Position: Defender/Midfielder
Born: 24.07.77
Club: Hamburg

Mehdi Mahdavikia will probably welcome the chance to make headlines for the right reasons this summer having been engulfed in a bizarre scandal off the field this year.

The versatile Hamburg man, nicknamed 'The Iranian Rocket', made front-page news as recently as April when it was revealed by Bild that he was a bigamist having married for the second time late last year.

When the news came out, the 28-year-old admitted he had made a "big mistake" and he will now hope to put the episode behind him and focus on enhancing his reputation as the most successful Iranian export in football.

Able to play in both defence - usually at right-back - or in midfield, Mahdavikia is battling it out with Ali Karimi to be the second-most capped Iranian of all time behind Ali Daei and should make it a century of international appearances before too long.

Strong and pacy with good crossing ability, the former Bochum man also has the ability to chip in with crucial goals and is a veteran of Iran's France 98 campaign.