A striker , he was the captain of the Iranian national team between and He is regarded as one of the greatest Iranian footballers of all time as well as one of the greatest footballers from Asia. A tall forward, Daei was a prolific goal-scorer, who was known for his heading accuracy and ability in the air. He began his playing career at 19 with his hometown club Esteghlal Ardabil.
His next club was Taxirani F. His tenure with Bank Tejarat lasted four years, scoring 49 goals in 75 games. He scored 23 goals in 38 games for the club from to Following his impressive performance in the Asian Cup in , he moved to Al Sadd for the β season before joining Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld in alongside fellow Iranian national teammate Karim Bagheri.
Yet at Bayern, he found himself low in the pecking order. This, coupled with the Iranian national team's scheduling, Daei had found very little time for playing. Daei was unhappy with his club position and decided to move to Hertha BSC before the end of his three-year contract when Bayern won the championship title in the Bundesliga.
Milan at the San Siro. Daei was playing in numerous continental friendlies against world-class opposition, yet was still unable to maintain a stable position in his club's starting line-up. In , he was not among the top scorers in the Asian Qualifying round and he did not manage to take the team into the World Cup as captain for the first time. After World Cup and the arrival of Saba Battery's new manager, Farhad Kazemi , it was announced that he was no longer needed on the team and his contract would not be renewed.
Despite rumors of retirement, he signed for another industry-linked club from Tehran, Saipa , on 1 August On 28 May , after Saipa won the β07 Persian Gulf Cup in a match vs Mes Kerman , Daei announced his retirement from playing club football and that he would concentrate on his coaching career. Daei was named the World's top scorer in official international competitions by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics IFFHS , having scored 20 goals in competitive matches for Iran in , including his famous four-goal haul against South Korea in Asian Cup By the end of the Asian Cup, he had scored 29 goals in 38 appearances for Iran.
