Ferydoon Zandi

Ferydoon Zandi (born 26 April 1979) is a retired Iranian professional footballer.

Early life

Zandi was born in the city of Emden, in northern Germany, to an Iranian father and a German mother. He speaks German and Persian. Ferydoon started playing football at an early age when his talent shone through his playing for a number of youth clubs in and near his hometown.

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.