Club Career
Mahdavikia first played for Persepolis club in his native Iran before moving to VfL Bochum in Germany. After Bochum's relegation, he signed for Bundesliga side Hamburg where he stayed for the next eight seasons.
His initial position for HSV was right fullback, from which he was known for his attacking runs, as he has previous experience as a right winger and at times has played as a striker. He also played some matches for Pas in Asian games as help for the club. Mahdavikia under coach Frank Pagelsdorf used to play wide striker. For the 2006–07 Bundesliga season he has moved back to his natural position of right wing, in support of Center Midfielder Rafael van der Vaart. He was awarded Hamburg Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004 by the fans, and also attained the envious title of the top assister of goals in the Bundesliga. However, compared to his previous season, he had a poor season in 2004–05 and was benched. In the 2005–06 season he has gained his old form back and was able to regain his spot as a starter, being influential in many of Hamburg's victories, such as scoring the winning goal against Bundesliga heavyweights Schalke.
Mehdi Mahdavikia's strongest points are his vision, passing skills, fast paced runs (his nickname in Iran is "The Rocket" ), and set-pieces such as corners, spotkicks and free kicks. He is usually the right-footed alternative to Van der Vaart's well known left foot. Apart from being a total professional on the pitch, he is also known as a perfect gentleman off the pitch, always finding the time for fans and reporters to answer questions or sign autographs.
His nickname in Hamburg is The Carpet (der Teppich) for his ability to "magically glide past" his opponents like the enchanted carpet.
On 8 June 2007 he signed a 3-year contract with Eintracht Frankfurt.
In his first season he had two bad injuries that forced him to miss many matches.In the second season he was mostly benched and not used in many matches which showed that the club did not want him anymore. After 255 Games (26 goals, 55 assists) in the Fußball-Bundesliga for HSV, Bochum and Eintracht Frankfurt, left Germany to sign for Steel Azin in January 2010.
On 4 July 2011, Mahdavikia signed a contract with Amir Abedini, President of the Damash Gilan to join to the club for one year but he was joined to his beloved club, Persepolis in mid-seasion to play for club in his last year of playing football. He extended his contract with Persepolis for another season on 19 June 2012.
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