5/4/2006
AFP

WITH home matches frequently played before 120,000 fans in soccer-mad Teheran it's hard to imagine Iran being intimidated out in Germany, where many of their star players are based.

Coached for five years by Croatia's Branko Ivankovic, who assisted Miroslav Blazevic in Croatia's run to third place at France 1998, Iran play an attacking and stylish brand of football with a perfume of both Persia and Europe.

They had already qualified for Germany before losing their sole eliminator to Zico's Japan, and after a draw with to Bahrain in the opener, won all their other four ties including a 2-0 win over Japan and a violent and volatile trip to North Korea where Ivankovic said the team had feared for their lives.

Ivankovic fancies Brazil, Argentina or Holland to win the World Cup, so will be happy to play Mexico, Portugal and Angola (in that order) in the Finals.

And happy too that four of his young squad, around 15 of whom are under 25 years, play every Saturday in the German Bundesliga.

Leading that pack is playmaker Ali Karimi whom Bayern Munich are grooming to fill Michael Ballack's boots and none too sad at his loss due to the grace and passion of Karimi's game.

There is young midfielder Fereydoon Zandi at Kaiserslautern, who recently chose Iran over Germany, Hamburg SV's veteran of the 1998 World Cup and 2003 Asian Player of The Year Mehdi Mahdavikia and Vahid Hashemian in Hanover.

This is not to mention the very special talent that is giant centre-forward Ali Daei, who will have notched up more than 150 appearances before the tournament starts, and who will have scored well over 100 international goals. He too graced Bayern Munich's ranks before returning to Iran.

Iran have won the Asian championships three times and Germany is their third World Cup Finals after Argentina in 1978 and France 1998, where they won their first Finals match 2-1 against arch-rivals the United States in a highly-charged atmosphere in Lyon.

Many players on both teams said the result was more important than any political rivalry and indeed a loss for either meant direct elimination.

Hamid Reza Estili opened the scoring in the 40th minute while a then 21-year-old Mahdavikia clinched the in the 84th. The US rallied to 2-1 but Iran held out for a memorable, teary victory before going home happy despite narrow losses.