Ebrahim Sadeghi

Ebrahim Sadeghi
	Sadeghi in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Ebrahim Sadeghi Senjani
Date of birth	4 February 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth	Karaj, Iran
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1992–1995	Keshavarz Karaj
1995–1998	Persepolis
1998–1999	Moghavemat Tehran
2000	Saipa
Senior career*
Years	Team
2000–2017	Saipa
International career
2007–2008	Iran
Managerial career
2019–2021	Saipa
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ebrahim Sadeghi (Persian: ابراهیم صادقی, born 4 February 1979) is an Iranian football coach and retired player who played for Saipa for 17 years.^[3]

Sadeghi has been playing for Saipa since 2000. In 2010, Saipa Cultural and Athletic Corporation celebrated a testimonial ceremony for him because of "his loyalty to the club", calling him The Orange Loyal. He was also gifted a Saipa Tiba.^[4]^[5]

On 13 December 2015, in a match against Esteghlal Ahvaz Sadeghi played his 400th league match for the club, becoming the only player in the history of the Persian Gulf Pro League to reach this feat.^[6] He retired on 4 May 2017 after playing 17 seasons at Saipa at the top flight.

Club career

Youth career

Sadeghi was born in Karaj, Iran. He joined Keshavarz at the age of thirteen and played at the club until 1995 where he was spotted by Persepolis and joined their academy. After three years at Persepolis he joined Moghavemat Tehran before settling at Saipa a year later.

Saipa

Sadeghi graduated from the Saipa youth ranks and was signed to the club in 2000. He has played for Saipa for his entire. His good performances since 2006–07 season made big clubs to show some interest on him. In 2008 Sadeghi was nominated for Asian Footballer of the Year, but failed to win the award. He played in AFC Champions League for Saipa and continued to play for the club in 2008–09 season.

In April 2008, Sadeghi was nominated for the 2008 Asian footballer of the year, as the sole Iranian player in the 21-player list of AFC.^[7]

International career

He made his first cap for Iran national football team in January 2007 in a friendly match against the UAE. He scored in his debut. He was selected among Iran's final squad participating in the 2007 Asian Cup. He has been called up for 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying. Sadeghi played in West Asian Football Federation Championship 2008 and won the cup.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Hazfi Cup		Asia		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Saipa	Pro League	2001–02	8	0	0	0	–	–	8	0
		2002–03	15	1	0	0	–	–	15	1
		2003–04	32	3	0	0	–	–	32	3
		2004–05	27	3	2	0	–	–	29	3
		2005–06	30	2	0	0	–	–	30	2
		2006–07	29	5	1	0	–	–	30	5
		2007–08	30	3	1	0	7	0	38	3
		2008–09	31	1	1	0	–	–	32	1
		2009–10	32	7	1	0	–	–	33	7
		2010–11	34	4	1	1	–	–	35	5
		2011–12	30	3	1	0	–	–	24	1
		2012–13	32	1	0	0	–	–	32	1
		2013–14	29	0	1	0	–	–	30	0
		2014–15	27	2	1	0	–	–	28	2
		2015–16	27	5	2	0	–	–	29	5
		2016–17	24	2	3	0	–	–	27	2
Career total			437	42	15	1	7	0	452	41