Javad Nekounam

Javad Nekounam (Persian: جواد نکونام, born September 7, 1980 in Shahr-e-Rey) is an Iranian footballer who is playing for CA Osasuna of the Spanish first division.^[1]He is also a member of the Iran national football team.

Usually playing as a defensive midfielder, he is known for his passing ability, defensive acumen, ball distribution and powerful long-range shots.

Club career

Having played for Pas Tehran F.C. for several years and played in AFC Champions League for PAS, in 2005 Nekounam signed a 5-month contract to play for Al Wahda in the UAE for $1M.^[2]In January 2006, he joined another club in the country, Sharjah FC, although some European clubs such as FC Kaiserslautern and Tottenham Hotspur had shown interest in him.

After his performance at the 2006 FIFA World Cup many clubs in Europe were in the running to sign Nekounam, mainly Hertha Berlin of the German League and French outfit Olympique Lyonnais, but he eventually joined La Liga side CA Osasuna on a two-year contract,^[3]with an option to a third year with player and club agreement, with a €5 million minimum release-fee clause on his contract. He thus became the first Iranian player to be signed by a Spanish club.^[4]

On August 14, he suffered an ACL rupture in his right knee^[5]and, after undergoing a successful surgery in Augsburg, Germany, missed eight months of action. Nekounam's number 24 was given to new signing Jaroslav Plasil, as he recovered from his injury.

On November 24, 2007, Osasuna showed faith in Nekounam signing a three-year contract extension on his existing contract that was set to end on June 30, 2008, with a €5M buy-out clause for the first two seasons and €2.5M for the last.^[6]

On February 2008, Nekounam made his first training appearance since the injury. Incidentally, a week later, Swiss Xavier Margairaz (teammate and also a central midfielder) suffered a similar injury, missing an estimate period that could amount to one year. On April 27, he made his long-awaited return against Valencia CF, replacing Francisco Puñal in the 70th minute, in a 3-0 away loss.

On August 31, 2008, Nekounam scored Osasuna's first goal of the season, from the penalty spot, in a 1-1 home draw against Villarreal CF. In November/December, he also netted, but the Navarrese failed to win at Málaga CF (2-4) and with Real Valladolid (3-3), also scoring, in January 2009, the opener against Real Madrid, in a 1-3 away loss.

On March 22, 2009, Nekounam scored a last minute goal against RCD Espanyol (1-0 home win), and finished 2008-09 as Osasuna's second goalscorer, behind Walter Pandiani, scoring nine times in the league.

International career

Nekounam received his first call-up to Iran in May 2000. He became a starter for the national side during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers and, already a key midfield element, played in two of Iran's games during the 2006 World Cup in Germany, being suspended for the final group game against Angola, after his second yellow card, against Portugal.

He won the 2002 Asian Games and 2004 West Asian Football Federation Championship, and also represented Iran in the 2002 West Asian Football Federation Championship and 2004 and 2007 Asian Cups.He played a key role for Team Melli in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
24	November 14, 2009	Tehran, Iran	Jordan	1-0	Win	2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
23	February 11, 2009	Tehran, Iran	Korea Republic	1-1	Draw	2010 World Cup qualification - Group stage
22	October 15, 2008	Tehran, Iran	Korea DPR	2-1	Win	2010 World Cup qualification - Group stage
21	September 6, 2008	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia	1-1	Draw	2010 World Cup qualification - Group stage
20	July 22, 2008	Tehran, Iran	Kuwait	2-0	Win	2010 World Cup qualification - Group stage
19	May 25, 2008	Tehran, Iran	Zambia	3-2	Win	Friendly
18	July 18, 2007	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Malaysia	2-0	Win	2007 Asian Cup
17	July 15, 2007	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	China PR	2-2	Draw	2007 Asian Cup
16	July 2, 2007	Tehran, Iran	Jamaica	8-1	Win	Friendly
15	July 2, 2007	Tehran, Iran	Jamaica	8-1	Win	Friendly
14	September 6, 2006	Tehran, Iran	Syria	1-1	Draw	2007 Asian Cup qualification
13	August 16, 2006	Damascus, Syria	Syria	2-0	Win	2007 Asian Cup qualification
12	August 24, 2005	Tehran, Iran	Libya	4-0	Win	Friendly
11	August 24, 2005	Tehran, Iran	Libya	4-0	Win	Friendly
10	May 29, 2005	Tehran, Iran	Azerbaijan	2-1	Win	Friendly
9	March 30, 2005	Pyongyang, North Korea	Korea DPR	2-0	Win	2006 World Cup qualification
8	November 17, 2004	Tehran, Iran	Laos	7-0	Win	2006 World Cup qualification
7	November 17, 2004	Tehran, Iran	Laos	7-0	Win	2006 World Cup qualification
6	August 6, 2004	Beijing, China	Bahrain	4-2	Win	2004 Asian Cup
5	July 20, 2004	Chongqing, China	Thailand	3-0	Win	2004 Asian Cup
4	June 25, 2004	Tehran, Iran	Syria	4-1	Win	2004 WAFF
3	June 23, 2004	Tehran, Iran	Iraq	2-1	Win	2004 WAFF
2	June 17, 2004	Tehran, Iran	Lebanon	4-0	Win	2004 WAFF
1	February, 2003	Hong Kong, Hong Kong Stadium	Denmark	1-0	Win	2003 Carlsberg Cup

Club statistics

As of 22 November 2009.

Honours

Team

• PAS Tehran:
  • Iranian League: 2003-04; Runner-up 2002-03

Country

• AFC/OFC Cup Challenge: 2003
• Asian Games: 2002
• WAFF: 2004; Third-place 2002
• Asian Cup: Third-place 2004

Individual

• Football Iran News & Events
  • Player of the year (Osasuna, 2006-07)
  • Midfielder of the year (Osasuna, 2006-07)

References

External links

• Javad Nekounam at TeamMelli.com
• International appearances, at RSSSF
• Osasuna player profile (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile

v • d • e Iran squad – 2002 Asian Games 1 Mirzapour • 2 Rahmati • 3 Yousefi • 4 Azizzadeh • 5 Kaebi • 6 Nikbakht • 7 Nekounam • 8 Lotfi • 9 Amirabadi • 10 Akbarpour • 11 Bayatinia • 12 Kazemian • 13 Badavi • 14 Navidkia • 15 Nosrati • 16 Mobali • 17 Hajizadeh • 18 Kameli Mofrad • 19 Golmohammadi • 20 Daei • Coach: Ivanković

v • d • e Iran squad – 2004 AFC Asian Cup Third Place 1 Mirzapour • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Amirabadi • 4 Golmohammadi • 5 Rezaei • 6 Nekounam • 7 Kavianpour • 8 Karimi • 10 Daei • 12 Roudbarian • 13 Kaebi • 14 Borhani • 15 Taghipour • 16 Enayati • 17 Mobali • 18 Badavi • 19 Kameli • 20 Nosrati • 21 Rahmati • 26 Alavi • 27 Zare • 29 Majidi • Coach: Ivanković

v • d • e Iran squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Mirzapour • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Bakhtiarizadeh • 4 Golmohammadi • 5 Rezaei • 6 Nekounam • 7 Zandi • 8 Karimi • 9 Hashemian • 10 Daei • 11 Khatibi • 12 Roudbarian • 13 Kaebi • 14 Teymourian • 15 Borhani • 16 Enayati • 17 Kazemian • 18 Navidkia • 19 Sadeghi • 20 Nosrati • 21 Madanchi • 22 Talebloo • 23 Shojaei • Coach: Ivanković

v • d • e Iran squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1 Roudbarian • 2 Mahdavikia • 3 Sadeghi • 4 Teymourian • 5 Rezaei • 6 Nekounam • 7 Zandi • 8 Karimi • 9 Hashemian • 10 Khatibi • 11 Madanchi • 12 Hosseini • 13 Kaebi • 14 Mobali • 15 Aghili • 16 Enayati • 17 Kazemian • 18 Rajabzadeh • 19 Sadeghi • 20 Nosrati • 22 Talebloo • 24 Shojaei • 30 Rahmati • Coach: Ghalenoei