Eamon Zayed's career arc is not one which many Dubliners would even dream of while coming through the ranks of Irish underage football. He got the early move to England with Leicester, returned to Bray, headed off to Sweden for a while, came back to establish himself in the League of Ireland and in the meantime made his debut for Libya, the homeland of his paternal grandparents.
An international cap for Libya was enough to differentiate him from most of Ireland's professional footballers but it was the move to Iranian football that really came to define Zayed's career. One Tehran derby and Zayed's name was written in Iranian football history. You've surely heard the story by now but just in case you haven't, you need only see the wikipedia entry for the history of hat-tricks in the Tehran derby to explain the extent of what Zayed did back in February 2012.
A hat-trick in the final ten minutes to turn possibly the biggest game in Asian football on its head. The plaudits rolled in from around the world but before long Zayed was heading back to Dublin to play for Shamrock Rovers (via another Iranian club). However, as we all know the League of Ireland is not exactly the most stable employment you're going to find so Zayed was on the move again before long to link up with George O'Callaghan and El Hadji Diouf in Malaysia.
Having represented an African nation and taken the scenic tour of Asia, it was then time to head Stateside to see what the NASL (level below the MLS) had to offer. It may not quite be at the level of his Tehran heroics but it's fair to say that it's started quite well for Zayed.
The newly formed Indy Eleven started off the new season with two 0-0 draws but they welcomed New York Cosmos, the reigning champions, to Indianapolis this weekend and Zayed was once again up to his late heroics. With the likes of Niko Kranjcar and Juan Arango in their line-up it wasn't too much of a surprise to see Cosmos head into the 90th minute with a 1-0 lead but Zayed equalised from the penalty spot before tucking home the winner in the 95th to secure a 2-1 win.
