ALI KARIMI - IRAN

Date of birth: Nov. 8, 1978
Birthplace: Karaj, Iran
Club: Bayern Munich (Germany)
Position: Midfielder
International debut: October 1998 vs. Kuwait

Dubbed the "Persian Maradona" and the "Wizard of Tehran" by Iranian journalists, Ali Karimi is one of the best Asian players in the world today.

The 27-year-old playmaker brings a touch of class to Iran's national team with his deft scoring touch and direct runs. A star with German league champions Bayern Munich, Karimi boasts mesmerizing dribbling skills, speed, power and balance.

Karimi serves as Iran's creative fulcrum, directing traffic on the field and creating scoring chances for his teammates. It's a responsibility he takes seriously and if Iran is to have any success in Germany, Karimi will have to be at his best.

Karimi began his pro career in 1997 when he signed with Fath of Iran's second division. It didn't take him long to get noticed as first-division team Perspolis, the most famous club in Iranian soccer, purchased his contract a year later.

Karimi would play three seasons with Perspolis, helping the Tehran club with the Iranian league title and Iranian Cup in 1999 and another league championship in 2000. Karimi was an emerging talent, and he made his debut for the national team in October 1998. Two months later, he helped Iran win the gold medal at the Asian Games, scoring his first goal for his country in the final.

Karimi's career blossomed when he signed with Al Ahli in the United Arab Emirates in 2001. The Iranian dazzled the locals with his sublime dribbling skills and fantastic goals. Fans back home followed his career from abroad as Karimi began to earn fame all across Asia.

Offers from top European clubs started coming in — most notably from Spain's Atletico Madrid — but Karimi remained at Al Ahli because he wanted to stay close to home. It proved a wise decision: His star power was skyrocketing in the UAE and he was becoming an important player for Iran's national team.

Iran failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, but Karimi didn't let that disappointment derail his career. Instead, he scored a league-high 14 goals for Al Ahli in 2004 and led Iran to an impressive third-place finish at that year's Asian Cup. Karimi was recognized for his brilliant form when he was voted 2004 Asian player of the year.

With nothing left to prove in Asia, Karimi finally made the move to Europe when he signed with German club Bayern Munich in 2005. Karimi wasted little time in making an impression, setting up a goal and scoring another in the second game of the season.

He quickly established himself as a starter for the German club, no small feat when you consider Bayern was stacked with midfielders of the calibre of Michael Ballack, Sebastian Deisler, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Owen Hargreaves.

Karimi suffered a setback when he hurt his ankle this past March, an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. Though Bayern went on to win the league title without him, there's no denying Karimi played a major role in helping the club repeat as champions.

Now that he's recovered from the injury, Karimi is anxious to continue to impress German soccer fans with a strong performance in his World Cup debut.