Iran
Football World Cup 2006 Germany
Iran
Iran
|
Nickname |
Team Melli |
Association |
I.R.I.F.F. |
Coach |
Branko Ivankovic (2003-) |
Most
caps |
Ali
Daei (147) |
Top scorer |
Ali
Daei (109) |
First international
Afghanistan 0 - 0 Iran
(Kabul, Afghanistan; January 1, 1941) |
Largest win
Iran 19 - 0
Guam
(Tabriz, Iran; November 24, 2000) |
Worst defeat
Turkey 6 - 1 Iran
(Istanbul, Turkey; May 28, 1950)
South Korea 5 - 0 Iran
(Tokyo, Japan; May 28, 1958) |
World Cup |
Appearances |
3 (First in
1978) |
Best result |
Round 1,
1978 and
1998 |
AFC Asian Cup |
Appearances |
10 (First in
1968) |
Best result |
Winners,
1968, 1972, 1976 |
The Iran national football team is the national team of
Iran and is controlled by the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation
and is one of the strongest teams in Asia. Iran play their home games in the
massive Azadi (Freedom) Stadium which was built in the mid 1970s with a
capacity of over 100,000. Iran is also
known as Team Melli.
Iran won the
Asian Cup three times in a row (1968, 1972, 1976) and have finished third four times. In 1978, Iran made its first
appearance in the
World Cup and lost two of their three group stage games against the
Netherlands and
Peru. However, they managed to create a shocker by drawing against the
famous
Scotland side 1-1 on a late Iraj Danaeifard goal.
After the
1979 Revolution, football was somewhat neglected and cast aside during the
mid 1980s due to internal unrest and the Iran-Iraq War although rumors
saying that Iran didn't play football during that time are untrue. Football
managed to make its revival in the early 1990s with new talent like Ali Daei,
Mehdi Mahdavikia, Khodadad Azizi and Karim Bagheri. In November 1997, Iran
qualified for the 1998 World Cup after beating Australia in a controversial
playoff series. Both games finished undecided, but Iran qualified due to the
away goals rule. Iran held Australia to a 1-1 draw at home, and a 2-2 draw
in Melbourne. Because Iran scored more away goals than Australia they
qualified for the 1998 World Cup. Iran recorded their first win in the World
Cup final tournament in 1998, 2-1 against the
USA.
This Iran vs USA World Cup match was preheated with much excitement on
both sides because of the countries political stance on each other after the
Revolution in Iran. However, in an act of defiance against all forms of
hatred or politics in sports both sides took ceremonial pictures embracing
each other and gave each other gifts and flowers before kickoff.
The number of "footy fanatics" in Iran has increased exponentially in the
last two decades. Football can be seen everywhere in Iran. Kids playing
football in narrow streets is a very common sight, particularly south and
east of Tehran. This style of football named "gol-koocheak" ("small-net") is
normally played with the signature purple or red and white balls sold almost
in every Iranian "dokoon" or convenience store. Street football is usually
played with "dolayeh" ("two-layered") or "selayeh" (triple-layered) plastic
balls, because the single rubber ball alone is hard to control. One plastic
ball is cut and the other is forced into its hard plastic shell to make a
"dolayeh" plastic ball. Because street football is played in small, closed
areas (and often with very small nets) children who play football in Iran's
streets and similarly Iranian footballers are technically gifted.
On June 8, 2005, Iran
together with Japan became the first country to qualify for the 2006 World
Cup making it Iran's 3rd appearance on the world stage of football. The
qualification round both in 2001 and 2004-05 resulted in mass celebrations,
hysteria and rioting causing internal chaos and unrest between youth and
government officials.
Iran are, as of 2006, ranked within the Top 20 of the
FIFA World Rankings with its current ranking at #19.
World Cup record
1930 to 1970 - Did not enter
1974 - Did not qualify
1978 - Round 1
1982 - Withdrew
1986 - Disqualified for refusal to play at neutral sites
1990 - Did not qualify
1994 - Did not qualify
1998 - Round 1
2002 - Did not qualify
2006 - Qualified
Asian Cup record
1956 - Did not enter
1960 - Did not qualify
1964 - Did not enter
1968 - Champions
1972 - Champions
1976 - Champions
1980 - Third place
1984 - Fourth place
1988 - Third place
1992 - Round 1
1996 - Third place
2000 - Quarterfinals
2004 - Third place
West Asian Football Federation Championship record
2000 - Winners
2002 - Third Place
2004 - Winners
2006 - Qualified
Current squad
Goalkeepers
1 - Ebrahim Mirzapour - Foolad FC, Iran
12 - Hasan Roudbarian - Pas, Iran
30 - Vahid Taleblou - Esteghlal, Iran
Defenders
3 - Mehdi Amirabadi - Esteghlal, Iran
4 - Yahya GolMohammadi - Saba Battery, Iran
5 - Rahman Rezaei - Messina, Italy
13 - Hossein Kaebi - Foolad FC, Iran
20 - Mohammad Nosrati - Pas, Iran
27 - Sattar Zar'e - Bargh Shiraz, Iran
Midfielders
2 - Mehdi Mahdavikia - Hamburger SV, Germany
6 - Javad Nekounam - Al-Wahda, UAE
7 - Ferydoon Zandi - Kaiserslautern, Germany
8 - Ali Karimi - Bayern Munich, Germany
14 - Moharram Navidkia - VfL Bochum, Germany
15 - Mohammad Alavi - Foolad FC, Iran
18 - Mojtaba Jabbari - Esteghlal, Iran
24 - Andranik Teymourian - Abu Muslem, Iran
36 - Mehrzad Madanchi - Persepolis, Iran
- Mehdi Rajabzadeh - Zob Ahan, Iran
Strikers
9 - Vahid Hashemian - Hannover 96, Germany
10 - Ali Daei - Saba Battery, Iran ( Captain )
23 - Javad Kazemian - Perspolis, Iran
25 - Arash Borhani- Pas, Iran
29 - Siavash Akbarpour - Esteghlal, Iran
40 - Rasoul Khatibi - Sepahan, Iran
External links
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