Mahdavikia named AFC Player of the Year

Malaysia

IRAN international forward Mehdi Mahdavikia was named the AFC Player of the Year for 2003 on Wednesday, becoming the third player from his country to claim the honor since it was inaugurated in 1994.

Japanese sensation Yoshito Okubo claimed the Young Player of the Year award, while Iraq won the the National Team of the Year in other awards presented in Kuala Lumpur.

Following a stellar season with German club Hamburg, Mahdavikia has been crowned the continent’s best footballer of 2003, beating out Thailand's Therdsak Chaiman, of BEC Tero Sasana, andUzbekistan's Dynamo Kiev striker Maksim Shatskikh for the prestigious award. In effect, he emulated the feats of compatriots Ali Daei and Khodadad Azizi, who captured the prestigious award in 1999 and 1996 respectively.

Taken From: http://www.asian-football.com/mrel/news_56216_E.html

Hashemian says forgot national side 2 years ago

Tehran,

Iranian striker of VfL Bochum, Vahid Hashemian, here Friday said he decided to pull out of the national team two years ago.

The third leading scorer of the Bundesliga, who has come back home Thursday for a winter break scotched the rumor that he refuses to play for his country to secure his position in the German club.

"My withdrawal from the national squad dated back to two years ago," reiterated Hashemian adding, "I clearly told the Football Federation officials at that time that I would not play for the team due to the conditions and asked them not to  invite me to the national camps."

Hasemian grabbed an equalizer againstHanover in the 17th week of the Bundesliga Wednesday night.

Bochum held on to fifth place by twice coming back from a goal down to earn a share of the points courtesy of a spectacular header from Iran striker Vahid Hashemian in the 75th minute.

Striker Thomas Brdaric put the home side in front with an angled effort from inside the box in the 18th minute. A blunder by the Hanover defense helped Danish forward Peter Madsen equalize eight minutes into the second half.

Taken From: http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=20787&NewsKind=Sport