Quick Facts
Biography
Dr. Amir Hossein Sadaghiani (1 January 1903 – 1 December 1982) was an Iranian football player and manager. He was a striker during his playing career and afterwards was Iran national football team's head coach from 1941 till 1950.
Playing career
Club career
Dr. Sadaghiani is the first ever Iranian soccer player to play abroad in a European league. He played for youth teams of Fenerbahçe and Rapid Wien then returned to Iran and established Ferdowsi Club in Mashhad, but his stay was short as he returned to Tehran a year later.
At 26, he moved Europe to study in Belgium. He arrived at the Université du travail de Charleroi in 1929. He joined CS Marchienne-Monceau, a provincial second division team. He proved to be a very gifted player so he made his mark in Belgium's First Division playing for R. Charleroi S.C. for three successful seasons.
In the 1930s, his premature baldness earned him the nickname of "Panne de verre", a walloon folklore expression used for bald people.
After Charleroi, he moved to Turkey for a year with Fenerbahçe then back to Belgium where he played in Division III and IV. In 1936 he left Belgium and finished his football career with Toofan in Tehran.
National career
Although Sadaghiani never played for the Iranian national team as it was not created until 1941, he has 4 caps to his name when in 1926 he played for a Tehran XI team that traveled to Baku, USSR. Tehran XI lost three games and drew one.
Managerial career
- Head Coach of Iran national football team 1941–1950
- Head Coach of University of Tehran's Soccer Team 1945–1964