 |
Iran vs
Australia in Teheran The days before the game When the plane landed at Teheran airport, a few thousand angry soccer fans are waiting outside. But they did not came to make trouble for the Socceroos, they had all turned out to demonstrate against the Iranian team because of its bad performance in Sydney. The crowd was pelting the players with everything they could lay their hands on, and the police had to escort both teams out of the airport's back exit. Australia had brought its own food and water, because Rasic knew from past experience that this will be a problem. It was not easy to hold normal training sessions, and on a few days the coach made the decision to train in a big, empty hall near the hotel. Everywhere in Teheran,
when the Socceroos went out of the hotel, people would hold up four fingers to let the
Australians know that they believed Australia would get beaten by this margin. |
|
IRAN - AUSTRALIA What a different story it was in Teheran six days after the Sydney match. It was Friday 24 August 1973. Araymeher Stadium was jam-packed with an estimated 120,000 chanting and waving Iranian fans, some of whom have been waiting to enter the Stadium from the early hours of that morning. Iran was determined to reverse the first-leg result and so gain at least a replay on neutral ground in Bangkok, Thailand. On paper, it was a difficult task, as the Iranians were well and truly beaten in Sydney. They tried to ignore the three goal deficit - not an insignificant disadvantage in international football - and went all out for the win they needed. This particular game was perhaps the most important in Iran's history. Nothing would equal qualifying for the World Cup. Hence it was not surprising that the stadium was full hours before the kick-off. |
|
|
A local journalist was quoted as saying if the stadium had the Maracana's capacity,
it would have easily have been filled by 200,000 fans. Iran's defeat in Sydney necessitated a few changes in its line-up. Legendary goalkeeper Nasser Hejazi was benched for the game after being blamed for some soft goals conceded in Sydney. There were five changes in total, yet surprisingly, the defence which had conceded three goals, was left almost intact with just one change. The attack was also unchanged, although in Sydney it did not perform anywhere near expectations. IRAN : Mansour Rashidi, Ebrahim Ashtiani, Jafar Kashani, Akbar Kargarjam, Parviz Ghelichkhani, Ali Parvin, Karo Haghverdian (Javad Ghorab 76'), Gholamhossein Mazloumi, Mohammad Sadeghi, Reza Adelkhani (Ashgar Sharafi 65') AUSTRALIA : Jim Fraser, Doug Utjesenovic, Peter Wilson, John Watkiss, Col Curran, Ray Richards, John Warren (Jim Rooney 71'), Jim Mackay, Atti Abonyi, Ray Baartz, Adrian Alston (Max Tolson 46')  |
 |
|
"I could hardly breathe," Col Curran commented afterwards. Nothing could have prepared the Socceroos for the atmosphere in the stadium. The noise from the crowd was simply incredible. The sound was distinctly shrill, a sound none of the players had ever heard before, and it had an effect on the Aussies. Communication between the players was impossible on the pitch because of the volume. |
|
 |
From the first minute of the game, Iran put the
Australian goal under seige. Some Iranian players said before the game that it would be
very difficult to score three or more goals against the Socceroos, but that there it might
be possible, especially in front of the home crowd. Iran just failed to do what they intended despite help from the Russian Referee Havel Kobakov. In the 15th minute Kobakov gave Iran a penalty for a non-existent hand-ball by Wilson, who jumped for a header contested with Ghelchikani, and according to the referee, handled in the action. The Australians protested, but the man with the whistle stood firm. The spot-kick was taken, and Ghelchikani converted. Jimmy Fraser had no chance and was scarcely able to react to the hard shot taken by the Iranian captain. |
|
The Iranians had hoped for an early lead so that
there would be enough time to make up the deficit from the Sydney match, and the penalty
was the answer to their prayers. The goal lifted the hearts of the players and increased the intensity of the excited crowd. The Iranians played better and better, while the Australians hung on desperately, but without panic. But the winner of the Asian Sub-Group B rocked the Socceroos just ten minutes later. Ghelichkani scored Iran's second goal after 25 minutes. The Socceroos lost the ball in midfield, at the halfway line. Atti Abonyi tried to win the ball back with a tackle, but he was too late, and a long, high pass flew through to the Australian goalmouth, kicked back by an Iranian forward to the fast-arriving captain of the Persian team. With a fierce 30 metre long-range shot that left the Australian goalkeeper grasping air and the 120,000 fans in Arayamehr stadium ecstatic, Ghelchikani scored. His shot was hard, his opponent came too late, and the defence was helpless. Australia was two goals down after just 25 minutes. That was the situation no one wanted. Keeping the Iranians scoreless in the first half was Rasic's aim. Now Iran needed one more goal to force Australia into a third tie-breaking match, or two goals to win outright. Australia was not playing very well. |
 |
|
The players were sufferring from the heat and the
hostile crowd. There were few people who didn't think Iran deserved to win this game the
way Australia were playing. The Socceroos had managed only one real shot at goal in the
first half and the Iranians were far superior. However, coach Rasic made two shrewd substitutions that saved the Socceroos.First, big Max Tolson came on at half time for Adrian Alston who had rarely seen the ball in attack. Tolson played very deep and used all his strength and aggression to knock the stuffing out of the Iranians. Rasic rode his luck with that substitution and Tolson played one of his best games ever for the green and gold. Captain Peter Wilson had been given a yellow card and so he had to be careful from then on not to pick up a second, because of his tough play and firm tackles. |
|
|
Ray Richards had already been struck with a coin as
he prepared to toss one of his famous long throw-ins. The Socceroos were outplayed, and
had only one distinct chance in the whole game. This was when Ray Baartz had a ball with
the word goal written all over it early in the second half, but shot wide from three
metres. Time dragged very slowly
for the Socceroos, but when the final whistle blew Australia had won the match 3-2 on
aggregate. When the game was over, the Socceroos were pelted with scores of small objects
from the crowd. Against all odds, Fraser had kept a clean sheet in the second half and
Australia had scraped through to the next stage of the World Cup thanks to the barest one
goal aggregate margin.
|
|
 |
|
The Socceroos
withstood more and more pressure. Goalkeeper Fraser was again one of the heroes for the
team from Down Under. He made some tremendous saves to keep the Socceroos in the match.
It was the second
time the Socceroos had survived despite being on the brink of annihilation. This time
Tolson deserved most of the praise, as did Rasic for perceiving the contribution Tolson
could make.
|
André Krüger™