Nima Nakisa

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Nima Nakisa, born May 1, 1975 in Tehran, is an Iranian former football goalkeeper and the executive director of Zob Ahan. He became famous with Persepolis and later had brief stints abroad with Flamurtari Vlorë in Albania and AO Kavala in Greece before returning to Iran. Back home, he played for Persepolis again but left due to a rivalry with Abedzadeh and joined Pas Tehran, where he played until August 2006. After a dispute with Pas officials, he briefly joined Esteghlal Jonub Dezful in the Azadegan League. In July 2007 he signed with Esteghlal Ahvaz, but an injury in his first game kept him from continuing at the top level, and he retired soon after to focus on a singing career. Nakisa is 1.85 meters tall.

Internationally, he debuted for Iran on November 13, 1996 in a friendly against Lebanon. He started in Asia Cup 1996 when Abedzadeh was injured and performed well. He was called up for the 1998 World Cup and started the opening game against Yugoslavia after Abedzadeh was injured, but Iran lost 1-0 following a mistake he made on a free kick. He did not play the other two games in the tournament, and his next international appearance came at the 1998 Asian Games in Thailand. He was later recalled by Branko Ivanković but did not play. Nakisa also has a musical background, plays piano, and released a music album in 2005.