Mehdi Mahdavikia (born in Persian) (born July 24, 1977) is part of the Iran national football team. He currently plays for SV Hamburg in Germany, having been signed for that club in 2000. He previously played for the Persepolis (Pirouzi) club in his native Iran and VfL Bochum in Germany. His current position is as a striker. He was awarded Asian Player of the Year by the Asian Football Confederation in 2003. He was awarded Hamburg Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004 by the fans. Mehdi Mahdavikia's strongest points are his vision, passing skills, fast paced runs, and set-pieces such as corners, spotkicks and free kicks. Mahdavikia was one of the influential players that played in Iran's crucial 1-0 victory over Bahrain to qualify for the upcoming 2006 World Cup held in Germany.