Mahdavikia ,pick asian footballer

London- Iranian Midfield Star Mehdi Mahdavikia was the pick of Asian footballers in action throughout European leagues this weekend.

The 25-year old not only scored his first goal of the season, he also helped SV Hamburg to secure an important 1-1 draw at VBF Stuttgart - a result that keeps the club from Northern Germany in the hunt for a place in European football next season.

Hamburg's Japanese International, Naohiro Takahara, was brought on by coach Kurt Jara on the hour in an attempt to break the stalemate and Takahara came close on two occasions, only to be foiled by Stuttgart's goalkeeper.

Another Iranian player who is contracted to a german club, VFL Bochum's Vahid Hashemian, started the game against Werder Bremen on the bench, but came on for Dariusz Wosz in the 61st minute with his side 2-0 down.

The striker, who has just been offered a contract extension until 2005, was unable to change the outcome of the game, but managed to impress with a few neat touches.

In Berlin, 1860 Munich's Jiayi Shao spent most of the match sitting on the bench, watching his team mates being taken apart by Arampant Berlin side. the midfielder was sent on by his coach with Berlin leading 5-0 and a man down after one of the Munich players had been sent off.

The hosts added another goal shortly before the end to win 6-0 Dutch club Feyenoord Rotterdam's Asian players remained inactive this weekend, as the side scored a convincing 6-2 away win at excelsior.

Japanese midfielder Shinji Ono stayed on the bench, while Korean Song Chong -Gug is to undergo medical tests this week to see the extent of an injury he picked up in a match against Nac Breda the previous weekend.

In Belgium, Charleroi's midfielder Yazdani Dariush played a huge part in his side's 2-1 first division victory against Raec Mons.

The Iranian worked so hard during the tough match, that he had to be substituted midway through the second half.