Having left to play in Qatar for Al-Sadd, Daei made the move to Europe in 1997 when he joined Arminia Bielefeld in Germany. His international profile grew further when qualified for the World Cup of 1998, their first appearance for twenty years. Daei’s performances earned him a move to Bayern München, where he helped the team to win the league title in 1998-99, a season in which he also led Iran to victory in the Asian Games. Moving from Bayern to Hertha Berlin, Daei stayed in Germany until 2002 but was unable to help to another World Cup appearance in that year. After a year in the United Arab Emirates with Al-Shabab, he returned for a second spell with Persepolis in 2003. During that season, he scored his 85th international goal, breaking the long-standing record of Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas. The following year, he became the first man to score 100 goals in international football.
