Bayern Hope For Big Things From Karimi

GOAL - Ali Karimi becomes the third Iranian to join German giants, Bayern Munich but the 2004 Asian Player of the Year will make a much bigger impact in Europe than his compatriots Ali Daei and Vasid Hashemian, both of whom struggled to make the starting line-up.
When the 26 year-old finishes his contract with United Arab Emirates outfit Al Ahli in June he will make a new home in Bavaria and the versatile attacker has the talent to, first, win a place in the starting eleven and then to show fans in southern Germany exactly what he is called the ‘Wizard of Teheran.’

For Karimi is exactly that, a magician with a football who, on his day, can cause headaches for any defence with his skill, pace and dribbling. South Korean defenders may be able to provide a few pointers to their Bundesliga counterparts as to what they may expect next season.

In the Quarter-final of the 2004 Asian Cup, the long-haired Iranian scored a hat-trick in a 4-3 win over the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists South Korea. Karimi ran amok against a defence that hadn’t conceded a goal in the previous three games. The attacker’s mesmerizing performance in that game, and the competition as a whole, prompted the Asian Football Confederation to hand him the prestigious award as the continent’s best player.

The general feeling in Asian football circles is that it is time for the striker to leave Asia. Whispers have been getting louder for some time that the player, who started his career in his native Iran with Fath, before moving to Teheran’s Pirouzi, was seeking a bigger stage than the one on offer in the Gulf State on which to perform.

The lack of high-class opposition in the UAE means that it is difficult for the Al-Ahli player to cure his weakness; inconsistency. The move to Bayern and the Bundesliga should give the star the regular challenge that he needs to kick his habit of disappearing from games and take his play to the next level.

With the national team looking odds-on to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, coach Branko Ivankovic will be delighted that another of his players is moving to a competitive and challenging league.