Behrang Safari

Infobox Football biography
playername = Behrang Safari


fullname = Behrang Safari
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1985|2|9
cityofbirth = Tehran
countryofbirth = Iran
height = height|m=1.84
position = Left back
Left winger
currentclub = FC Basel
clubnumber = 20
youthyears = 1992–2001
2001–2004
youthclubs = Lunds SK
Malmö FF
years = 2004–2008
2008–
clubs = Malmö FF
FC Basel
caps(goals) = 59 (2)
9 (0)
nationalyears = 2008–
nationalteam = Sweden
nationalcaps(goals) = 3 (0)
pcupdate = 5 October 2008
ntupdate = 10 August 2008

Behrang Safari (Persian: بهرنگ صفری, born February 9, 1985 in Tehran, Iran) is a Swedish-Iranian football midfielder currently playing for FC Basel in the Swiss Super League. He came to Sweden as a two-year-old from Iran with his family. They settled in the small town Höganäs, and later moved to Lund when he was five. He is a very fast player, and is considered to be one of the biggest Swedish talents of his time.

Career

Club

Safari came through the ranks at Malmö FF and played his first game in Allsvenskan in July 2004 when he came on as a substitute. He won the Allsvenskan in his first season and the following season he became a first-team regular and helped Malmö win the Efes Pilsen Cup in Turkey. [cite web|url=http://www.mff.se/matchfakta/matchreferat.asp?Id=440&KomFran=SS|title=Mästare igen!|accessdate=2008-03-20]

On June 15, 2008, Malmö FF announced that Safari has been sold to Swiss team FC Basel. [cite web|url=http://www.mff.se/nyheter/nyhet.asp?Id=3026&KomFran=FS|title=Behrang Safari lämnar Malmö FF|accessdate=2008-06-15] He made his Basel debut on 23 July 2008, in a 1-0 win over Grasshopper-Club Zürich at St. Jakob-Park. He played his first European game in a Basel shirt on July 30 2008 in a 1-1 Champions League Qualifying match draw against IFK Göteborg at Ullevi.

International

An offensive left winger, Behrang Safari was called up to the Swedish national team for their friendly match tour in January 2008. [cite web|url=http://www.svenskafans.com/fotboll/artikel.asp?id=211093|title=Behrang Safari om landslagsplatsen och ryktena|svenskafans.com|accessdate=2007-12-28] He played in all of the matches, which were a 1-0 win over Costa Rica, a 2-0 defeat to USA and a 0-0 draw with Turkey. During his debut game against Costa Rica, Safari set up the only goal of the game with a cross to Samuel Holmén who volleyed the ball into the back of the net.

Honours

Malmö
* Allsvenskan: 2004
* Efes Cup: 2005

Basel
* Uhren Cup: 2008

External links

* [http://naveedmoula.com/safari.htm]

* [http://www.fcb.ch/sport/show/playerDetailByID//28822/72/9/36 Profile at FC Basel] de icon

* [http://www.football.ch/sfl/777819/de/Kader.aspx?pId=783775 Profile at Swiss Football League Website] de icon

References