German-born midfielder who qualifies to play for the national side through his Iranian father. The Kaiserslautern midfielder made his debut for his adopted country against Bahrain towards the end of the qualification programme after a campaign by hundreds of thousands of fans eventually persuaded him to pledge his allegiance. At club level Zandi played his early football for SC Freiburg before moving on to VfB Lubeck where he earned a call-up to the German youth system. After a brief settling in period the cultured 27-year-old midfielder is now regarded a key member of the international squad.