010 World Cup qualifying hopes alive. On 17 June 2009, he played in Iran's 1–1 draw with South Korea, a result that eliminated Iran from the 2010 World Cup finals. During the match, a number of Iranian players, including Karimi, wore green wristbands, which were interpreted to be a show of support for Iranian opposition leader Hossein Mousavi, who accused the Iranian government of vote rigging in the 12 June election. Western media reported after the game that the players who wore the green wrsitbands have been banned from the team for life, while a newspaper in Iran reported that the players concerned have retired. On 24 June 2009, FIFA wrote to Iran's football federation asking for clarification on the situation. The Iranian football federation replied that no disciplinary action has been taken against any player. On 3 March 2010, he returned for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification match against Thailand. Karimi was not picked to be part of Iran's 2011 AFC Asian Cup squad as Ghotbi decided to use younger players in his position.

He was invited to the national football team again by Carlos Queiroz in 2011 to play in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.

He is currently the third most capped player and the third highest scorer of Iran.