Club Career
Zandi was called up for the German under-17 national football team and played for the SV Meppen before being signed by SC Freiburg. There, he failed to establish himself as a starter and was traded to the second-division club VfB Lübeck. After struggling again initially, Zandi spectacularly broke through and established himself as one of the most dangerous and versatile attackers of the Second Bundesliga. He regularly was one of the top scorers and assist givers.
After enjoying two successful seasons in Lübeck, he was signed by 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 2004 and given the number 10 to underline his importance. However, Zandi struggled with his form, arguably not helped by the fact that 1. FCK was then a club in flux, with a high turnover of players after heavy financial problems. He still managed to become a starter and score important goals, but the overall impression was that Zandi failed to live up to the expectations from his strong Lübeck stint.
In season 2005/06, Zandi's position further worsened. In a chaotic season in which 1. FCK spectacularly crashed to the end of the table, he lost his position as a starting playmaker, was benched for a longer period of time, and even had periods when he even failed to be nominated as a bench player at all. Trainer Wolfgang Wolf refused to play him in the second half of the season, and after the relegation of FCK, Zandi is confirmed to be cut from the squad. Also, Amir Ghalenoei, the new manager of Iran national football team, did not invite Ferydoon to the Iranian squad for the Asian Cup qualification games.
In September 2006, he signed a one-year contract with 2nd Bundesliga club TuS Koblenz, however in January 2007 Zandi left TuS Koblenz due to the limited number of appearance he made.
Read more about this topic: Ferydoon Zandi
Famous quotes containing the words club and/or career:
“I think there ought to be a club in which preachers and journalists could come together and have the sentimentalism of the one matched with the cynicism of the other. That ought to bring them pretty close to the truth.”
—Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971)
“They want to play at being mothers. So let them. Expressing tenderness in their own way will not prevent girls from enjoying a successful career in the future; indeed, the ability to nurture is as valuable a skill in the workplace as the ability to lead.”
—Anne Roiphe (20th century)