Iran 1, Angola 1

June 21, 2006
SLOBODAN LEKIC, Associated Press

LEIPZIG, Germany — Angola's first World Cup goal wasn't nearly enough to send the Black Antelopes into the second round of the tournament.

Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh scored the tying goal in the 75th minute Wednesday to give Iran a 1-1 draw and end Angola's hopes of advancing at its first World Cup ever.

Needing a win, a Mexico loss to Portugal and help on goal differential to move on, the Angolans couldn't deliver the one part they controlled. They finished in third place in Group D with two points, one ahead of Iran.

Substitute Flavio gave Angola its first goal of the tournament when he broke free from Kaabi Hossein in the penalty box to head a cross from Ze Kalanga over goalkeeper Ebrahim Mirzapour and into the net.

Angola lost 1-0 to Portugal in its opener before playing Mexico to a 0-0 draw.

Iran tied it 15 minutes later when Bakhtiarizadeh jumped over Love and headed a corner kick from Mehdi Mahdavikia just inside the post with no defenders guarding the area. Goalkeeper Joao Ricardo yelled at his defenders after the score in apparent frustration.

With Mexico losing 2-1 to Portugal, Angola would have needed three goals in the closing minutes to advance. But the Black Antelopes showed little urgency, apparently satisfied with their second draw of the tournament.

"When we arrived with the team, the first idea that we would suffer many goals didn't happen," Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves said. "With two draws … the people of Angola can be very, very proud."

It was an outcome that neither side had wished for.

The Iranians, who generated security headaches for the hosts because of protests against the government in Tehran, had already been eliminated after losing their two matches in the group. But they remained hopeful they could return home "honorably" by beating Angola.

"Today we tried to say goodbye to the World Cup with a win," Iran coach Branko Ivankovic said. "But this is soccer, and it is not possible always to score. We dominated during 90 minutes and we deserved to win."

After a scrappy beginning, Iran generally dominated the first half, mounting a series of ineffective attacks which tested Angola's solid defense.

Still, the Black Antelopes had the first real opportunity in the 12th minute with Mateus shooting over the crossbar from inside the penalty area.

Iran replied two minutes later when Ricardo smothered a low shot from Kaiserslautern's Ferydoon Zandi. Ricardo stopped a free kick by Ali Daei in the 24th from the edge of the area, whose return header from close in went over the bar.

Iran's best chance came in the 27th minute, when defender Mendonca stopped Zandi's header in the goalmouth.

Goncalves made only one change in the team that had displayed a strong and disciplined defense in its two previous Group D matches but had scored no goals. Still, the Africans played much more openly than in the first two games and mounted repeated forays toward Mirzapour's goal.

Ivankovic dropped the team's biggest star, Bayern Munich playmaker Ali Karimi, from the squad because of his poor form and erratic behavior. He was replaced by the 37-year old Daei, who had likely played his last match for the national team.

Ivankovic had hoped for a "home advantage" at the match, counting on the 200,000 Iranian residents in Germany to turn out in force. But Iran's fans appeared to be outnumbered by Angola's supporters waving their red-and-black banners.

6 Responses to “Iran 1, Angola 1”

1. Navid Says:
   June 21st, 2006 at 11:47 am

   Back to Iran for Team Melli. I blame the Iranian Football Federation for not allowing Iranian talent to come up to the national team (Team Melli) level because they are not indifferent to the “Islamic Regime” enough, or some Bullsh*t like that.
   On the other hand, I’m very proud of our boys that played with HEART and showed how impressive they can be given the limitations they have to face.
   It burns me to the core to know that this blood thirsty regime will continue to short-hand our footballers and their resources by hiring sub-par coaches and hand-picking players whom without a choice must be in line with their oppressive politics…

   Bravo Team Melli. Stand tall Iran, we love you.

   -N

2. ardavan Says:
   June 21st, 2006 at 1:01 pm

   The team came out better this time than the two previous appearances. Mr. Daei proved again that he shouldn’t be playing anymore. Too bad we didn’t see any performance from Enayati. This team will need a revamp in its infrastructure if it is to return for the next world cup. Having said that with this kind of performance we can never advance to the next round!

3. Sina Says:
   June 21st, 2006 at 2:21 pm

   Mr. Navid, Football is not about politics although Iran might be an exception. Regardless of how much we want to blame the regime, some of our negative cultural attributes are at play (and dispaly) here as well.

   Our Team Meli players represent our nation and cannot and should not use this forum for their egotistical needs (e.g., Karimi and Daei having their own gang and followers on the team weakening team moral or, Karimi behaving like a child when he is taken out of the Portugal game or, Daei trying to be superman at the age of 37).

   I am not saying that our loss is caused by Daei, Karimi or alike but rather trying to point out that our cultural shortcomings as a nation are at play and display as well. This, more than usual necessitates having a world class coach managing our team to not only successfully use our skillful individual assets but also manage their egos.

   Team Meli 2006 WC performance was a total lackluster or even poor performance by an almost devoid of spirit team which was run down by poor management at all levels.

   We got better overall results in 1998 WC with a less experienced and younger but more cohesive and united team.

   We need someone almost bigger than life who commands authority and demands respect and team play. But let’s not forget our cultural shortcomings as a nation!

4. Navid Says:
   June 21st, 2006 at 4:01 pm

   Mr. Sina,

   Unfortunately, Football is about politics in Iran. In fact, almost everything is about power and politics with the current regime. I am not sure what part of our culture you are speaking about but if you are pointing to Iranian culture childish outbursts and god-complex behavior is not a part of it.

   Our “Farhang” (which does not have a better translation in English than the word “culture”), advocates tolerance, unity, and patriotism. Our traditions (after Islamic colonialism), which may be what you are referring to, does indeed bare the marks of oppression, individualism, and illogical or “blind” faith in our system of government.

   Thus, I respectfully disagree with the notion that there are shortcomings in our “culture” that have ultimately caused our demise. The behavior of some (not all) of the representatives of our country (in Team Melli and alike) are shamfull and need to be addressed (I think we agree on this point).
   Furthermore, we should really ask ourselves is it the players themselves or are these behavioral outburts a symptom of a bigger problem.

   In my humble opinion, the major part of this problem, as can be seen with other government sponsored organizations in Iran, is the government itself, and its lack of respect & allocation of proper resources for the Iranian athletes.

   -N

5. Sina Says:
   June 21st, 2006 at 10:52 pm

   Dear Navid,

   I think in principal we agree on many aspects of this discussion such as need for better coaching, management and constitutional support for our Team Meli as well as confronting unprofessional behavior and expectations of some of our star players.

   The point that I was trying to make about our cultural idiosyncrasy (or tendency) has to do with the fact that Iranians are as they say very “takroh” people by in large. They might be very talented, smart and accomplished but they are rarely humble and instead most of the time they are very boastful of one’s accomplishments. This is ok as long as it does not harm a team’s chemistry and therefore effort.

   For example, Iranian professional sports men have been successful at individual sports such wrestling, weight lifting and/or martial arts even at the highest levels such as Olympic. This implies that Iranians can be very talented, competitive and accomplished at individual level.

   However, this is very different at team level. We can have very talented individuals on a team (such as Team Meli) but if the individuals’ interests are not set aside for the sake of the team’s success, the individual talent will become more of a hindrance than key to team success. For example Azizi was a great player but no national or even foreign club team could acclimate, coach and leverage him successfully.

   What I noticed just watching the Team Meli was really a total lack of team harmony, cohesion and positive chemistry amongst the team members. This was probably most visible in the second half of the Iran vs. Mexico game (after the alleged arguments in the locker room between the certain star players).

   Many other teams in this World Cup failed in a game (or a half) to display good and successful game but almost every other team pulled together as a team and through genuine team work overcame their failure. There are number of examples such as US bouncing back after their devastating loss to Czech Republic and ended up tying against Italy (in a not so much skillful game but through sheer team work and determination). There are other examples such as Ghana beating Czech Republic after their loss to Italy, Angola tying Mexico after their loss to Portugal, Ivory Coast never giving up on their team dream and chemistry and fighting like hell against both Argentina, Holland and eventually beating Serbia Montenegro against all odds and so on…

   We did not see any of that fire and team chemistry from our team. We can go around and blame the regime (which shares responsibility in our WC failure), or the so called “Islamic Colonialism” (which by the way happened 1400 years ago and is part of our culture, tradition and Farhang) but we cannot overlook the fact that our country’s circumstances is not by any means worse than Ivory Coast and Angola (mired in civil war and strife) or even Ghana and Tunisia.

   Let’s hope in the next WC our new team possesses and exudes better team play and chemistry complemented by much better coaching and institutional support. I am sure we can do better but it will not happen if we do not start acting and playing as one unit.

   So long!

6. Arash Says:
   June 22nd, 2006 at 7:01 am

   Our nation shattered dream.

   Rather a disappointing World Cup tournament after all the hype. Iran failed to win a single match in this World Cup final, losing 2-0 to Portugal and 3-1 to Mexico before drawing with Angola, and missed their own target of making it through to the second round.
   Iranians have a right to be angry and astonished that their team displayed such a miserable performance.

   We are wondering how come a team from a war torn country Angola ranked 68 in the world achieved a better result. Our nation hoped for at least one victory at the World Cup was shattered by finishing bottom of their group with one point.

   The team that had hailed themselves as Iran’s best ever side, simply did not have the experience to keep up 90 minutes at a time, with the younger players’ power fading fast in the second halves. All the German based players were disappointing apart from Mehdi Mahdavikia who played reasonably well the rest were either plagued by injuries or never got into full form

   The grandfather of Iranian football was another determining factor , 37-year-old Ali Daei selfishly and arrogantly insisted to play even though this passing were abysmal, he did not have a decency to leave the pitch in favour of younger player and subsequently he let the team down.

   An Iranian football like any other sports in Iran is riddled with corruption, lacking good managerial skills and starves of funding and resources It is interesting to see that not one single big stadium is built for the past 27 years. Our youngsters have little or no access to sporting facilities. Past two decades very little effort is being made to establish a true professional football league, while the other Asian countries have progressed we have made very little or no progress. And lastly constant interference by the religious and political establishments, ie mix politics and religion with sport.
   If this trend continues the outcome of next tournament will similarly shatters our nations dream of one day Iran become a major football team in the world.