 Safari warming up forBasel in 2011 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Behrang Safari | ||
| Date of birth | (1985-02-09)9 February 1985 (age 40) | ||
| Place of birth | Tehran, Iran | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left-back,centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–2001 | Lunds SK | ||
| 2001–2004 | Malmö FF | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004–2008 | Malmö FF | 59 | (2) |
| 2008–2011 | FC Basel | 94 | (1) |
| 2011–2013 | Anderlecht | 44 | (0) |
| 2013–2016 | FC Basel | 64 | (0) |
| 2016–2020 | Malmö FF | 82 | (1) |
| 2021 | Lunds SK | 6 | (1) |
| Total | 349 | (5) | |
| International career | |||
| 2008–2013 | Sweden | 31 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 June 2022 | |||
Behrang Safari (Persian:بهرنگ صفری,Persian pronunciation:[behræŋɡsæfæriː]; born 9 February 1985) is a Swedish former professionalfootballer who played as adefender.[1] Starting off his professional career withMalmö FF in 2004, he went on to representFC Basel andRSC Anderlecht before retiring at Malmö in 2020. A full international between 2008 and 2013, he won 31caps for theSweden national team and was named in theirUEFA Euro 2012 squad.
Behrang Safari emigrated to Sweden as a two-year-old fromTehran, Iran, with his family. They settled in the small town ofHöganäs, and later moved toLund when he was five.[2]
Safari came through the ranks atMalmö FF and played his first game in theAllsvenskan in July 2004 when he came on as a substitute. He made hisUEFA debut in the2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup on 19 June 2004 againstCork City F.C.[3] He won the Allsvenskan in his first season and became a first-team regular the following season.[4]
On 15 June 2008, Malmö announced that Safari had been sold toFC Basel in Switzerland.[5] This was confirmed one day later by FCB Online and they stated that he signed a three-year contract.[6][7] He joined Basel's first team for their2008–09 season under head coachChristian Gross. To the beginning of the season Safari was member of the Basel team that won theUhrencup. They beatLegia Warsaw 6–1 and played a 2–2 draw withBorussia Dortmund to end the table on top slot above Dortmund andLuzern.[8] After playing in seven test games, Safari played hisdomestic league debut for the club in the home game in theSt. Jakob-Park on 23 July 2008 as Basel won 1–0 againstGrasshopper Club Zürich.[9]
Basel joined the2008–09 UEFA Champions League in the second qualifying round. Safari played his first European game in a Basel shirt on 30 July 2008 in a 1–1Champions League qualifying match draw withIFK Göteborg atUllevi. With an aggregate score of 5–3 they eliminated Göteborg. The next round would have Basel overtakeVitória de Guimarães despite a first leg goalless draw, succeeding with a second leg 2–1 win. They advanced to the group stage. Basel would be matched withBarcelona,Sporting CP andShakhtar Donetsk, but would end the string in last position winning just one point after a 1–1 draw inCamp Nou.[10] At the end of the2008–09 Super League season Basel were third in the table, seven points behind new championsZürich and one adrift of runners-upYoung Boys.[11] In the2008–09 Swiss Cup Basel advanced viaSchötz,Bulle,Thun andZurich to the semi-finals. But here they were stopped byYoung Boys. After a goalless 90 minutes and extra time YB decided the penalty shoot-out 3–2 and advanced to the final to become runners-up, asSion became cup winners.[12]
For their2009–10 season Basel appointedThorsten Fink as their new head coach. Safari scored his first goal for the club on 7 February 2010 in the home game in theSt. Jakob-Park as Basel won 4–0 againstBSC Young Boys.[13] Basel joined the2009–10 UEFA Europa League in the second qualifying round. Basel advanced to the group stage, in which despite winning three of the six games the ended in third position and were eliminated. They finished four points behind group winnersRoma and one behindFulham, against whom they lost 3–2 in the last game of the stage.[14] At the end of the 2009–10 season he won theDouble with his club. They won theLeague Championship title with 3 points advantage over second placedYoung Boys.[15] The team won theSwiss Cup, winning the final 6–0 againstLausanne-Sport.[16]
Basel started in the2010–11 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round and advanced to the group stage, but ended the group in third position. Therefore they dropped to the2010–11 Europa League knockout phase, but here they were eliminated bySpartak Moscow due to a last minute goal against them. Safari played in all 12 matches.[17] With Basel, Safari won the Swiss Championship for the second time at the end of the2010–11 season, topping the table just one point clear of rivalsZürich.[18]
On 30 May 2011 it was announced that Safari would leave the club. Safari played 94 league games for Basel during his three-year contract.[19]
On 30 May 2011, Behrang signed a contract for the Belgian clubAnderlecht. He had his debut for Anderlecht on 29 July 2011 in the 2–1 away defeat againstOud-Heverlee Leuven. He played his first European game for the team in theEuropa League qualifying away match overBursaspor in theBursa Atatürk Stadium on 18 August 2011.[20] He won the league in his first season with Anderlecht.
After Safari's return toBasel, he featured in their2013-14 Champions League campaign.[21] At the end of the2013–14 Super League season Safari won his third league championship with Basel.[22] They also reached the final of the2013–14 Swiss Cup, but were beaten 2–0 byZürich after extra time. During the2013–14 Champions League season Basel reached thegroup stage and finished the group in third position. Thus they qualified forEuropa League knockout phase and here they advanced as far as the quarter-finals.
The next season, Safari started for Basel as aleft-back where they made it to the knockout stages of the2014–15 UEFA Champions League.[23] He also won the2014–15 Swiss Super League, his sixth consecutive league title and seventh overall. Safari and his Basel teammates attended acharity event in June 2015.[24] He continued in the left back position the following season in theChampions League,Europa League andSwiss Super League.
The season 2014–15 was a successful one for Safari and for his club Basel. The championship was won for the sixth time in a rowthat season[25] and in the2014–15 Swiss Cup they reached the final. But for the third season in a row, they finished as runners-up, losing 0–3 toFC Sion in the final. Basel entered theChampions League in thegroup stage and reached theknockout phase as on 9 December 2014 they managed a 1–1 draw atAnfield againstLiverpool.[26] But then Basel lost to Porto in theRound of 16. Basel played a total of 65 matches (36 Swiss League fixtures, six Swiss Cup, eight Champions League and 15 test matches). Under trainerPaulo Sousa, Safari totaled 41 appearances, 24 League, two Cup, seven Champions League, as well as 13 in test games. Safari scored one goal in these matches during a friendly game againstFC Schaffhausen.[27]
Under trainerUrs Fischer Safari won theSwiss Super League championship at the end of the2015–16 Super League season for the fifth time with Basel. For the club it was the seventh title in a row and their 19th championship title in total.[28]
During the2015–16 FC Basel season Safari decided to return to Sweden due to family reasons at the end of the season. He signed forMalmö FF.[29] Between the years 2008 to 2011 and again from 2013 to 2016_ Safari played a total of 291 games for Basel scoring a total of 3 goals. 157 of these games were in theSwiss Super League, 14 in theSwiss Cup, 59 were in a UEFA European-competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 61 were friendly games. He scored one goal in the domestic league, the other two were scored during the test games. During his six seasons with FCB Safari won the Swiss championship five times and the domestic cup once.[30]
On 18 January 2016 it was announced that Safari would return toMalmö FF when his contract withFC Basel expired at the end of the2015–16 season. Safari signed a contract with Malmö that extends over the 2020 season and allows him to join the team halfway through the2016 season.[31] He scored a goal in theAllsvenskan on 11 April 2017 againstGIF Sundsvall and was namedvice-captain afterMarkus Rosenberg. He won his tenth league title after winning the2017 Allsvenskan, makingZlatan Ibrahimović the only Swede with more league titles.[32] Safari became a regular starter for MFF as they qualified for the2018–19 UEFA Europa League on 30 August 2018.[33] On 28 September 2020, Safari announced that he would retire from professional football after the2020 season.[34] On 8 November 2020, Safari and Malmö won the2020 Allsvenskan.[35] Safari played his final professional match on 6 December 2020 in a 4–0 win overÖstersund, raising theLennart Johansson Trophy afterwards and receiving a tribute from the likes ofWalter Samuel andRoger Federer.[36]
On 13 December 2020, Safari returned to his boyhood clubLunds SK in the SwedishDivision 5 for their 2021 season.[37][38][39] Safari and Lunds SK became champions of Division 5 Skåne sydvästra by the end of the 2021 season.[40]
Safari was called up to theSweden national team for their friendly match tour in January 2008.[41] He played in all of the matches, which were a 1–0 win overCosta Rica, a 2–0 defeat to theUnited States, and a 0–0 draw withTurkey. During his debut game against Costa Rica, Safari set up the only goal of the game with a cross toSamuel Holmén, who volleyed the ball into the back of the net.[42]
Safari featured in Sweden'sEuro 2012 qualifiers and was called up to theirUEFA Euro 2012squad by managerErik Hamrén.[43]
Safari has been praised for hiscrosses and ability to adapt to both defensive and attacking roles on the left side of play.[44][45]
Safari is the main character of achildren's book that intends to promoteautism awareness after his sons Emiliano and Leon were diagnosed.[46] The book has been ordered by some teachers andschools in Sweden.[47]
During his professional playing career, Safari'sagent wasMartin Dahlin.[48]
Safari is outfitted by German sportswear manufacturerPuma.[49][50]
After retiring from playing professional football withMalmö FF, Safari announced in December 2020 that he would begin his career as afootball agent along with former teammateMarkus Rosenberg, with their agency being called Full Potential Agency.[51][52][40]
In 2022, Safari joined Swedish television broadcasterC More as a studio analyst during theUEFA Champions League.[53][54]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Malmö FF | 2004 | Allsvenskan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2005 | Allsvenskan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2006 | Allsvenskan | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 20 | 2 | ||
| 2007 | Allsvenskan | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 25 | 0 | ||
| 2008 | Allsvenskan | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| Total | 59 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 66 | 2 | ||
| FC Basel | 2008–09 | Swiss Super League | 34 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 48 | 0 |
| 2009–10 | Swiss Super League | 32 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 45 | 1 | |
| 2010–11 | Swiss Super League | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 40 | 0 | |
| Total | 94 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 133 | 1 | ||
| Anderlecht | 2011–12 | Belgian Pro League | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| 2012–13 | Belgian Pro League | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 29 | 0 | |
| Total | 44 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 63 | 0 | ||
| FC Basel | 2013–14 | Swiss Super League | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| 2014–15 | Swiss Super League | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 34 | 0 | |
| 2015–16 | Swiss Super League | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |
| Total | 64 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 98 | 0 | ||
| Malmö FF | 2016 | Allsvenskan | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |
| 2017 | Allsvenskan | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | |
| 2018 | Allsvenskan | 21 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 40 | 0 | |
| 2019 | Allsvenskan | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 34 | 1 | |
| 2020 | Allsvenskan | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
| Total | 82 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 126 | 2 | ||
| Lunds SK | 2021 | Division 5 Skåne sydvästra | 1 | — | — | 6 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 349 | 5 | 36 | 0 | 107 | 1 | 492 | 6 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 2008 | 5 | 0 |
| 2009 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 31 | 0 | |
Malmö FF
Basel
Anderlecht
Lunds SK
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)